الأحد، 28 أغسطس 2016
الأربعاء، 24 أغسطس 2016
iPhone 6S Plus review
HELLO EVERY BODY
HOW ARE YOU ?
NOW I TALK ABOUT ( IPHONE 6S PLUS )
LIVING WITH THE IPHONE 6S PLUS
I’ve been using the iPhone 6S Plus since its release in September and my opinion of Apple’s most expensive phone has changed very little. This is the best ‘S’ version phone the company’s ever made.
Let’s start with everything it’s great at…
The camera is a joy. It’s perfect for taking quick snaps and provides excellent photos with a realistic palette. I like my photos to have a colour tone that matches what I can see, but the camera app comes with plenty of filters if you like to pimp your pics.
Other phones are better in low light – in particular the Samsung Galaxy S7 which is a truly superb phone too.
The iPhone 6S Plus is also as snappy now as it was the first day I took it out of the box, even though I’ve loaded it with more apps than I’ll ever have time to use. This is a great phone for gaming – not least because the 5.5-inch screen provides plenty of pixel-packed real estate.
I’ve also come to love Live Photos. Initially I thought adding a little movement to images was a bit of a gimmick, but iOS updates have improved them and now you can upload to most social media apps. Movement also brings your gallery to life.
And while the IPS screen may not reach the heights of the OLED displays on the LG G5 and S7, it’s still plenty sharp and bright. I can happily read websites and emails even in the brightest sunlight. I also regularly find myself watching my favourite shows on the go.
The iPhone 6S Plus’s battery life is also solid. It’s definitely dropped from when it was brand new, when I’d regularly get home after a day at the TrustedReviews offices with more than 50% left. Now it’s more like 30%.
This may have to do with the battery losing some of its prowess after a few hundred recharges, but it’s more likely the fact that I use more apps with background services and that I game more (Top tip: Clash Royale is highly addictive). Regardless, this is still the iPhone to get if you value stamina, although surprisingly the diminutive iPhone SE also does a solid job. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6S is the weakest in this regard.
There’s very little I don’t like about the iPhone 6S Plus, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
The design is still a little wanting. It’s sleek and easy to handle, but it doesn’t make a bold statement like the HTC 10, and neither does it manage to cram a big screen into a small body like many of its Android competitors.
There are also a few software issues that bug me. The main culprit is Spotlight search which often decides it doesn’t want to find an app I’m looking for, but the iPhone 6S Plus occasionally freezes when someone is calling me. Thankfully these annoying issues are rare.
Lastly, 3D Touch, a feature I used a lot at first, has fallen by the wayside. By pressing the screen harder you can get more menu items to appear which is useful, but for some reason I’ve ended up using it less and less as time’s gone on. It’s the exact opposite of Live Photos, which I now don’t want to live without.
IPHONE 6S PLUS LONG-TERM VERDICT
I’m still very happy with the iPhone 6S Plus. I’ve used a number of phones at the same time as conducting this long-term test and I still find myself reaching for the 6S Plus, mainly because of its ease of use and app library. It does everything you want it to with a minimum of fuss – important if you live a busy lifestyle and don’t particularly care about tinkering with your smartphone.
If you can handle its size and price then the 6S Plus is the iPhone I recommend. Go for the 64GB model, though – 16GB just isn’t enough. It's also worth remembering that the iPhone 7 is only a few months away.
WHAT IS THE IPHONE 6S PLUS?
The iPhone 6S Plus is Apple's second phablet, and like last year's model it's properly big.
The 5.5-inch screen is the biggest you can get on an iPhone and a massive step up if you're used to an iPhone 5S. It takes some getting used to.
Usually 'S' models of the iPhone tend to have a few small additions over the previous phone. This year, though, Apple has made some serious improvements to the iPhone 6S Plus that make it more interesting compared to what we've become accustomed to.
The 4S and 5S introduced useful additions, the first with Siri and the second with Touch ID. A few other performance improvements were thrown in for good measure.
These were good phones, but they didn’t particularly excite the imagination.
The iPhone 6S Plus looks to have gone down the same road, at first glance that is. It looks almost identical to last year’s phone barring a new Rose Gold colour.
