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10 Game-Changing Things Not Found on the iPhone 6

Apple has announced lots of big changes for the iPhone 6, but it’s surely far from perfect we tell you. While it’s true that it can do some or a lot of things better than its other competitors, the are definitely lots of features that make the iPhone 6 worth skipping.

iphone 6

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

1. Wireless Charging

Wireless charging can be found on lots of devices – Nokia & Google being the ones who use it very often on their devices. Apple on the other hand has never utilized it and has used their own Lightning for charging. Basically, what this is is a feature where you have a charging pad and you just place your device on top of it and it will start to charge, even without plugging in a cable to your phone.

wireless charging orb

A lot of manufacturers are placing twists into device charging – fast charging, USB 3.0 to name a few. If Apple were to incorporate wireless charging, it would be interesting to see how they’d design the charger itself. Maybe in the iPhone 6S, we’ll see, but for now, iPhone fans can only dream.

2. Optical Image Stabilization

lumia-1020-lens

If you’ve read into the new iPhones, then I know you’re going to call me out that the iPhone 6 Plus has OIS – the camera technology that allows you to capture with less shake – but to counter, except for the display & the horizontal orientation, you’re paying an extra $100 for an iPhone 6 Plus that exclusively has Optical Image Stabilization. The iPhone 6, which will appeal to the usual iPhone crowd, does not have this feature, and I’m sure a lot of people will believe that the 6 and the 6 Plus are the same. Sadly, they’re not – and if you get the iPhone 6, you’re missing out on OIS, something that, again, Nokia, Samsung, LG, HTC and a lot more have used on their phones already.

3. Laser Auto-Focus

lgg3-button

Here’s a flagship feature that’s exclusive to LG, debuting in the LG G3. Laser auto-focus basically allows the camera to focus faster on the subject by firing lasers to get a sense of depth. Apple is going with an approach they’d call Focus Pixels, but in terms of technology, we think we’d put more faith on this type of hardware. And while we have yet to see how the iPhone 6’s camera performs (and we are hoping it lives up to its promises), we can’t deny that it’s at least cool to have lasers. Lasers are cool.

4. Front-Facing Speakers

HTC comes into mind when I think about front-facing speakers, but only because they execute it so well. This type of thing is not exclusive to HTC – Sony has done it, Motorola has done it, Samsung has done it – and in those cases, audio quality has improved for the most part versus your conventional bottom or rear-facing speakers.

htc-one2014

If you think about it, it does make sense to have music fired directly at you, and if the manufacturer can implement stereo, that’d be great. If only Apple implemented front-facing speakers, their new iPhones would be better multimedia machines… but sadly, they didn’t just yet.

5. Buttonless Control

Knocking on the screen to wake it up? Grabbing your phone to look at and it displays notifications? Waving over it to scroll through content? Those things aren’t new, and if not overdone, can prove to be very useful. Apple has done none of these things while LG, Motorola, Samsung and a lot more OEMs are – and they’re all using it to create unique experiences for their flagships.

SGS4 hover

This feature makes more sense on the larger iPhone 6 Plus, but it would be nice if Apple took some tricks and polished them to their own benefit too.

6. Xenon Flash

Again, a not so new feature which goes all the way back to the era of Symbian. Well, we can’t disregard the fact that LED has its pros over Xenon and the other way around, but who says we can’t have both? It really does up the photography experience for a lot of users, so safe to say, that’s one thing a lot of PureView & Galaxy K Zoom users will be enjoying while the iPhone 6 can’t join in.

7. Heart Rate Monitor

back-galaxys5

Something crazy, but not useless – Samsung has incorporated heart rate monitors into their devices for fitness purposes, and it does bring a level of depth to the experience. If you want to keep a closer eye on your heart but you don’t want to buy any wearable, then a heart rate monitor can prove to be useful. Also, it can also be tapped to take photos as announced with the Galaxy Note 4.

8. More Color Options

Nokia Lumia 930 1

Gray, silver and gold – those are all the options that you have for choosing an iPhone 6. Apple may have colors for their iPods and iPhone 5Cs, but those are definitely not flagship material. All I have to do is point you to Nokia’s flagship phones and you’ll find a great range of colors to choose from. Motorola is doing great as well with their Moto Maker, and while Samsung & HTC may have a few subjective design choices, at least they have more than three colors.

