Apple’s iPhone 7 inches us ever-closer to the completely
sealed, moving-parts-free ideal of a smartphone slab.
Back when cellphones were young, little thought was given to
how they looked or felt in the hand. We carried the fat, heavy gray devices
because they promised a kind of utility and communication freedom we’d never
enjoyed before. Making a call on a cellphone was a treat, a sign of status.
30 years later, we care far less about making voice calls.
Instead we live on the steady flow of mobile data and fixate on handset design.
And Apple is right there with us. Two years ago, Apple unveiled the iPhone 6, a signature
design for mobile technology that it's been honing ever since. While there are
a pair of notable, even radical, departures from previous iPhones and
smartphones, in general, Apple’s iPhone 7 (both the "regular" and
Plus models) inches us ever-closer to the completely sealed, moving-parts-free
ideal of a smartphone slab. Apple’s decision to polish, literally, the iPhone 6 and 6S
look to create the familiar-yet-excellent Jet Black iPhone 7, makes clear Apple
believes it’s on the right path and that, per usual, it’s not taking its cues
from the competition. The pair of handsets I reviewed, the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone 7
and the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 7 Plus, are beautiful, high-quality handsets that
operate as well or better than any smartphones I’ve used before in a variety of
situations. They do not astonish nor do they frustrate. Instead, the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus join a long line of industry-defining handsets and, at least in one
regard, point the way to the future.
iPhone 7 DESIGN
Apple is a company more obsessed with material than most.
Over the years, it has wrapped its iPhones in everything from plastic to chrome
and most recently7000 series aluminum — a rigid and resilient material that
serves as the perfect canvas for a constantly growing list of eye-catching
finishes, the most striking of which is Jet Black. My iPhone 7 came in this piano-black finish that harkens
back to the iPhone 3G/3GS, which featured a shiny black plastic back with a
silver-embedded Apple logo. On the iPhone 7, the logo is offset in an only
slightly lighter shade of black.
Apple achieves this finish simply by polishing — with a
special process, of course — the aluminum alloy. The very same material covers
my matte-finish iPhone 7 Plus black test unit. Both finishes feel great in the
hand, but the Jet Black iPhone 7 is a bit of a fingerprint magnet. As the Apple
fine print warns, it is susceptible to micro-abrasions, dozens of which I can
see on the iPhone 7 now, if I look closely.
Contrary to popular belief, Apple did not do away with the
antenna lines, but they did remove a couple. In the iPhone 6S, the chassis was
broken up into six parts (front, back, top and bottom edge, a narrow panel on
the back at the bottom of the phone and one at the top that encompasses the
camera and flash). The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus combine the three back panels into one,
creating a smoother and more unified look.
Apple removed the small channel in between the volume
buttons to give the iPhone's chassis a more unified look.
There are other small changes to the body, like removing the
channel surrounding the volume buttons and curving the chassis up toward the
now much larger single-lens camera on the iPhone 7 and the dual-lens camera on
the iPhone 7 Plus. The latter set of curves, a smart move to mitigate the
visual effect of how much more space the new cameras take up on the back of
these devices. As I noted above, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus match the
dimensions of Apple’s previous iPhones, but both have shed a few grams of
weight in the process. The 0.28-inch-thick (7.1mm) iPhone 7 weighs 4.9 ounces
or 138 grams (the iPhone 6S weighed 5 ounces even, or 143g). The
0.29-inch-thick (7.3 mm) iPhone 7 Plus weighs 6.6 ounces or 188g (the iPhone 6s
Plus weighed 6.8 ounces/192g). The Samsung Galaxy S7, which you might compare
to the iPhone 7, weighs a bulkier 5.4 ounces (152g). On the other hand, Samsung
Galaxy Note7 phablet (which is on recall as I write this) weighs just 6 ounces
or 169g — noticeably lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus.
THE iPhone 7 NEW HOME BUTTON
The Touch ID or Home button on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus looks
exactly as it did on the 6S and 6S Plus, but it’s no longer a button. Yes, it’s
inset, and when I push it, I feel it moving. But this is a perfect illusion;
the iconic iPhone Home button is finally nothing of the sort. It’s a piece of
Sapphire glass that sits on top of Apple’s "Taptic Engine"
(essentially a haptic motor), which vibrates every time I press it. Pressure
sensors right below the surface tell the motor when I’m pressing and instantly
trigger the motor.