Spend a little time with it, though, and you quickly realise that the iPhone 6S Plus comes with significant improvements in all the areas you’d expect and some you wouldn’t. So aside from a boost in performance, plus a better camera and build quality, we’ve also been treated to a potentially ground-breaking innovation – 3D Touch.
Just like the iPhone 6S this is a very good phone
IPHONE 6S PLUS – DESIGN
158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 192g, Nano-SIM, aluminium 7000
If there's one are the iPhone 6S Plus could be stronger it's design.
Don’t get me wrong: This is a very well-made phone. Every part of it fits together beautifully, and Apple has ensured that there will be no more "bendy iPhone" complaints by using a new, much tougher aluminium for the body.
The lightly textured and slim handset is grippy, and surprisingly comfortable to hold for such a big phone. There are no awkward edges; just smooth, flowing curves that fit nicely in your palm.
The problem with the iPhone 6S Plus is the size of its top and bottom bezels. Where the LG G4 manages to cram a 5.5-inch screen in a body that's more phone-like rather than a phablet, the 6S Plus feels unwieldy.
The 6S Plus has a screen-to-body ratio of 68%, whereas the curved-screened 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ – the 6S’s closest competitor – has a ratio of almost 76%. That means more screen for its size.
It’s height takes a little getting used to as well. It took me around a week to get comfortable with the original Plus; others may find it just too big in hand and in pocket.
Apple is aware of this and so has included a feature that lets you drop what’s on screen closer to your thumb. Gently tap the home button twice and out-of-reach icons become instantly accessible.
It doesn’t solve everything – I still struggle to reach the bottom left corner of the screen with my right thumb – but it's a useful feature.
The 6S Plus is also heavy, 20g more so than the iPhone 6 Plus before it. The extra weight is due to the new Taptic Engine used with 3D Touch – and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I like weighty phones – they feel more substantial; others might find it a little too cumbersome, however.
- image: https://assets1.uswitch.com/s3/uswitch-assets-eu/mobiles-web/handsets/apple-iphone-6s-plus-grey/front-small.png
IPHONE 6S PLUS – 3D TOUCH AND SCREEN
1,920 x 1,080 pixels, 5.5-inch LCD IPS screen, Ion-X toughened glass, 3D Touch
The 6S Plus uses the same display as last year’s phone, and very good it is too.
The Full HD 5.5in screen is both bright (if a little dimmer than the last model at full brightness) and well balanced, with colours looking natural and contrast levels solid for an LCD.
Compare it with Samsung’s latest offerings and it pales in comparison, though. The Super AMOLED displays on handsets such as the Galaxy Note 5 are a class above when it comes to vibrancy, sharpness and black levels.
Even though the iPhone 6S Plus doesn’t have the best screen, it remains great. Besides, I'm increasingly seeing diminishing returns on phones display improvements. For example, having a higher-resolution QHD screen doesn’t equate to a huge difference in the user experience.
Apple’s latest innovation does, however.
I’m excited about 3D Touch, even though it’s currently limited to a handful of features. Let’s get started with what it is and what it can do.
The original iPhone was the first to feature a multi-touch screen and it revolutionised the way we interact with our phones. Pinching, zooming and swiping were all made possible, and it was one of the most intuitive interfaces ever – even toddlers could use it.
3D Touch takes it to the next level, bringing a whole new experience to the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus by cutting out swathes of extra presses. It gets you where you want to be in iOS 9 far more quickly.
3D Touch brings three levels of pressure sensitivity to the iPhone 6S Plus user interface, so if you press harder on the screen more options appear. At first the experience is a little odd.
I’m used to lightly touching a smartphone screen, so applying significant pressure feels wrong. Give it a day or two, though, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
It works by using a pressure-sensitive display with a stronger, and more refined, Taptic Engine – the feature that makes your phone vibrate.
At the moment, 3D Touch is mostly limited to Apple apps. Touch the Camera app icon from the homescreen and, as you’d expect, the app opens. Press a little harder on the icon, though, and a host of new options appear. Want to go straight to the selfie mode? Or what about shooting slo-mo right away? They all spring to life with a heavier touch.
The Clock app lets you immediately create a new alarm or start the stopwatch, while the Maps app provides a quick setting to get you home, mark your location (so you don’t forget where you’ve parked) or send your location to a mate.
Hard press the spacebar when writing an email and the keyboard transforms to a touchpad, so you can easily move the cursor to a specific part of the message to sort out a typo.