9. Better Battery

Apple has made the iPhone thinner once again, they’ve added in more powerful internals and they’ve made everything efficient to compensate for the power hungry hardware; I think this means to say they’re just trying to preserve the usual iPhone battery life, not improve it. Other manufacturers on the other hand are working harder to add in larger capacity batteries into their phones, and so far, the reviews are doing great for them. Why not stay with the iPhone 5’s thinness and just add in more battery from there? That might be better.

10. Water Resistance / Waterproofing

xperiaz

Finally, the one thing I personally wanted to see in the new iPhone but got disappointed – water resistance or waterproofing. Sony’s Xperia line has been bathing (pun intended) in advertisements and has become known for having waterproof devices in the lineup. Samsung also wishes to follow suit, but they’ve done so with compromises in design that needs more polishing. HTC’s Butterfly is joining in too, and with all of these manufacturers joining in the bandwagon, it’s safe to say there’s a demand for protecting your devices against water. When a flood comes, we might see crazy photos underwater – but they won’t be done using iPhones without bulky cases.

Special Mention: Bluetooth & NFC file sharing – We’re not counting on this, but it is still indeed something that the iPhone cannot do – share files via Bluetooth with other platforms. Also, while NFC is already found on Apple’s new devices, it’s only for Apple Pay – we still don’t have anything similar to Android Beaming.

Did we miss anything important? Or have you been looking for a feature that Apple failed to deliver with the iPhone 6? Feel free to leave your comments and opinions down below! Have friends who are interested in the iPhone 6 — share this with them to see if they still do.

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Avatar for Bob Freking

Bob Freking occasionally contributes articles to the website. He is a UST Graduate of Commerce & Business Administration, Major in Marketing Management, and a full-time Sith Lord with three dragons.

34 Responses

  1. Avatar for Pumpii Pumpii says:

    Poor samsung.. What a shame! Haha I’m impressed with the Galaxy Note 4 but not impressed on how they market their products. If you really have a good product then be confident about it! Other smartphone brands running android looks more of an imitation than apple’s iPhone 6 plus.. Maybe Samsung doesn’t mean ‘imitation’ but ‘intimidation’! Hahah Scared to lose the phablet territory? Looks like it is..

    • Avatar for cho cho says:

      kaka-release lang ng iphone 6 plus ang feeling mo ang mukhang imitation eh yung mga devices na released na a couple of years ago? kung may kawawa dito ikaw yun. brainwashed fanboy

  2. Avatar for Converse Converse says:

    I searched online kung kelan magiging available yung iphone 6 plus dito sa pinas, I guess I have to wait few months as reports says demand for iPhone 6 on its pre-selling for first few countries was overwhelming! It looks like walang kwenta tong mga game charger stuff na to na wala naman sa iphone 6 and 6 plus but people who want to buy it is incredible. Yung samsung naman di pa maka-get over sa pambabash sa apple and really putting an effort on its sarcastic ads. Apple’s response? Deadma lang. Instead giving Free U2 album on its itunes users and spent $100 million for it. Money well spent for over 800 million users..

  3. Avatar for fce fce says:

    ‘Game Changing Thing’ is a relative term. A thing maybe a game changer for you but not for me. I respect the opinion of the writer but here is my take on the subject:
    *Wireless Charging- Can do without it and Cable is fine.
    *OIS , Laser Auto Focus, Xenon Flash- my camera has these options and don’t really need it in my phone.
    *Front facing Speakers- again what’s wrong with the rear speaker if it has excellent volume.
    *Heart Rate Monitor- My unit is not a medical equipment and was not expecting this on my phone.
    *more colors- Black is fine. If a rainbow color is available, I’ll take it. Though I will be afraid to get caught with it like holding a LIBERACE purse.
    *Water Resistant – No big deal as I don’t plan to go deep sea fishing anytime soon.
    * NFC- not having it is fine. Like the saying goes ‘You won’t miss it if you don’t have it’ right?
    *Better Battery- Maybe the battery of the Iphone 6 is optimized to the newest OS and superior to Iphone 5S battery. Has the author used the Iphone 6 yet?
    *Button less Control- Apple does not want to get sued by copying BlackBerry’s all swipe gesture. Besides, the ‘Mighty Button’ of Iphone6
    will be money in the bank for Apple Pay. Whenever that button is pressed to complete an Apple Pay transaction, Apple will receive service fee (commission) from all the merchants who use Apple Pay Service. Let’s eat our hearts out.

