@elfrey, I don't disagree with you. I'm just trying to give some perspective to our lurkers. Everything on the internet tends to be utter trash or unicorns and rainbows, especially when Apple and/or Android is involved. So while certainly a step backward in this particular aspect of iPhones, IMO it doesn't relegate it to unusable. I think it sounds great, comparable but different to my 5S, but certain user situations may make it a no go for some. I'd definitely recommend doing what you did, test for yourself at a store or buy with option to return if not satisfied, to see if the issues are relevant for each user. I'd also say there has been trend the last couple of years of more uber sensitive iems, so any noise is more an issue today than it would have been in the days of the iPhone 3 and 4.
By the way, does anyone know what is the best way to give Apple feedback on this, short of calling them? Or is calling really the only way? Maybe I'll shoot Gizmodo an email about it. That would certainly grab attention with all the opinionated shouting they do.