It all sounds simple, and it is, but it's also a huge step forward in how you interact with apps. It’s a bit like having a right mouse button at your fingertips and it opens up a host of new possibilities.
Few third-party apps support 3D Touch at the moment, but don’t let that concern you. App developers now have access to 3D Touch, so you can expect a whole host of new features to soon appear on all your favourites.
There are a few that have taken advantage of the new feature already, and one of the best examples is the futuristic racer AG Drive.
It shows just how clever 3D Touch is. Controls aren't limited to just slow/fast – it’s actually analogue, so when it comes to accelerating your hovership, the harder you press, the faster you'll go.
It’s worth mentioning the curved-screened Galaxy S6 Edge+ here – after all, it’s the 6S Plus’ main competitor. The edges of the Samsung do make it achingly pretty, but they serve very little function. By contrast, 3D Touch provides zero visual excitement but plenty of great uses.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ has curved sides
Apple has improved the connectivity on the iPhone 6S Plus so that Wi-Fi is more reliable and faster than ever before. It also comes with 4G and the latest Bluetooth 4.2 standard. As always with iPhones, however, it lacks a microSD slot.
This means you'll need to carefully consider which version of the iPhone 6S Plus you'll opt for. The 16GB version (£619) really won’t stretch far at all – some photos, a few games and a bit of music and you’ll be clamouring for the delete key.
The 64GB version (£699) should be ample for most, with the 128GB 6S Plus (£789) perfect for those who like carrying a large movie or music library with them.
WHAT IS THE IPHONE 6S PLUS?
The iPhone 6S Plus (not to be confused with the upcoming iPhone 7) is Apple's second phablet, and like last year's model it's properly big.
The 5.5-inch screen is the biggest you can get on an iPhone and a massive step up if you're used to an iPhone 5S. It takes some getting used to.
Usually 'S' models of the iPhone tend to have a few small additions over the previous phone. This year, though, Apple has made some serious improvements to the iPhone 6S Plus that make it more interesting compared to what we've become accustomed to.
The 4S and 5S introduced useful additions, the first with Siri and the second with Touch ID. A few other performance improvements were thrown in for good measure.
These were good phones, but they didn’t particularly excite the imagination.
الثلاثاء، 23 أغسطس 2016
iPhone SE review
HELLO EVERY BODY \
HOW ARE YOU?
NOW I TALK ABOUT :-
(iPhone SE review)
HOW ARE YOU?
NOW I TALK ABOUT :-
(iPhone SE review)
KEY FEATURES
- 4-inch IPS Retina screen
- iOS 9.3
- A9 dual-core processor
- 2GB RAM
- Touch ID fingerprint sensor
- 1624 mAh battery
- 16 or 64GB storage
- 12MP rear camera
- 1.2MP Facetime front camera
- Live photos
- Manufacturer: Apple
- Review Price: £359.00
WHAT IS THE IPHONE SE?
Phones getting bigger and bigger, but the iPhone SE totally bucks the trend. This is a phone that's easy to use with one hand. Yes the the Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10 and iPhone 6S Plus are great handsets, but for many of us they’re simply too large.
The people have spoken too. The iPhone SE is the UK's most popular phone according to respected source Kantar Research with 9.2% of UK smartphone users opting for it as their new device. It's also helped Apple's share of the mobile market grow to more than 37%.
How can a phone with a three year old design do it? Apple has given people a choice with the iPhone SE. The compact body is rare these days, but even though it's small it packs a mighty punch. This is a very powerful and capable phone.
It can boast the same top-notch internals as the iPhone 6S, a snazzy pink (sorry, Rose Gold) hue and support for Apple Pay. Normally small phones are hamstrung, the iPhone SE isn’t.
It has an impressive camera, a battery that can last longer than its bigger brother, an iconic (if recycled) design and the latest version of iOS. It’s also the most affordable iPhone yet, starting at £359/$399.
The iPhone SE is what the iPhone 5C should have been.
IPHONE SE – DESIGN, SCREEN AND AUDIO
A surprising amount of people I speak to say they want a small phone that packs all the features of a full-fat flagship. Sony is the only manufacturer to have previously attempted anything like this, but even its Xperia Z5 Compact has a not-so-tiny 4.6-inch screen and it's quite thick. The iPhone SE is much smaller and much easier to handle.
