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Using the iPhone 6 Plus One-Handed (Video!)

I've been using a Note II for the past two years so I've mastered the art of one-handing big phones without using one-handed mode or any fancy trickery. Nothing new to me.

Kind of like fretting a guitar, if that makes sense.
 
It looks like somebody trying to play thumb war with their phone. Yes it's doable, but looks cumbersome and awkward.
 
Using the iPhone 6 Plus One-Handed (Video!)

Big Dookie said:
So I've seen a few commenters here challenging the idea that using the iPhone 6 Plus with only one hand is practical. One or two have even gone so far as to challenge someone to make a video showing themselves using it that way.

So I did!

Keep in mind that I am a 5'10" male with what I would consider average sized hands for a guy my height. I only did a couple of things because I was short on time, but I tried to focus on some of the more difficult tasks like reaching the far top corner of the device. Using the reachability gesture, there is very little I'm unable to do with one hand.

If there's some other task you want me to show one handed just let me know and I'll try to do a follow up video. Hope this puts some of the questions to bed.

Click to expand...


Your thumb is freakishly big lol.. All your video proved was how awkward and cumbersome a normal sized thumb would be
 
so I made a carboard iphone 6 plus as I do not live close to an apple store and cell phone carriers do not hve them on display yet

I even made it a bit larger than scale 160mm x 80mm x 8mm

it does not look to big at all in my hand, BUT I have seen one in the wild atleast I thougt it was one and it looked huge in the persons using its hands

is it possible what I saw was not even a 6plus? what are some phones with a very similar looked with the rounded edges that has bigger demensions than the 6plus?
 
heisenberg123 said:
so I made a carboard iphone 6 plus as I do not live close to an apple store and cell phone carriers do not hve them on display yet

I even made it a bit larger than scale 160mm x 80mm x 8mm

it does not look to big at all in my hand, BUT I have seen one in the wild atleast I thougt it was one and it looked huge in the persons using its hands

is it possible what I saw was not even a 6plus? what are some phones with a very similar looked with the rounded edges that has bigger demensions than the 6plus?
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure about phones, but there's one great comparison I found accidentally when using my calculator at work. The Casio FX-115 models are very nearly identical in terms of dimensions to the 6+, the only difference being that the Casio is slightly thicker. So if you work in engineering or something where you use calculators a lot like I do, see if you can get your hands on one for comparison.

I will say, I printed out the cutout before hand too, and the phone does feel much bigger in person than it does in the cutout. I suspect the thickness and weight of the actual phone has a lot to do with that perception.
 
heisenberg123 said:
are there smartphones in the market currently with 6" or more screens?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm not aware of one off the top of my head.

Honestly, the best thing you can do would be to head down to a store that has a display model of one. I was in Best Buy a couple days ago and they had both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on display. Nothing beats seeing the real thing in person.
 
Big Dookie said:
You mean like the drop down notes from notification center? I mean, obviously it would be impossible to reach them without using the gesture, but it wasn't exactly easy to do even on the 5/5s. Generally if I saw the notification, I'd just tap on the messages or email app in the dock at the bottom and reply that way.

But yes, you've got me there, if I absolutely needed to do the quick reply to a notification drop-down it would likely be next to impossible, as would accessing the notification center itself.

As for the sleep button, I doubt anyone would be able to push the sleep button with one hand while still being able to reach the home button unless they are Andre the Giant or JJ Watt. That said, was this something you could do on the iPhone 5, or even the previous 3.5" iPhones? Honest question, I don't have my old one here in front of me so I can't test it, but it seems like it'd be a tough thing to do even on those models, especially since the sleep button is up on the top of the device.

For me, the real crux of the issue isn't "Can I do everything one-handed", but is instead, "Can I do most things one-handed?" For the most part, I'd have to say yes. It is perfectly functional to use one-handed in most every day tasks. I personally will still use two hands as often as possible because that's just always how I've used my phones since smart phones became a thing, but in a pinch, one-handed use is not a big deal.
Click to expand...

Problem is, the gesture doesn't work for bringing down notification at the top or for accessing the Notification Center on the lock screen.

As for the sleep button, yes, on the 5 you (or at least I) can certainly reach it. Even on the 6 you can reach it while still having the phone in your hand in the natural way you would hold it.

For me, the crux of the issue isn't can't I do most things, but can I do the things I most OFTEN do one handed. Using the sleep button I do almost everytime I use the phone, as soon as Im done, I have the habit of putting the screen to sleep..been doing it for years. Its also exclusively how I end phone calls, again been doing it for years.

Same with using the drop down notifications...I love that since it came out and now its even better with being able to reply right on the screen. The 6+ took that feature away and it was a deal breaker for me so I sold the 6+.
 
HXGuyAZ said:
Problem is, the gesture doesn't work for bringing down notification at the top or for accessing the Notification Center on the lock screen.

As for the sleep button, yes, on the 5 you (or at least I) can certainly reach it. Even on the 6 you can reach it while still having the phone in your hand in the natural way you would hold it.

For me, the crux of the issue isn't can't I do most things, but can I do the things I most OFTEN do one handed. Using the sleep button I do almost everytime I use the phone, as soon as Im done, I have the habit of putting the screen to sleep..been doing it for years. Its also exclusively how I end phone calls, again been doing it for years.

Same with using the drop down notifications...I love that since it came out and now its even better with being able to reply right on the screen. The 6+ took that feature away and it was a deal breaker for me so I sold the 6+.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. In that case, I'd probably say the regular 6 is a better fit for you then, absolutely. Which is great, because both phones are quite excellent, and I'm glad Apple gave us the choice of sizes this time around.
 
heisenberg123 said:
are there smartphones in the market currently with 6" or more screens?
Click to expand...

The HTC One Max, one of the Xiaomi phones, the Galaxy Mega, the Lumia 1520 (?) for starters.

The HTC One Max was overkill for me, I had one as a work phone. 5.5 - 5.7" in the existing footprint is probably the biggest I can tolerate.

edit - oops, the Max was a 5.9".
 
I was thinking of making a video cause after 24 hours I am back to one handed use even on my 6+ I can do it with the apple keyboard but it's even quicker and easier with swiftkey(when it decides to pop out) just have to adjust how you hold it
 
Big Dookie said:
So I've seen a few commenters here challenging the idea that using the iPhone 6 Plus with only one hand is practical. One or two have even gone so far as to challenge someone to make a video showing themselves using it that way.

So I did!

Keep in mind that I am a 5'10" male with what I would consider average sized hands for a guy my height. I only did a couple of things because I was short on time, but I tried to focus on some of the more difficult tasks like reaching the far top corner of the device. Using the reachability gesture, there is very little I'm unable to do with one hand.

If there's some other task you want me to show one handed just let me know and I'll try to do a follow up video. Hope this puts some of the questions to bed.

Click to expand...

I'm about your size and in the video you had to fiddle with it a bit which isn't good for me.
 
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