It might seem like I'm being hyperbolic but, man, this phone is just a huge leap forward for me relative to any other phone I've owned. It's smooth, fast, and really is a joy to use.
Here are the key things that really make this phone stand out for me.
The Good
- It's so freaking smooth to use. Like, everything just "glides" as I move it around. The animation transitions are all not jittery. They just look perfect as they execute. It's as if I have suddenly found out how Android is supposed to behave. There is not a stutter in sight. It just works wonderfully and that interaction where everything does what it is supposed to without any hiccups really forced me to admit I actually like interacting with the phone.
- It's fast. This is partially related to the prior item dealing with smoothness becuase all of the transitions and animates are fast and flawless. But, beyond the visual UI experience the antennae for WIFI and LTE are so much better than what I've had in any phone before. In my office we have some big wifi dead spots - but I don't have any with this phone and downloads on the wifi or lte networks happen so much faster than they did on any of my previous phones. I couldn't believe how quickly I got all the apps I really wanted onto the phone. Just, bam! and they were downloaded.
- The screen feels huge even though the phone is only a little bigger than my prior phone, a (Sony Xperia XZ)[https://
rawlinson.us/ 2017/ sony-xperia-xz---a-brief-review]. That's because there is almost no bezel on the top or bottom of the phone. So, while the phone is just a touch wider and taller than the Sony I have a ton more real-estate space. - The 1+ 6 has a notch; it's a smallish notch and it's the first phone I've had with a notch. I have remained somewhat skeptical of the idea of a notch. But, now that I've interacted with one I have to give kudos to Apple for the idea. 1+ executed it well but Apple thought of it. Basically, it's like they've just moved the notification bar up and out of the way. The notification bar was already, basically, a waste of useful screen real-estate so having those icons and clock and whatnot in the top area with the notch frees up the good area of the screen while only using a bit of bezel for the camera and the rest is utilized for the notifications and such. It's really nice actually.
- The camera is pretty solid to me. I'm not photog but I do take a lot of photos and both the front and rear facing cameras seem to take really nice photos. The rear camera has it's own version of "dark vision" like the Pixel. I know it isn't as good as the Pixel's but it took a pretty good photo when I tried it. This photo was in a low-light situation and the area behind my friend was really dark but it picked up everything nicely. Maybe a bit too much sharpness but overall I'm impressed.
Here is a selfie using the front facing camera as I show off my reddit secret santa loot
And, yeah, I need a shave.
- It came with a case. It's a "jelly" style case that covers the back and does nothing to protect the screen but it's a nice touch that in included a case.
- The face unlock works really well. I don't know if it is a good idea to use it - but it gets the phone into "lets do this mode" so fast I am reluctant to turn it off.
The Bad
- I don't like the finger print reader. It's probably fine but the small shape makes it awkward to use. It would be better if the area for it were round.
Summary
Yeah, that was it - one thing I don't like and it's a niggle of an issue. This phone rocks. Assuming 1+ does a good job of keeping the phone updated and their future phones are as well made as this one I don't forsee me switching to another manufacturer again. This phone is awesome.
Phones I've had before:
- Iphone 3S
- Samsung Galaxy 2
- Samsung Galaxy S5
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Active
- Sony Galaxy S8 (wife's but I've used it a lot)
- Sony Xperia XZ
This phone is hands down better than any of the others I've owned or used. I bought my kids 1+ 3T's for Christmas last year and thought I liked the look/feel of them when I set them up but I didn't realize the phones 1+ make were so good. I liked my Sony phone but I'm really glad I've moved onto this 1+ 6.
I didn't get the 6T because this one was much less expensive and the majority of the internals between the two were identical.