iPhone 6 Plus Display Judged 'Best Smartphone LCD Ever Tested', iPhone 6 Also Solid

DisplayMate, which routinely performs thorough testing of display quality on a variety of electronics, has released its iPhone 6 Display Technology Shoot-Out, taking a look at the performance of Apple's latest handsets using new "Retina HD" technology. While DisplayMate's Ray Soneira has not shied away from criticizing Apple's displays on some recent devices, he found the iPhone 6 Plus to have the "best performing Smartphone LCD display that we have ever tested" while the iPhone 6 also scored well in testing.

iphone_6_display
While the "best ever" designation includes the caveat of applying to LED displays and DisplayMate continues to rate the OLED display from the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as the best overall smartphone display, the gains seen in the iPhone 6 and particularly the iPhone 6 Plus are impressive.

Based on our extensive Lab tests and measurements, the iPhone 6 Plus is the Best performing Smartphone LCD display that we have ever tested. It delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance. The iPhone 6 Plus is only the second Smartphone display (LCD or OLED) to ever get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except for Brightness variation with Viewing Angle, which is the case for all LCDs) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. The iPhone 6 Plus has raised the bar for top LCD display performance up by a notch.

In particular, the iPhone 6 Plus display sets new records among LCD displays for peak brightness, low reflectance, and several measures of contrast and accuracy.

DisplayMate finds the iPhone 6 display to have many of the same strong areas of performance as in the iPhone 6 Plus, but the lower resolution and pixel density hold the smaller model back somewhat.

Most rescaled images look noticeably better on the iPhone 6 Plus with 2.1 Mega Pixels compared to just 1.0 Mega Pixels on the iPhone 6. In addition, even at the native display resolution, fine text and graphics look better on the iPhone 6 Plus if you look carefully and closely at the screen (because you may want to or need to).

The display on the iPhone 6 is none-the-less still a Very Good display, and most buyers will be happy with its performance, but it’s somewhat disappointing that Apple went for satisfactory as opposed to the best.

DisplayMate's report includes a variety of charts and tables comparing the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to the iPhone 5/5s that are worth a look, as well as some discussion of how LCDs such as those found in the latest iPhones compares with OLEDs favored by Samsung.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

ironman159 Avatar
120 months ago
My personal opinion is that these are the best smartphones on the world right now. These screen tests are just the tip of the iceberg :D
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sonmi451 Avatar
120 months ago
Great display on the Plus. Disappointing on the poor resolution on the 6. Only reason I went with the Plus. I love it, but it is a big phone!

Poor resolution? It's 720p+ in a 4.7" screen! That's pretty amazing.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sonmi451 Avatar
120 months ago
I have the regular 6. Easily the best phone I've ever owned. It feels great, size is perfect, and the screen is amazing.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimUSCA Avatar
120 months ago
Playing with one over the weekend - the IP6+ display indeed gorgeous

I can't way to order one, but supply is constrained :(

I went to AT&T and was pissed when I first saw the display because I thought it was a fake model. The screen is SO good, and SO on the surface, that I thought it was printed. It was't until I touched it that I was all "ohhhhhhh damn!"
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Trapezoid Avatar
120 months ago
Funny to see the Apple fanboys changing their speech from "anything above Retina resolution is completely worthless, you can't tell the difference!" to "OMG, the iPhone 6+ resolution is SOOOO great!!!111!!" :rolleyes:
Even funnier to see people thinking all apple users have or should have the same opinion [emoji57]
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Teste Avatar
120 months ago
Funny to see the Apple fanboys changing their speech from "anything above Retina resolution is completely worthless, you can't tell the difference!" to "OMG, the iPhone 6+ resolution is SOOOO great!!!111!!" :rolleyes:
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how NameDrop functions. As noted by The Washington...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
Apple 5G Modem Feature Triad

Apple to Discontinue Custom 5G Modem Development, Claim Reports

Wednesday November 29, 2023 4:19 am PST by
Apple is discontinuing in-house modem development after several unsuccessful attempts to perfect its own custom 5G modem chip, according to unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources related to Apple's 5G modem departments claim that the company's attempts to develop its own modem have...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...