The iPhone 14 Plus in the test: Bigger is still better

On Friday, Apple launched another new iPhone model: the iPhone 14 Plus. This means that the last of the four new models will be launched three weeks later than the other devices.

There are no surprises with the latest Apple smartphone – it’s exactly the same device as the iPhone 14, just bigger.

T-Online has been able to test the iPhone 14 Plus in advance and says in the review why the wait was probably worth it for many buyers.

That’s why big is better

We have already written extensively about the features of the new iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models in our device test. This is pretty much the differences between the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus.

They are pretty quick in a row: the iPhone 14 has a screen diagonal of 6.1 inches and costs 929 francs (or 999 euros) in the basic configuration with 128 GB of memory.

The new iPhone 14 Plus offers a larger 6.7-inch screen and costs 1049 francs (or 1149 euros) with 128 GB of storage – that’s 120 francs (or 150 euros) more.

There’s another difference, too: the iPhone 14 Plus’s larger body also has a larger battery – but Apple is silent on the details.

While the larger screen also needs a bit more power, there’s still enough juice in the battery to give the iPhone 14 Plus an extra runtime, more on that later.

More usable display area

Why a bigger screen? The answer: you can use it to show more content – ​​or the same amount of content but bigger. Because the iPhone 14 Plus doesn’t display the same number of pixels larger – it actually offers more pixels: the iPhone 14 displays 2532 x 1170 pixels, the iPhone 14 Plus 2778 x 1284 pixels – about 20 percent more.

And this is especially beneficial for middle-aged users. Already at the age of 40, many people begin to feel the first effects of presbyopia, it becomes more and more difficult to focus on small letters.

You can increase this to a maximum of 135% via the menu “Display & Brightness” in the settings under “Text size”. If that’s not enough for you, there are some other setting options under “User Help” > “Display and Text Size”.

The enlarged text also helps the author of these lines to use the iPhone without reading glasses. However, on the iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, significantly less can be displayed at this magnification level.

With a text size of 120 percent, the iPhone 14 Plus shows about the same amount of information as the iPhone 14 with normal text size – a real advantage.

Alternatively, many apps have more to see at a glance. For example, several Apple apps offer landscape view modes that are not available in the smaller models – for example in emails, in the messaging app or in the settings.

More stamina

Another real advantage is the larger battery. In fact, Apple has already significantly improved the runtime of its iPhones with the iPhone 13. The iPhone 14 usually does the trick here too. If the iPhone 14 is used very intensively, it can get cramped until the evening.

Users of the iPhone 14 Plus have a noticeably greater power reserve here. Apple states that the new device can stream 20 hours of video on a single charge, compared to 16 hours for the iPhone 14 – a 25 percent increase. This size of the battery reserve corresponds to our experience with the device.

This extra stamina is a relevant difference in everyday life. And if you can still handle the capacity of the smaller device today, you should be happy with the extra power reserve in two or three years at the latest, if the weakening battery of the standard iPhone struggles to power the device. . a full day.

Conclusion: the better iPhone 14

This year it was a bit difficult to make a recommendation for the simple iPhone 14: A sharp price increase is compensated by only a few advantages of the new device. The bottom line is that many users are better off with the iPhone 13 – or have to wait another year.

The iPhone 14 Plus is different. There is a group of users here for whom the upgrade is worth it. More display and more battery – the iPhone Pro Max has had that for a few years, but it is also the most expensive iPhone model. Not everyone wants to pay hundreds of francs more for a better camera.

With the current generation of devices, the price difference between the cheapest iPhone 14 and the cheapest 14 Pro Max is 370 francs (or 450 euros). With the Plus model, customers now only have to pay 120 francs (or 150 euros) if they are interested in the benefits of the larger device.

In our opinion, the new Plus model is more recommendable than the standard model within the Apple world – albeit for a certain user group. Not everyone will be able to make friends with the size of the device, which is especially noticeable in the pocket.

An alternative could be the purchase of an iPhone 13 Pro Max in the coming weeks. Here the prices are currently not significantly higher than the price of the 14 Plus – in return you get the better camera in general and the also better screen with 120 Hz display. However, this should only be a few stocks left – the model is no longer available new from Apple.

PS: Advantage reparability

Another advantage of the new iPhone 14 also comes into play: the device has been completely redesigned internally, which makes replacing the rear window a lot cheaper. Until now, the glass back was inextricably linked to the housing. Repairing a damaged back cover was therefore more expensive than replacing a damaged display.

Now replacing the rear window for the iPhone 14 costs 179 francs (or 199 euros) at Apple, for the iPhone 14 Plus 209 francs (or 229 euros).

The problem remains with the Pro models: here the damage to the rear window costs 519 francs (or 599 euros) for the iPhone 14 Pro and 569 francs (or 668 euros) for the Pro Max.

Replacing a broken windscreen costs “only” 359 francs (or 405 euros) for the iPhone 14 Pro and 409 francs (or 488 euros) for the Pro Max.

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