5.5-inch iPhone 6 is worth buying: 15 upgrades

As the largest iPhone ever, the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus has been receiving a lot of attention since its initial exposure. Now that the device has been officially released, let's take stock of all its new features.

1. The first giant-screen iPhone

Apple packed all the features of the iPhone 6 into a phone that's 7.1mm thin, making the iPhone 6 Plus the thinnest giant-screen phone on the market. Unfortunately, it's very large, even for a giant phone. The screen-to-body ratio on the Plus isn't as good as it could be, thanks to the Touch ID sensor.

2. Optical image stabilization

The iPhone 6 Plus camera is equipped with optical image stabilization technology, which can greatly improve the performance of low-light and night-time shooting. Optical image stabilization will suspend the entire camera module to compensate for the shaking during shooting.

3. Ultra-long battery life

The iPhone 6 Plus has a huge 1080p display and a high-performance A8 processor. Thanks to the 20nm chip manufacturing process and new packaging technology, the battery of this phone (rumored to be 2915mAh) has the longest battery life of any iPhone.

4. Landscape and One-Handed Interface Mode

For easy one-handed operation, the iPhone 6 Plus has a one-handed mode that shrinks the entire interface to within the reach of the thumb. In addition, the iOS 8 interface of this device provides a full horizontal screen mode, which is rare even among Android phones with large screens.

5. Faster A8 chip

Apple's new A8 chip has improved clock speed and manufacturing process, and like the A7, it has additional cores dedicated to low-level tasks (such as sensor management) to achieve higher energy efficiency.

6. New iSight sensor

Although the iPhone 6 Plus's camera resolution remains at 8 megapixels, Apple has made significant improvements to both the camera module and software, including new sensors and more manual controls.

7. Focus Pixels

The iPhone 6 Plus has a new technology called Focus Pixels that helps lock focus and dramatically speed up photo taking. This is a feature borrowed from DSLRs that lets the pixel in question decide which direction to focus in and how far to move the lens. With this feature, continuous autofocus changes are automatic and almost imperceptible.

8. Upgraded video shooting

The new iSight sensor and image processor let you shoot 1080p video at 60 frames per second, slow-motion video at 240fps, and time-lapse video. Continuous autofocus keeps the subject in focus while you shoot.

9. New FaceTime HD camera

The front-facing camera on iPhone 6 Plus has also been improved. The FaceTime HD camera now has a new sensor and a larger f/2.2 aperture, which allows it to capture 80 percent more light. iPhone 6 also improves facial recognition for selfies and group selfies. And it adds a burst mode, which lets you take 10 selfies per second.

10. VoLTE support

iPhone 6 Plus adds support for LTE voice calls, which can improve the clarity of voice during calls.

11. Faster LTE and multi-band support

The iPhone 6 Plus can now reach download speeds of up to 150Mbps -- if the carrier supports it. It also supports more LTE bands, making it compatible with carrier network standards around the world.

12. Faster Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Calling

The iPhone 6 Plus can now download over 1Gbps Wi-Fi/ac networks, as long as your broadband carrier and router support it. Wi-Fi calling is a new feature that allows high-quality calls when the signal is poor.

13. Air pressure sensor

The iPhone 6 Plus has a new barometric pressure sensor built into the body that can measure relative elevation differences by sensing air pressure. The barometer is perfect for use with fitness apps, including Apple's own Health app.

14. NFC

NFC has many benefits, and many Android and Windows Phone phones have already added this feature. Now, Apple's participation is expected to bring a real explosion in the field of mobile payment systems and authentication. In addition, Apple has also brought the mobile payment system Apple Pay, which seamlessly integrates hardware, software and services, allowing users to easily pay for shopping.

15. 128GB capacity version

Many people expect the iPhone to have a 128GB storage space version, and now, the iPhone 6 Plus finally provides such an option. However, the 128GB version is not cheap, priced at $499 (about RMB 3,060) with a two-year contract.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.