【Mobile China Review】A month has passed since September 22, the first sale day of the iPhone 15 series, and I believe that you have seen a lot of evaluation content on various platforms, regardless of graphics or videos. In this "belated" iPhone 15 series experience, I try to talk about my own different feelings from a different perspective, and hope that through these texts, you will have a more three-dimensional understanding of the iPhone 15 series.
Why choose iPhone 15
To be honest, I chose the iPhone 15 series for content with selfish intentions. As an iPhone 14 Plus user, I think the upgrade range of the iPhone 15 series is relatively satisfactory, so I am more concerned about the actual performance of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, to see if I have the need to replace the phone, if the replacement is to continue to choose the digital series, or choose the Pro series into the arms of titanium.
The iPhone 14 Plus' battery life + weight is why I chose it
Before I begin, I would like to share why I chose the Plus series. Because of my work, I often have access to many smart hardware products, especially smartphones, and since around 2016 I have been a "dual-holder party", that is, an iPhone and an Android phone, which is a big background. Before replacing the iPhone 14 Plus, I used the iPhone 13 Pro, but the battery life problem has always bothered me, and the mobile power bank that supports magnetization is a must bring when going out, which actually reduces the experience a lot.
The iPhone 14 Pro series is good, but weight and battery life can't be combined
If you choose the Pro Max version, it will definitely have a better battery life, but as a dual-wielding party, weight is also a topic that has to be considered, and bringing two mobile phones is to increase a certain burden, and if you choose the Pro Max version, it will obviously increase this burden. Everyone knows the follow-up direction of the story, Apple cut the "mini" in the iPhone 14 generation model, added "Plus", in the case of ensuring excellent battery life, the weight is much lighter than the Pro Max, and the "loss" on the camera telephoto end, I chose to use another Android device to make up. In other words, the iPhone 14 Plus is my optimal solution at this time.
The iPhone 14 Plus and I are indeed a good fit, but the optimal solution does not mean perfect, for example, after shooting with another phone's telephoto, it is actually difficult to share quickly, AirDrop and the Android mutual transmission alliance are not useful, and mobile games often let me swing each other on iOS and Android. The emergence of the iPhone 15 Plus seems to make me see the possibility of further optimization.
The matte glass back panel is not only beautiful, but also fingerprint-resistant and stain-resistant
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are the same as the previous generation, only in the screen size and battery capacity, and the other hardware specifications are exactly the same. Compared with the previous generation, as mentioned earlier, the upgrade point of the iPhone 15 series can really impress me. From the outside to the inside, the iPhone 15 series and iPhone 14 series have certain fine-tuning in the three dimensions of the fuselage, using a matte glass back panel, the middle frame has become more rounded, the screen size is consistent, and the smart island and screen brightness are very intuitive changes.
iPhone 14 Plus和iPhone 15 Plus
The matte glass back panel of the iPhone 15 series can be understood as the design of the Pro series, but it still adheres to the colorful color matching of the digital series, which can be understood more as a change in feel. However, because of the matte texture, the color of the back panel will show a faded effect, so the color of the lens Deco will appear more intense, which is the opposite of the effect of the previous iPhone 14 series.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 Pro
The matte glass feels very delicate and has a certain anti-fingerprint effect, because the Pro series has long been used, which is not too much analysis, after all, the vast majority of users are to use the shell. In terms of color selection, pink is the most popular, I admit that pink is indeed very good-looking, especially with matte glass, but from a personal preference, I prefer green and blue, it just so happens that these two are exactly this color matching, because the matte glass of the back panel will make the color "light", which gives people a very fresh and unique feeling.
The size is fine-tuned, and the phone case is not very versatile
The body size of the iPhone 15 is 147.6×71.6×7.8 mm, corresponding to the iPhone 14 size of 146.7×71.5×7.8 mm, while the iPhone 15 Plus size is 160.9×77.8×7.8 mm, and the iPhone 14 Plus size is 160.8×78.1×7.8 mm. As just mentioned, it is all fine-tuned, the biggest change is also within 1 mm, and the weight change is only 1 gram (the Plus version is 2 grams lighter). In principle, their grip should be the same, but because the transition treatment of the matte glass and the metal middle frame becomes more rounded, the feel is significantly improved, but these are based on the absence of shells.
