Editors' note: On September 7, 2016, Apple debuted the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and discontinued the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus remain available, however, and Apple has increased the storage capacity of the entry-level models to 32GB and lowered their prices to $549 and $649, respectively. The full iPhone 6 review, first published in September 2014, updated to include a CNET Editor's Choice designation in November 2014, and then updated in Summer 2015, follows.

In 2014, Apple forked its iPhone product line, simultaneously introducing the next generation of its flagship model -- the iPhone 6 -- and debuting its super-sized sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 is an exceptional phone in nearly every way but for its middling battery life. The iPhone 6 Plus is also impressive; larger and thinner than other iPhone models, and with the capacity for far more endurance on a single charge than most comparably-sized and smaller competitors.

When choosing between the 6 and 6 Plus, in the end, it's a matter of personal preference. I know several people who love the iPhone 6 Plus, with its larger screen size and better battery life. But the iPhone 6 feels best in my hand. It's thin, elegant, performs really well, and is considerably less expensive than the 6 Plus. For that reason, I think the smaller iPhone 6 is the way to go for most people.

Design

The iPhone 6's thin, all-metal aesthetic makes for one of the sleekest designs in the smartphone universe. This iPhone is only slightly thinner than the previous model but feels more so; this is due to the increased screen size and curved design. Glass from the front folds ever so slightly around the edges -- a departure from the sharp industrial edges of the iPhone 5 and 5S. It also feels a little like the original iPhone , which had a rounded design. But that phone was chunkier, with a far smaller screen. It felt like holding a pebble. The iPhone 6 is flat and thin, like a slab.

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The iPhone 6 feels good to hold, beautifully solid, with a smooth, metal back and glass front. But it has an aura of fragility -- maybe it's the extra-slim look, or the massive pane of curved glass on the front. I instantly wanted to slip it into a case just to be safe. Early reports of bending iPhones may have been overblown. Consumer Reports' testing found that the new iPhones can withstand less pressure than the iPhone 5, LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 , but are about as equally durable as the HTC One M8. In other words, it's not exactly delicate, but, like any other phone, it can be damaged -- so handle with care, and get a case for it.

The camera lens on the back of the iPhone 6 protrudes slightly, which made me worry about setting the phone down on rough surfaces, despite the fortitude of the sapphire lens. Again: using a case will alleviate any concerns.

Now playing: Watch this: A closer look: iPhone 6, 6 Plus design

The volume buttons, which were round and raised on previous iPhones, are elongated on the 6, similar to those on the iPod Touch and iPad. The power/sleep button has shifted to the right, making it easier to find in my experience.

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A round Touch ID home button is located underneath the display; a simple press on the fingerprint reader unlocks the phone, and works amazingly well most of the time. While this feature is no longer as novel as it was when it debuted, Touch ID remains quicker and more reliable than the fingerprint detection capabilities we've seen on other smartphones. And with iOS 8, you can use fingerprint access for a wide variety of apps beyond the lock screen and iTunes Store.

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If I have one problem with the new design, it's the bezel around the display. It's still big -- bigger than that of most Android phones, which means that the iPhone 6, with its 4.7-inch screen, is the same size as other phones with 5-inch screens. For example, the iPhone 6 runs as tall and wide the Nexus 5 , which has a larger 5-inch screen; it's also larger than the 2013 Moto X, which fits a comparable 4.7-inch display into a more compact body. (Both the old Moto X and Nexus 5 are thicker, however.) The iPhone 6 measures 5.4 by 2.6 inches, and 0.3 inch thick (138 by 67 by 69mm). It weighs 4.5 ounces, or 128 grams.

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Though the iPhone 6 is basically one-hand friendly (and certainly more so than the iPhone 6 Plus), it comes with a useful but weird software feature called Reachability that pulls the top half of the display down to midscreen with a light double-tap of the Home button, for easier thumb access.

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The screen

iPhones have always had phenomenal displays, both in terms of brightness and color quality. In CNET's battery of tests, we found that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus's screens are even better than those on previous iPhones, with superior grayscale and contrast levels.

Though phones with OLED displays, like the Samsung Galaxy S5 , deliver more vivid contrast and slightly richer, if less accurate, color, the iPhone 6's 4.7-inch IPS display is excellent: vivid and rich. The display's 1,344x750-pixel resolution is higher than the fifth generation's 1,136x640, but it has the same 326ppi pixel density. It's a good step up.

A grid of six-by-four apps now fits on each page plus the four in the dock below, for 28 total; on the 5's 4-inch display, it's 24. There are more pixels horizontally and vertically, unlike the merely vertical lengthening of the iPhone 5. That also means the aspect ratio is the same (16x9), and videos and Web pages scale similarly.

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Native apps look fantastic and nonoptimized apps scale up well, too: games and streaming video services designed for a smaller display still fill the screen and have crisp text. I still think many people will find this 4.7-inch screen to find the right balance between functionality and portability. That noted, the iPhone 6's screen resolution is a step below ideal.

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Performance: Faster still

The iPhone 6 is among the fastest phones around. It comes equipped with the A8 64-bit dual-core processor, which Apple claims delivers a 25 percent boost in speed and a 50 percent graphics boost over the iPhone 5S; this claim was confirmed in both our benchmark tests (see below) and hands-on testing. Navigating the UI and launching apps is zippy, and the phone runs nearly all tasks at a silky-smooth clip.

Apple's Metal coding tool helps some iOS games perform even better than the benchmarks suggest. Games that have been iPhone 6-optimized look great and load and run quickly, but the difference isn't as dramatic as you might expect. (Read about Apple's Metal-related announcements from its Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2015.)

3DMark Ice Storm -- Unlimited Apple iPhone 5S 13,858 Apple iPhone 6 17,374 Apple iPhone 6 Plus 17,565 Motorola Moto X (2014) 19,802 Samsung Galaxy S5 18,305 HTC One M8 20,669 Note: In frames per second; longer bars indicate better performance

Geekbench 3 HTC One M8 869 2409 Apple iPhone 5S 1412.2 2,562 Apple iPhone 6 Plus 1619 2881 Apple iPhone 6 1627 2924 Samsung Galaxy S5 949 2934 Motorola Moto X (2014) 1001 3052 Legend: Single-core (Blue) Multi-core (Red) Note: In frames per second; longer bars indicate better performance

Linpack multithread Motorola Moto X (2014) 803.175 HTC One M8 814.815 Samsung Galaxy S5 869.416 Apple iPhone 5S 975.92 Apple iPhone 6 Plus 1358.2 Apple iPhone 6 1378.2 Note: In MFLOPS; longer bars indicate better performance