Apple iPhone 6 Plus

It may not slip off the tongue as easily as iPhone 6 Plus, but the 6s Plus is better in almost every way. Being an ‘s’ model, it doesn’t have looks to distinguish itself as the new phone. But, as Apple’s ads say: “The only thing that has changed is everything.” That’s stretching the truth, of course, but a lot has changed. S models retain the same physical design of the previous year’s model, but get upgraded internals and some new features. This year is no exception.

Price

This is one thing that hasn’t changed: the 6s Plus costs exactly the same as the 6 Plus did when it launched in 2014. So it’s £619, £699 and £789 for the 16GB, 64GB and 128GB options. Let it be said early on that 16GB is unacceptably meagre, inappropriate even, for a phone without expandable storage, which records 4K video that consumes almost 400MB per minute.

The new model means the 6 Plus gets a price cut, so if you do buy your phones SIM free, you’ll save a bit by opting for last year’s model.

Design

The 6s Plus is a great-looking phone and it feels great in the hand. Looks are subjective though, and whether or not you hate the protruding camera, you’re likely to immediately wrap your new phone in a case to protect it from scrapes and knocks.

We prefer a bigger screen, so it’s not a great compromise to carry a device that’s larger and heavier than the 6s. It is bigger than some Android phones which have even bigger screens, but none of those devices – Nexus 6P, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Moto X Style (see page 34) – will fit any more easily into a pocket.

Of course everything we said in our review of the iPhone 6 Plus about design applies to the 6s Plus. Both good and bad. It’s still an annoyance that the power button is opposite the volume buttons, as it’s easy to turn off the phone instead of increasing volume or taking a photo with the same button.

It’s still a two-handed phone for a lot of the time, and Reachability doesn’t really help all that much. It’s quicker and easier in most cases to use your other hand to tap on something at the top of the screen.

The two phones may look identical, unless you opt for the new Rose Gold version, but Apple has used stronger 7000-series aluminium for the 6s and 6s Plus. Almost certainly as a response to Bendgate. This means that the 6s Plus is 20g heavier at 192g, which makes it one of the heaviest 5.5in phones we’ve seen, though it’s more than light enough to hold onehanded to watch videos.

There are some other subtle differences. The home button, for example, has a very slightly different sound and feel to it, and if you put a pair of callipers on it, the new phone is very fractionally thicker. Yet, so far, we haven’t found a 6 Plus case that won’t fit on the 6s Plus.

Display

The screen, too, is the toughest yet. It has to be since Force Touch means you’ll be prodding and pushing the screen reasonably hard to use the new Peek and Pop gestures, which respond to pressure. It’s almost like having a resistive and capacitive screen in one, but with better image quality than any resistive screen.

3D Touch is the biggest new feature of the 6s Plus and offers a new way to interact with iOS. Since it’s a new feature there’s not an awful lot you do with it, but what you can do is undeniably useful. You can press hard on an app icon and, using the new Quick Access shortcuts, jump straight to a particular function or place. With Mail, for example, you jump straight into writing a new message or to your VIP inbox. You can do the same with Messages, or send a message to your most frequent contacts.

Using Quick Actions on the camera app allows you to take a selfie without having to launch the app and then change modes.

Within apps you can use Peek and Pop. Pressing lightly on an email in your inbox lets you ‘peek’ at it without actually opening it. Yet you can still swipe left to delete it or swipe up to reply. If you