Both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have minor adjustments in size
Under the habits of Chinese mobile phone use, the protective case is as likely as the film is necessary, especially the mobile phone case is now not only protective, the greater "effect" is also to highlight the personality, and even have a certain social miracle. It should be noted that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus due to the fine-tuning of the size of the fuselage, which has caused the shell of the two generations of products is not universal, such as I put the Pitaka carbon fiber protective case used on the iPhone 14 Plus on the iPhone 15 Plus, the position of the buttons is no problem, and the opening of the lens Deco is barely suitable, but the adjustment of the middle frame makes the shell unable to jam the fuselage, so it will appear a little shaky.
The shell is barely universal, and OCD is not recommended to try
I also tried to put the iPhone 14 Plus in the original Apple silicone protective case of the iPhone 15 Plus, the button position and hole position are not too much of a problem, but it takes a relatively large force to press the body completely in, which means that the size of the shell is a little smaller. However, it is foreseeable that many online stores that sell mobile phone cases are likely to mix two models of products, which also hopes that users will consult well before purchasing, after all, opening a mold is also a big cost.
When taking photos, I often share business cards of iOS 17
To share a small episode, when I first got the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, I naturally held my iPhone 14 Plus and compared the difference between the black border and the border processing on the screen, which inadvertently triggered the business card sharing function of iOS 17, and it was also triggered when I put the phone together to take pictures later. I didn't turn off this function at the first time, but obviously the business card that has not been edited is relatively ugly, and under the habits of Chinese people, the practicality of this function still has to be questioned.
After "going to the island", the interaction is enhanced, and the outdoor brightness is significantly improved
The iPhone 15 series all adopt Spirit Island, which has been enhanced in interactive gameplay. The whole series of island is the title used by many media when the iPhone 15 was first released, and I will not repeat what Spirit Island can do, at least its appearance has brought the iPhone 15 series up to speed. Compared with the iPhone 14 series, the occlusion area of some games has also changed, which is actually the same as when the iPhone 14 Pro series was first updated. The occlusion of this position does not have a big impact on the gaming experience, because the presence of safe zones, coupled with the edge position, is generally not a very important interactive part.
iPhone 15 "on the island"
If you are a user who upgraded from the iPhone with the "bangs" screen, it may need an adaptation process, although the occluded area has little functional impact, but it must be admitted that compared with the "bangs", the area covered by the spirit island is more visually experienced.
In the game scene, the "bangs" are more acceptable than the spirit island
There is a small detail, after upgrading to Spirit Island, the earpiece of the iPhone 15 series has also become smaller, which means that it remains consistent with the iPhone 14 Pro series and the iPhone 15 Pro series. This point has almost no impact on the use and visual experience, but has a certain impact on the film, if you happen to have extra iPhone 14 Plus film, you can use it, that is, the position of the earpiece will be strange; If it's an iPhone 14 Pro Max film, it should be no problem.
The handset size of the iPhone 15 series has been significantly reduced
The maximum brightness and HDR brightness of the iPhone 15 series are 1000 nits and 1600 nits respectively, and the corresponding values of the iPhone 14 series are 800 nits and 1200 nits, and the iPhone 15 series also has 2000 nits of excitation (outdoor) brightness, so the display effect of the iPhone 15 series is better than the iPhone 14 series in the senses. In terms of values alone, the maximum brightness and HDR brightness of the iPhone 15 series have been upgraded by 200 nits and 400 nits, but except for when displaying HDR, the gap in other scenes is not large. But when it comes to outdoor excitation brightness, the iPhone 15 series equals the screen brightness of the iPhone 14 Pro series, and the improvement in direct light is huge.
The difference is not very noticeable under conventional indoor light sources
The charging speed of the Plus version has been greatly improved
The replacement of USB-C interface is also known to many people, compared with Pro, although the iPhone 15 series is a USB-C interface, but the speed standard for transmitting data is different, and the digital series only supports the USB 2.0 standard, but this has little impact. But the experience in charging speed is real, specifically for the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 14 Plus conducted a "protracted" charging test.