Apple actually introduced the Taptic Engine last year with
the Apple Watch, iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Then, as now, it was used to
power 3D Touch, which lets you press down on the screen to get a third
dimension of interactivity. The feature also vibrates in a way that fools you
into thinking the screen is moving down, However, the effect on the Home button
has clearly been refined.
When I press the Home button while holding the iPhone 7 or 7
Plus in my hand, I feel the button “moving” and also hear a “click.” This sound
effect, which resonates through to the back of the phone, is also a product of
the Taptic Engine. Together, the vibration and sound would fool anyone, even
though most recent iPhone Home buttons didn’t actually make an audible click.
Apple’s handiwork is slightly less effective, though, when I place either phone
on a flat surface and press the Home button. That significantly deadens the
Taptic Engine vibration and suddenly it doesn’t really feel like the button is
moving.
This new, immobile Home/Touch ID is also just as effective
at registering fingerprints and using them to unlock the phone as the previous
Home button was.
iPhone 7 GOODBYE, HEADPHONE JACK
Apple saved its most radical design choice for the bottom
edge of both phones:It removed the 3.5mm headphone jack.
It’s gone. Seriously. First Apple moved the port from the
top of the phone to the bottom (remember that?) and now they’ve spirited the
little port away.
Everyone knew this was coming, but that did little to dampen
the shock and, forsome outrage. How could Apple retire one of the oldest and
most widely used ports in consumer electronics?
By making the Lightning port do triple duty: power, data and
audio.
There are undeniable benefits to this controversial
decision. First of all, Apple gets to add yet another touch of symmetry to the
iPhone. Both the 7 and 7 Plus feature a single port in the bottom edge (the
aforementioned lightning port) and a pair of perfectly spaced grilles that
house microphones and, on one side, a speaker.
Ports, even one as venerable as the 3.5mm headphone jack,
come and go, but its testament to just how far ahead of the curve the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus are that Apple had to include not just a new set of Lightning EarPod
headphones, but a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter (or dongle) in every single box.
It’s a smart and necessary move on Apple’s part, which could
scarcely ignore the$8 billion headphone market. If you’re concerned about
losing the dongle — as I am — It might be smart to keep it attached to your
favorite 3.5 mm-jack-sporting headphones.
I tried the dongle with a pair of over-the-ear headphones.
The headphones 3.5 mm headphone snapped with a loud click into the Apple
adapter, which then plugged into the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus. There were no
discernible sound quality issues.
Likewise, the included lighting EarPods, which, aside from
the plug, look exactly the same as Apple’s last set of included iPhone EarPods,
worked and sounded fine.
The iPhone WATER RESISTANCE
When you lose a port on a relatively small
consumer-electronics device, you do gain a thing or two. In the case of the
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, there’s that lowered weight, maybe just a little more room
for battery and components (more on that later) and fewer access points for
water and dust.
Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are the company’s first,
official water- and dust-resistant iPhones. Both handsets are rated IP67 for
environmental protection. The “6” in this rating means the iPhones are totally
protected against dust. I’m glad they can hold up to dust, but it’s not
something I can actually test or talk about in detail. If you buy one and get
caught in a dust storm, let me know how that works out.
The “7” in the IP67 rating means both Phones can survive
under 3 feet (1 meter) of water for up to 30 minutes. Now this was something I
could test.
The iPhone 7 takes a shower.
I had a good time placing the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus under
running water and dropping them into water-filled containers and sinks. Not
only did they hold up, but both phones continued to function in the drink. No,
you can’t use a capacitive touchscreen underwater (though you can write with
the Samsung S-Pen on the IP68-rated Samsung Galaxy Note7 while it's immersed),
but I was able to use the side button to take pictures and even set the iPhone
7 up to film in slo-mo while it was underwater. The result was pretty awesome.
Each time I tried this, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were
unharmed. I fished them out of the water and dried them with a cloth and then
continue using them. One thing you cannot do right after submerging your phone,
though, is charge it. Apple recommends letting the Lightning port dry out for
five hours before attempting to charge either device again.
Apple is not positioning the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus as
waterproof. I would not recommend going for a swim with your new device, but if
you wanted peace of mind after accidentally dropping the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus in
the toilet, you finally have it.
iPhone 7 DISPLAYS & CAMERAS
While the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are, aside from their size,
virtually identical, they diverge at screen resolution and, more importantly,
camera capabilities. The resolution of both displays is unchanged from the iPhone
6S and 6SPlus. The iPhone 7’s Retina HD screen is 1,334 x 750 pixels, while the
7 Plus is 1,920 x 1,080. At 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, the slightly larger Samsung
Galaxy S7 beats the iPhone 7 by a significant margin. Likewise, the beleaguered
5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note7’s screen resolution is the same as the Galaxy S7,
so it beats the iPhone 7 Plus on the spec sheet.
