Apple's iPhone 6s, 6s Plus win Anandtech's "Editors Choice Gold" award
Anandtech has awarded Apple's new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus the site's "Editors' Choice Gold" ranking, the first iPhone to ever rank that highly and only the second phones to receive it since the site began in 1997.
In a 15 page report detailing the new iPhones, Joshua Ho & Ryan Smith wrote that the criteria for the Editors' Choice Gold award is a product that is "not only one of the best in its category and an extremely good product in a vacuum, but pushes the smartphone user experience forward in significant ways."
Of particular interest in the site's report is a detailed overview of Apple's A9, which concluded, "in a nutshell A9 and [its CPU core design named] Twister are a very potent update to Apple's CPU performance, delivering significant performance increases from both architectural improvements and from clockspeed improvements."
It further noted, "A8 and Typhoon already set a high bar for the industry, but A9 and Twister will make chasing Apple all the harder."
The site compiled a series of benchmarks ranging from general web browser and JavaScript performance to system, memory and graphics, noting that, in "looking at Basemark OS II, once again Apple is basically taking the lead across the board," and in "GFXBench, the A9 SoC just shows absurd performance."
It added, "Overall, the Apple A9 SoC is the best SoC in any phone shipping today."
After detailing video game benchmarks run by GFXBench, the site noted that "iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are basically pegging T-Rex at the maximum possible frame rate for most of a 3-4 hour infinite run of this intense benchmark ... No other SoC I've tested this year can sustain this level of performance for this level of time."
Regarding its camera, the site noted, "Overall, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are pretty consistently good cameras. In some ways Apple is losing out in raw detail for photos because they went with a smaller sensor size than most, but in general color reproduction, post-processing, and low light photo quality and overall camera UX Apple is leading quite strongly."
In video, it concluded that "overall, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are both some of the best phones on the market for video capture. The iPhone 6s Plus manages to lead over the iPhone 6s by virtue of its OIS, but even without it the iPhone 6s is clearly pulling ahead of others when it comes to slow motion and 4K video capture. Looking at both video and still image performance together, the iPhone 6s Plus arguably has the best camera in an iOS or Android smartphone today."
The reviewers concluded, "Overall, after spending all this time with the iPhone 6s I can't find anything really wrong with this phone. On the contrary, the A9 SoC is a huge jump in performance even relative to other SoCs on the same process node to give impressive application performance. The storage solution is unlike anything else in mobile that I've seen so far. The camera's overall user experience is just about the best that you can get on the market. 3D Touch is a big improvement in user experience, while TouchID v2 and always-on Siri are worthwhile improvements in user experience. The only real issues I can think of are that the iPhone 6s doesn't have OIS and that the base SKU is still 16GB of storage... However, despite these issues I would argue that the iPhone 6s' are the best phones you can buy today."
There's lots of technical details delving into the design of A9 and other technical aspects of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in the extensive review.
In a 15 page report detailing the new iPhones, Joshua Ho & Ryan Smith wrote that the criteria for the Editors' Choice Gold award is a product that is "not only one of the best in its category and an extremely good product in a vacuum, but pushes the smartphone user experience forward in significant ways."
Of particular interest in the site's report is a detailed overview of Apple's A9, which concluded, "in a nutshell A9 and [its CPU core design named] Twister are a very potent update to Apple's CPU performance, delivering significant performance increases from both architectural improvements and from clockspeed improvements."
It further noted, "A8 and Typhoon already set a high bar for the industry, but A9 and Twister will make chasing Apple all the harder."
The site compiled a series of benchmarks ranging from general web browser and JavaScript performance to system, memory and graphics, noting that, in "looking at Basemark OS II, once again Apple is basically taking the lead across the board," and in "GFXBench, the A9 SoC just shows absurd performance."
It added, "Overall, the Apple A9 SoC is the best SoC in any phone shipping today."
After detailing video game benchmarks run by GFXBench, the site noted that "iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are basically pegging T-Rex at the maximum possible frame rate for most of a 3-4 hour infinite run of this intense benchmark ... No other SoC I've tested this year can sustain this level of performance for this level of time."
Regarding its camera, the site noted, "Overall, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are pretty consistently good cameras. In some ways Apple is losing out in raw detail for photos because they went with a smaller sensor size than most, but in general color reproduction, post-processing, and low light photo quality and overall camera UX Apple is leading quite strongly."
"The iPhone 6s' are the best phones you can buy today"
In video, it concluded that "overall, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are both some of the best phones on the market for video capture. The iPhone 6s Plus manages to lead over the iPhone 6s by virtue of its OIS, but even without it the iPhone 6s is clearly pulling ahead of others when it comes to slow motion and 4K video capture. Looking at both video and still image performance together, the iPhone 6s Plus arguably has the best camera in an iOS or Android smartphone today."
