iPhone 6 review

The iPhone 6 marked a key turning point for Apple, as it introduced a new design and larger screen, leaving the iPhones of old in its wake.

[Update: Our iPhone 6 review has been updated now that iOS 11 has arrived. It's still one of the best (and a cheaper price) two and a half years on.]

See all Apple iPhone 6, Apple iPhone 6 16GB, Apple iPhone 6 64GB deals

The iPhone 6 is now several years, and iPhone iterations, old, but it's still available and there are some great deals to be had for those looking for a low-cost Apple handset.

Sure, it's not nearly as fast or powerful as Apple's new iPhone 8, this is 2014's still-impressive flagship that you may want to consider next to the iPhone SE.

So how did the iPhone 6 come about? Well, back in 2013, despite record sales, the Cupertino brand was heading for a fall. It had been trading on the same phone for four years, and something big was needed to keep it current.

So with that, the iPhone 6, and its bigger brother, the iPhone 6 Plus, were born to keep Apple at the sharp end of a market that was starting to lust after powerful, big-screen smartphones with clever and premium design.

• Compare: all the best iPhone 6 deals

The iPhone 6 addressed a number of problems Apple had developed, coming with a much larger screen (although not dramatically increasing the size of the phone) a boosted processor, better camera, improved battery and - crucially - OUR VERDICT

Apple made a big leap forward with the iPhone 6 - one of the best phones it's ever created.

FOR

• Great design
• Better battery
• Improved keyboard
• overhauled design. Much of the ground work that went into the iPhone 6S was done here, with the iPhone 6.
  This is the sixth iPhone I've reviewed, and there's a distinct sense that this one is really rather different.
  I wrote in 2013 that Apple was becoming more aware that the time when it could define what consumers would buy in the smartphone was ending – and with the 4.7-inch screen, it clearly had to admit defeat in the smaller screen market.
  There will be some who will miss that 4-inch screen size, maintaining that they don't want a bigger display on their phone – but nearly all of those people won't have spent any appreciable time with a larger device, and I believe that a good portion of you thinking you need a smaller phone will quickly come to appreciate the power a bigger handset brings, without compromising quality.
  Apple's now appeased those longing for a new 4-inch handheld though, with the launch of the iPhone SE. It sports the specs of the iPhone 6S, uses the body of the now-discontinued iPhone 5S and sports a lower price tag than the iPhone 6, giving the latter some tough new competition.

  

  The phone fits very well in the hand

  But while the iPhone 6 has answered a lot of the problems I've had with previous iterations of Apple's handsets, there are some issues that still swirled when I handled the phone for the first time – and many of them persist even now that the iPhone 6 has been superseded.
  Why did Apple decide to not join the masses with a really high-res screen? Why is the iPhone 6 still one of the most expensive phones on the market? Has Apple done enough to improve the quite dire battery life of previous models, especially at a time when many high-end Android phones are easily chugging through a day's worth of hard use without thirsting for a charger's caress?
  Let's take a quick look at the price – and it's not pretty.

  iPhone 6 price and release date

  At launch, you were looking at $649, £539 for the 16GB version, $750, £619 for the 64GB option and $850, £699 for the 128GB model.
  You can no longer purchase the iPhone 6 through the Apple Store, but it can still be picked up new if you hunt around. Since its launch, a new 32GB storage variant was introduced, and that's the handset most commonly available today.
  SIM free you're looking at an iPhone 6 price of £329 (around $430, AU$570) for the handset, which places it firmly in the middle of the market.
  If you're looking for a cheap iPhone that still has Apple's full backing (i.e. it still sells it through its online store) the smaller iPhone SE will set you back £349 ($349, around AU$549), and sports newer internals than the iPhone 6.
  

  Design

  Let's take a look at the first thing most people will wonder about before picking up the iPhone 6: how will it actually feel in the hand?
• This is a big departure for Apple, marking a time when it's admitted that the industrial, sharp design of the last four iPhone models is a little outdated and needs to up the ergonomics to really compete.
  Well, with the Apple iPhone 6 we're looking at one of the thinnest and sleekest handsets in the market – still. It's got a strong combination of metal back (which feels exceptionally premium, borrowing bucketloads of design language from the iPad Air) and the way the screen curves into the chassis gives it a slight lozenge feel.
• 

One of the thinnest phones in the worldAGAINST

• Still pricey
• Screen too low-res