Upgrading from an iPhone 5S

By WriterGirl, 29 November, 2016

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories

Hi all!
I am due for an upgrade on December 8th, and I'm trying to decide between the iPhone 6S and 7. I'm currently using a 5S that's been acting completely possessed since the IOS 10 update. I mostly use my phone for texting with either braille screen input, a bluetooth keyboard, or my Braille Sense U2, email, Twitter, blogging with the Wordpress and Tumblr apps, youTube, Pandora, very simple audio/video edits, the occasional FaceTime or Skype call, Google Hangouts, Voice Dream Reader, reading Kindle books with a braille display, and some writing in either Voice Dream Writer or scrivener. I wear headphones for 99.99% of this because VoiceOver drives my family batty, and I've come to despise wireless headphones after being caught away from my laptop one too many times when the battery died. Headphones are just something that shouldn't have to be charged in my mind... I'm curious as to how irritating it is to have to use the lightning adapter on the 7, and also how the nonclickable home button works from a tactile standpoint. I will say that I successfully destroyed 3 of the headphone adapters that come with Life Proof cases in a span of 2 months each, so I'd also appreciate some suggestions for headphones that already have the lightning connection and don't require an easily destroied adapter. As it stands now, the super speed and new processor chip are the only things making me lean towards the 7 over the 6S, but I wanted to get your thoughts first. I'm slightly concerned that I'll get the 6S and some new VoiceOver feature will be released in an update that needs the 7's chip to work. That happened when I got my iPad Air, and I'd really like to avoid it again if possible... I do use the alex voice, so I need something that won't lag like my 5S has been doing for the past month. Thanks in advance for all your help, and sorry for the lengthy post! :)

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Comments

By Siobhan on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 03:14

Hi. You'll probably want the seven, as the six S doesn't support 3D touch. Oh wait, i'm sorry yes it does. Oops? ;) Anyway with 3d touch, you press harder on the screen, and you'll feel the phone almost, nudge your hand, instead of vibrating in your hand. It's called Haptick feedback, and the six S plus, I have has it. i like it a lot. The non clickable home button, you'll be able to feel it, so you know you're pressing it. You can also change the sensitivity of it, in case you want a soft press, or hard one. I can't speak of headphones, as I just about always throw the earpods in the drawer and never use them. Remember though that if you use lightning headphones, you can't charge the phone. They give you a lightning to 3.5 jack in the box.I hope this answers some of your questions, or I might help a little.

By OldBear on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 03:14

I just upgraded from a 6 to a 7. The 7's fingerprint reader is much faster and works better at reading a print the first time.
The home button isn't so much different to cause any major problems. I have it set to unlock the phone with one press and rest my finger on the reader and I've had to get a lot faster than on the 6 at tapping the home button when I just want to know the time. It will say try again thinking I'm trying to unlock it.
I only charge my phone once a day, so I haven't had a situation where I needed to choose between the headphones or the charging, yet.
The stereo speakers are interesting, but I think my screen protector or maybe the case muffles the speaker at the top a little and it's a little unbalanced.

By JeffB on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 03:14

I love my 6S and it has a headphone jack unlike the 7. It's fast and a really great phone. I can't speek for the 7 as I never saw 1 but the lack of a headphone jack has turned me away from it. I'll be hanging on to this 6S as long as I can.

By Jeff on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 03:14

If you use wired headphones as much as you say ( and I can relate) you might find the lack of a standard headphone jack to be frustrating at times. You cannot charge the phone and use the headphones at the same time without a special adaptor. At this time, I think there is only one such adaptor available, and if you use a case, that adaptor might not work with it. You'll also need to use an adaptor with any of your existing headphones.

I have an iPhone 6 and am quite happy with its performance. I've not heard any complaints about the performance of the 6S, and it might save you a little money over the 7. Or perhaps you can put that money into more storage on your phone. Given your constant use of wired headphones, I'd go with the 6S if I were making the decision.

By techluver on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 - 03:14

I'd say the 6s. I use my phone for some of the same ways, and I looked at a 7. it's tricky. I prefer my 6s.

By Chris on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

I'd recommend the iPhone 6S or SE. If you like the small size of your 5S and don't mind not having the enhanced Touch ID reader or Force Touch, go for the iPhone SE. YOu're getting iPhone 6S internals like the processor and updated ram.

Alternatively, try performing a clean install of iOS 10 on your 5S. I completely restored my phone and set it up from scratch and iOS 10 is running flawlessly on my 16 GB 5S. I'm keeping this phone until next year. Let's see if Apple finally makes a compelling phone to replace my 5S. SO far, I haven't been impressed with the 6, 6S, SE or 7.

