I miss you iPhone 6s Plus. I traded you in for the new and shiny and exciting iPhone X, but I wish I had kept you.
The iPhone 6s Plus was, and still is a great phone. A beautiful large screen for watching movies and videos. A great camera and an honest-to-goodness dedicated earphone jack. Still, when the newest iPhone was getting all the hype, I fell for it.
So why am I disappointed in the iPhone X? Why is the newest iPhone not the best iPhone?
First I don’t like facial ID. Sure it’s handy when there’s water or something on my fingers which kept the iPhone 6s to recognize and open the lock screen, but like a lot of people who keep their phones on their desk at work, it isn’t convenient to pick up the phone and hold it in front of your face just to check notifications. With the iPhone 6s, the 7 and 8, you can reach over, touch the home button (I miss you too), and lean over to see who’s tweeted, or emailed.
This is the single biggest reason I hate the iPhone X.
Another reason I prefer the iPhone 6s Plus is the size of the screen. Sure the iPhone X has a larger screen but it’s smaller when you count the notch at the top of the screen. YouTube videos are smaller and there isn’t as much screen real estate for other apps and websites. This may not be noticeable for people who’ve been using a standard version iPhone, but for ‘S’ people, you’re probably not going to like it.
I do miss the earphone jack. I shoot video with my phone and most external microphones plug into the earphone jack. Microphones such as the Rode Video Mic Go will plug into the lightning charging port with an adapter but using one of the steady-cams I have that keeps the phone charged. I can’t shoot and keep the battery charged at the same time. That is the case with the 7 and 8 as well.
Don’t get me wrong iPhone X is a fine phone. It just isn’t the best phone out there. That would be the iPhone 8. I simply cannot put my finger (pun intended) on one thing that’s better on an iPhone X than on the 8, or even the 7 plus.
If I had to do it again, I’d trade in my iPhone 6s Plus for a 7 Plus, maybe the 8 Plus. But I’d hold off on the X. You’re going to miss that home button as much as you miss the $1,000 you paid for it.