Since Apple seems disinterested in winning on the pixel
front, the company has shifted focus to image quality. The latest Retina HD
displays on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus feature a wide color gamut, which means you
should be able to see more and, potentially, truer colors than basic RGB can
display.
It’s the kind of feature enhancement that can be hard to
test without high-end display-test equipment. Without question, imagery on both
the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is sharp and brilliant. However, the best illustration
of the new Retina HD display’s color prowess can be found in the pictures that
the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus’s brand new cameras capture. Let’s start by focusing on the wide-angle camera found on
both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Apple didn't update the megapixels: The cameras
are still 12MP (which is parity with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Note7), but
these are not the same cameras as those found in the iPhone 6S or 6S Plus.
Compared to the Galaxy S7, colors captured from the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus (labeled as just the latter for simplicity) benefit from the wide
color gamut.
LANCE ULANOFF
Instead of five elements, the new iPhone cameras have six.
More importantly, these are now much faster cameras, thanks to large f/1.8
apertures on the wide-angle lens. The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus topped out at f/2.2
openings. Wider aperture openings (unintuitively represented by lower numbers)
means more light, faster lenses and more creative possibilities. Images taken with the iPhone 7’s 12MP camera and its
doppelganger on the iPhone 7 Plus look fantastic. Both phones now include
optical image stabilization, which will help steady photos in shaky hands and
could be useful for action shots.
In my tests I focused primarily on still image quality,
comparing the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to the iPhone 6S Plus and the Galaxy S7.
The relative size of the image captured by the iPhone 7/7
Plus, the iPhone 7 Plus's 2x telephoto lens, and the Samsung Galaxy S7.
iPhone 7 LANCE ULANOFF
The defining characteristic of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is
color verity. At a glance, Samsung Galaxy S7 pictures will look better, but
this is often because it does what looks like a cleanup pass that removes some
of the gradations between colors and then boost the primary colors. So colors
pop, but, compared to real life, they can appear over-bright., Apple does just as many, if not more computations on each
photo (Apple said a billion), but the result is something closer to
"truth." Granted, this is a subtle difference that I’m not sure
everyone will discern. In addition, I still think the Galaxy S7 takes excellent
photos; the iPhone 7 wide angle cameras are just slightly better. In low-light situations, the Galaxy S7 focuses and snaps
pictures faster. As usual, the colors are over-bright. For some, this is a good
thing, but the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus’s wide-angle camera will err on the muted
side. When I took a picture of my wife in a room with only ambient light as she
stood against an orange wall while holding a peach, the iPhone 7 ably recreated
her skin tone and the peach color, but it lost the wall color. The Galaxy S7
turned her blue shirt a bright, Kelly blue, but also managed to get the orange
wall behind her. (My wife preferred the Samsung Galaxy S7 shots).
WATERCOOLER
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THE DUAL CAMERA
The iPhone 7 Plus adds a useful telephoto lens that is a
duplicate of the wide-angle lens in virtually every regard, except it has 2x
optical zoom. That may not seem like a lot of magnification, but any amount of
non-digital zooming on a smartphone is impressive. To achieve this effect on my
current iPhone, I carry an Olloclip 2x zoom iPhone lens add-on (and, no, I
can’t turn my 2x into 4x with Olloclip -- it won’t fit on the iPhone 7 Plus
double-lens configuration). To use my new iPhone 7 Plus telephoto lens, I just tap on
the little 1x that floats in front of every photo. When compared to the digital zoom of any previous iPhone or
even the Galaxy S7... well, there is no comparison. You simply can’t beat
optical zoom.
What the iPhone 7 Plus's telephoto camera can do.
iPhone 7 LANCE ULANOFF
If you were wondering, I can also zoom at everything between
1x to 2x and beyond. In fact, the new iPhone 7 Plus will let me zoom all the
way to 10x digital zoom (it tops out at 6x for video). Unfortunately, 10x
digital zoom looks terrible. I have no idea why Apple bothered to include this,
especially after going to the trouble of putting in an optical zoom lens. I’m
sure some people will find some use for it (probably with a tripod), but I fear
it will lead to our social streams will soon be filled with blown-out bits of
image garbage.