Finally, interface unification has been achieved
First of all, let's talk about the test conditions, the starting power of all mobile phones during the test is 1%, and the charging optimization function is turned off in the battery health, of which the iPhone 14 Plus situation is more special, because as the previous main machine, its battery health is 97%, so there is a certain reduction in battery capacity, but this ratio will not have too much impact on the results.
Anker PowerPort III+ original USB-C braided cable
In addition, the charging head used is an Anker PowerPort III 65W PD charger (supporting 27W output), and the cable is using original braided wire and MFi-certified Lightning cable. The room temperature during the entire charging process is 25°C, which is also a suitable temperature with little influence on the test results. First of all, the test results of the iPhone 14 Plus, from 1% to 100% took a total of 2 hours and 27 minutes, the range of 1%-60% is relatively fast, and it is also the highest temperature range of the fuselage, from 60%-80% to start the charging power dropped significantly, and from 80% power further decreased, after 90% can basically be regarded as a trickle charge state. This result I was a little confused at first, and then looked at the test results of the charging head network, which also confirmed that my test results were accurate, and the complete charging time of the iPhone 14 in the test of the charging head network was 1 hour and 43 minutes, which can provide reference.
Charging speed comparison
Next, look at the results of switching to USB-C, iPhone 15 from 1%-100% charging time of 97 minutes and 53 seconds, 1%-80% can be regarded as the first stage, 80%-90% of the range charging power dropped significantly, 90%-95% of the charging power continued to slow down, and after 95% basically entered the state of trickle charging. To my surprise, the charging speed of the iPhone 15 Plus is almost the same as that of the iPhone 15, and even a little faster in the early stage, but the overall progress curve is consistent, which can be seen in the figure and the detailed data below.
Frankly speaking, whether it is just supporting 18W PD fast charging, or now just replacing the USB-C interface, the charging speed of the iPhone has always been pressed by Android phones, especially Chinese brand Android phones. But in longitudinal comparison, the charging time of the Plus version has been shortened from 147 minutes to 97 minutes, and it makes sense to replace this interface.
The "energy pack" I always bring with me on business trips
In addition, the replacement of the interface for my dual-holding party also improves the convenience of business trips, I just got the iPhone 15 Plus when I saw that the battery was low, subconsciously picked up the Lightning cable on the table to charge, but found that I could not plug in to realize that the interface had been replaced. Therefore, I don't have to install an extra Lighting data cable when I travel, and I don't have to have a Lightning cable in my backpack at any time to deal with special situations, but what is more embarrassing is that my AirPods 3 still use the Lightning interface, and if you want to get rid of it completely, you can only buy a new AirPods Pro.
The main camera is not the same as the Pro, and the actual performance is very capable of playing
In terms of image, although the iPhone 15 series is still a dual-camera combination of ultra-wide angle + wide-angle, because the main camera has been upgraded from 12 million pixels to 48 million pixels, it supports equivalent 2x optical zoom. This is achieved by cropping the high pixels of the main camera, which is exactly what I value.
The image enhancement of the iPhone 15 series is the part I am most looking forward to
It must be noted that when the full series of iPhone 15 was officially announced, many people mistakenly thought that the main camera of the iPhone 15 series was upgraded to the IMX803 of the same model as the iPhone 14/15 Pro series, but in fact its sensor size is 1/1.5 inch, not 1/1.3 inch of IMX803, but a source pointed out that it uses a double-layer transistor sensor. But at present, Sony's official Lytia light metaphor series products do not have a 1.5-inch sensor, if the iPhone 15 series uses a sensor with double-layer transistor technology, it should be individually customized.
Shot with iPhone 14 Plus
Photographed with the iPhone 15 Plus
Next, let's analyze the main camera performance of the iPhone 15 series from two dimensions, the first is to compare with the previous generation of iPhone 14 series, first review the main camera parameters of the iPhone 14 series, 12 million pixels, 1/1.65 inch (pixel size is 1.9μm). Let's first use this set of daytime outdoor samples as a reference, the color reproduction of red brick buildings, sky and trees in the iPhone 15 Plus sample is more accurate and closer to the color I see, while the iPhone 14 Plus sample color has a slight greenish cast.
