What seems to have become an annual tradition, spring will begin with a new iPhone.
No, it’s not a brand new model, but it is a seasonal fresh colors — yellow — is sure to grab your attention.
Available on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus lineup, this new gold finish hit shelves this week. Before the launch, I had the opportunity to spend time hands-on with the yellow iPhone 14 Plus.
Not only am I delighted with the bold new color, but I am also impressed with the phone itself.
It may not be as powerful as the higher-end iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, it packs a lot of stuff in a lightweight and more affordable package (starting at $799) that will make it a hit with travelers.
Here’s why.
Best battery life ever
If you’re like me, you’re probably (a bit) obsessed with making sure you don’t run out of juice on the go.
Personally, that means looking for power outlets at the airport or carrying an external battery pack to make sure my phone stays charged. As a last resort, I would use Apple’s “Low Power Mode” on my iPhone, but this feature comes with degraded performance to minimize battery usage.
Luckily, travelers won’t need to worry about that with the larger iPhone 14 Plus. Apple says this model has the longest battery life of any iPhone, and this claim is heavily substantiated in my experience.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
I had no problems getting close to a day and a half of fairly steady use across productivity, social media, travel, and camera apps without needing to recharge.
That’s pretty impressive, and perhaps reason enough for some street warriors to choose the iPhone 14 Plus over any other model.
If you opt for the entry-level iPhone 14, you can expect up to 20 hours of battery life, which should still get most travelers through their journey.
Bigger screen, better
“Plus” doesn’t just refer to a larger battery. It also means the device has a 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display, giving you more space to enjoy content on the go.
Whether you’re using the extra screen space to immerse yourself in a game or skim through in-flight entertainment, it doesn’t take long to appreciate the larger screen.
Better yet, I find the larger phone doesn’t really feel much bulkier. It weighs just 7.16 ounces and fits perfectly in my hand. I don’t mind sacrificing a bit of portability for a larger screen and longer battery life, but it’s a personal decision each traveler will need to make.
The 6.1-inch iPhone 14 also has a sharp Super Retina XDR display.
One feature from Apple’s higher-end iPhones that you won’t find on the standard 14 and 14 Plus models is the ProMotion display. This allows content to scroll more smoothly between pages. Another downside is that the screen brightness on the entry-level models isn’t as high as on the more expensive Pro devices — a difference that’s immediately noticeable when the sun is shining outside.
However, for most casual travelers, these two features alone aren’t worth the $200 upgrade to the Pro model.
Impressive performance
Recently, I attended a game rollout where several iOS developers showcased their latest games.
While I’m not a serious gamer myself, I left with the most impressive showcase of how well Apple’s entry-level iPhone 14 models render games. When playing with “Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile”, the iPhone 14 had no problem keeping up with the millions of internal calculations needed to render the game without lag or overheating.
This performance is provided by Apple’s proprietary A15 Bionic chip – the same high-grade silicon that powered last year’s iPhone 13 Pro.
For the casual user, the A15 is very powerful. It takes just a few seconds to batch edit and render videos in iMovie — two advanced tasks that most casual travelers will have no trouble performing on these devices.
Emergency SOS
Knock on wood surface, Emergency SOS via satellite is a feature you’ll hopefully never need to use. However, this feature can save your life if you unfortunately need it.
This feature allows you to connect to emergency services using satellite, even when you are far from the grid without cellular or Wi-Fi service.
Every iPhone 14, including entry-level models, comes with built-in satellite connectivity — a game-changer for frequent hikers or trail adventurers.
Even if you buy your iPhone in the US, you can still do emergency SOS via satellite in 12 countries (and growing) — including Canada and many of the largest countries in Europe. This makes it a great insurance policy for your summer vacation.
Even if you don’t need emergency assistance, you can use your satellite connection to send your location to loved ones at home through the Find My app.
While you can’t call or text them, the ability to send your location will help reassure family and friends that you’re doing well on your camping trip.
To learn more about using the Satellite Emergency feature, make sure to see TPG . dedicated manual.
No more physical SIM cards
For the past 15 years, every iPhone model has shipped with a physical SIM card slot (short for subscriber identity module).
These small chips contain the information needed to connect to a cellular network. However, they become difficult to manage — especially when you’re traveling abroad and messing around with multiple nano-sized SIM cards throughout your journey.
Also, physical SIMs are less secure. If your phone is lost or stolen, someone can remove your SIM card to start making calls and texting (and getting two-factor authentication codes) with your phone number.
This year, each iPhone 14 sold in the US is remove the physical SIM slot support the new eSIM (or embedded SIM) standard.
With this improvement, you can store at least eight digital SIM cards directly on your phone. This means you won’t have to mess with multiple 9mm x 12mm chips.
You can switch between phone numbers directly in iOS, and you can even download cheap international plans through apps like plane, truphone And GigSky.
In fact, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus both support dual SIM, meaning you can connect to two mobile networks simultaneously. This is an important feature to avoid the annoying $10 a day roaming fee with AT&T and Verizon.
Detect the problem
In recent years, Apple has been busy building health and safety-focused features across its entire lineup of phones and watches.
With the introduction of Incident Detection in the iPhone 14 series, you’ll have peace of mind that your smartphone can detect a serious car crash and automatically dial emergency services if need.
Just like Emergency Satellite SOS, this is a feature you’ll hopefully never use. However, it can give travelers more peace of mind while on the road.
bottom line
Apple’s iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are extraordinary smartphones for the daily commuter — and now they’re available in a new bold gold color.
Both incorporate many must-have features, including the introduction of eSIM-only cellular connectivity. The real star of the show is the Plus model, which is Apple’s first entry-level model to offer a 6.7-inch touchscreen.
It also has the longest battery life ever on an iPhone, making it a great choice for frequent travelers.
Satellite emergency SOS and built-in collision detection are two important safety-related features that can be especially comforting for solo travelers or those heading to distant destinations.
Of course, some heavy smartphone users and creators might want to splurge on top Pro models. However, unless you need to improve on the camera and screen, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be quite suitable.
