Size does count: scaled-up iPhone back in the Android fight

APPLE’S two new iPhones are well crafted and delightfully thin, and their bigger screen sizes put them back in the fight.

APPLE’S two new iPhones are well crafted and delightfully thin, and their bigger screen sizes and modern looks put them back in the fight against the ever-improving Android opposition.

That’s my view having spent a week with the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It was obviously a difficult move for Apple to upsize its phones and screens. In 2007 when the original iPhone came out, the screen was 3.5 inches and crept up only half an inch over six years.

Bigger iPhone puts Android on notice
Hands on affair for prestigious beast

But Apple finally relented to the popularity of larger phones by launching an iPhone 6 model with a 4.7-inch screen, along with a very big iPhone 6 Plus “phablet” that takes on characteristics of a phone and small tablet.

After using both, my view is that traditional iPhone users will have no trouble adapting to the moderately larger iPhone 6. It’s 0.7mm thinner than its predecessor, the iPhone 5S, and just 17g heavier. It’s light to hold and light in the pocket.

If your main actions are calling, emailing, SMS, calendars and messaging, you’d want the iPhone 6. But if you’re into watching or shooting video, or mobile gaming, or need a phone with a little extra battery life, the 6 Plus is the go.

It has a higher resolution screen and lets apps display in both portrait and landscape orientations as they would on an iPad. It also boasts extended features such as optical image stabilisation. The 6 Plus camera lens is supported by small springs that smooth out jolting action while shooting video on the go.

The back-facing cameras on both models offer more functions, such as super-slow-motion video capture at 240 frames per second, and shooting time-lapse video.

The addition of a near-field communication chip and “secure element” on both handsets readies them for Apple Pay. Soon, you will be able to pay at shops by waving your phone in front of a scanner. Apple Pay is tipped to launch here next year. Apple also has debuted a new Health app that will collate activity and health monitoring from a mountain of fitness devices. It’s set up to track almost 70 health attributes.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus definitely lack some of the advanced features of newer Android phones, such as Quad HD displays and 4K video shooting. The iPhone also isn’t waterproof.

But with an iPhone, you’ll continue to enjoy Apple’s extensive ecosystem of apps, and soon Apple Pay, health monitoring and home automation management. You are a member of Club Apple.

Chris Griffith travelled to the Apple launch event at Cupertino courtesy of Apple

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Bigger iPhone puts Android on notice

Hands on affair for prestigious beast