Is the iPhone 6s any Good in 2021?

DISCLAIMER: This article was originally published on Medium.com

In 2020, it may feel a little weird to go back to the times of the iPhone 6s. Back then, notches were nonexistent, 3D Touch was the latest big thing and the Home Button was mainstream.

Things have certainly changed a lot since then in the smartphone world. Therefore, I wanted to bring your attention back to this phone.

The iPhone 6s is in what is probably its last year of support and IOS updates. Since this phone was released, Apple as a company has completely transformed.

Never before have we seen them focus so heavily on services such as Apple TV+ or Apple Arcade as a means of generating revenue.

Because of this, I wanted to discuss with you whether I believe that the iPhone 6s is still a decent phone in 2020.

The design is outdated compared to the phones of 2020, but it still serves its purpose well

The most important point I wanted to touch on is the design. Apple is well known for its amazing and consistent design language and this was happening way before the iPhone X was released and paved the way for a new, perhaps uglier build.

The design is simple and gets the job done. Pretty much describes Apples entire design language, really.

One thing you will notice that is out of the ordinary in 2020 is the large bezels at the top and bottom of the phone. Back then, these were perfectly normal and without them, there would be nowhere to house the home button.

Speaking of the home button, this was the norm back then and you had to use it to either unlock your phone or make payments via Apple Pay.

On the side of the phone, you also have another feature that is blatantly missing off of 2020 flagships. The headphone jack.

This was the last phone to feature a headphone jack and, despite the controversy caused at the time, this has turned into the norm for both Android phones and iPhones.

The back of the phone was also made out of aluminium too, a far cry from the fragile glass-backed gadgets we are used to handling today.

This obviously came with a few caveats, most obviously the lack of wireless charging capabilities.

This design is far more durable, though, as whatever Apple may say about the durability of its glass, glass is glass. It will shatter if you use enough force.

All-in-all the design was basic but it served us well at the time and allowed us to get the most out of the headphone jack and the home button, both of which were integral to the iPhone design language and experience at the time.

Even today, the 12mp camera is still very capable and 4k recording is a nice bonus, too

You may have noticed that the megapixel count is still the same on the iPhone 6s as it is on the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The megapixel wars are long gone.

This means that, even on a 5-year-old phone camera, you will end up with sharp, high-quality images that you will be pleased with.

The iPhone 6s also features some additional modes and settings that are common on the latest iPhones today.

These include live photo, slow motion, timelapse and 4k video recording. The HDR is also decent and the camera outputs well-exposed and natural-looking photos, though the saturation is lacking a little compared to other handsets. It even supports the RAW shooting format for photography addicts who want to edit their shots in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

If you were to pick up this phone and start taking casual pictures, you will be very happy with the images you get and this is an impressive feat for a 5-year-old camera.

The A9 chip still runs decently today and IOS 14 is not too laggy, either

Despite the A9 chip being 5 years old, which is effectively eternity in the smartphone world, it still runs very well.

From my experience with the phone on IOS 14, all of the basic social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook run without a hitch.

More demanding apps such as Lightroom Mobile or Real Racing 3 run very well too, but they make take up to a minute or 2 to fully load. The good thing is once they have fully loaded, there is virtually no lag, either.

And as for IOS 14, it has no real noticeable effect on the performance, either. It is relatively speedy and scrolling through apps and swiping up and down leaves you with no lag, despite the heavier OS and the new widgets on the home screen.

It does not affect the home button performance, which is the second generation of Touch ID. The second generation was a major improvement over the first generation and made opening the home screen almost instantaneous.

I can confidently say the experience feels just like that 5 years later.

Overall, IOS 14 on the 6s is still speedy and fast and though this phone will probably not receive IOS 15, I am confident that it would still run decently well on IOS 15, anyhow.

So, should I buy this phone then?

Well, that depends on what you want out of a phone and how long you want to keep the handset.

If you are looking for something basic that will run the likes of Insta and Snap, then this may be a good option, considering that you can find this model refurbished for less than £200, with 64GB or even 128GB of storage, too.

If you don’t mind about support or having the latest software update, this is also a good option though be aware that not having software updates can put you at risk of hacks or viruses.

While this phone can still run heavier apps with relative ease, it may be better to buy a more recent model if you want to play the latest games or edit your photos with Lightroom Mobile.

In this case, take a look at the iPhone SE or the iPhone X or XS if you do not want to spend thousands on the latest model.

But all-in-all, the 6s has been an amazing phone which has lasted us ages, just like most of Apple’s products do.