6S Plus worth upgrading from a 6 Plus

[nikielizabeth]

I suggest you look into a product called flip belt. Godsend.

I will have to look into that! Thank you for the recommendation. My last couple marathons I had to carry a hydropack just so I could have my phone w/ me. I tried the arm band but it was WAY too bulky on my arm, and I have one of those Spei belts, but the 6+ (in a case) did not fit. 🙁

Either way, got the 6s. Again, I miss the large screen, but I love how easy it is to put in my pocket and my Nathan running bottle holder. But, I will definitely look into the flip belt as well.

 

[nikielizabeth]

I see a lot of people repeating "financial hardship". I'm not trying to call anyone on this, but I'm just going to say, if ANY phone outs you in financial hardship, it's just not worth it. I can think of very few situations where one may NEED a smartphone. Phones are arguably necessities for emergencies, work calls, etc. you can get those for $10-20. Never out yourself into financial hardship over a WANT.

Yes!

And honestly, all the threads on here should be labeled 'First World problems' - b/c that is exactly what they are. I am guilty of it as well. When my iPhone 6+ got stolen, one would have thought that I had a limb removed. :/ And when I got notification that my phone was delivered on the 25th, the excitement I felt was abnormally high for a cell phone... Ah, Apple Crack. 🙂

 

[lordofthereef]

I will have to look into that! Thank you for the recommendation. My last couple marathons I had to carry a hydropack just so I could have my phone w/ me. I tried the arm band but it was WAY too bulky on my arm, and I have one of those Spei belts, but the 6+ (in a case) did not fit. 🙁

Either way, got the 6s. Again, I miss the large screen, but I love how easy it is to put in my pocket and my Nathan running bottle holder. But, I will definitely look into the flip belt as well.

I've been running with a 6 plus for the last year (now 6s plus). The belt is a spandex material and will definitely fit your 6s as well. There are a few pouches as well as a clip for a key, so it's really rather convenient.

I simply love it and couldn't imagine my life without it. The downside is being unable to do much with controlling music. I'm not going to lie, I'm not s fan of the Apple Watch much, but the thought has crossed my mind to get one just for that (the heart rate monitor is cool too) functionality. $350 for an iPod controller on my wrist is a tough justification lol

 

[nikielizabeth]

I've been running with a 6 plus for the last year (now 6s plus). The belt is a spandex material and will definitely fit your 6s as well. There are a few pouches as well as a clip for a key, so it's really rather convenient.

I simply love it and couldn't imagine my life without it. The downside is being unable to do much with controlling music. I'm not going to lie, I'm not s fan of the Apple Watch much, but the thought has crossed my mind to get one just for that (the heart rate monitor is cool too) functionality. $350 for an iPod controller on my wrist is a tough justification lol

The flex belt sounds like it is a bit bigger than the Spei belt. Again, thank you for the tip - I could always use more running gear. 🙂

I just broke down and bought the apple watch. I really wanted to wait until they came out w/ the 2nd Gen, but I couldn't take it anymore! I did opt for a base model (sport) and bought it used off of eBay. I ended up paying $305 for an 'almost new' watch (no scratches/dents/dings/perfect working condition), instead of $380 (watch plus shipping). I plan on using it while I am at work. I have a job that doesn't allow me to have my phone out all the time, so having the ability to see important info at the flick of my wrist is what sold me. I have friends that have used it for running and they said that the battery is just not strong enough for long distance races. If you run marathons / ultra marathons, then there is a good chance that the Apple watch wont be the best tracking watch for you (at that point I recommend the Garmin).

 

[lordofthereef]

The flex belt sounds like it is a bit bigger than the Spei belt. Again, thank you for the tip - I could always use more running gear. 🙂

I just broke down and bought the apple watch. I really wanted to wait until they came out w/ the 2nd Gen, but I couldn't take it anymore! I did opt for a base model (sport) and bought it used off of eBay. I ended up paying $305 for an 'almost new' watch (no scratches/dents/dings/perfect working condition), instead of $380 (watch plus shipping). I plan on using it while I am at work. I have a job that doesn't allow me to have my phone out all the time, so having the ability to see important info at the flick of my wrist is what sold me. I have friends that have used it for running and they said that the battery is just not strong enough for long distance races. If you run marathons / ultra marathons, then there is a good chance that the Apple watch wont be the best tracking watch for you (at that point I recommend the Garmin).