Anyone who's used an iPhone 5 or iPhone 5S will feel at ease with the iPhone SE – it looks and feels almost identical, except now you can get it in a fetching rose-gold colour and its cut edges are matte rather than shiny chrome.
Those phones have an iconic design and I have no problem with Apple reusing it, especially if it means they can keep costs down and pass the savings on. The best thing about the design of the iPhone SE is that it still feels quality. The brushed aluminium back is both hard and cool to touch, the buttons are solid, and it’s easily small enough to use one-handed, regardless of the size of your hands.
Coming from using the giant iPhone 6S Plus and Huawei Mate 8 I also found it a relief to be able to bend my leg again when I put a phone in my front pocket.
In other ways it’s taken me time to adjust to the smaller screen. It’s not just that I have to move it closer to my face to read text, like my granddad reading the morning paper, I also struggle with the small keyboard. Ironically I often have to use both my hands and thumbs on the phone to minimise the potential for embarrassing autocorrect fails. I've gotten more used to it, but I still don't find it comfortable after a few weeks of using the phone non-stop. The small screen also means watching video is a little cramped and, while the iPhone SE is more than powerful enough to play all the best games, trying to maneuver precisely requires daintier digits than mine.
While the iPhone SE still looks good there are a couple of aspects of the design that aren’t perfect, and others that feel dated. For starters, if you don’t use a case with the iPhone SE you might find the edges a little harsh, particularly if you’re more used to the rounded metal sides on contemporary phone designs. The screen bezel is also rather wide – especially at the top and bottom – and that means you don’t get a lot of screen for the size of the phone.
That’s not the only problem with the screen.
It packs the exact same display as the 5S. While the 1136 x 640 resolution provides a perfectly sharp 326 pixels per inch the screen lacks punch and has a reddish tinge that is exacerbated when it’s tilted at some angles. Compare it to Samsung’s colour-packed Super AMOLED screens or even the newer LCD technology on a phone like the HTC 10 and it really starts looking its age.
Still, it's quite acceptable – bright enough to be used outdoors and sharp enough to read websites on the go without noticing any fuzzy edges to letters.
The speaker located at the bottom of the phone is decent rather than outstanding. Top-level volume isn’t as high as some other phones, but the quality of the audio output is surprisingly good from such a small package – sound is balanced, if a little thin, and there’s no distortion at the highest volume.
Call quality is also strong. The ear speaker is clear and loud and the noise-cancelling mic does a good job of clearing up any distracting external noises when you're on a call. There are louder call speakers out there but I didn't have any problems hearing or making myself heard even on windy days with lots of traffic noise around me.
Neither the design, screen or sound quality excites the blood much – so far the iPhone SE isn't very different at all when compared to its predecessors. That all changes, though, when I scratch the surface and take the camera for a spin around London.
9.7-inch iPad Pro review
HI EVERY BODY
HOW ARE YOU ?
NOW I TALK ABOUT :-
The camera captures shadows well, and exposes fantastically. Fantastic for a tablet
Colours are bold, although maybe lacking some oomph
For a tablet, this shot has plenty of detail
Someone was on a bit of an Amazon Video binge this weekend...
HOW ARE YOU ?
NOW I TALK ABOUT :-
(9.7-inch iPad Pro review)
KEY FEATURES
- 9.7-inch True Tone display
- Apple A9X SoC
- 2GB RAM
- 32GB, 128GB or 256GB model
- 4G optional
- 12MP iSight camera
- 5MP FaceTime HD camera
- Smart Connector
- iOS 9.3
- Manufacturer: Apple
- Review Price: £499.00
WHAT IS THE 9.7-INCH IPAD PRO?
The first thing to note about the 9.7-inch iPad is that it isn't a replacement for your laptop – no matter how much Apple wants you to believe it is. However, there's no doubt this is the finest tablet Apple has ever made.
This model takes almost all the power of the iPad Pro we saw last year, and crams it into a smaller, more manageable body. In addition, there's an improved display and a camera that surpasses any I've seen on a tablet before.
When you budget in the accessories this iPad Pro is an expensive proposition, but one that's worth it.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – DESIGN AND BUILD
Lay the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro next to the iPad Air 2 and you’d be hard-pushed to tell them apart. Apple has stuck to the same well-worn design blueprint that it now uses for all its tablets, and while I’d like to see a little more experimentation with the overall look, it’s aged exceptionally well.