Screen Reference Scenic Blade
Another group shoots tall buildings in the distance, and you can refer to the whole scene. Screenshot comparison at 100% magnification, in 12MP mode, the iPhone 15 Plus (middle) is slightly more detailed than the iPhone 14 Plus (left), smearing is reduced, the picture looks cleaner, and there is indeed an improvement in the absolute size of the sensor, but the improvement is limited.
Zoom in on contrasting image quality details
In high-pixel (48MP) mode, the resolution of photos taken at the same position (far right) of the iPhone 15 Plus is very obvious, after all, the information and capacity of photos under 48MP have increased significantly. Moreover, this set of comparisons also shows that in the pursuit of resolution and sufficient light conditions, the high-pixel mode can indeed bring more advantageous image quality performance.
iPhone 14 Plus night scene sample
iPhone 15 Plus night view sample
After looking at the night scene comparison, it is obvious that the smart HDR 5 used on the full series of iPhone 15 is better than the smart HDR 4, and the highlight is softer, especially the door number of the "Leshan taste" looks more pure, the light bulb processing is also better, and the distant walls look more natural. Whether it is from the actual human eye to see the picture restoration or the actual perception, the night scene effect has obvious progress, which also proves the fact that the main camera of the iPhone 15 series is better than the iPhone 14 series main camera regardless of whether it uses double-layer transistor technology or whether the main camera is the same sensor as the Pro.
The iPhone 14 Pro updated to iOS 17 does not offer a 24MP default option
Another dimension, we will use the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 Pro for comparison, at this time we have to mention a small advantage on the full series of iPhone 15, that is, the digital series and Pro series main camera support 24MP photo output. Although the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro have the same main camera hardware, in the case of updating to iOS 17, I didn't see a toggle option for the 12/24MP default output in the camera options.
Photographed by the iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 15 shooting
In this set of comparisons, I focused on the virtual focal length of 2X, and with the default focal length of 1X, there is almost no difference in the look and feel of the two photos, from color to the handling of details in light and dark areas. In the same scene of the 2X focal length, there is almost no obvious difference between the two, and blind evaluation in the look and feel is also a similar result, after enlarging the picture, the words on the lower left corner of the iPhone 15 sample are slightly clearer than the iPhone 14 Pro, and the gap is minimal. If you have to find a reason, it may be that in the case of a small difference in sensor size, double-layer transistor technology has played its advantages, after all, in this scenario, there is actually relatively plenty of light.
2X zoom 100% magnification crop contrast (iPhone 14 Pro on left / iPhone 15 on right)
It can be said that in the image part, the iPhone 15 series has surprised me, and it still gives a very good picture quality performance under the premise of not being the same sensor as Pro, and the usability of the 2X focal length is not weaker than that of the Pro series, and may even have a weak advantage in some scenes. The largest digital zoom has also been increased from the previous generation of 5X to 10X, even if it is still a dual-camera combination, but the available focal lengths are richer, which is a real improvement.
In terms of performance, the iPhone 15 series has upgraded the A16 Bionic chip, which is also a change from the previous generation of iPhones, which means that the new digital series will use the chips used on the previous generation of Pro series, and there may be small upgrades, such as an increase in the number of GPU cores. However, the A16 bionic chip on the iPhone 15 series has not seen any changes in the parameter specifications, and we will not do much evaluation in this part, after all, Apple's A series chip does not need to worry about the actual performance release.
The above is all the upgrade points of the iPhone 15 series that I want to share with you during this time, and the new interaction brought by the image, charging speed (for iPhone 15 Plus) and the new interaction brought by the spirit island in the actual experience is very obvious, especially the image part is much larger than I expected.
Let's talk about my personal purchase advice, if you like a smaller mobile phone, very sensitive to weight, do not have particularly high requirements for battery life, and are very concerned about the price, then the iPhone 15 is a very suitable choice; If you care a lot about screen size, battery life, and body weight, and don't care so much about the high brush of the screen, then the iPhone 15 Plus is simply tailored for you.