The iPhone 14 Plus replaces the mini. Smaller phones are over, and Apple has introduced the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus to complement the 6.1-inch iPhone 14.

At first glance, this is the only thing that looks new on the iPhone 14 Plus. The design is the same as Apple's iPhone 13, and the Plus has a similar A15 Bionic chip, albeit with more graphics cores. So what's different besides the new size?

The iPhone 14 Plus focuses on camera improvements, including better low-light photography and a new action mode for video. It also includes new safety features such as emergency SOS via satellite and collision detection.

Is the iPhone 14 Plus exciting? iPhone 14 Pro Max eliminates the notch and features a new 48MP camera and an always-on display. But if you want a bigger display for $200 (A$320) cheaper, the iPhone 14 Plus could be the best iPhone for you.

You can also check out our iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13 comparison to see what the upgrade entails, and our iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Plus guide to see the differences.

The iPhone 14 Plus will be available on October 7, later than the regular iPhone 14 (September 16). Reservations for the iPhone 14 Plus begin on September 9.

The base price of the iPhone 14 Plus is $899 (A$1,579) and comes with 128 GB of storage. This is $100 (A$180) more than the iPhone 14, but $200 (A$320) less than the iPhone 14 Pro Max of the same size.

The 256GB version of the iPhone 14 Plus costs $999 (A$1,749), and the 512GB model costs $1,199 (A$2,099). See the iPhone 14 pre-order page for more details and the iPhone 14 deals page for the biggest discounts.

The iPhone 14 Plus is basically just a larger version of last year's iPhone in terms of design. Yes, the notch is still there and the same camera placement on the back. The only difference is the size.

With its 6.7-inch display, the iPhone 14 Plus can fit more information on the screen, whether surfing the web or texting, without scrolling. The design is also fairly lightweight, at least for a display of this size: 7.16 ounces compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max's 8.47 ounces. During my hands-on, I appreciated the device's relative portability.

What's not here: a SIM card tray. Apple removed this to support the eSIM standard. While the company claims this feature is easy to use, I don't like the lack of flexibility to plug in a new SIM card on the fly.

The iPhone 14 Plus is available in five colors: midnight, purple, starlight, product red, and blue.

The iPhone 14 Plus has a 12 MP camera, so there is no increase in resolution. However, it uses a larger sensor with larger pixels, which should produce brighter images with less noise.

Another plus: The iPhone 14 Plus takes advantage of Apple's new Photonic Engine. This Photonic Engine uses Computational Photography to improve low-light performance by up to 2x for the ultrawide and front cameras and up to 2.5x for the main camera. A sample shot of a woman at a window shows the details of her sweater.

Selfie lovers will be pleased to know that the front TrueDepth camera has a wider f/1.9 aperture and autofocus.

As for video, the new Action Mode looks impressive as it smooths out video. We did a side-by-side comparison with this feature on and off, and the results seemed fairly consistent.

How good the iPhone 14 Plus is will have to be tested against the best camera phones.

The iPhone 14 Plus is a bit of a warm-up to the iPhone 13 in the performance department, but that's because it uses last year's A15 Bionic chip. It's not exactly the same, however; it has a 5-core GPU, which is unique to last year's iPhone 13 Pro model.

Nevertheless, the iPhone 14 Plus is responsive hands-on and should once again beat the Android competition. I also appreciated the smooth gameplay when playing the frenetic Apple Arcade games.

Apple says the iPhone 14 Plus has "the best battery life on an iPhone," but I'm not sure what that means. It claims 26 hours of video playback, 20 hours of streaming video, and 100 hours of audio.

However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max ups that to 29, 25, and 95 hours. iPhone 14 Plus has longer endurance than the regular iPhone, which is said to be 20, 16, and 80 hours in these scenarios.

Don't expect the fastest charging; the iPhone 14 Plus can charge to 50% in 30 minutes on a 20W charge. It also supports 15W MagSafe charging.

The iPhone 14 Plus has two notable safety features: first, emergency SOS via satellite, which connects you to emergency services via text when you are out of cellular range. This service will first be available in the U.S. and Canada this November. iPhone 14 Plus purchasers will receive two years of coverage.

The iPhone 14 Plus also has a collision detection feature that utilizes the accelerometer and gyroscope to contact emergency services on your behalf.

The iPhone 14 Plus doesn't have much of a wow factor. But it may not have to, as it gives fans of large-screen phones a realistic alternative without paying a big premium. On paper and in person, the price of $899 (A$1,579) certainly seems like a bargain.

Those who want more advanced features, such as an always-on display and a 48MP camera, might want to save another $200 (A$320) and buy the iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, if you are on a budget and want a larger screen, the iPhone 14 Plus is the way to go.