What time is it now? Oh~ It's 2023! I'm still using the iPhone 6 Plus as my main device. Back in the day, the iPhone 6 Plus was one of the best-selling phones in Apple's history. What kind of experience can this phone still offer in 2023? (Believe me, you probably already have the answer in your mind by the time you're reading this, hehe)
Let's take a quick review#
The iPhone 6 Plus is a smartphone released by Apple on September 9, 2014, and is the larger screen version of the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6 Plus features a 5.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920x1080, powered by the A8 processor, with 1GB of RAM and storage options of 16GB, 64GB, or 128GB. The iPhone 6 Plus has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front camera. It supports LTE networks and originally runs on iOS 8.
My current configuration#
I don't remember how long my dad has had this iPhone 6 Plus, but I found out through iFun that the production date is April 10, 2016 (Week 15), so it must have been bought that year, hahaha. Later, when my dad changed his phone, he gave this one to me, and now I'm feeling a bit sentimental 🙃
Currently, this phone has a capacity of 128GB and runs iOS 12. The color of the casing is space gray, which looks quite nice, although it has some minor wear and tear, overall it looks good.
Daily usage#
Mainstream software#
Mainstream apps include WeChat, QQ, Alipay, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, etc.
WeChat#
- Opening WeChat takes a long time, and it occasionally crashes before entering the main interface. If the phone gets too hot, it crashes frequently.
- Using the last version of WeChat on iOS 12 for scanning codes can take a long time to call the camera, has a high probability of crashing, and the scanning time is prolonged. If the phone gets too hot, it crashes frequently. Just based on this, it's actually not very usable.
- Scrolling through video accounts is relatively smooth, with occasional minor stutters.
- Sending text, voice messages, and sharing memes is still quite smooth, so I'm not too worried.
- If your WeChat version is 7 or above, do not use the built-in camera function to take photos, as it will definitely crash!!
So in summary, WeChat optimization is terrible. If you want smooth performance without crashes, it's recommended to use WeChat version 6 or below (many mini-programs will be unusable); if you want a fully functional WeChat, it's recommended to use v8.0.26.
QQ#
Oh no, even QQ has abandoned the iOS 12 system 😭
- I have just one suggestion: the latest version of QQ is relatively friendly to the iPhone 6 Plus. For my usual usage, just sending messages, checking QQ channels, and scrolling through updates is smooth enough, not too laggy, but not perfectly smooth either.
- The splash screen loads slowly, possibly slower than WeChat's splash screen?
Alipay#
Although Alipay doesn't have a penny for me, I still downloaded it, hahaha.
Here, I have to praise the Alipay team; indeed, Alipay has the best optimization among these five apps, and the experience is very strong 👍
In default fast mode,
- The splash screen speed is relatively fast;
- Scanning codes, wow, that's much faster than WeChat and QQ;
- Interaction speed is quite fast.
Weibo#
Since I don't use Weibo very frequently, I might not experience it fully.
- Scrolling through Weibo is relatively smooth, but it occasionally crashes while browsing.
I haven't used other features much 😭
Xiaohongshu#
Scrolling through Xiaohongshu is okay, smooth.
(I know this sounds too perfunctory, but that's indeed the case, hahaha)
Gaming#
Here, I have to cry a bit, sob sob sob, because there are just too many games that I can't play anymore 😭😭😭
For example, popular games like Peacekeeper Elite, Honor of Kings, and Egg Party are absolutely unplayable; you might be able to download them, but they will definitely crash! Even games like Snake Battle and Ball Battle are unplayable 😅
To be able to play games, I have selected a few that, as of the time of writing, can be played smoothly, which are:
- SimCity
- Plague Inc.
- 100-Days
- San Andreas
- Phigros
- Mini Metro
and others (other games need readers to explore themselves)
Photography experience#
The native camera's pixel quality is still acceptable today, and the photos are clear, which I'm very satisfied with.
😆 About PS#
The beauty camera is also usable, hehe.
Install iFun Assistant, search for the beauty camera on the mobile version, and choose to install versions from 2018 and below; it will run very smoothly, and the beauty effect is also good.
In summary#
In this era, the iPhone 6 Plus may be a bit outdated, as many apps struggle to run on it, and most apps no longer support phones running iOS 12.
With upgrades in hardware and technology, product updates and iterations will continue; outdated products will remain outdated. It's not that old models can't be used, but major software developers have gradually abandoned them. If done well, they can still be used, and Alipay is a positive example.
However, for me, daily usage is already sufficient.