The embargo has been lifted, and the reviews are in! Two days before the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are set to hit Apple stores (and some pre-orders are scheduled to arrive), the tech press is sharing its thoughts on Apple's latest devices.
Let's start with the good. Overwhelmingly, people really dig Apple's new iPhones for their displays, updated looks and improved cameras.
A writer for The Verge calls the smaller, 4.7-inch iPhone 6 "one of the best smartphones on the market. Maybe even the best." In reference to the camera's improved autofocus, he writes, "I move the phone around and it never appears to be focusing, yet everything is always crisp and ready."
Walt Mossberg of Re/code is also convinced the iPhone 6 is "the best smartphone around."
"I was really impressed with the features of this phone. ... It's significantly thinner than the previous iPhone, and it's thinner and lighter than its principal competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S5."
And TechCrunch talks up the phone's look and feel. "It is the biggest change in iPhone hardware that I think we have ever seen. ... It's a better feeling in the hand: It's more comfortable; it's very light. It's deceptively light — you wouldn't think it with the larger screen."
So, yeah, people are quite happy with Apple's updated devices. Bloomberg went as far as to call them"awesome ... beautifully engineered machines." But what about the not-so-awesome side?
Well, most of the complaints seem to be coming from the larger of the two models, the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Tech writers argue it's really nothing more than a really big iPhone, and that's a problem. (Video viaApple)
A writer for The Verge says of the iPhone 6 Plus: "I'm not sure Apple put a huge amount of effort into how this iPad mini-mini should actually work. ... Safari is pretty crashy in landscape ... and some apps like Weather don't take advantage of the extra space at all."
Several outlets shared The Verge's sentiment — Apple could have done a better job optimizing the operating system for a large, large phone, instead of simply scaling up the OS with a few bells and whistles.
And Pocket-lint provides some more real-world use examples. "Waiting for a curry at the local takeaway, using the 6 Plus single-handed in portrait mode for 20 minutes to read, soon meant we could feel the strain. ... If you're the sort of person who likes to crash through email while hanging onto the train with one hand, or check Facebook while grappling with a small child, then maybe the 6 Plus will be too big for you."
Overall, the tech press seems to agree Apple's new devices are worthy of their record-setting pre-orders. That said, providing larger — and even larger — phones isn't enough; reviewers wished Apple had included more functionality to take advantage of the larger screen and make day-to-day use easier.
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