Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, David, Thresher

 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:16 pm

I'm finally at a place where I can upgrade my phone on contract and say goodbye to my sad, sad Samsung Galaxy S4. I really hate that thing. So anyway, I'm finding iOS 8.1 to be really enjoyable on my personal iPad Mini 2, and I think I'm just going to throw all my eggs in iFruit's basket and get an iPhone.

But I don't know which one. I'm going to skip the 5c and 5s for obvious reasons and just focus on the 6 and 6+. In the past I've griped about my phone being too big, but the last few months I've adapted. I've been carrying my S4 with a Seidio Surface case and the accompanying clip. I'm pretty much trained - it's almost automatic that as I get into the car the phone comes out and gets dropped into the center console tray. So I think my days of whining about phones being too big are pretty much behind me.

Now it's a matter of which phone do I want to get? I'm not sure I want to really go smaller anymore, so I'm worried that a 4.7" iPhone 6 might be TOO small (weirdly enough) but that a 6+ would be comically large. Scott's review didn't really seem to help, because he also mentioned it was OMGXBOXHUEG. Definitely going 64GB - the 16GB on my Samsung is restrictive for app installs, even with photos/videos/media on a 16GB SD card. I have about 9GB of free space (almost all on the SD card) so I think 32GB would have been enough, but since Apple doesn't offer that, 64 it is. Won't be any question about whether it's enough, too, so that's good.

I'm gonna go to the Verizon store tomorrow and pick one out. I'm sure having it in the hand is king, but I'm curious what y'all decided - 6 or 6+?

In before all the Android nerds saying "neither!" Don't worry, guys, we still have a Nexus 7 2013 and my daughter's Tegra Note 7. :p
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
DPete27
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3776
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:22 pm

4.7" is ideal IMO. That's the size of my 2013 (1st gen) Moto X. For reference, the iPhone 6 is more-or-less the same size as your S4. I'd suggest going to your wireless carrier's store and holding both iPhones, that should help you decide pretty quick.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
dmjifn
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 103
Joined: Thu May 15, 2003 4:21 pm
Location: Indianapolis

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:45 pm

Go ahead and get the 6+. Since you'll be keeping it in your purse, the size difference should no longer be an issue. ;)
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:51 pm

well it sure as hell won't fit in my skinny jeans. At least my flannel shirts have front pockets. :p

DPete27 - definitely plan to do that tomorrow. Afraid of making a 10-minute judgment that I'll hate myself for, over the next 2 years. When the 2013 Moto X launched I was already in Verizon's clutches, but at the time I thought it might have been an ideal size. Guess I'll find out.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
BIF
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2458
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 7:41 pm

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:24 pm

I have a 6+, and so far, so good.

I needed a bigger screen and wanted 128GB because I have a huge music library and was getting tired of having to pick and choose what songs to carry around.

But the deal-maker for me for the 6+ was that it has a better camera than the 6. I don't use the camera often, but when I need it, I need as good as possible.

Do get a case for it.
 
druidcent
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2510
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 7:55 pm
Location: Earth, Sol, Milky Way
Contact:

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:29 pm

From a technical standpoint, I've learned with smart phones to always go with the largest memory size to reduce wear on the NAND..

Also, the 6+ has a better camera than the 6 (with that optical tracking stabilization or whatever). Other than that, it comes down to feel.. I like my 6+, but I don't talk on it very much.. it's good for reading kindle books, websites, and iMessage/Mail.
 
sweatshopking
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1464
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:37 am

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:17 pm

bro, if you hate it, swappa exists. 2 years is a long time. i don't usually keep a phone for more than 90 days before i sell it (for a profit) and buy another one. so don't fear the 10 minute decision.
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:42 pm

BIF - I've read that the 128GB NAND in the 6/6+ is TLC and there have been a lot of issues with those. Even the magical Mac nerds on TR have had to do exchanges. Have you had an issue?

