[cle]

This is an amazingly detailed review.

But, at the end of the day, fussing over curvy edges, chevroned pixels, and extreme CPU and GPU performance is irrelevant to me. I bought the iPhone 6, but then I took it back and returned to my Nexus 5. I just can't justify spending over $700 (upgrade fees, contract, etc.) for a phone that does nearly everything my current $350 phone does.

I'm sharing this because I hope that some people will avoid this mistake. They're taking advantage of the denomination effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denomination_effect), and I got sucked into it too. For most of the people reading this: your current phone is just fine, save your money and use it for something more important.

[ghshephard]

This really depends on (A) How often you use your phone, (B) What you use your phone for, and (C) most importantly, how old your phone is.

Anybody who actively uses their phone, particularly the Camera, CPU and GPU capability, definitely stands to see a pretty big improvement if they upgrade every three years, and definitely every four. The jump (for me) from the 3GS to the iPhone 5 was massive, particularly around the camera. The shutter is incredibly fast on the iPhone 5. And the Games/Display also were a pretty big leap forward.

Anybody who is currently on an iPhone 4 can definitely justify moving to the iPhone 6 if they are an active user, and I would even suggest there might be value for 4S users.

I'd concur with you that iPhone 5 users can probably wait another round before seriously considering upgrades though, and obviously iPhone 5S users under contract (unless they have some really huge need for the large screens), don't have any need to update anytime soon.

All this is predicated on you owning your phone. Obviously anybody stuck in a contract with the carrier in which they are "subsidized" should just upgrade every two years and re-sell your phone.

[Edit - I just checked out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_5 - The Nexus 5 is less than a year old and already has a 4.9" display. Unless you are a professional phone reviewer, I'm not sure what would motivate you to pick up an iPhone 6. Returning it was almost definitely the right decision]

[rsynnott]

> Anybody who is currently on an iPhone 4 can definitely justify moving to the iPhone 6 if they are an active user, and I would even suggest there might be value for 4S users.

I went from a 4 to a 5S, and was very happy, but I'm not sure that I'd have bothered if I had a 5, or even a 4. Phones don't generally need to be upgraded every year, and most people don't do this.

[saturdaysaint]

If you're on corporate e-mail, which almost always demands a password, I couldn't think of living without TouchID. Even using a dead simple/dumb password or swipe pattern would drive me up the wall.

[ghshephard]

I'm looking forward to touch ID, particularly as I have a 10 digit passcode and a (company enforced) 5 minute timeout on my phone.

[Kaihuang724]

As others have mentioned, it really depends on your use case. I use my phone as my primary camera, and my iPhone 6 is miles better than my iPhone 5. Although if you're not going to be taking advantage of any of the new features, then you're definitely not going to feel like a $700 phone is worth it. Then again, there's no point in even considering an upgrade to any device if your current phone is perfectly suitable.

[koyote]

Wouldn't investing that money in a 'real' camera be more ideal though?

I feel that most phones these days have pretty adequate cameras for their most common use-cases (Instagram, facebook, some holiday/party snaps, etc.).

For any other use-case a proper camera is the way to go in my opinion.

[frandroid]

iPhone 5 and 6 have hardware and software features, like the 1000-gradient flash, that are unavailable on any other camera. It's one of the best point n shoot cameras on the market.

I have a decent DSLR, and I rarely use it because I rarely happen to carry it. Even when I had a Galaxy S, with a pretty poor camera, I was making much more use of the phone camera than I thought I ever would. The affordances for instant editing and posting are just a world apart on smartphones.

[autism_hurts]

The iPhone 6 handily beats your nexus in camera functionality and battery life, not to mention a host of other more "soft" metrics.

[hahainternet]

Right, but that's $700 he'd have to pay to get a slightly better camera and slightly longer battery life. It's not particularly compelling.