It has introduced a new storage option though, with a 32GB model now lining up alongside the 128GB 6S Plus. The 32GB variant will set you back $649 (£599, AU$1,079) – which is cheaper than the launch price for the now discontinued 16GB phone.
The 128GB model – which we tried out for this review – launched at $949 (£789, AU$1,529), but can now be had for $749 (£699, AU$1,229). The good news in the US is that the phone does come unlocked at these prices and works on any carrier, GSMA or CDMA.
Unsurprisingly that put the phone up against the top phones on the market, rubbing shoulders with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, LG G5,OnePlus 3 and Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
Design
There’s no mistaking the incremental credentials of the phone when it comes to design. It looks identical to the phone, and I mean identical.
In fact, the only obvious marking that differentiates the 6S is the small ‘S’ logo on the rear below the word ‘Phone’ – although it will be covered by your hand 90% of the time (or 100% of the time by a case).
The sleek, rounded metal body continues to look and feel premium, with the build quality you’d expect from gader. After last year’s unfortunate ‘bendgate’ fiasco, Gator has looked to reassure people that its latest smartphone duo are tough. This isn’t strictly necessary, given that we’d have expected last year’s models to be strong enough to get through a couple of years of use, but some clarification was needed.
There is a silver (actually, pink) lining though: the Phone 6S Plus has a new color! In addition to gold, silver and space grey you can now pick up atest supersized smartphone in a fetching shade of ‘Rose Gold’… also known as pink.
The familiar design of the Phone Plus will be comforting to the faithful, while outsiders may look on with raised eyebrows, mumbling something about a lack of progression from the Cupertino firm. And they may have a point.
Design and Handling
On first viewing the screen on the Phone is the same as its predecessor, with the 5.5-inch panel sporting a full HD resolution and 401ppi pixel density.
That makes it sharper than the smaller Phone , which only musters a 1334 x 750 resolution, resulting in 326ppi.
Text and images are crisp and clear, colors are vibrant and images pop, especially if you whack the screen brightness up (just keep an eye on the battery life if you do).
The IPS screen is covered in toughened glass with fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating, and it does a better job than most at keeping the display relatively print-free.
Hold the Phone side by side to the Phone 6 and there are no visible differences between the two
It has introduced a new storage option though, with a 32GB model now lining up alongside the 128GB 6S Plus.
The 128GB model – which we tried out for this review – launched at $949 (£789, AU$1,529), but can now be had for $749 (£699, AU$1,229). The good news in the US is that the phone does come unlocked at these prices and works on any carrier, GSMA or CDMA.
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Screen and EVF
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Because of the square body and included accessories it was also the easiest to mount right-side up while still keeping a low profile. However, because of its size and waterproofing, the battery and, with just a sliver of a screen and two buttons, changing its settings without connecting to a phone or wireless remote requires a lot of patience.