SSK - I've done swappa a fair amount, I'd just rather get something I like and stick to it. If push comes to shove the resale value on iPhones stay pretty high, but I don't really want to do it in the first place if I can get away with it. :D

druidcent - are you saying that for a write wear leveling kind of reason? NAND does seem like it'd get written and rewritten constantly thanks to app updates.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
LoneWolf15
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 963
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2004 8:36 am
Location: SW Meecheegan

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:14 pm

First off, I'll say I went from a Droid MAXX to an iPhone 6 because work is covering my phone now and we standardized. The iPhone doesn't match my previous Droid (I'll explain in a bit), but I did test the 6 and 6 Plus before switching.

I have fairly big hands with really long fingers, and in testing, I found out very quickly that the 6 plus is a "two-hand" phone. Some people are good with always using their smartphone with two hands, or they're using the smart part a lot more than the phone. For those people, maybe that's a good option. For me, a phone has to be usable both as a phone and a smart device, with one hand. The 6 Plus, IMO, just doesn't cut it for that; I couldn't comfortably reach the right side of the phone with my thumb when the phone was cupped in my left hand, nor could I get to the top of the screen. So the 6 Plus was out, and I'm not unhappy with that decision.

I can see why you might have been disappointed with a Samsung phone vs. Apple. Take Android and load it with TouchWiz and IMO, it is a cluttered, slower, and less updated experience. In comparison, the Moto X, Droid MAXX, and Droid Turbo have near-stock Android, which just works nicer --and they have Touchless Control. After comparing Siri to Touchless Control with Google Now, I have to say Siri doesn't even come close. And there's no car/driving mode on the iPhone. The past 12-16 months of Moto phones have been phones that automatically know when you're driving, and will listen for you to command them hands-free, or offer to read text messages aloud and then let you voice dictate replies. It was so good it makes my iPhone feel like a huge leap backwards. It's not because I'm a slave to Android --it's because I'm a slave to good engineering. Both phones (iPhone and Moto) have great hardware --it's the software that brings it home for me.

I don't think the iPhone 6 is a bad phone; I just think it's a slightly faster iPhone 5S with a larger display. I don't see any new revolutions, just mild improvements. And for similar pricing, I can get a 2014 Moto X that just does more, or a Droid Turbo if I'm on Verizon.
i9-9900K @4.7GHz, GIGABYTE Z390 Aorus Pro WiFi, 2 x 16GB G.Skill RipJaws V PC3000
Corsair 650D, Seasonic 1Kw Platinum PSU
2x HP EX920 1TB NVMe, Samsung 850 Pro 512GB 2.5", NEC 7200 DVDRW
Gigabyte RTX 2080 Super Gaming OC, Dell S2719DGF 27" LCD
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: Hi, iPhone

Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:43 pm

Yeah, compare my Nexus 7 or the Tegra Note 7 to my SGS4 and it's apparently that Samsung has done mean and terrible things. I like the Nexus well enough. My mother-in-law and my dad both have Droid MAXX. The Turbo looked like an interesting, natural progression of that phone. I'm on Verizon so it's an option - a big Moto X 2014 with an even bigger battery. I might even look at it tomorrow, just to see how it compares. I just find myself picking up the iPad more and more and the Nexus less and less. I know what Lollipop is like and it's nice and all. That's part of my fear - I'd mentioned in a front page conversation thread that I think everything is awesome, so it's a matter of which is most awesome. My wife is the weird one. She's going to hang onto her SGS4 for a couple months until whatever the next Galaxy S successor is and get that. She loves her S4. But after 20 months with mine I'm ready to bid it adieu. :lol:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
localhostrulez
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2481
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:26 pm

Re: Hi, iPhone

Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:56 am

I went from a galaxy nexus (4.65") to a 2014 Moto X (5.2"). The Moto seems like the right size for me, although I almost always use it in portrait. Took me a while to realize how awkward that thing is in landscape mode. That said, it's the right size for me, and the galaxy nexus now feels small. I wish the Moto X had a bigger battery (I'd happily take a thicker version of that in exchange for loads more battery, no technical reason they can't do that), but that's about it.

However, iPhones... the 6 seems like a decent size. The screen on the 6+ isn't much bigger than that of my Moto X, but the bezels are huge on it. That was too much for me (average height guy).
 
druidcent
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2510
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 7:55 pm
Location: Earth, Sol, Milky Way
Contact:

Re: Hi, iPhone

Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:56 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
druidcent - are you saying that for a write wear leveling kind of reason? NAND does seem like it'd get written and rewritten constantly thanks to app updates.