Shucks. I feared that may be the case. Good info. I guess I'll be holding off on the Apple Watch. My wife has been wanting one for work as well. She just hates carrying her phone around (manager at Best Buy and hates having to pull it out all the time). Watch would fit her needs very well. I'm s veterinarian and, well, I don't get many alerts that I can just check on my phone. Not like I can feasibly look at either while with a patient anyway. Lol.

 

[Zune55]

I did a search so please excuse my poor search skills and just link the thread if this has been covered.

Is the 6S Plus (or S generation overall this year) worth upgrading from last year's 6 Plus?

Thanks.

Yes because s model usually does not get much features but this time s model has lot of new features. Sorry I am not adding the link but Google it. Also take a look at the rose gold personally at Apple Store you would want it right away.

 

[areyes163]

Here's a good video showing speed test results. I found a pretty well done.

 

[lordofthereef]

Can't sleep so I've decided to make a list of the notable improvements (no particular order). There are obviously other things I've left out, I'm just sharing what I feel actually change the overall experience for me.

Touch ID
As ridiculous as this sounds, it's now instant, and that saves a fraction of a second when unlocking, and as often as we tend to unlock, that's a lot of time saved over the life of the phone. Even if you aren't spending that extra time saving the World, or eating bacon, it's just a better experience. It also seems to fail less often (happened once in the two days I have had he phone and it usually happens 1/10 times) and is more accurate with moisture (i.e. At the gym)

Safari Tabs
Whether you care or not, it's a very noticeable improvement. I'm sure there is a limit but I didn't hit it. I just couldn't get tabs to reload. With the previous model this was easy. I also very frequently got the "error occurred page reloading" on the previous devices. Not so with the 6s plus. In the long run this saves data but also s ton of time. If you're actually trying to get something done and not just juggling buzzfeed articles you are saving yourself actual seconds which quickly add up to minutes. Of course, there is also the aspect of frustration, which has been completely eliminated.

Load Times
For me this is only really noticeable in a side by side. Pages load more quickly. Apps load more quickly. Phone boots more quickly. Everything is just slightly faster.

3D Touch
This is one of those things that I fully admit I couldn't understand why this is so different from a long press until I used it. It's actually remarkably unique (though I don't feel it's all that intuitive so there is a learning curve) and I do see this saving time and improving productivity. Among the things you can do with 3D touch is select text (to copy and/or paste), engage the app switcher, take a look at links (such as those on this forum) without jumping directly to that page (and then decide if you want to go ahead and Juno to that page), shortcuts to actions in an app to do start tasks before you've even loaded the app, and probably a lot more as devs add functionality to their own apps.

Despite all of this, the thing that brings me back is performance. It's possible I was abused by my 6 plus too long and I forgot what true love was. That device was just a dog and, especially now that I have something that works beautifully, I regret keeping it, because it just wasn't as good as it should have been. I absolutely did waste my money, but it wasn't in thisbhesr's upgrade. It was last year's. Live and learn I guess. I need to make sure not to settle. And I really KNOW that's not what I'm doing with this device.

 

[redman042]

It depends on how you use your phone now. If your 6+ never feels slow, crashy, or laggy, and page and app reloads aren't an issue for you, then it's probably not worth it.

For me, it was a HUGE step up in performance. HUGE. This thing just flies. Or should I say "glides". Maybe only seconds are saved, but it just feels so much nicer to use. Jumping around this forum is fast and seamless. And that's pretty much the story for everything you do with it. It is even better than I expected.

 

[roland.g]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have always been an major release 2 year contract upgrader. Original iPhone to 3G was the exception. 3G -> 4 -> 5 -> 6 Plus. Skipping the 3GS, 4S, and 5S. But one of the reasons that I am willing to get the iPhone 6S Plus from a financial standpoint is that I was able to upgrade my wife's 2.5 year old iPhone 5 to a 6S 64GB on a Next 24, order myself an iPhone 6S Plus 64GB on a Next 12 (we both always did the 2 year subsidized pricing before), and even including the iPhone payments included in the monthly bill, our monthly bill will go down $30 a month.

