How Do I Feel when I’m using the New 14 Plus (It’s Hard) Phone for Streaming, Game Playing, and Web browsing?

This is the new iPhone that most people want. It’s not the Apple mobile device with a high-resolution camera or neat new display features. It’s the iPhone with a big display and a battery that goes for days.

Not everyone should expect multiday performance. With heavier use like extended periods of gaming or video streaming, two days feels more reasonable, and that might mean pushing into the single digits by the end of day two. I did two hours of screen-on time, but I wasn’t going to let the 14 Plus go by without a fight. I used navigation and connected to 5G as frequently as I could, but didn’t use the internet as much. And at the end of every day, I felt like I should have pushed the phone’s remaining battery percentage much lower than I had. Color me impressed.

The 14 Plus comes with the same cameras as the 14, including a 12M f/ 1.5 main camera, 12-M ultra wide and 12-M selfie camera. There’s no high-res, 48-megapixel sensor here (or the nice 2x crop for Portrait Mode that comes with it), but the 14 Plus does gain the benefits of Apple’s updated image processing called Photonic Engine.

The 14 Plus’ display features a slightly higher 2778 x 1284 resolution than the 14’s, so even though it’s much bigger, it maintains roughly the same pixels-per-inch (458ppi compared to 460ppi on the 14). You can view more emails or parts of a webpage before you need to start scrolling, because the images look just as sharp on this screen.

This is probably an obvious point, but the feeling of having more visual space while using this phone — especially compared to a 6.1-inch model — is real. There is more text on the screen, and games are more interactive. But it also very much handles like a big phone. Even with the reachabilityUI controls, it is difficult to use it one-handed. The 6.1-inch 14 and 14 Pro feel more comfortable in my hand than the humongous phone that a lot of people get along with.

Apple says that the best battery life in an iPad is not overstated. Typically, a day of moderate use with about two hours of screen-on time and plenty of time away from Wi-Fi only drained the battery by about 25 percent in my experience. I was able to use a single charge for three days. I can’t remember the last time I used an iPad that lasted through multiple days of use.

The 14 Plus and Beyond: Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, and Low-Light Observations for Drivers with Multiple Sensors

There are a couple of new emergency features included on the 14 Plus (also available on other 14 and 14 Pro models): Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite. Crash Detection uses multiple phone sensors to automatically detect when you are in a car accident, and call the emergency services. We haven’t tested it, but early reviews are mixed. It can sometimes work out too well. It seems to rely on a lot of signals to indicate that you are actually in a car which can cause it to miss some crashes if you haven’t been driving for a while.

When you’re out of range, Satellite SOS can help by relay a message to emergency services. After the first two years, it is included free with the iPhone 14 Plus. Even if you don’t end up needing it, you will likely be able to try it out to see how it works.

What that boils down to is better low-light performance, especially from the ultrawide and selfie cam, even though the hardware isn’t exactly new or special. You can read a little more in-depth analysis in my iPhone 14 review, but the short version is that this is a very good camera system — not solely worth upgrading for, but it’ll be a pleasant update if you’re coming from an iPhone 11 or older.

Every smart device requires you to agree to a number of terms and conditions before you can use it. We can not read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

I will be using the 14 Pro for the foreseeable future, barring any further problems with it, and I hope it will get even better over the next few months of updates.

The Dynamic Island: Is it still worth investing in the ProMotion display for the iPhone? I’m so glad to have discovered it on the iPhone

I love showing off to my friends the fun party trick that I have found on the Dynamic Island, it makes my life easier in a few small ways, though there is room for improvement.

The feature has gotten even better since launch with support for Live Activities, which let you view things like your real-time workout progress in the Steps app or live sports scores via Apple TV right at the top of the screen. Live Activities are enabled by default once you’ve updated to iOS 16.1, so you’ll likely start noticing these perks automatically as you use your go-to apps.

Even though I didn’t purchase the 13 Pro series, I’m very happy to finally own a phone with Apple’s ProMotion display technology. This feature gives the iPhone up to a 120Hz refresh rate, which essentially means that things like swiping around the home screen and scrolling through Twitter feel twice as fluid as they would on an older or non-Pro iPhone. It’s the kind of benefit you’ll immediately notice when you go back to a slower 60Hz screen, because even new devices like the standard iPhone 14 or 10th-gen iPad will feel sluggish by comparison. I’ve long been jealous of the high refresh rate displays that Android owners have enjoyed for years, and I’ve become a real snob about them now that I have one on my iPhone.

The Optical 3x zoom is comparable to the optical 2x zoom that I got on my iPhone 12 Pro but it has a slightly better feel than the one I got on the 13 Pro. I go to lots of events, and I’m constantly impressed by the level of detail I’ve been able to capture even when zooming in from a distance — whether I’m capturing a band’s set from a packed festival ground or getting a closer look at a chiseled pro wrestler as they enter the arena.

Even when your phone is not awake, the Always On display on the iPhone 14 Pro can keep important information visible such as the time and weather. It’s Apple’s take on a feature that Android phones have had since forever, and quite frankly, I wish the iPhone borrowed more liberally from team Google.

I’ve already gushed about the Dynamic Island, and while it’s gotten even better since the iPhone 14 Pro’s launch, I wish it would do more for some of my go-to apps. For example, when I’m waiting on an Uber or have set a route in Google Maps, all I get is a blank widget at the top of the screen that lets me know a map-based app is active — one that I have to click on (and open the full app in the process) to get any information. It would be great to know how far away my driver is at a glance or be able to find live turn-by-turn directions on Apple’s own Maps app.