    To recap,none of the above is a game changer for me. I have nothing against Ios and Android devices but they are not my cup of tea. I think I will trade in my Z10 and Q5 to get that UGLY BlackBerry Passport later this month.
    (I heard Jennifer Lawrence is badmouthing Apple after her Iphone photos were hacked… no kidding)

  4. Avatar for Jinho Jinho says:

    Apple knows how to market their iphones because they know who their target market are. And they know how to keep them. It’s a fact that the most loyal customers to their smartphone brand are iphone users. When apple set that high selling price on their devices, they’ve set a PREMIUM standard to their brand. And you’ll know it when you go to its high end stores (they just don’t sell it anywhere). Interestingly their fans doesn’t care much about specs (so dont bother comparing your feature pack phone) as so long they have the best user experience and exclusivity! It was almost a mistake when apple released the iphone 5C supposed to be cheap to attract more consumers.. but still it is expensive. Of course they cant afford to lose their brand. Samsung may offer high end phones but they have a lot of crappy and cheap phones that stains their brand & hurts their high end customers who ends up defending they have the best phone at the best price. Apple learned their lesson.. Stick to their market and make them happy! So why offer an expensive & a cheap one just like the iphone 5S & 5C (no one really brought the 5C btw) when your market dont need a cheap phone but rather a big phone! Thats the story of the iphone 6 and 6 plus.. and looking at the pre-selling demand on major markets.. I’m sure iPhone will ‘again’ be a bestseller… :)

  5. Avatar for Neil Neil says:

    This reads more like a smartphone wishlist to me. Find a single phone that has all these and then perhaps it would make sense to bash iPhones for not having them.

    My take on this:

    1. This would be nice, yes. What phone are you using right now, does it have wireless charging? If yes, then that’s really nice. If no, then you “can only dream” as well, right? It’s not like all other phones have it so why must an iPhone have it?

    2. iPhone cameras are already the baseline where other phone cameras are judged against because it’s established that the iPhone camera is excellent. Still not as good as Lumia but when an Android phone’s camera is reviewed, it’s more often than not compared to an iPhone camera than a Lumia one, isn’t it?

    3. So without even seeing real-world benchmarks of the iPhone’s new focusing feature you already call laser focusing as the winner because… lasers?

    4. Most Apple fans like their gadgets looking nice and clean and wouldn’t appreciate speaker holes in the front of their devices. But yeah, if that’s a game-changing feature for you then sure.

    5. Apple refined their user interface through years. They won’t alienate their existing users by suddenly changing the UX that everyone is already used to. I doubt people who use iOS will look for this and if you tell me you actually use those “air gestures” and consider them an essential feature, I will call you out as a liar.

    6. A Lumia definitely takes better pictures but will anyone really buy a Samsung K Zoom? People who choose by spec over price would get more value on a different smartphone and if you love photography enough to want a 10x optical zoom, you’d get an actual camera. The horrible screen on that phone won’t even let you enjoy the pictures you took.

    7. I’m on Apple on this. This feature doesn’t make sense on a phone since it can’t passively monitor your heart rate. You have to check it on purpose. The only people who want this feature are the kinds who’d get fitness wearables anyway.

    8. It could be nice though it’s obviously against Apple’s design paradigm. Personally, I always choose black phones anyway.

    9. The battery is better than previous iPhones. Please stop spreading fud. It’s very unprofessional for a tech blog.

    10. Agreed. But again, you’re comparing key features that specific brands push to differentiate their phones. If you want a phone you can bring to the beach, you get a Sony, not a Samsung or HTC, despite their attempts.

    • Avatar for niknokmanok niknokmanok says:

      Sir, kung babasahin nyo po yung title ang sabi game changing things. Therefore, the author is looking for features that will show that the iPhone can offer more than what is already in the table.

      and please don’t tell me color variation is against Apple’s design paradigm. Lumabas lang iPhone 6 nakalimutan mo na agad ang iPhone 5C?

    • Avatar for Neil Neil says:

      Hello.

      The way the title is worded does not imply that “the author is looking for features that will show that the iPhone can offer more than what is already in the table”. Just changing it ever so slightly to “10 Game-changing Things to Improve the iPhone” immediately gives a more positive tone. I’m not being pedantic, semantics is very important for effective communication. The syntax of a sentence or the addition or omission of even just one word can have a dramatic effect on meaning.