By Siobhan on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

Hi. Pretty much what 3dTouch is, it's a way to do things quicker. want to send a tweet? Sure, no problem. Facebook? Yep, it has that. It does make things easier when the fb decides to be a dork, I can just click write post, instead of trying to find the what's on your mind? line. Anyway not all apps support this, Uber I think does, of course the above apps do as well. I would go check them out. If you like taking photos and vids, you'll want the plus model as they have a much better camera for that kind of thing. Also that translates into better results iwth KNFB etc, in case you don't like taking pix. It's all up to you. Also if you can eek out another year, the tenth anniversary is said to have wireless charging. I don't think they are making any more four inch iPhones. Trust me, if you step outside your comfort zone, you'll enjoy the larger screens. Just my thoughts.

By gailisaiah on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

Hi Girl, I have the iPhone SE. I like the smaller size which fits nicely in a pocket. I don't feel the need to upgrade to a seven yet.

By Toonhead on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

Love the iPhone 7 all the way no question. The 7 does come with wired headphones but as others have said, they plug into the same lightning port as you use to charge it. It comes with a 3.5 mm adapter, but you know what? I haven't used it even once since I got my iPhone 7 on release day. I mainly use Bluetooth headphones and haven't seen any real issues, no real lagging or things falling behind as a result of using Bluetooth. Also ask yourself if you really do need to use the phone and charge it at the same time? I guess it's all about behavioral patterns. You just have to decide which is best for your particular purposes and use case. Everyone uses their phones and computers differently so you're always going to get 4 or 5 different answers, and just pick which one works best. If you can go to an Apple store, do that, and take a look at an iPhone 7 and see if you like it. It's the exact same size as a 6, but like others mention, it has stereo speakers. Kind of an interesting way to do things for sure. I like a 7 and highly recommend it.

By DPinWI on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

I upgraded my 6, 16Gb because I needed more space once i installed Nearby Explorer. I was happy with the 6 otherwise, and had planned on keeping it for a few more years. The 7 gave me the breathing room I so much needed.

I got accustomed to the new home button so fast, when I use my iPod Touch 6, or iPad Air 2, the home buttons feel weird. I like the blazing fast Touch ID. The phone is snappy, and works well. The fact it's water proof is a nice plus too.

I find the so called stereo speakers to be less dramatic than I hoped, but still nice.

The big headphone jack thing was a non issue for me. I have long used primarily wireless audio devices. The only time I have used to dongle was to connect my phone to my stereo when a track I wanted wasn't available on my iPod. I am not a full phone addict, so I have yet to have an instance where I needed to charge and listen with wired headphones at the same time.

I like the 3D touch more than i expected. I had fun poking at my phone to find all the places it works. Now if I could figure out how to preview emails consistently, I'd be a power user. Ha.

The only downside is the size. If I could get all the 7 features in the SE size, I would. However, I downgraded from the Otter Box Defender case on my 6, to the Otter Box Commuter on my 7, and it feels much more sleek.

I really like the 7, and I'm hoping not to have new device lust for several years.

By david s on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

Hello,

If you can, wait until January when the airpods comes out. The W1 chip with a low power BT 4.0 might change your mind about Bluetooth headsets. Why is this important? If you try and find yourself liking it, you won’t need to think about the headphone jack or the adapter. You can use the airpods with older phones but the point is, if you like them, get a phone without the headphone jack so it’s cleaner and water resistant.

And if you can wait 9 more months, the anniversary phone will be released. Wireless charging, OLED screen which will make it thinner, durable and longer battery life. Sure, it may all be speculation but so were the talk of Apple removing the headphone jack on the 7. Worse case, if you don’t like the anniversary phone, the 7 will be discounted and the 6 even cheaper.

Sizewise, the 6 and 7 is not much bigger than the 5. After a month or so, you won’t really miss the smaller iPhone. You get accustomed to it.

HTH and good luck.

By WriterGirl on Friday, December 23, 2016 - 03:14

Thanks so much for the info! I ended up with a 7 because I got a really good deal for it with 128 gb storage. The headphone thing is annoying, but so far I love everything else about it. :)

Hi the removal of the headphone Jack is something you will have to adapt to I’m sorry but that’s the reality

By J.P. on Saturday, November 23, 2019 - 03:14

Why are you commenting on 3 year old post? It’s no longer relevant.