Apple iPhone 6s (T-Mobile)

Apple iPhone 6s (T-Mobile)

Editor Rating: Excellent (4.5)
Apple iPhone 6s (T-Mobile) - Apple iPhone 6s (T-Mobile)
Street PriceAUD 1229.00
  • Pros

    Much better LTE reception than iPhone 6. Excellent cameras. Super-fast processor. 3D Touch has lots of potential.
  • Cons

    Front-facing camera could be sharper. Average battery life.
  • Bottom Line

    The Apple iPhone 6s may look just like its predecessor, but it offers up some real advantages that make the iPhone experience better.

In Apple's iPhone 6s, the "s" could stand for shutterbug, sensitivity, or even for signal. This year's iPhone is faster. As always. It's also made from stronger materials, though the design is otherwise unchanged. The more important jumps come in camera quality, signal reception, and the new 3D Touch pressure-sensitive screen, all of which may push existing iPhone 6 owners over the edge to buy the new smartphone. That's enough to earn the iPhone 6s our Editors' Choice on T-Mobile.

Price and Physical Design

The iPhone 6s starts at $649 for a 16GB model. The 64GB model costs $749, and the 128GB model I reviewed costs $849. If you can afford it, you should skip the 16GB model. I'll get to why a bit later.

The iPhone 6s looks exactly like the iPhone 6. At 5.44 by 2.64 by 0.28 inches (HWD) and 5.04 ounces, it's actually a teeny bit heavier and a little bit thicker than its predecessor (by 0.01-inch and 0.49-ounce), but you really won't notice.

We tested the 6s with a range of iPhone 6 cases. It fit into all of the soft cases, as well as Incipio and Mophie battery cases. It didn't fit into a Pelican Progear Voyager, a hard clear case that snaps all the way around the phone. You may have similar trouble with Otterbox cases.

Just like the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6s has a matte metal back and a glass front with a 4.7-inch, 1,344-by-750-pixel screen. Apple says the display is made from a new Corning glass formulation that's tougher than last year's. Below the screen is the home button, which is also the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. On the back, the camera lens is now slightly larger, and there's an "s" under the word "iPhone" so you don't mix it up with the 6.

Some folks out there say the iPhone is now water-resistant. Apple says it isn't, and we have a policy of not dunking phones that the manufacturer says aren't water-resistant. We suggest you do the same.

Along with the existing black, gold, and silver models, there's a new color, Rose Gold. It's a nice metallic pale pink.

iPhone 6s Size Comparison

From left: Galaxy S6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone 5.

Wireless and Battery Life
Apple has kicked wireless reception up a notch, upgrading from last year's Qualcomm 9x25 modem to the newer 9x35. In Qualcomm parlance, that moves Apple from an X5 modem to an X7 modem. In our tests, that made for better Wi-Fi performance, and support for Category 6 (rather than Category 4) LTE and new frequency bands promise better speeds on AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

As before, the iPhone 6s supports more frequency bands than any other phone on the market today, and all models except Sprint's are unlocked by default if purchased at full price, directly from Apple. That makes the iPhone 6s the ideal phone for global roaming.

There are two models of the 6s, differentiated only by support for AT&T's new Band 30. Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon sell the A1687 model, which lacks band 30. AT&T is the only carrier on earth to use that band, so unless you're planning on switching to AT&T, it shouldn't make a difference to you.

Call quality on the iPhone 6s is solid. The earpiece is loud, noise cancellation is pleasantly aggressive, and the phone supports both voice-over-LTE and T-Mobile's Wi-Fi calling. Interestingly, the main speaker on the bottom of the phone is 1-2dB quieter than on the iPhone 6, and the earpiece is 1-2dB louder. Neither change will affect your conversations that much.

Wi-Fi performance has improved dramatically over the iPhone 6, and now matches the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy Note 5. Close to a router with a 100Mbps Verizon FiOS connection, I got up to 40 percent better speed with the iPhone 6s than with the iPhone 6. With a very weak Wi-Fi signal, I got 5Mbps down on the iPhone 6s as opposed to 1Mbps on the iPhone 6. It's safe to say you will see better Wi-Fi speeds on this phone.

That said, watch out for a key setting in iOS 9 that can cause you some grief if you're on a limited data plan. Wi-Fi Assist lowers the threshold at which the phone flips from Wi-Fi back to cellular, and users are reporting that it's led to surprising increases in cellular data usage. It's on by default; turn it off in Settings > Cellular.

Apple iPhone 6s