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Apple iPhone 6: As the UK release date looms, we review what the reviewers are saying

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So the iPhone 6 finally launches in the UK in a couple of days, and the world's reviewers have just got their grubby paws on review units. Which means today's papers – not to mention tech blogs, gadget guides and anything else which could tenuously link itself to the iPhone are packed with reviews.

The general consensus? It's good – better than good. Never one to understate, tech blog TechCrunch says it "earns our vote as the best smartphone currently available".

Apple has outdone itself with the iPhone 6's design – despite gaining a significant amount of screen real estate, it doesn't feel huge compared to its predecessor, and it's still a very easy device to use one-handed… [The] new A8 chip… delivers the kind of performance you'd expect from cutting edge processor technology… it's one of those situations where you don't realize how the device you were using could get any better in terms of general speed, until you pick up the new device.

Sadly, Apple Pay doesn't launch until October, so its Near-Field Communications (NFC) capability is redundant for now, but the display and camera both come in for praise. The bottom line? 

Apple has managed to recapture the energy and excitement that came with the original iPhone with the new iPhone 6. It feels like a return to form in all the right ways, in addition to packing a ton of new features like Apple Pay that light the path for what Apple as a company is to become. 

The Guardian is similarly excitable, giving the device five stars and saying it "feels great". That said, Charles Arthur, the paper's tech reviewer, has trouble deciding whether the new, plus-size iPhone 6 Plus is too much of a good thing…

Too big. This thing’s too big. Waaay too big. It’s… actually, that screen is pretty nice, isn’t it? Wow, you really can get a lot of content on there, can’t you? Hey, my hand’s getting used to the size. It’s quite comfortable, isn’t it?
 
In the end, the 6 Plus proves to be a hit "just because you can read more on it". The camera's optical image stabilisation feature also comes in for praise, as does the phone's battery life, which is "the best of any iPhone", although it is criticised on price. "Compared to other phablets, it's lighter and thinner – but not cheaper". 
 
Recode, the tech blog, isn't mincing its words: "It's a winner", proclaims its headline. Having tested the smaller of the two phones "for about a week now… in my view, it's the best smartphone on the market".
 
Because the Recoders have had their iPhones for a while, they have had time to discover some of its drawbacks. Firstly, that it cracked, badly, when dropped from five feet (not exactly surprising). 
 
Its width and smooth back can make it feel a bit slippery in your palm until you get used to it…
 
Second, I had trouble at first getting the iPhone 6 to work reliably with my car's built-in Bluetooth. [But] Apple gave me a solution, which involved removing old, unused devices from my… normal list of devices connected to iCloud. 
 
On the whole? "A great upgrade for current iPhone owners – or for anyone, really". So that's nice. 
 
Back with the newspapers, The Independent comes over all Daft Punk, calling the iPhone 6 "bigger, thinner, faster, brighter". "If you're an iPhone owner who's been glancing jealously at your friends with their big-screened Android phones, your time may have come" (we haven't – but who's counting?).
 
The Independent likes the iPhone 6's curves.
 
These curvy edges… give the phone a friendlier, more intimate feel than iPhones since the 3GS (released way back in 2009 for you history buffs). And they have another function: the curves work with the thin profile of the phone to make the bigger screen entirely manageable… You may be tempted to slip a case round it to protect your valuable gizmo and I wouldn’t blame you, but bear in mind that with many you won’t get to feel the phone in all its glory any more. Instead, consider a slip-off sleeve that lets you handle the phone, you know, naked.
Right.
 
Returning to the technology side of things, the new Retina HD display comes in for praise: "it looks spectacular". And then it shows its true, fanboy colours.
 
In the world of smartphones, this is the biggest leap forward yet… Honestly? I'd give it six stars if I could.
 
All right, calm down…