If, however, you use some restraint and try not to zoom past
6x, the results in still, video and slo-mo (3x, only) should be pretty good.
Time-lapse and pano (it makes 63MP images) only offer 2x.
A promised photo feature, Portrait, which adds a defocused
background on photos for a dramatic depth-of-field look, was not ready yet.
Considering the f/1.8 and f/2.8 of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus telephoto
lenses, respectively, which can dramatically shorten the depth of field, this
could result in some pretty spectacular smartphone photos.
THE iPhone 7 SELFIE CAMERA
The front-facing camera, at various times called the
FaceTime or selfie camera, also got a significant update. It’s now 7MP and also
includes auto-image stabilization. It’s not optical image stabilization, but in
my tests, the results were just as good.
Without question, Apple’s FaceTime HD camera produces
better, more realistic (which may or may not be a good thing) and sharper
selfies than I got on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, and on the Samsung Galaxy S7.
The Retina flash is still there, too, and does a decent job of brightening
low-light selfies, but natural light will always look better.
iPhone 7 WATERCOOLER
Are These Tweets by Donald Trump or a Troll? Adam Pally
Takes a Guess.
iPhone 7 STEREO SPEAKERS
Apple did make one other small change to the iPhone 7 and 7
Plus body and it's one that you could easily miss. The earphone speaker slot is
now noticeably wider than on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. This is to accommodate
a new second speaker. That’s right, the iPhone finally has stereo.
Even though the bottom edge speaker fires down and away from
you while the new speaker slot blasts audio right at your face, the audio
doesn’t sound unbalanced. I played songs, movies and games and all got loud, but,
thankfully, not distorted. This is not the kind of audio you’d want to use to
fill a room, but it worked fairly well one evening when my wife and I we sat on
our patio and listened to the new Lady Gaga single "Perfect
Illusion." My chief criticism is that there’s not enough bass (how could
there be in such a thin device?), which can make the music sound a tad tinny.
Gaming, though, is where the stereo speakers really shine.
That’s because it can, when game companies develop for it, be used in concert
with the Taptic Engine. So not only do you hear gunfire and explosions in the
right positions, you feel the vibration in the phone. I had the opportunity to
try this out with some pre-release games on the day Apple launched the phones.
The vibrations aren’t as strong as what you’ll find on a standard game
controller, but they’re noticeable and do add to the mobile gaming experience.
iPhone 7 PERFORMANCE
Speaking of gaming, both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus pack
Apple’s new A10 Fusion processor. According to Geekbench 4 results, it’s a
roughly 2GHz CPU supported by, on the iPhone 7, 2GB of RAM and, on the iPhone 7
Plus, 3GB of RAM. The Geekbench single- and dual-core scores for the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus are almost identical, and they both significantly outshine the
Samsung Galaxy S7.
How the iPhone 7 (left) and iPhone 7 Plus (center) stack up
against the Samsung Galaxy S7 (right), according to Geekbench benchmarks. Frankly, all of these smartphones are fast. They don’t
stutter when switching between apps, browsing the web or playing intense games. Most of the games currently available probably don’t even
take complete advantage of all the iPhone 7’s power (they certainly don’t tap
into the Taptic engine), but the games I did play, like Infinity Blade III and
Real Racing 3 looked spectacular and played smoothly. I tried with a drawing
app, Procreate Pocket, to see if I could draw too fast for the smartphone to
keep up. I couldn’t on the 6S Plus and I certainly couldn’t on the 7 Plus.
iPhone BATTERY LIFE
Apple didn’t make the iPhone 7 or 7 Plus any larger than the
last models, but they clearly gained a little battery space by dropping the
3.5mm headphone jack. The day-plus of battery life I’m currently getting with
both phones is likely due to that extra battery space and the more efficient
A10 Fusion CPU. The larger iPhone 7 is closing in on two days with moderate
use. This is not an exhaustive battery test and your mileage may vary. But, as
of now, I’m generally impressed with how long both smartphones last on a
charge.
iPhone IOS 10
Mashable Senior Tech Correspondent Raymond Wong has a
separate review ofiOS 10, but so much of the experience of using the iPhone 7
and 7 Plus is tied to the update that I can't ignore it here.
First of all, slide-to-unlock is gone. Instead, iOS 10 asks
you to press the non-moving Touch ID button. From the lock screen, sliding the
screen to the left opens the camera. It took me a while to get used to this.
