As I said way back in September, sight unseen, I preordered an iPhone 6 Plus. It was the ‘best’ phone that Apple announced and I knew it would be in short supply. I was right on the short supply, as of today Apple still says it will be 7-10 days before you can get the 128gb model. I received mine, finally, on Sept. 25th, I spent 3 weeks with it and had to say goodbye.
Getting back to the iPhone 6 Plus being the ‘best’ phone Apple released this year, well that’s a little complicated. The 6 Plus did have a few better features that I mentioned in that earlier post, but as I also mentioned, it is a really big phone. I decided after a few weeks of heavy use that it was just too big for me.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a really great phone and if you don’t mind the size I would recommend it to you. But since at this point you can get your hands on both models to get a feel, I would strongly suggest doing so. I had seen a few 6s, and had played with Dave’s, who wrote this post about his 6.
Also, if battery is very important to you, the 6 Plus battery is a huge improvement. I just decided that in my life that I am never more than 5 feet from power, I could make that sacrifice. I also have several external batteries, like this one, that are great in a pinch.
Since I was outside of the 14-day return policy with AT&T, I had to get creative on making the switch. In mid October the phones were hard to get so I turned to Craigslist. I posted an ad saying that I wanted to trade my 6 Plus for a 6. I had several people who had all kinds of ‘great trades’ for me but only a few that had the 6 I wanted. I talked with one and then we met up at the AT&T store to make the trade. It worked out really well, we switched SIM cards, made sure everything was working, and headed on our way. Since my 6 Plus was worth more we negotiated a fair trade, though there was a small issue I might bring up another day.
(Note: It’s always a good idea to meet somewhere safe and public when using Craigslist, I have heard some stories of people running off with iPhones.)
Once I had the 6, I instantly knew that was the better phone for me. It is a lot bigger than the 5s is but I think it is a very nice size. Besides the size, I am trying to think of any really compelling features of the phone over the 5s. I have used Apple Pay a few times and it is really amazing, but it isn’t everywhere yet. The camera is better, but the 5s is good too.
The iPhone 5S, 6, 6 Plus
It will be really interesting to see how phone size plays out over the next few years. I know a lot of people who say they never want a phone bigger than the 5s and some that would use a full size iPad as their phone. But we do have options right now from Apple, just make sure you find the phone that works best for you.
If you would like to get a lot more in-depth with the iPhone 6, iMore.com has some serious coverage on their iPhone 6 page.