The reviewers concluded, "Overall, after spending all this time with the iPhone 6s I can't find anything really wrong with this phone. On the contrary, the A9 SoC is a huge jump in performance even relative to other SoCs on the same process node to give impressive application performance. The storage solution is unlike anything else in mobile that I've seen so far. The camera's overall user experience is just about the best that you can get on the market. 3D Touch is a big improvement in user experience, while TouchID v2 and always-on Siri are worthwhile improvements in user experience. The only real issues I can think of are that the iPhone 6s doesn't have OIS and that the base SKU is still 16GB of storage... However, despite these issues I would argue that the iPhone 6s' are the best phones you can buy today."
There's lots of technical details delving into the design of A9 and other technical aspects of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in the extensive review.
Comments
Some of the comments on the Anandtech article certainly think so. One went into a tizzy saying that it couldn't be the best because it didn't have a file manager.
Whatever, android is better at everything!
True, especially security holes
Being the best means the only way they can go from here is down. Another sure sign the end is nigh for Apple.
Let me guess, 95% of those 250 comments are hateful rants.
Yeah, saw that number of comments in the graphic up at top of the page. I can only 'imagine' what kind of comments they are.
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On another note; I don't understand what is meant from the reviewer by "The storage solution is unlike anything else in mobile that I've seen so far." What does that mean?
Edit: Guess I have to take back my snark about the comments on the review. They are mostly positive.
I've just come to expect 'Apple hate' comments on tech sites as the norm.
Edit again: Found the part in the review about storage. All quite amazing.
Whatever, android is better at everything!
But but but Sony Xperia 5X has 800 PPI, how come iPhone is still better?
"On the SoC side, it’s pretty safe to say that the A9 SoC is the best SoC in any phone today"
"At the end of the all that really matters is that the phone delivers the best user experience in areas where GPU or CPU performance is a gating factor"
"Gaming on the iPhone is going to be the best possible experience due to its incredibly high unthrottled GPU performance and the length of time that it’s able to sustain that unthrottled GPU performance. No other SoC I've tested this year can sustain this level of performance for this level of time."
"The iPhone’s storage solution here is ahead of everything else in the industry for three clear reasons"
"Burst photography and camera speed are also improved as a result of better storage."
"Overall, all of these things come together to make noticeable differences in user experience. "
"The addition of 1080p120 slow motion video only magnifies just how far ahead Apple is in this segment when compared to Android smartphones."
1. I can't stand DED's bias
2. I can't stand any expressions of Apple fanboyism
3. 881ppi is totally useful for boosting my self-esteem
4. Android is better at everything
5. Cherry picking, I have it on the authority of "some people say."
6. Anand works for Apple, yeah that must be why
And if the guy who started Anandtech wasn't currently an Apple employee, that might mean something.
And he sold AnandTech last year after he went to Apple.
After trying the 6s and reading all these positive
Reviews, it really makes it hard to wait.
I must wait, I must wait, I must wait....????
Plug your ears and sing "lalala! The knockoff is better than the real thing!!"
It's a shame about the ridiculous 16gb starter that's just there to ensure more people buy the 64gb model.
I've been reading Anandtech reviews for a long time now. They're pretty comprehensive, to put it mildly, and obviously quite informative too.
The "Editors Choice Gold" award, which is extremely rare, is apparently causing delusional Fandroids, simplistic Apple haters and various other forms for mentally ill people to completely lose their minds, as if they weren't pretty messed up already to begin with. A quick skimming over the comments section on Anandtech confirms this, and when the conspiracy theorists show up, that's when you know that the real nutjobs and the people who live in damp basements have arrived. Many of them are in a total state of denial.
Apple is just killing it on the CPU/GPU front and Fandroids can take their pathetic 8 core, or however many core Android phone they have, and just face reality. The reality being that their phone is far weaker and worse in just about every imaginable way. From the design, to the speed, to the smoothness, to the OS, to the apps, basically everything. It's like comparing the male anatomy of a midget VS John Holmes. A total waste of time, in other words. That's how much better the iPhone is compared to everything else that's out there, and that's why Apple is selling them by the millions and millions.
I Am really trying to hold until the iPhone 7.
After trying the 6s and reading all these positive
Reviews, it really makes it hard to wait.
I must wait, I must wait, I must wait....????
I love having iPhone Forever upgrades with Sprint.
Spot on review, I love how detailed Anandtech are.
It's a shame about the ridiculous 16gb starter that's just there to ensure more people buy the 64gb model.
Buy some Apple shares and you won't think it's a "shame" any longer...instead you'll view it as a smart business decision that's reaping massive benefits.
Whatever, android is better at everything!
Haha what a great imitation of an Android fanboy!