Register your fingerprint with the phone and you’ll never have to think about
this again; just put your finger on the Touch ID button, press once and the
iPhone 7 or 7 Plus will unlock.
If you slide your home screen to the right, you’ll see the
new widget screen with Spotlight search at the top. Notifications, which pop up
on screen and can be revealed with a swipe down from the top, also get this
new, richer treatment. At first, I didn’t like this. I missed iOS 9’s more
concise look. Eventually, I came to appreciate the extra detail and, sometimes,
level of interaction I got from some app notifications. Twitter, for instance,
shows me a new follower notification and offers me the ability to “say hello”
in Twitter without even opening the app.
Photos also got a bunch of updates, including the new
Memories, which is already hard at work giving me collections of my best photos
in attractive slideshows that even include music. Memories employs computer
vision to analyze each photo to identify the people and objects in them as well
as the places where I took them.
Most of the choices Memories makes are good, but some are
silly. It should know better than to include screenshots in slideshows. I suspect
it needs to learn more about my photo habits before I trust it to refine my
photo presentations.
One of the other big iOS 10 highlights is the new Messages.
Digital Touch, which was first introduced on the Apple Watch, has made its way
to the iPhone. Now I can quickly add photos, videos, heartbeats, taps and even
doodles to my messages. Many of the animations, though, are lost when I send
them to someone not yet on iOS 10 or on an Android phone. The heartbeat I sent
to my wife’s iPhone 5S showed up as still image of a blurry heart. I’m sure
this will be a lot more fun when everyone upgrades.
THE UPGRADE QUESTION
If you’re an iPhone owner, Apple's new models are definitely
worthwhile upgrades, especially since both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus now
start at 32GB for the same price as the previous model. The iPhone 7 starts at
$649, and the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769.
If you don’t mind the larger phone, I would go for the
iPhone 7 Plus. That 2x lens is simply awesome and you will thank me every time
you attend a concert and sit in the nosebleed section.
Am I bothered by the lack of a 3.5 mm jack? No. the iPhone 7
and iPhone 7 Plus both ship with Lightning EarPods and a dongle for no extra
charge. I have no complaints.
Do I wish Apple had added wireless charging? Sure, but then
I’m not sweating having to plug it in to charge. Plus, wireless charging bases
are far from ubiquitous. But when they are, Apple had better add it.
And I want to personally thank Apple for finally adding
water resistance. Apple steered clear this time of reinvention, but all the
changes they did bring to the iPhone brand are worthwhile and welcome. Is it
parity with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note7? Yes and no. iOS remains my
preferred mobile OS. Compared to Android, it’s better organized and consistent
from device to device (though Samsung has made huge strides in this area). Despite the Note7’s recent travails, I still find it
remarkable how much screen and battery life Samsung squeezed into a device that
is not only lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus, but also includes wireless charging
and a dedicated stylus. I’d like to see the next iPhone Plus model get a little
lighter. Neither the S7 nor the Note7 can match the Taptic Engine, nor the
sheer excellence of Apple’s cameras. Samsung’s shooters are very close in terms
of image quality, but that extra 2x optical zoom is a very big, ahem, plus.
I’m not sure if Apple’s iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus are the
best smartphones ever, but these are easily the best iPhones ever, and they're
excellent upgrade options for current iOS customers. Correction: This review originally said the iPhone 7's Jet
Black finish was reminiscent of the plastic back of the original iPhone, but
that phone had a metal back. It was actually the iPhone 3G that introduced the
plastic back.
BOTTOM LINE: IPHONE 7
The Good Beautiful, yet familiar, design • Responsive new home button
• Excellent camera • Performance and power to spare • Great battery life •
Water resistant The Bad Expensive • Jet Black finish prone to scratches • No 3.5mm
headphone jack The Bottom Line With the iPhone 7, Apple literally polished the iPhone 6S
design to near perfection. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better smartphone —
unless you buy the iPhone 7 Plus.
BOTTOM LINE: IPHONE 7 PLUS
The Good Great design • Lots of battery life • Awesome 2x optical
zoom camera
The Bad Noticeably heavier than the the Samsung Galaxy Note7 •
Expensive
The Bottom Line If you like your phones big and want to get twice as close
to the action as everyone else, the iPhone 7 Plus is what you want.
source- http://mashable.com/2016/09/13/apple-iphone-7-review/#0_DqG9O6rOqK
