Apple has finally relented to a market that demands bigger and bigger smartphones with its newest hero device, the iPhone 6. As always, Apple has created a phone whose specs aren't terribly impressive on paper - trudging along a year or two behind those offered by Android flagships - but offers a...

Elegant design; Exceptional display quality; Fast and reliable performance; Top-notch camera; TouchID button is more useful

Insufficient battery life; Lackluster front-facing camera; Too little storage on default model; no microSD support; Non-replaceable battery; Not dust- or water-resistant

There is explosive demand for bigger smartphones. A 4-inch smartphone feels small now; somewhere around 5 inches is the new normal. Yet too many large-screen phones are cumbersome, awkward, and often just plain bad.

Fantastic camera; Gorgeous display; Excellent performance and battery life

No optimization for the larger screen; Unsightly lines on the back; Awkwardly protruding camera lens

Even though the iPhone 6 is significantly bigger than every previous iPhone, it's still a manageable size. If you've always used an iPhone and aren't sure you want a phablet, the iPhone 6 might be the way to go.

Crisp; bigger screen; Premium build quality; Great camera with cool video features

Small battery; Not waterproof; No microSD card

When it was released in 2014 the iPhone 6 was one of the hottest smartphone on the market. Featuring a completely rethought design, Apple loaded the iPhone 6 with a wealth of custom software and hardware features.

Great 4.7-inch screen; Good all-round camera; Class-leading performance; Great new software features

Expensive; Shorter battery life than rivals

Update: Our iPhone 6 review has been updated now that iOS 10.3.1 has launched and iOS 11 is around the corner. It's still one of the best (and a cheaper price) two and a half years on.

Apple's change to its juggernaut smartphone is here, and it's not just a number change with a fingerprint sensor. This time, the iPhone includes a bigger screen, faster processor, and a new design.

A bigger iPhone; yay; Built beautifully; almost like the iPod Touch as a phone; Reachability (double-tap home) is a neat idea for larger phones; Fast 4G speeds; Finally; 802.11ac is here; Excellent rear camera; iOS 8 now lets you exchange and replace keyboards; With Mac OS X 10.10 "Yosemite," you...

Screen is larger; but not really a huge improvement; Fixed storage with no way of upgrading; Expensive; Slippery; Hand-hold for thumb at the bottom is a bit of a balancing act with a phone this size; NFC can't be used with pretty much anything; Quite a few iOS 8 bugs; Mediocre battery life

None of our other top unlocked phones are the iPhone's hand-friendly, 2.64-inch-wide size. And none of these phones have a camera as good as the iPhone's. But the real reason to spring for an unlocked iPhone 6 isn't hardware, but software and support.

Universal carrier compatibility in the United States; Best third-party apps of any mobile OS; Excellent low-light camera performance; Fast Wi-Fi

Phone calling performance is just okay

Editors' note: On September 7, 2016, Apple debuted the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and discontinued the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus remain available, however, and Apple has increased the storage capacity of the entry-level models to 32GB and lowered their prices to $549 and $649, respectively. The full iPhone 6 review, first published in September 2014, updated to include a CNET Editor's Choice designation in November 2014, and then updated in Summer 2015, follows.

The iPhone 6 is an exceptional phone in nearly every way except its average battery life: it's thin, fast, and features the excellent iOS operating system. It was the best overall phone introduced in 2014.

The iPhone 6 delivers a spacious, crisp 4.7-inch screen, improved wireless speeds, better camera autofocus, and bumped-up storage capacities to 128GB at the top end; iOS remains a top-notch mobile operating system with an excellent ecosystem of apps, and Apple Pay is a smooth, secure payment system.

Battery life isn't much better than it is on last year's iPhone 5S; And there's wasted space: an even larger screen could have been squeezed into the same housing.

The iPhone 6 is a really great smartphone . The new design is very convenient and the manufacturer uses high-quality materials. The build quality is on an excellent level and the performance is first-class as well.

Excellent build quality, Great performance, Decent camera, Very good voice quality, Great display, Decent battery runtimes, Good headphones, We like the build quality and the new design; But the display is convincing as well and finally bigger

NFC can only be used for Apple Pay, Micro stutters, Flash overexposes pictures, Storage cannot be expanded, No LTE Cat; 6, Power adaptor to weak, Issues with some car hands-free solutions, Apple's leadership in terms of innovations.

For years, Apple held onto the smaller 4-inch screen size despite the growing popularity of 5-inch+ Android phones. The release of the iPhone 6 is Apple's white flag in the small screen department.

Improved processor performance; Good battery life; Excellent contrast and color reproduction; Fast auto-focus technology

Screen isn't full HD; Large bezels around screen