Wear leveling, and throughput performance... with the largest number of channels, and number of dies, you maximize the parallelization for throughput.. Granted, not many apps on the iPhone use it... mostly camera related, but it's another technical reason to go with the largest size memory. (just like SSDs)
 
curtisb
Gerbil XP
Posts: 452
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:27 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:07 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
BIF - I've read that the 128GB NAND in the 6/6+ is TLC and there have been a lot of issues with those. Even the magical Mac nerds on TR have had to do exchanges.


I read that they stopped using TLC because of the problems and instead switched to MLC. They are also supposedly trading out phones that exhibited any of the problems.

My wife and oldest son (13 yrs old) both have iPhone 6+'s. My son got tired of the small screen on his iPhone 5 and said he wanted the bigger one. Obviously at that age he uses more of the "smart" features than the "phone" features. It wasn't even a decision for him. My wife made her decision on which one she could get faster at the time (her iPhone 5 had both the battery and power button issue so she didn't want to wait). She was on the fence about the 6+ when she first got it, but now that she's used to it she likes it.

Me? I got off the iPhone bandwagon after my 3GS when the 4 came out...and you had to have a 4 to get the new text tones that were released in that version of iOS. My decision was reaffirmed when they took Siri away from iPhone 4 users when the 4S came out. There was no technical reason...they just wanted people to upgrade. They've done it again within the same product family this time. There's no technical reason the 6 couldn't also have OIS. Anyway...I'm sticking with my "ancient" Lumia 920 until the next flagship Lumia is released. I know that could be a few more months still, but the 920 is still working just fine and will probably have the Windows 10 preview installed on it in a few weeks. :)
ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO | Intel Core i7-6700 | Zotac GTX 1080 8GB Mini | 2 x Corsair LPX 8GB | WD SN750 Black 500GB | 2 x Crucial MX200 500GB | 2 x WD RED Pro 4TB | Phanteks Eclipse | Seasonic X-850 | 2 x Samsung U28E590
 
drsauced
Gerbil Jedi
Posts: 1543
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 1:38 pm
Location: Here!

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:54 am

The 6's are great phones. The 6+ is probably the better of the two, and I'll say, once you go big, you won't want to go back. If you still have vestiges of Android lingering in your veins, see if you can't get your hands around a Nexus 6.
Calm seas never made a skilled mariner. But, sadly I'm an A's fan.
 
DancinJack
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4494
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:36 am

Ehhhh, I won't try to bring this thread down to an Android vs iOS fight, but my suggestion if you have to go iOS is the 6+. Better battery life, better screen, and better camera. Just do it.

FWIW you did kinda get the crapshoot on that S4. It was definitely the worst of the flagship Galaxy's.
i7 6700K - Z170 - 16GiB DDR4 - GTX 1080 - 512GB SSD - 256GB SSD - 500GB SSD - 3TB HDD- 27" IPS G-sync - Win10 Pro x64 - Ubuntu/Mint x64 :: 2015 13" rMBP Sierra :: Canon EOS 80D/Sony RX100
 
SuperSpy
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2403
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:34 pm
Location: TR Forums

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:31 am

BIF wrote:
I needed a bigger screen and wanted 128GB because I have a huge music library and was getting tired of having to pick and choose what songs to carry around.

I've found iTunes Match comes in really handy for that. You can carry a large amount of music around, and if you feel the need, swap it out on the spot (assuming you have data/wifi). I still have a 16GB phone, and I've managed to get away with about 2GB of music on the phone, and either streaming the rest, or swapping it out if I want to make sure I have it when coverage is spotty.
Desktop: i7-4790K @4.8 GHz | 32 GB | EVGA Gefore 1060 | Windows 10 x64
Laptop: MacBook Pro 2017 2.9GHz | 16 GB | Radeon Pro 560
 
tanker27
Gerbil Khan
Posts: 9444
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: Georgia

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:30 am

I've had a 6+ since Oct '15. And while I was put off about the size at first its really is a nice device. It certainly has smashed my wanting of an iPad Mini. I dont play games much but I do watch video streaming and saved (through VLC), surf the web, and of course email and IM. The battery life is impressive so far even when using wifi. I can go a day and a half on the battery even with heavy usage.
(\_/)
(O.o)
(''')(''')
Watch out for evil Terra-Tron; He Does not like you!
 
the
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 941
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 2:26 am

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:00 am

I have an iPhone 6 and found the size to be better for my uses. I do a lot of talking and carry it around in a pants pocket with a cover. The 6+ would have simply been too large.

