Wesley's Tool-Box

Cellular communications have traditionally used separate voice and data channels. But with the advent of smartphones, bulk of the communications now happen on the data channel. It's no coincidence that only the data channel remained by the 4th generation (4G) technology. To carry voice, though, a fallback to 3G or older technology's voice channel was initially needed. But VoLTE (Voice over LTE) came onto the scene to do away with this by letting the data channel handle voice as well.

As with many technologies, Korea was a forerunner in adopting VoLTE. World's first commercial VoLTE service was launched more than two years ago by two of the three major Korean carriers, SK Telecom and LG U+. The remaining one, KT, joined mere two months later. Worldwide adoption didn't really take off until earlier this year, however. About a dozen carriers around the globe now have it. Noting this trend, Apple has decided to enable the capability in the iPhone 6 series.

So naturally, I wanted to see VoLTE on my iPhone 6 Plus in action. It can be enabled in the Settings app by going to Cellular and selecting "Voice and Data" option for LTE. The previous 5/5C/5S models simply have toggle switch for LTE instead, even with iOS 8.0 update. After that, I made voice calls to a lot of different lines, including a VoLTE-enabled phone on the same carrier. But every time, the connection indicator turned from LTE to 3G, showing that VoLTE wasn't working.


I checked to see how the network recognized my iPhone 6 Plus. It was being listed as an OMD Default Handset, the same name that my iPhone 5S was given when it was brought in from the US. In other words, a generic device that it doesn't recognize. Perhaps the network couldn't tell whether the device had a VoLTE capability, so it simply ignored its attempts. It was time to visit my carrier's branch office to get to the bottom of this.

LTE frequencies tend to be quite varied because it has to be either laid alongside or replace the existing 2G and 3G networks. Even so, Apple tries to support as much frequencies as possible because it will reduce the number of region-specific models. Unfortunately, iPhone 5S and 5C each sprawled to five different models, so people asked around whether their iPhones would work on another country's LTE network. I even wrote about iPhone 5S's LTE network compatibility last year, and it has the longest comment thread in this website.

This time around, though, the number of models were reduced to a much more manageable two for both iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The massive 20-band support did the trick. The good news here is that, if you bought an unlocked iPhone 6 or 6 Plus anywhere in the world and come to Korea, the LTE will work with all three local carriers. Korea should get A1586 / A1524 models on sale in a couple of months, but A1549 / A1522 models often found in United States or Canada should work, too.

After I brought the A1524 iPhone 6 Plus from Japan to Korea, I put the SIM card from my 5S and turned it on. The device had no problems connecting to SK Telecom's LTE network right away. I've confirmed that the situation is the same when you're on KT's network, as well. It seems that the network no longer goes into 3G mode when it sees an unrecognized LTE device, which used to be the case when I brought the iPhone 5S from United States last year.


Meanwhile, the top speed for LTE data on iPhone 6 series was pushed to 150Mbps from 100Mbps of 5/5C/5S. The bleeding edge phones in Korea are always a step ahead - 150Mbps was possible when iPhone 5 came out and the recent models can do 225Mbps - but with low monthly data caps, they are little more than technology show-off right now.

In any case, I wanted to see how fast the iPhone 6 Plus can do LTE data in real life, so I ran a speed test app. As you can see here, it can go almost up to 100Mbps. Pretty good, but that's how fast an iPhone 5S could supposedly do, as well. Obviously, a side-by-side test was needed.

The biggest change in the iPhone 6 series is undoubtedly the physical size, and it is of interest to most of the people who are considering a purchase. I had the chance to compare an iPhone 5 with both an iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at an Apple Store and took this picture to give those of you who are upgrading within 2 years some ideas of scale.

Although the 4.7" iPhone 6 is certainly bigger than the 4.0" iPhone 5, it is not considerably so. When I held both in my hands, the 6 felt like a 5 with a case that's a bit thick around the sides. Because the 6 is also thinner (0.7mm) while adding only a slight bit of weight (17g), it doesn't feel too big or heavy, either. If you want to largely retain the portability that iPhone series provided, iPhone 6 carries on the theme somewhat okay.

As for the 5.5" iPhone 6 Plus, it feels like an another class of device, rather than being an iPhone. Observe the following picture.


iPhone 4S represents the general size of all the old iPhones going back to the 1st generation. iPhone 5S represents all the 5 series (5, 5C, 5S). These two classes of iPhones are not really all that different in dimensions. However, the iPhone 6 Plus is substantially large enough that it's something that's occupying a class between the old iPhones and the iPad mini. iPhone 6 Plus is to iPad mini what iPad mini is to iPad.

As I mentioned previously, I had the protective film and case ordered to go with my iPhone 6 Plus. I'll be talking about them here. I like to have some protection that doesn't get in the way of the aesthetics.

The screen (front side) and back side protection films came as a part of the "Smart Combo" kit from a company called Gilrajavy. It costs about US$17 shipped, and consists of two screen protectors and two soft back-side protectors. The kit also includes a practice film to give you an idea of how the screen protector would be applied.


Two different types of screen protectors are included in the kit - one "Liphobia" oleophobic film and one "Cloverfield" anti-glare film. I decided to try on the Liphobia version of the screen protector this time around since I like transparency more than the need to reduce glare.

As my iPhone 6 Plus came home safely, the screen & backside protector set and the belt case, both of which I ordered online earlier, had arrived as well. It meant that I would be able to protect and carry the device from day one. And thus, I proceeded to get the box opened.


And this is the unboxing video I took. The honour of actually opening the box went to my daughter Celine. She's getting good with handling tools nowadays. Other than the fact that the iPhone itself was really big, everything else was quite similar. I suppose you don't need to change what works well.