Part of that was I was thinking of leaving AT&T for Verizon because of plan savings so AT&T reduced my month bill by a good amount and brought my eligibility forward by 8 months. Now I realize that I could keep my 6 Plus and save another $20 a month, and that with Next I will have to buy out my Next contract next fall to get the iPhone 7 (or simply turn it in), but my current 6 Plus is worth good money and so I think I make out well. I'll make more than $240 selling my 6 Plus than the savings if I don't buy it.

Mostly I was curious to know what the performance was like and if the new features made it worth it as I have never upgraded one year to the next when an S model came out. I have noticed that my 6 Plus has had major issues lately since Apple replaced it last month for being part of the 2014 launch batch with bad cameras and it doesn't seem to want to rotate the home screen to portrait or landscape. Likewise it freezes up sometimes in SMS. And it has some lag issues when I type. I think I got a crappy refurb as my replacement.

 

[dilutedq]

I did a search so please excuse my poor search skills and just link the thread if this has been covered.

Is the 6S Plus (or S generation overall this year) worth upgrading from last year's 6 Plus?

Thanks.

Totally different phone, paid $900 outright and it was worth it.

 

[glowrider]

Didn't need to upgrade from my 6 and 6+ but got s versions of both.

No going back. Force touch changes the game. Peeking into forum links alone is worth the upgrade. The other applications already such as the trCkpad functionality. This is a big deal upgrade.

Camera is superior as predicted. I prefer the new weightier feel. Touch ID needs a speed limit function. It's so fast that before you can check your notifications using home button, it's authenticated you.

Don't take selfies but front camera flash is clever.

Brief highlights so far

I am finding that I need to press lighter to follow links now. Sometimes I am missing links due to a press too hard. Will get used to it soon enough.

 

[boshii]

I am finding that I need to press lighter to follow links now. Sometimes I am missing links due to a press too hard. Will get used to it soon enough.

I'm experiencing this too. Just a light tap is all that's needed.

 

[einmusiker]

Everybody be actin like the 6 series were snails...my 6+ was no slouch, it was light on its feet. The speed improvements aren't worth hundreds of dollars to anybody.

I guess everyone's experience is different. my 6+ crashes web browsers and reloads pages constantly, also mail freezes and constantly gives me errors saying can't retrieve mail. can't wait to upgrade and set the 6s+ up as a new device

 

[forcetactic]

I upgraded my 6+ to a 6S+. The speed is definitely faster. Everything from TouchID to loading multiple webpages to switching between apps is smoother. However, I found Live Photos videos to be very gimmicky (very shaky, poor video quality) and I have not found a good use for 3D touch yet.
Sure it helps loading links/emails without leaving your page but 6S+ is already fast enough to read an email and go back. In fact, I feel it takes longer to use 3D touch than it does to click an email and go back to the inbox.
Camera does not feel better either. 6+ already took great pictures. Photos appear great on a smartphone screen and on my Macbook air but when you blow it up to to the true 1 to 1 pixel count, it looks very blurry. That is to be expected of smartphone cameras of course.

Being an iPhone fanatic, I upgrade each year no matter what. However, for your average user, the 6+ is a very capable phone and can definitely last you another year until the 7 comes out. I feel like the 6S+ does not offer many useful features. If I had to pick the major selling points, it would be the TouchID speed and the RAM/processor which should be standard on every refresh. Every time a new iPhone comes out, people praise it nonstop and every year the next iPhone comes out, the previous generation gets bashed on. I personally would not recommend upgrading from a 6/6+ unless you had to have the latest and greatest

 

[Tthomas612]

IMHO... The RAM and Camera is enough to warrant an upgrade. And that's just two of the differences between the phone.

Not to mention...
3D Touch - Is it gimmicky at the moment? Not really, but it will definitely become really useful in a few months.

A9 - This chip is a lot faster then the A8 which was just a lil overhauled A7. I mean much faster.

Live Photos - Ok this is truly a gimmick but they are kinda cool. Especially using them as wallpaper.

The RAM itself was enough for me to sell my 6 and upgrade to the 6s and 6s Plus.

 

[cardfan]

I guess everyone's experience is different. my 6+ crashes web browsers and reloads pages constantly, also mail freezes and constantly gives me errors saying can't retrieve mail. can't wait to upgrade and set the 6s+ up as a new device

No, not really. Some users are just very tolerant or don't know what lag is. Those who say they noticed no problems with the 6 Plus have very little credibility to me. Ignore those users and move on.