I do think Apple got the size right with the 6. Then again, my previous iPhone was a 4S.

With regards to TLC memory, it was my impression that both the 64 GB and 128 GB models used it initially. Due to these issues, they switched to MLC as curtisb noted.
Dual Opteron 6376, 96 GB DDR3, Asus KGPE-D16, GTX 970
Mac Pro Dual Xeon E5645, 48 GB DDR3, GTX 770
Core i7 [email protected] Ghz, 32 GB DDR3, GA-X79-UP5-Wifi
Core i7 [email protected] Ghz, 16 GB DDR3, GTX 970, GA-X68XP-UD4
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:05 am

I ended up going 6. Convinced the Verizon stooge to disconnect the display unit from the tether long enough to stick it in my jacket and shirt pockets, and realized that once it was in a case it'd fall out of the jacket easily and would actually be too wide for the shirt pocket. 6 it is. Put it in an Otterbox defender because I like the holster clip (as mentioned before) and because it's pretty protective.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
Usacomp2k3
Gerbil God
Posts: 23043
Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:53 pm
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:23 pm

Couldn't you have just used the case as a sizing reference?
 
curtisb
Gerbil XP
Posts: 452
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:27 pm
Location: Oklahoma

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:57 pm

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
Couldn't you have just used the case as a sizing reference?

Hush you, with your logic and reason!
ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO | Intel Core i7-6700 | Zotac GTX 1080 8GB Mini | 2 x Corsair LPX 8GB | WD SN750 Black 500GB | 2 x Crucial MX200 500GB | 2 x WD RED Pro 4TB | Phanteks Eclipse | Seasonic X-850 | 2 x Samsung U28E590
 
DPete27
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3776
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:19 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
Put [the iPhone 6] in an Otterbox defender

So now it's the same size as a naked 6+? Don't get me wrong, I'm a case guy myself (just doesn't feel safe carrying around any phone without a case), but I HATE those big/thick/clunky cases.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Topic Author
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:43 pm

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
Couldn't you have just used the case as a sizing reference?

I'd have had to take a case out of the package. And buy it from Verizon. Nothankyou.jpg I got a Best Buy gift card for Christmas. The case was practically free. (about $5 after tax)

Dpete27 - I've just always done big cases. It just doesn't feel like the thin cases from Spigen et al provide all that much protection on drops.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
DPete27
Grand Gerbil Poohbah
Posts: 3776
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:50 pm
Location: Wisconsin, USA

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 4:07 pm

My opinion is that most phones these days with their edge-edge/wraparound screens need some form of protection. I'm comfortable with phone structure that they're capable of holding themselves together on a drop, but you need a case to protect against chips/scratches. I've been very happy with thin TPU cases lately. They offer some cushion in drops (to avoid cracking the screen) and protruding just a bit past the face of the screen to protect against scratches, while being grippier(?) than hard plastic but not as sticky as silicone cases so you can get it in your pocket easily.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
druidcent
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2510
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2002 7:55 pm
Location: Earth, Sol, Milky Way
Contact:

Re: Hi, iPhone

Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:31 pm

DPete27 wrote:
derFunkenstein wrote:
Put [the iPhone 6] in an Otterbox defender

So now it's the same size as a naked 6+? Don't get me wrong, I'm a case guy myself (just doesn't feel safe carrying around any phone without a case), but I HATE those big/thick/clunky cases.


I've actually gone the other way :) If I'm going to get a nice high end phone, that's sleek, I don't want to clunkify it, and hide the premium aluminum chassis.. :) Besides, a case didn't help my last phone from shattering the glass.. however, the insurance I paid seems to have done the trick :)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On