So my current phone, an iPhone 3GS which I bought outright in 2009, has been getting a little long in the tooth. I’ve been thinking about options for replacement, and had pondered trying to get an old stock iPhone 5S through a 3rd party retailer, since they’re still available in a 64gb version. The iPhone 5S models Apple sells since the iPhone 6 release, are 16 & 32gb only.
So, I went to the Apple store to check out the feel of the current lineup. In short, neither of them are particularly nice.
The iPhone 5S feels cheap and hollow. It’s too light for its apparent volume. While the rectangular design is pretty, it’s an unpleasant object to hold in your hand.
The iPhone 6 is a completely different experience. It’s heavier, having what feels like the correct weight for its size, or rather, the correct feeling of density for its size. The screen is tremendous, and looks more real and less like a screen than the 5s, I suspect because the panel is closer to the surface of the glass. While the curved back and front edges feel fantastic in the hands, the simple fact is that the phone is too big. In order to hold it in a way that’s comfortable for reaching the home button, so much of the phone cantilevers out over the top of your hand, that you never feel it’s safe unless you’re gripping onto it. Contrast that with my 3GS:
Here I can sit the phone in my hand, and use it without any need to physically hold it in place, the weight and shape of the phone keep it in place.
Added to this, the glassy-smooth surface of the iPhone 6 simply feels too slippery. Combined with the projecting into space cantilever, every second of holding it resulted in buttock-clenching terror.
The only thing I’ve held that felt less secure in my hand, was a live, wriggling fish.
Now, I could, and probably would, get a leather or silicone skin if I was going to buy this phone. That would alleviate the slipperiness, and ensure that the camera lens wasn’t projecting out into space from the back of the phone – which is another mark against the iPhone 6. However, it would make the phone even bigger.
So, I think I’m going to sit out this round of phones, yet again, and stay with my 3GS. Perhaps when Apple makes a device with an iPhone 5S (or smaller) sized screen, in an iPhone 6 denisity and shape, and gives it 64gb of storage, I’ll look into buying again.
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