Unlike the iPhone with its rounded sides, the iPad relies heavily on its glistening chamfers to make it standout. There are a few differences from the iPad Air 2, but they’re minimal.
There are now two sets of speakers, on both the top and bottom of the device, along with the clever little smart connector that pairs the tablet with the Smart Keyboard. Apple has also redesigned the antenna system on the 4G iPad, ditching the thick white bar for something that's far more streamlined.
Overall, however, it's the same iPad you’ve come to know. It’s precisely built, as you’d expect from an Apple product, with machined speaker grilles and an air of quality. There are still only two ports – Lightning and a headphone jack – and while I'd liked to have seen a move to USB-C, it was never really on the cards.
Below the display sits the now iconic home button, which doubles as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. This is the version seen on the iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, rather than the faster one in the iPhone 6S.
The iPad Pro is all aluminum and glass – there's no plastic to be seen anywhere – and it easily feels like a product that's worthy of its price tag.
At 6.1mm and 437g, it’s an incredibly slim and light tablet. It's perfectly weighted, too, making it easy to hold in just one hand for reading or watching a film.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – TRUE TONE DISPLAY
If you’ve recently invested in Apple’s larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro, then this next section annoy you. While both the 9.7 and 12.9-inch slates come with the "Pro" moniker, they’re far from being the same beast.
In fact, it’s in the displays that these two high-end products are actually the most different – and this isn't down to size alone. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro comes with some new display technologies that make it stand out compared to it's bigger brother or the iPad Air 2 before it.
At first glance of the specs you’d be mistaken for concluding that there isn’t much difference between the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and it’s cheaper cousin, the iPad Air 2. They both have 9.7-inch Retina displays with the same resolution and 264 pixel-per-inch density.
However, the new screen tech used in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro blows the iPad Air 2 and big Pro out of the water. Apple has introduced something called a True Tone display on the new iPad. The company has used that moniker before, with reference to LED flashes, but this is the first time the tech has been used in a tablet. And the difference it makes to the screen, although subtle, is undeniable.
Basically, the display now dynamically adapts to the environment, switching the colours and white balance on the screen depending on the lighting in the room. If you’re reading in the dark, for example, it will tone everything down, removing blue hues and giving the display a warmer, orange glow. It's great for reading and browsing the web.
It might sound like a small change, but it really is fantastic. I now pick up an iPad Air 2 or even the larger iPad Pro and feel the display is just far too blue.
Obviously, this True Tone tech isn’t for all situations. If you’re working on something that requires colours to be accurate then you'll have to switch the tech off. Ideally I'd like a few callibration options, like you have on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S, but this is small quibble.
The display benefits from improvements in other areas too. It’s now much more visible in direct sunlight, almost to a point that I can use it normally while sitting outside. If Apple could bring this to the iPhone 7, it would be a boon.
The colour gamut has also been improved by 25% over the iPad Air 2, and Apple claims that this is the first tablet to use the same colour space as the cinema industry. Again, the difference really is noticeable. This version of the iPad Pro displays a much wider array of colours than any other iPad, presenting deeper blacks, whiter whites and brighter reds and greens. If you’re editing photos, the effects will be even more apparent.
All these advances combine to give the 9.7-inch iPad Pro the best display on any iPad yet. It’s the ultimate media machine. I’ve watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens multiple times on the device just to experience it over and over again.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – SPEAKERS
Complementing the fantastic True Tone display is an equally superb set of speakers. Audio is often disappointingly forgotten about on mobile products, but this certainly isn't the case here.
There are four speakers on this tablet, two at each end, and they sound terrific. To date, I haven't yet felt a need to hook up this iPad to a Bluetooth speaker, simply because the onboard audio setup is so good.
Each of these stereo speakers produces sound that adjusts according to the position in which the device is held, so higher frequencies don’t seem off. Audio is balanced – only the top two units produce mid and high tones – but I'd prefer a tad more bass when listening to music. That’s just me being picky, though.