      As for the 5c, if you speak to a lot of people who watch Apple, you’ll know that the 5c is an anomaly. It’s an experiment that didn’t sell which is probably why they discontinued it. Look at the design of their modern products: the iMacs and Macbooks and the current-gen iPods. Apple’s current way is more on making colorful cases available instead. You can even see this on the Apple Watch; it’s the straps that are customizable. That’s not to say there’s no possibility of it changing. The first iMacs distinguished themselves by being colorful, after all. :)

  6. Avatar for LenovoLover LenovoLover says:

    You are not just buying the Phone, you are buying the privilege to be in a very efficient ecosystem as well. iOS devices has a very impeccable record of having a clean UI, better memory management and best of all, the most comprehensive library of different tools which are created under a very strict standard and structure on app development.

    Android is basically a tool for geeks and geek wannabe, It is a very great tool for customizing your Phone, hence some features will not be as usable on a regular user.

    iOS is all about usability while ANDROID is all about functionality which are very different thing from a typical user’s point of view.

  7. Avatar for weryou@ weryou@ says:

    The good thing about Apple and the iPhone are the UI, the Appstore and the premium feel attached to it. Yung specs, especially the battery, concerns usually sa brand na ito.

  8. Avatar for laglagpanty laglagpanty says:

    Wosho. Tingnan nalang natin kun alin ang may madaming viruses at parating lag.

  9. Avatar for Mck Mck says:

    Game-changing? Author, these are all existing technology.. hindi na ito game changers. Dapat mas nag isip ka pa at nagpost ng features na hindi pa available sa market.. LOL

  10. Avatar for Oona Oona says:

    no OIS? Go to apple’s website. navigate to Compare iPhone models. both iPhone6 have OIS. duh!

  11. Avatar for Wacky Wacky says:

    In my opinion..
    1. Yeah wireless charging is cool but don’t need it especially if ur using the phone while charging. Super fast charging will be awesome!
    2. Agree.
    3. Agree.
    4. Not necessary. I use it as an ipod also so i always use an earpods.
    5. Big no no! Dont remove that circle thing! I love touch ID, the most overused feature on the iphone! It fits perfectly with ur fingers (unlike the epic fail on the GS5.. Sorry..) and that shiny metal ring makes it more beautiful than prev iphone models!
    6. Not into flash.
    7. Not necessary.
    8. Go for Gold!
    9. Agree much 10x!
    10. Agree.
    Iphone will always be iphone.. And i know only iphone users can understand.
    Here’s the Top 5 I love about iPhones!
    1. Very smooth and super fast UI
    2. (Super) Premium feel.
    3. Appstore and great apps. No malware. Ease of downloading and removing apps.
    4. Great for playing music! iPod + phone in one.
    5. Simple. User friendly. And when your bored just go to the appstore and explore. There’s an app for you.. :)

    • Avatar for Mack Mack says:

      Couple it with a Mac and you’ll love Apple more! Best ang ecosystem nila.. Which Fandroids know nothing about.

  12. Avatar for 'em says:

    I think consumers are getting smarter and smarter every year. Avid fans will buy this surely but I guess majority will still check out first other factors like availability and affordability (may mga tao kasing ayaw sa postpaid at hindi din willing mag shell out ng malaking pera para sa prepaid). So I guess, it will sell well for the existing iPhone lovers/users but will not be as successful for those who are potential shifters…

  13. Avatar for archie archie says:

    * 1GB RAM
    * 1800mAh battery
    * back resembling Meizu’s MX4

    Are they still competing in 2012? Lahat yata ng production cost ay napunta sa 128gb storage, advertisements at pagbili ng Beats.

    • Avatar for Summon Summon says:

      I bet you haven’t owned an iPhone before. What makes other high end smartphone disappointing is that they laid very good specs on paper yet you get so much crap using it! I think it make sense to just improve and make it better than implement something you either don’t need or simply doesnt make sense at all!

  14. Avatar for Can Afford Can Afford says:

    Mga hampaslupang patay gutom mga commenters dito kasama pati author. Wala kasi pambili ng iPhone kaya trashtalk nalang.

    • Avatar for 'em says:

      Pag hindi iphone ang gamit na smartphone, wala na agad pambili?! Hindi lahat ng naka iPhone may pambili… Malaking porsyento ng may iPhone mga SOCIAL CLIMBERS! Kahit tipirin ang sarili sa lunch sa opisina, makabili lang ng iPhone or makapag bayad lang ng monthly bill sa isang iPhone plan…

    • Avatar for Mack Mack says:

      ’em. it’s called personal preference and prioritizing what you want. Hindi porke nagtipid ka at nagipon to buy an expensive gadget, social climber na.. pathethic at flawed ang thinking mo.

