The title says it all.

Neither phone is superior. The 6s trumps in portability, one-handedness, and utility. The 6s Plus decisively dominates usability, processing power, and immersiveness. I find myself in the one-handed camp, while I consistently myself wishing for the two-handed camp.

I deduced why I insist on an iPad or a MacBook at the office for communications. Typing long emails or quick messages with a full keyboard is vastly better than thumb typing on an iPhone screen. But it’s not that much better. Proper corrective thumb typing and a bigger keyboard make for less errors, less cramped hands, and faster communications.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 6s’ smaller keyboard has become the bane of my work day. I hate typing on the iPhone 6s. The jump from the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 6 keyboard is half as good as the jump from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 6 Plus keyboard. They are two entirely different experiences, and the iPhone 6s’ keyboard is just horrible in comparison.

Battery life is a misnomer. I’m just not one of those people who is capable of killing a phone battery in a given day. With all my computing done on an iPad or a laptop, the iPhone 6s sits idly by. If it was an iPhone 6s Plus, battery life would be more important — the phone wouldn’t sit idly by and would likely return to being my communications device. By returning to a Plus-sized iPhone,1 I think I could largely eliminate the need for an iPad.2

The camera on the 6s Plus is technically superior to the 6s, so that would be an improvement too.

And iOS, as a whole, is just more fun to use on the Plus-sized iPhone. There’s more room for reading, more room for typing, more room for enjoying photos or videos. iOS is a very pretty operating system, and it’s at its best on the iPhone 6s Plus.

I bought the iPhone 6s as an experiment. I wondered what it would be like going backwards. Turns out, I made the wrong decision.

Now I know.


Speaking of which: If you or someone you know regrets going with the larger Plus-sized iPhone 6s and wants to make a trade, you should tell them know you know someone who may be interested in making a trade.

I’d still want one, of course.