 

[gdeputy]

Went from a 6+ to a 6s+ for the following reasons:
16gb was too low -> went to 64gb
Have a baby so, better camera and 4k video was a nice incentive (I take a lot a lot of pictures on my phone)
3D touch seemed kind of cool.. but, admittedly until devs catch on its just there.
Live photos on apple watch are a cool thing lol.

But, mostly it was storage, camera, and ram.

I will admit the thing is much faster than the 6+ (which, frankly was a bit gimped ANYWAYS.. not slow but, it definitely wasn't 6 fast with the extra real estate and rendering)

 

[arcanic]

I'm bi-techual. I love'm all - but I was a no, at first....

As the date approached, I started to get the itch. After consuming every write-up I could Google/YouTube, I eventually bit and got the 128 6s Plus in space gray.

Is it worth it? That's a hard thing to answer. As you can see by my avatar, I enjoy taking photos of the family and friends no matter what we're doing. So, the camera was a big deal for me. The 3D Touch feature is pretty cool - but will truly be something more useful as developers find opportunities (and gimmicks) to integrate it into their apps. As it stands now, there are only a limited number of things you can do with it. Of the things you can do, I've found it quite useful and fun.

Another reason I was excited was the 'live wallpapers'....I'm still confused on this one. I'm running a Nexus 6 on Project Fi - and LOVE how I can customize the heck out of the screen. So far, the only 'live' feature is on the lock screen - and I have to force touch it to even enable the 'live' feature. (doesn't feel like 'live' if you have to trigger it). Perhaps I'm missing something? I don't honestly see the value in it if that's the true implementation.

It's fast - the graphics are stunning - the build quality and glass has been upgraded....all good things.

I'm fully aware that my current fruity antidote for said 'itch' will only last another 11-12 months....so here's hoping for an even better version come iPhone 7!

Arc

 

[yang88she]

Yes, i was pulling my hair out from the lag, crashed and reboots due to the lack of ram in my 6+...couldn't be happier as the 6s+ experience is what my 6+ was supposed to be (ram wise imho)

 

[magicman32]

No, not really. Some users are just very tolerant or don't know what lag is. Those who say they noticed no problems with the 6 Plus have very little credibility to me. Ignore those users and move on.

Or as usual the truth lies somewhere in the middle. People who say the 6+ lags frequently are crazy. Does it lag occasionally, absolutely. My iPad Air 2 lags occasionally. The only constant lag, for me, on the 6 Plus is going from Google Music to the app switcher, that lags ALL THE TIME. Annoying, not a deal breaker.

People who say the 6 Plus is riddled with constant problems like lag or crashing have little credibility with me. I ignore them and move on. It just isn't true in my case except for an occasional hiccup. I got rid of an iPad 3 because it was horrific. The 6 Plus? Not even close.

 

[bojandordevic]

I am very much on the fence. The decision will be made based on the upgrade expense. I've been on yearly upgrade cycle for a while, and feel like skipping a model would beneficial to my budget. I am not overly excited about the features as much as I am very excited about the memory upgrade!

 

[TL24]

It's a huge upgrade over the 6 Plus which is where I can from! Do it!

 

[bojandordevic]

Or as usual the truth lies somewhere in the middle. People who say the 6+ lags frequently are crazy. Does it lag occasionally, absolutely. My iPad Air 2 lags occasionally. The only constant lag, for me, on the 6 Plus is going from Google Music to the app switcher, that lags ALL THE TIME. Annoying, not a deal breaker.

People who say the 6 Plus is riddled with constant problems like lag or crashing have little credibility with me. I ignore them and move on. It just isn't true in my case except for an occasional hiccup. I got rid of an iPad 3 because it was horrific. The 6 Plus? Not even close.

My iPhone crashed all the time until I've upgraded to iOS9.

 

[engelke2010]

It's definitely worth it. Everything about the 6s+ is fabulous, especially the camera. I took a selfie on Friday and so could tell the difference in the front camera. I'm very happy with my purchase. And going from 16gb to 128gb? Wow! I'm on the Next program and I'd be paying installments on it anyways.