Even more impressive is the lack of any distortion even at the highest volume – remarkable stuff.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – PERFORMANCE
Adding the "Pro" prefix to any device implies a serious performance boost. Although Apple has been known to use the "Pro" term lightly in the past, the new iPad Pro 9.7-inch benefits from significant enhancements over the already nippy iPad Air 2.
Inside the tablet is Apple’s high-end A9X SoC, which includes the M9 co-processor to enable the always-on Siri mode. There’s also a 12-core PowerVR graphics chip and 2GB of RAM.
I’m sure some of you sighed deeply at that last point: why does this iPad Pro have only half the RAM of the other equally "Pro" iPad? I don’t have an answer, but my advice would be not to dwell on it.
iOS management of RAM is the best out there, and aside from apps staying loaded up for a shorter time, the smaller amount of RAM doesn’t actually make much difference. It might do in the future, sure, but not for now.
Performance-wise, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is fantastic. Opening up games, scrolling through image-heavy sites, using two apps simultaneously and so on, never causes any slowdown or lag. In Geekbench 3, it scores 5,121 and 3,039 on the multi- and single-core tests respectively. This might be slightly lower than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but it blitzes the Android competition such as the Pixel C.
It is likely that the two most intensive tasks you can do on the iPad Pro are 4K video and high-res photo editing. Since the 9.7-inch iPad Pro natively shoots 4K footage, you can capture it on the tablet and splice it up immediately in the free iMovie app. Doing this is, again, lag-free and snappy.
I edit plenty of photos, normally on my 2014 Core i5 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM. However, for this review I switched to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and I’m hugely impressed.
Although many may dismiss Lightroom and Pixelmator as "not full desktop" services, both are seriously powerful mobile apps that can handle a variety of large file types with ease. Having such power in a tablet is great since the process of editing snaps on a touchscreen feels natural; sliding toggles with my finger is better than using a mouse.
As you'd expect, this tablet doesn't feature any other ports aside from Lightning. You won’t be able to plug in a USB drive – as you can on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – and there’s no card slot for transferring snaps from your camera. The closest you'll get here is the Lightning-to-SD dongle, but this is another addition and something you'll have to remember to take with you when heading out and about.
The lack of a USB port, even a Type-C variant, is restrictive and limits the "Pro" capabilities somewhat.
I’m even less enthused about the inclusion of only 32GB of base storage, especially when the iPad Pro costs £499. For 128GB, you’ll have to part with £619, and 256GB models cost a whopping £739. That’s a lot of money for a tablet, and almost encroaches on MacBook Air territory. In my opinion, a base 64GB option at £499 would have been far more reasonable.
4G is available, but you’ll have to pay a £100 premium for this.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – APPLE PENCIL AND SMART KEYBOARD
Like it did with the larger iPad Pro, Apple is selling a duo of accessories for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
The Pencil will work on both the larger version of the iPad Pro and here too. For obvious reasons, however, the Apple Smart keyboard for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro isn't compatible with the larger model; it's smaller. It's wrapped in a tough, water-resistant fabric though, and acts as a Smart Cover for the tablet that protects the display when it’s in your bag.
The keyboard's size does bring some downsides. It's far more difficult to hit the keys accurately, and as a result typos will be commonplace in the early days. Following practice I can now type accurately and quickly on it, but it becomes tricky again if I don’t use it regularly.
The keys themselves are reminiscent of those on the 12-inch MacBook, with little travel but a satisfying "clack" nevertheless. They’re not backlit, however, which is a real annoyance, and there’s no Function or shortcut keys. There are some shortcuts built into iOS 9, but they’re limited to native apps and a smattering of third-party ones. For instance, you can scroll down a page with the arrow keys in Safari, but not Twitter.
There isn’t a trackpad either, so you’ll still be reaching out to touch the display most of the time.
Mobile keyboards have come a long way recently and they continue to improve. TheMicrosoft Surface Pro 4 and its fantastic Type Cover are still sitting pretty at the top of the pile, and while Apple’s Smart Keyboard really can’t compete with it for pure typing experience, I’d happily choose it over the tightly packed keys on the Samsung Galaxy TabPro S and Huawei MateBook.
My main issue with the Smart Keyboard, however, is the lack of adjustability. There’s a single position that might be great for typing, but it’s too laid back for watching a video in bed. I found myself attaching an older Smart Cover for dedicated Netflix binges, since its upright angle is more to my taste.
