iOS 9.2 on iPhone 6s Plus: Impressions and Performance

The iPhone 6s Plus updates continue to roll in as Apple delivers a variety of important fixes and a new feature that many users will enjoy. The iPhone 6s Plus iOS 9.2 update is available as a free upgrade and after spending time using this new version of iOS 9 we are ready to share a look at the iOS 9.2 iPhone 6s Plus performance and help you decide if it is worth installing.

This is the fifth update for the iPhone 6s Plus and it comes faster than earlier x.2 updates as Apple remains committed to delivering new features and bug fixes with larger updates. Users dealing with iOS 9.1 problems have been hoping for a quick fix, and there are definitely a lot of those in this update.

After spending a day using the iPhone 6s Plus iOS 9.2 update the general feel is that this is a solid upgrade for the newest iPhone.

The iOS 9.2 release date arrived with little warning on December 8th for the iPhone 6s Plus and all other devices capable of running iOS 9. We may not have new emoji, but there is now Siri Arabic iPhone support, many fixes and security upgrades.

Join us for a look at the iOS 9.2 iPhone 6s Plus performance, including what you need to know about issues and important details before you upgrade.

iOS 9.2 Installation

The iPhone 6s iOS 9.2 installation is straightforward.

For the most part the iOS 9.2 installation went smoothly across our devices, but we did run into issues with the iPhone 6s Plus. While attempting to install iOS 9.2 shortly after the announcement the upgrade was stuck at 1 minute remaining for about 10 minutes. Rebooting the iPhone 6s Plus fixed this issue and the upgrade completed without any other hiccups.

We recommend taking steps to prepare for the iOS 9.2 update and then using our iOS 9.2 upgrade guide if you haven’t performed many updates on your iPhone.

iOS 9.2 on iPhone 6s Plus Performance

There is not a major change to the iPhone 6s Plus performance after installing the iOS 9.2 update, which is to be expected, but there is a small improvement to Touch ID speed in our early testing. Keep in mind that our experience and yours may vary based on apps, accessories and coverage.

Apps

iPhone 6s Plus apps continue to work great after installing iOS 9.2. This includes Facebook, Netflix, Instagram, Gmail and other apps that we use on a regular basis.

If you run any custom or mission critical apps we recommend checking with the company that makes them or with your IT department before upgrading just to be safe, but we normally don’t see apps break with updates like this.

iOS 9.2 Battery Life

The iPhone 6s Plus iOS 9.2 battery life is solid, with no noticeable change from iOS 9.1 to iOS 9.2. The battery still lasts longer than the iPhone 6s and can make it through a busy day without the need for a battery pack.

We’ve always enjoyed good battery life on the iPhone 6s Plus thanks to the larger battery, compared to the iPhone 6s, and iOS 9.2 does not change this after a day of use. Normally we see major issues with battery life present themselves early on. If you run into issues, check out how to fix bad Phone 6s Plus battery life.

WiFi, Cellular Data & Bluetooth

What you need to know about installing the iPhone 6s Plus iOS 9.2 update.

Connectivity is constant on the iPhone 6s Plus after installing iOS 9.2. WiFi connects quickly to home and other networks. Just like on iOS 9.1 and earlier it will hang on to my home WiFi connection for too long as I drive away, but overall connectivity is good.

The Bluetooth connection works well with headphones, and I will test it in my car with Ford Sync before the final review.

Cellular connectivity is solid, with a strong LTE signal in most areas and the personal hotspot feature is still reliable.

iPhone 6s iOS 9.2 Problems

One of the biggest parts of the iOS 9.2 update is bug fixes, but there is always the potential for new issues. So far I have not run into any iOS 9.2 problems on the iPhone 6s Plus. It is still early, but with no widespread issues and limited iOS 9.2 problems, I am hopeful that this is very ironed out upgrade.

Speed

The iPhone 6s Plus is a new phone, and most users won’t worry about the speed and overall performance of a device that is roughly three months old.

I could not find any slow downs or issues with speed and performance on the iPhone 6s Plus with iOS 9.2.

There is one important change. Touch ID feels more responsive than it was on iOS 9.1, similar to the speed on iOS 9.

Should You Install the iPhone 6s Plus iOS 9.2 Update?

Is it worth installing the iOS 9.2 iPhone 6s update now.

The iOS 9.2 update is speedy, reliable and there are not a lot of issues impacting the device overall or our test device.

You can read through the reasons to install iOS 9.2 and reasons not to if you want more input on the decision, but overall this is a solid upgrade for iPhone 6s Plus owners. If you want to jailbreak iOS 9.2, you will need to wait.

If you upgrade and don’t like it you can still downgrade from iOS 9.2 to iOS 9.1 for a limited time. Still, you don’t need to install iOS 9.2 right away. If you are worried or don’t have any issues you can wait a few days to see if anything else surfaces.

iOS 9.2 Fixes iOS 9 and iOS 9.1 Problems

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Perhaps one of the biggest changes with the iOS 9.2 update is that it fixes a lot of iOS 9 problems and iOS 9.1 problems for iPhone and iPad users. We see small fixes come in targeted updates, but the iOS 9.2 update packs in a lot of new fixes that may solve a problem that annoyed you for the last several months. Here are the new fixes in iOS 9.2. Fixing an issue that caused mail attachments to be inaccessible for some users with POP email accounts Resolving an issue for some users that caused attachments to overlap text in mail Fixing an issue where Live Photos could have turned off after restoring from a previous iCloud backup Addressing an issue that could cause search in Contacts to display no results Resolving an issue that could have prevented Calendar from displaying all seven days in week view Fixing an issue where Camera screen on iPad could be black when attempting to capture video Addressing an issue that could cause instability in the Activity app when viewing the day of Daylight Savings Time transition Fixing an issue that could prevent data from appearing in Health Fixing an issue that could prevent Wallet updates and Lock screen alerts from displaying Addressing an issue where updating iOS could prevent an alarm from going off Fixing an issue where some users were unable to login to Find my iPhone Fixing an issue that prevented some manual iCloud Backups from completing Addressing an issue where using the iPad keyboard could unintentionally trigger text selection mode Improved keyboard responsiveness when using Quick Reply Improved punctuation input on the 10-key Chinese (Pinyin & Stroke) keyboards with new expanded view of punctuation symbols and better predictions Fixing an issue on Cyrillic keyboards where caps lock would be enabled when typing in URL or email fields You'll notice that many of these are targeted, but cover things that can easily annoy users. Slow keyboard response in Quick Reply is one of our frustrations with iOS 9.1 that this fixes. Other upgrades fix alarm bugs, iCloud backup problems and much more.

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