3D Touch Is One Killer Feature of iPhone 6S

Sep 25, 2015

The reviews have been coming in for Apple’s latest flagship device and on the whole there is praise for an iPhone with more impressive engineering, despite some extra weight. The one, predictable drawback is battery life.

With heavy use reviewers found that the iPhone 6S got through the day but needed recharging by the evening. The iPhone 6S Plus, with its bigger battery, could usually manage to go for longer.

Less a disappointment and more of a head scratcher for some was Live Photos, which created 3-second videos of photos but often saw them tail off into a blur at the end.

The new phones are faster to use not just because of the zippier, A9 processor. Several reviewers noted the efficiency that comes with using Touch 3D in going through emails and the phone’s Touch ID sensor has been described as “instantaneous.”

Overall, Apple’s slogan for the 6S launch was that “The Only Thing That’s Changed Is Everything,” but not everyone agreed.

Here’s a breakdown of three key areas that came under scrutiny in reviews:

3D Touch

Apple introduced 3D Touch as the next generation of multi-touch, allowing you to press with different level of force to, for instance, preview the text in an email before fully opening it. Once in a while the phone will respond with haptic feedback.

A few Android phone makers have already been able to detect subtle changes in tapping pressure so this isn’t entirely new, but many reviewers still loved 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S.

John Gruber gave a detailed explanation of the four different ways you could use the feature on his Daring Fireball blog, including bringing up a pop-up menu on certain apps and “Peek and Pop.” This is Apple’s designation for pressing slightly on something like an email to peek at the text, and then pressing harder to “pop” it open.

“I wasn’t too sure about that at first,” he said. After trying the feature again, though, Gruber became a convert. “It really is an efficient way to triage messages, especially ones that you can’t get the gist of from the two- or three-line preview in the message list itself… The productivity gain with this workflow is that you don’t have to go ‘back’ after finishing..”

Peek also allows you to metaphorically “press” into the screen and grab hold of the blinking cursor between text and move it smoothly around, as you might with a trackpad. “Trackpad mode is a once-youve-used-it-you-can’t-go-back addition to iOS,” says Gruber.

Peek and Pop is the key to 3D Touch, which is the iPhone 6S’s most important feature, according to The Verge’s Nilay Patel. “The entire system is the biggest step along a path Apple’s been on since iOS 7 – the idea that the interface should be about abstract layers of information, not simulations of physical objects.”

He adds that while Microsoft and Google have both incorporated similar features in their mobile platforms, “3D Touch is by far the most aggressive and interesting step in this direction anyone has ever taken.”

Note that while there’s much potential for apps – in particular games – to incorporate 3D Touch it primarily works with Apple’s own apps to start with, like iMessage and Mail. “3D Touch is the 6S’s killer feature,” says Nicole Nguyen at Buzzed Life. ”But it depends on what apps decide to support it.”

That Extra Heft

Everyone noticed that the iPhone 6S was 14 grams heavier than the 6, while the 6S Plus is 20 grams heavier, but most didn’t seem to find this a problem.

“I actually think the extra weight makes the 6S feel more substantial and easier to hold than the whoops-there-it-goes iPhone 6,” says The Verge’s Patel.

Digital Spy’s Matt Hill referred to the phone’s “reassuring heft,” but overall he listed this as a negative for the phone. Apple adopted an aluminium build which should help it avoid any repetitions of last year’s Bendgate, but also added 0.2 mm — a “grain of sand,” according to Mashable’s Christina Warren – to the phone’s width.

“But no need to grumble,” Hill adds. “Easily the most well constructed handset on the market – despite increased competition from the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 – the iPhone 6S’s cool-to-the-touch metal body and softly curved edges make the phone look and feel great.”

The Camera

Apple’s new Live Photo feature for taking GIF-like images, is “the latest innovation that is destined to change the way we all take images,” says Vogue’s Lucy Hutchins, who spent a week with the iPhone 6S. Apple’s camera records the moments just before and after you take a shot. “The result is an image that comes to life when you press it.”

There had been concerns about Live Photos quickly taking up valuable space on the phone, but Apple says they account for the same amount of space as two regular photos.

The real problem with Live Photos, says Mashable’s Warren, is that you can’t share them on the web; they’ll only transfer to other Apple devices. “A way to turn Live Photos into GIF’s would help make the feature go viral and sticky.” (Rest assured some third-party app developer somewhere is probably working on that.)

There’s also an issue with the feature capturing the moment you swing the phone away, which can lead to blurry images of the floor, but Apple is says it’s preparing an update to fix that.

Peek and pop comes in handy with the Camera too, Vogue’s Hutchins adds. It’ll allow you to pull up the last image you took to decide whether an additional shot is needed.

Apple has always opted out of trying to out-pixel the competition, says The Telegraph’s Rhiannon Williams. “Thanks to the iSight sensor’s 50% more pixels, its autofocus is now faster and more accurate.”

“The phones have outstanding 12-megapixel real cameras and 5-megapixel front shooters,” says USA Today’s Ed Baig.

Several reviewers said the 6S took photos that were more natural in tone and color, putting it on par with compact cameras. “We’re impressed with the autofocus too,” says Pocket-lint. “It actually focuses on the subject, rather than trying to make the whole scene sharp.”

The camera’s lens continues to protrude slightly from the front, though. While most users would end up hiding that with a case anyway, the issue is not going away. And shooting in 4K seems pretty pointless. Not many people have a 4K television or iMac with 5K retina display, and even the latest Apple TV doesn’t support 4K. That will be a camera feature left to film makers and hard-core techies.

Worth it?

There seems to be a resounding opinion among reviews that while the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus looks exactly the same as the 6 and 6 Plus, new features like Touch 3D have made for some compelling differences.

The phone’s battery is behind Sony’s Xperia Z5 and the camera is on par with the Samsung Galaxy S6, “yet the iPhone 6S is a great phone,” says Digital Spy’s Hill, who adds that the 6S has no major shortcomings. “As ever, it’s not in specifics but in the overall package where the firm remains without rival.”

The iPhone 6 is the best iPhone yet, says WSJ’s Joanna Stern, but Apple didn’t address the No. 1 problem that its customers had with previous devices: battery life. “You’ll struggle to make it till bedtime with moderate to heavy use,” says Stern, who adds that a test of the phone’s battery life showed it was no better or worse than last year’s model.

Mindbogglingly, while the new phone itself is a little thicker and heavier, the battery is actually slightly smaller. “I’d happily buy a thicker iPone, if it meant more time way from the power outlet,” says Stern. Overall it’s a “slightly better iPhone.”

The Verge’s Patel suggests going for the 6S Plus for the better battery life and camera. Overall reviewers agree that this is the best iPhone yet, with some addictive features.

When deciding whether to pay Apple’s premium price tag consumers will have to take into account the battery life issue. For those where money isn’t an object and charging cables are plentiful, the iPhone 6S seems to be worth the upgrade.

 Source: Forbes