    • Avatar for cho cho says:

      facts ang binibigay ng info nung article. hindi dahil luma ang features ng iphone at mine-mention yun nung author eh ibig sabihin wala na syang pambili. nasasaktan ka lang kasi isa ka sa “may pambili” ng lumang technology. ikaw na ang “mayaman” … happy?

  15. Avatar for Obani Obani says:

    I expect Samsung to lose a lot of business to Apple for its iPhone 6 model lineup. In the past it was the small displays of Apple iPhone models that drove ppl to buy other brands. Though people could argue customization and OS matters, it only matters to a small group of folks who utliize a lot of phone features but let’s get real here, most people use smartphones for making calls, texting, and getting on social media and news updates and checking emails. How many of the Bazillion features Samsung crams into their phone that you see people utilizing daily? In other words it’s just bloated with features that dun work well. Android users keep comparing Apple with their phones spec to spec, but the major difference here lies in Apple’s ability to popularize them and to enhance the user experience. Samsung’s profit margins have already gone down the lowest in 2 years ever since competition has intensed from all directions. Even the LG G3 is selling four times more daily in Korea compared to the S5. Little wonder they fired their chief designer recently and now they come up with the Note 4 which looks literally the same as a Note 3 except the higher res screen and slightly improved features. Samsung clearly has run out of ideas and dun expect to Note Edge to sell well either. Its last experiment called Galaxy Round flopped so badly it was pulled out of stores in just a few mths. To most consumers, of course they would pick the iPhone 6 and 6+ any day over Samcrap. There’s no longer any reason to go for Samsung anymore.

  16. Avatar for Really? Really? says:

    1. Not really, maybe fast charging would be really nice!
    2. I quite agree, but I’m not really into photography.
    3. Then again, I’m not into photography but yea.. this one feature in particular is interesting(one of the reason I’m eyeing G3 if I’m going to phablet).
    4. I found it unattractive up front but a stereo speaker would be cool.
    5. Yes.
    6. Ok.
    7. Meh, I found it a gimmick.
    8. I’m not into those things, why would anyone gonna dye an aluminum body? plus I’m sure most of the iphone 6 users gonna buy cases for that expensive thing. The black a.k.a space grey version FTW!
    9. YES! YES! YES!
    10. YES.

  17. Avatar for Really? Really? says:

    1. Not really, maybe fast charging would be really nice!
    2. I quite agree, but I’m not really into photography.
    3. Then again, I’m not into photography but yea.. this one feature in particular is interesting(one of the reason I’m eyeing G3 if I’m going to phablet).
    4. I found it unattractive up front but a stereo speaker would be cool.
    5. Yes.
    6. Ok.
    7. Meh, I found it a gimmick.
    8. I’m not into those things, why would anyone gonna dye an aluminum body? plus I’m sure most of the iphone 6 users gonna buy cases for that expensive thing. The black a.k.a space grey version FTW!
    9. YES! YES! YES!
    10. YES.

    I’m welcome for corrections, anyway this only my opinion.

  18. Avatar for k k says:

    I think only BlackBerry and Jolla OS are the ones that are buttonless OS.

  19. Avatar for ip67 ip67 says:

    exactly my sentiment, yugatech! waterproof nlang sana!

  20. Avatar for mongoload mongoload says:

    of coarse!!! apple will implement this “game-changing things” when its not cool anymore, so they can make it cool again and make profit from it!

    • Avatar for Facepalm Facepalm says:

      Dude, nakakahiya sa ating mga Fandroids. It should be “of course” and “it’s” due. Facepalm. ????

    • Avatar for Popoy Popoy says:

      Haha! May point ka mongoload. Pwedeng strategy ito para lalong lumaki ang kita ng apple dahil hinihintay nila magmura ang hardware na ganito (kapag luma na). Sobrang confident kase nila na kapag sila ang nagbanggit ng lumang features, madameng utu-uto pa din na fans ang feeling bago kaya gagastos ulit sila ng bongga. They are taking advantage of stupid fans maging “in” (status symbol) lang.

    • Avatar for iFake iFake says:

      so apple’s innovations are really made by hipster?

    • Avatar for talino mo pre talino mo pre says:

      @popoy, tawagin mo stupid at uto uto ung bumibili ng iphone o kahit anong phone KUNG pera mo ginagamit nila. pera nila yun, wala kang pakialam kung paano nila gamitin un.

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