The iPhone 6s on Verizon Wireless ($649 for 16GB) may look like last year's iPhone 6 , but there are a lot of new features that make it a noticeably better smartphone. If you're an existing iPhone owner, the upgraded cameras will immediately grab you, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the improved LTE modem, plus the pressure-sensitive screen and 3D Touch feature has a lot of potential. It's worth the upgrade if you can afford it, making it our Editors' Choice for smartphones on Verizon.
There are actually only two models of the iPhone 6s in the U.S.: one for AT&T and one for Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The difference between them is an AT&T-exclusive frequency band, Band 30, so both models will work equally well on Verizon. Our iPhone (599.99 with code VZWDEAL at Verizon) test unit came with T-Mobile service, but we tested it on Verizon simply by swapping the SIM card. According to Apple, if you buy an AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon iPhone at full price directly, it will always come unlocked.
Read our original iPhone 6s review for general details about the phone. Here, we'll talk about Verizon-specific testing and features.
Notes on Verizon Service
The iPhone 6s uses Qualcomm's X7 modem series, which offers additional options for carrier aggregation—that is, bonding wider lanes of spectrum together to make for a faster connection. When testing the new iPhone 6s against both the iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 ($696.00 at Verizon) , we found faster download speeds with a good LTE connection on the iPhone 6s.
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The new modem also climbs out of dead zones much more quickly than the iPhone 6 modem does. Leaving a no-signal zone, I found that the iPhone 6 struggled in 2G mode for up to a minute, while the 6s quickly regained LTE. That can make a big difference if you wander in and out of coverage zones often.
The 6s supports Verizon's voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) system, but not Verizon's video calling feature—that's still Android-only. Testing VoLTE calling landlines and non-Verizon lines, we found it to have the same voice quality as the older 2G calling system. VoLTE supports HD calling, which dramatically improves call quality, but only when you're calling other Verizon phones with VoLTE activated; it isn't on by default.
Battery life didn't change between T-Mobile and Verizon service, given the same signal strength. In testing Our iPhone 6s showed slightly shorter battery life (4 hours and 21 minutes of full-screen video streaming over LTE) than the iPhone 6, with its 4 hours and 33 minutes on the same test.
From left: Galaxy S6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6, iPhone 5.
Comparisons and Conclusions
Our conclusions for the iPhone 6s on T-Mobile still hold for the Verizon model, although a little less emphatically. Despite almost identical looks, the 6s is still a considerable step up from the iPhone 6. It's faster, it has better cameras, and 3D Touch shows potential. While you won't see the same dramatic reception improvements on Verizon that you see on T-Mobile, network performance is still faster and recovery time from dead zones is better.
At the one-handed 4.7-inch size of the iPhone 6s, there are three main Android competitors on Verizon. They are the similarly priced Samsung Galaxy S6 (576.00 with code VZWDEAL at Verizon) , which brings a very comparable level of power, last year's Motorola Droid Turbo , which has a very large battery, and the forthcoming Nexus 5X, which is the slowest of the bunch but has the cleanest build of Android.
If price is no object, the decision really comes down to ecosystem. Apple's iOS still gets apps before Android. And Apple offers far better service and support than you'll find from most Android phone manufacturers. For these reasons, the iPhone 6s earns our Editor's Choice on Verizon.
The Apple iPhone 6s is one of the fastest phones on Verizon, with improved camera quality and network performance over its predecessor.
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