iPhone Plus vs rMini

[Huerz]

I haven't had the chance to check out the iPhone Plus up close yet. For those who have, how is the reading experience when reading for an extended duration (half hour + stints)?

I was contemplating purchasing a Retina Mini to read through and annotate/ highlight academic journal articles (no images, just text which may or may not be displayed in dual columns) but if the 6 Plus is bearable for reading for periods up to two hours, I'd much rather purchase it.

Can anyone weigh in?

 

[617aircav]

Reading, iPad wins hands down.

 

[Huerz]

Reading, iPad wins hands down.

Yes, most would assume that an iPad would provide the better reading experience given its larger screen size. However, I am wondering whether the 5.5" screen is large enough to read academic journals/ ebooks comfortably for a duration longer than an hour.

This would save the purchase and relative 'hassle' of two separate devices.

 

[andyp350]

Yes, most would assume that an iPad would provide the better reading experience given its larger screen size. However, I am wondering whether the 5.5" screen is large enough to read academic journals/ ebooks comfortably for a duration longer than an hour.

This would save the purchase and relative 'hassle' of two separate devices.

For me personally I would so no it's not, others may disagree. For me the 6 Plus is the perfect size for a phone (Ive wanted a larger iPhone for years) but I wouldn't say it even came close to replacing a tablet, the term phablet annoys me as to me the 6 Plus is just phone size and I use it appropriately for that, it's in no way a tablet.

 

[bandrews]

For the brief time I had my Plus I found the screen to be almost the perfect size for reading. You barely had to even move your eyes to scan the width of the page. All text was just the right size to just look at the screen and read. The size trade off didn't work for me so I stuck with the 6 but if I had to read a lot on the move, I'd say the 6 Plus would be excellent.

 

[617aircav]

Yes, most would assume that an iPad would provide the better reading experience given its larger screen size. However, I am wondering whether the 5.5" screen is large enough to read academic journals/ ebooks comfortably for a duration longer than an hour.



This would save the purchase and relative 'hassle' of two separate devices.

Yes you can read on the 6plus, I do it everyday. But reading is naturally better on the bigger device. I have a nexus 7 and a MacBook Air. Reading is better on the MacBook Air than on the nexus 7.

 

[ZombiePete]

However, I am wondering whether the 5.5" screen is large enough to read academic journals/ ebooks comfortably for a duration longer than an hour.

In my experience:

eBooks, yes. The screen is big enough that text that can be resized can be easily read and isn't crammed into a tiny space. I would liken it to reading a paperback, albeit a little bit smaller. iBooks look great on it.

Journals/scanned magazine pages, no. The screen is just too small; even on the iPad Air when I'm reading scanned textbooks I oftentimes find myself having to zoom in on certain sections where text is just a little too small for the screen; the Plus exacerbates that situation a lot and reading static text often becomes a bunch of zooming and swiping.

 

[Huerz]

Thank you for the responses everyone.

Yes you can read on the 6plus, I do it everyday. But reading is naturally better on the bigger device. I have a nexus 7 and a MacBook Air. Reading is better on the MacBook Air than on the nexus 7.

Just to quickly reiterate: I am aware you can read on the device; I am more curious as to what the reading experience is like for an extended duration of time and whether or not it would be so painful as to warrant purchasing an additional device (the rMini). I would rather read on my 24" screen but try as I might, I can't take that into bed or onto the train.

I tend not to read on my iPhone 5 longer than it takes me to **** due to the lack of screen real estate. I wasn't sure whether the extra inch and half would change this (having not had the opportunity to view the new iPhone in person).

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Journals/scanned magazine pages, no. The screen is just too small; even on the iPad Air when I'm reading scanned textbooks I oftentimes find myself having to zoom in on certain sections where text is just a little too small for the screen; the Plus exacerbates that situation a lot and reading static text often becomes a bunch of zooming and swiping.

Are these PDF files you're referencing here?

 

[eelw]

What's your current phone? And how long is your commute? Is it worth while to consume your phone battery during your ride vs carrying the extra device?

 

[ARH1956]

I have a 6+, an rMini and an Air. You can read ok on any of them. I tend to do most reading on a Kindle Paperwhite. The screen isn't high resolution but it is perfect for reading in any light, the battery life is excellent and it's inexpensive enough that most people can afford to buy it as a dedicated reader. The caveat in the OP's situation is whether the academic journals are readily available in the Kindle format.

 

[Rafterman]

Yes, most would assume that an iPad would provide the better reading experience given its larger screen size. However, I am wondering whether the 5.5" screen is large enough to read academic journals/ ebooks comfortably for a duration longer than an hour.

This would save the purchase and relative 'hassle' of two separate devices.

It depends on the document. Apps that fit the page to the screen size, like eBooks, are fine. But for apps that don't, like magazines and journals, the problem is, unlike the iPad, which is more "square" and the pages of magazines fit the whole iPad screen, the narrower iPhone 6/6 Plus doesn't fill the whole screen to fit the page on most magazines and such. It leaves about an inch of blank space on the top and bottom of the screen to keep the proportion of the magazine page. That makes the magazine or journal appear much smaller than the size of the phone's screen, meaning lots of zooming in and out.

 

[Huerz]

What's your current phone? And how long is your commute? Is it worth while to consume your phone battery during your ride vs carrying the extra device?

I'm currently using the iPhone 5 and my commute is 2.5 hours via train, though this is not the only time I would use it to read (at home for an hour or so too). Battery is not an issue as I carry my charger almost everywhere.

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It depends on the document. Apps that fit the page to the screen size, like eBooks, are fine. But for apps that don't, like magazines and journals, the problem is, unlike the iPad, which is more "square" and the pages of magazines fit the whole iPad screen, the narrower iPhone 6/6 Plus doesn't fill the whole screen to fit the page on most magazines and such. It leaves about an inch of blank space on the top and bottom of the screen to keep the proportion of the magazine page. That makes the magazine or journal appear much smaller than the size of the phone's screen, meaning lots of zooming in and out.

To be clear about the document style, here is a link to an example:

http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4473/1/Vol5No1Article4.pdf

Most would follow this style.

 

[Rafterman]

I'm currently using the iPhone 5 and my commute is 2.5 hours via train, though this is not the only time I would use it to read (at home for an hour or so too). Battery is not an issue as I carry my charger almost everywhere.

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To be clear about the document style, here is a link to an example:

http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4473/1/Vol5No1Article4.pdf

Most would follow this style.

Most PDF's that are text based can use reflow, allowing them to fit the screen they are displaying on (like eBooks). Some PDF's are image-based (graphic image copies of each page, as opposed to being composed of text), and they would most likely have the black bars above and below the document, as in my "magazines" example.

You can't tell if a PDF is text based or image based just looking at it. But if you can search inside the document, then it is text based and would work much better on the iPhone 6/6 Plus screen.