Still, it’s stable when propped up and I can even work comfortably with the iPad on my lap. I wasn’t expecting this to work the first time I tried it considering the size.
The Smart Keyboard is decent, but there are plenty of areas in which Apple could make improvements for a second iteration. Regardless, I’d still recommend the £139 accessory if you plan to use the 9.7-inch iPad Pro for any sort of real work. It’s slim and light, doesn’t require charging, and is actually quite comfortable to type on once you’ve familiarised yourself with its quirks.
Things couldn't get any better with the Pencil, however – I love it. In my opinion, it’s the best stylus out there – and my opinion has changed significantly since I began using it with the first iPad Pro.
It may lack the 1,000+ levels of pressure sensitivity available with a Wacom stylus, or the Surface Pen, but it’s super-accurate and there’s precisely zero latency when you’re drawing or jotting down notes.
While the bigger iPad Pro is great for sketching, I’d say the 9.7-inch iPad Pro is better for general note-taking due to its smaller canvas. Writing with the Pencil is akin to writing on paper, with the fantastic palm-rejection software helping to no end. I can lean on the tablet and knock-out notes during an interview as easily as if I were using a notebook.
Support for the Apple Pencil might not be universal quite yet, but a growing number of apps support the input tool.
Paper by FiftyThree is the best: a beautiful app that’s great for sketching, painting a watercolour or just doodling – although after weeks of trying it appears my lack of artistic flair means I can't craft anything that could be described as "good". Notability is great for note-taking, while Procreate is another decent pick for wannabe artists.
It’s not all rosy, though, with many of my initial issues regarding the Apple Pencil still standing.
Its charging method – sticking it into the iPad’s Lightning port – is about as silly as it gets and is an accident waiting to happen. In addition, there’s still no place to rest the stylus when it isn't in use, meaning you’ll spend an inordinate amount of time either panicking that you’ve lost the £79 piece of plastic, or rummaging in your bag to find it.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – CAMERA
Tablet photography is still an inane idea to me. Yet, if you’ve been to any tourist hotspot around this fine world you’ll know that many love it.
If you’re one of those folk then you'll love the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, since it has the bestcamera on any tablet.
Apple has pretty much taken all the camera tech from the iPhone 6S and crammed it into this iPad. It has the same 4K-capable, 12-megapixel camera on the back with an f/2.2 aperture and the same 5-megapixel FaceTime HD sensor around the front.
It’s a huge upgrade over any previous iPad, and it feels odd that Apple didn’t fit out the 12.9-inch version with the same specs, although taking pictures with such a big device will be awkward.
The camera captures shadows well, and exposes fantastically. Fantastic for a tablet
On me, however, it’s wasted – especially the rear camera. My tablet photography amounts to snapping documents, and the high-resolution sensor here is complete overkill. It also means that there’s a hump on the back of the device, which somewhat ruins the smooth finish of the rear.
Colours are bold, although maybe lacking some oomph
It does take decent pictures, on a par with those shot with the iPhone 6S. Naturally, there’s no OIS, but it captures sharp details and accurate colours. Having an iPad as a viewfinder is great, but in my eyes you’ll look a berk using it as an actual camera. Sorry, but it’s true.
However, there will be some merit to it for people working on the go. I can imaging a fashion designer taking a quick pic of dress and drawing changes or an architect wanting higher quality snaps when looking at a project for the first time.
For a tablet, this shot has plenty of detail
Again, the 4K video looks great and the device is powerful enough to shoot and edit it using iMovie. Impressive for a tablet.
I’m more on board with the switch to a higher-resolution front camera. Not so much for selfies, even though they look good, but for FaceTime chats – something for which the iPad is the perfect tool.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – SOFTWARE
Like every other Apple tablet, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro runs iOS. More specifically, iOS 9.3.
iOS 9 wasn’t a huge rethinking of the software – that might come with iOS 10 later this year – but it did introduce a few juicy features that really come into their own here. I’m going to focus on these here, but if you want the full low-down on the OS then check out our iOS 9 review.
The most significant feature added is split-screen multi-tasking, something most had been calling for since the introduction of the first iPad. Being able to use two apps side by side is a must on a tablet, even more so if you’re calling it a "Pro" device.
Apple’s implementation of multi-tasking is good, but it feels very much like a first-generation attempt that will see improvement over the coming years.
