By Gerard Ramos / Lifestyle & Entertainment Editor
OPEN the Globe Telecom web site (www.globe.com.ph) and among the plethora of smartphones, gadgets and services that the company offers, the one that greets you upon landing—the gadget that takes pride of place—is none other than the latest iteration of Apple’s best-selling communications device, the iPhone 6s, together with its big-screen (and reportedly better-selling) Plus sibling.
The premium that Globe places on the iPhone should surprise no one, given that the company was first in line around these parts in going all in on the then-unproven brand when Apple released the iPhone back in 2007.
Given, especially, that the iPhone has since become, arguably, the most lusted-after smartphone in the world—and never mind that in terms of user base, smartphones powered by Google’s Android mobile OS far, far outnumber the iPhones out there globally (according to the most recent market data from International Data Corp., Android enjoys an 82.8 percent worldwide market share versus the 13.9 percent of iOS, the platform that fuels all iPhones).
Globe has not released any sales figures since it launched the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus last November, but Apple fans being the way they are, and given our collective desire for having the latest and greatest, we wouldn’t be altogether surprised if the numbers are again healthy.
That “s” appendage might make the recent twin releases seem iterative—and indeed they are as far as design is concerned. But as any Apple fanboy will tell you, the “s” iPhones are always infinitely much better than the non-“s” models (and according to The Verge.com, Apple also says the “s” variants “actually sell better and last longer in the marketplace”). The same holds true for this year’s releases.
Amid the hurly-burly of its Star Wars: The Force Awakens partnership as 2015 drew to a close, Globe sent us a review unit of the iPhone 6s, the gold variant—and we can say that it feels and performs much better than the non-“s” iPhone 6 issued last year. (We reviewed the iPhone 6 Plus.)
True, the iPhone 6s is not only a hair thicker than last year’s model (5.44×2.64×0.28 in versus 5.44×2.64×0.27 in) but also notably heavier (143 g versus 129 g), but all that is totally negligible/forgivable given what you get in return: better cameras with a rear-facing 13-megapixel sensor (up from 8 MP), a front-facing 5-MP sensor (up from the ridiculous 1.2-MP shooters of older models) and some nifty tricks up their sleeve (Live Photo; turning the entire screen into a flash for selfies in low light, among others); a glass screen that is reportedly stronger (we couldn’t summon up the nerve to conduct any kind of drop test) and made more “intelligent” courtesy of 3D Touch, which brings users a whole new way of interacting with on-screen content; and a reportedly stronger metal chassis fashioned out of 7,000 series aluminum, a material used by the aerospace industry (presumably so that there will no more “Bendgate” videos floating around YouTube starring the iPhone 6s).
Beyond the improved cameras and the highlight 3D feature, which been welded system-wide onto iOS, the iPhone 6s provides the kind of experience that every Apple fanboy has grown to love, gush over and have wet dreams about.
Globe offers the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in 16GB/64GB/128GB iterations with the company’s various myLifestyle Plans that come with such goodies as free access to various social media and messaging platforms, along with niceties with partner services such as HOOQ and Spotify, among others.
Know more at goo.gl/0vALg0.