It is possible to open two apps at the same time, but those apps need to support the feature. While there are many that do, a couple that I use on a daily basis – such as Google Docs and Netflix – do not. Discovering an app that can’t be used impacts my workflow and shows the limitations of the system.
I’d also like to be able to have two Safari windows open next to one other, but for some reason this isn't possible. It’s frustrating experiences such as this that put paid to the idea of this being a "laptop replacement".
The Slide Over feature lets you pull a separate app out momentarily – to check the football scores on Twitter, for example – and videos can be put into a floating box. Again, apps needs to support this. For peak productivity you can have two apps open and a floating video in the corner. While this isn't quite laptop level, it’s a start.
In my opinion, iOS on a tablet suffers from too much wasted space. The icons on the desktop are too generously spaced apart and you need to jump into apps to get any sort of information from them.
Still, its tablet app support is leaps ahead of both Windows 10 and Android Marshmallow – and that’s the all-important fact. They don’t feel like blown-up phone apps, but bespoke experiences.
iOS 9.3 introduced a nifty new feature called Night Shift. This reduces the amount of blue light given off by the display during the later hours of a the day. Having too much interaction with these blue hues is said to disrupt the deepness of your sleep.
9.7-INCH IPAD PRO – BATTERY LIFE
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro has a large, 29.7Wh battery that Apple claims will last for 10 hours. That’s the same figure it quotes for the iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro 12.9-inch – and, based on my testing, is pretty much spot on.
Three hours of Netflix streaming at about 60% brightness reduces the battery by 26%. However, jacking up the brightness takes its toll on the iPad Pro’s battery life. Set to maximum and the speakers set to half, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s battery lasts for about six hours. That’s the same as the larger iPad Pro.
Testing out gruelling 3D games is always a good way to gauge battery life. For every hour of Halo: Spartan Strike, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro lost 16% – that’s with brightness on 60%. This is actually an improvement on other iPads. Less intensive titles, such as Monument Valley, chew through about 10% battery per hour.
In general use the 9.7-inch iPad Pro will get you through a couple of days without you needing to reach for the charger. Multiple hours of having two apps open, a video playing and the Smart Keyboard attached, however, will bring down this figure dramatically.
Charging is via a Lightning cable, and as with all tablets I'd recommend using the wall adapter that supplied with the device. I've tried charging it with a typical phone block and it takes significantly longer to juice up – at some points it even drops more battery than it recoups.
Someone was on a bit of an Amazon Video binge this weekend...
I really do wish Apple would implement some form of fast-charging. For the larger iPad Pro it is possible to pair a Lightning to USB-C with a USB-C-enabled wall port to achieve some sort of quicker charging. However, since the 9.7-inch version of the tablet doesn’t support USB 3.0 speeds, this won't work here. A full charge will take about three to four hours.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro offers decent battery life, but it doesn’t push it any further than other iPads.
SHOULD I BUY THE 9.7-INCH IPAD PRO?
Is the 9.7-inch iPad Pro going to replace a laptop for most? Absolutely not. Sometimes you just want a USB port, an SD card reader and the ability to run lots of apps at the same time.
Is it the best tablet out there? Yes. It takes all the oomph from the comically large iPad Pro 12.9-inch and crams it into an incredible thin and beautiful chassis.
It isn't as all-purpose as the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, which is a great device, but it’s better at being a tablet. It’s easier to chuck in your bag, use in bed, whip out on the train and so on. The Pixel C is the only real Android competitor, but Google’s OS simply isn't there yet when it comes to actually "getting things done".
The True Tone display, booming speakers, improved performance and support for the Smart Connector set it apart from the iPad Air 2, and the bump in cost is just about worth it.
I’m also completely smitten with the clever Pencil; it’s changed the way I take notes and doodle. It’s a simple tool that might not pack the specs of its competition, but it does a fantastic job.
Yet, there's no doubting that this is an expensive product. £499 for the base tablet, £79 for the Apple Pencil and £129 for the Smart Keyboard (both of which aren’t required, but are necessary to get the most out of it) add up to a pricey investment. Especially if you already have a powerful Windows 10 or Mac OS X laptop.
VERDICT
It won’t replace your laptop, but the 9.7-inch iPad Pro makes tablets interesting for the first time in years.
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