The Apple iPhone 7 (starting at $649) is a better phone than the iPhone 6s in many ways. For its improved speed, connectivity, and battery life, though, you're asked to give up a few things that may be important to you, most notably, a headphone jack. That almost certainly won't be a big deal in six months, but it's a big deal right now. Although the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus are similar in many ways—they share the same OS, display technology, processor, and modems—the 7 Plus brings a bit more to the table in terms of camera performance and memory to make the compromises worth your while. As such, we recommend the iPhone 7 Plus over the iPhone 7.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus share a number of key features. Read our iPhone 7 Plus review for a full rundown of what you'll find in the iPhone 7. Here, I'll focus here on differences I found when testing the two phones.
What's New This Year?
The iPhone 7 is exactly the size of the iPhone 6s at 5.44 by 2.64 by 0.28 inches (HWD), although it will need a new case because the camera is slightly below where it sits on the 6s. It's a little bit lighter than the 6s: 4.87 ounces compared with 5.04 ounces. At a bit over two and a half inches wide, it's still the best-sized phone for most hands, although the Samsung Galaxy S7 comes close at 2.74 inches. If you want a very small device, of course, check out the petite but powerful iPhone SE.
The main visual changes are a larger camera bump on the back, signifying the better lens and optical image stabilization in the new camera, and the lack of a headphone jack on the bottom, replaced by a grille for the barometer vent. The Taptic home button looks the same as last year's, but it's a virtual rather than a physical button.
Similar Products
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
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Apple iPhone 6s (Verizon Wireless)
Apple iPhone SE
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The 4.7-inch, 1,334-by-750 screen looks exactly like the iPhone 6s screen, and in practice, I can't tell the difference. But display scientist Dr. Ray Soneira of DisplayMate Labs can, and he says it's the best LCD on the market, both brighter and less reflective than last year's model. It still falls short of AMOLED displays in viewing angles and features like always-on capability.
The iPhone 7 line is now water resistant: IP67 certification means you can dunk it in shallow water for half an hour. And in addition to Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver, it comes in two new colors this year. The glossy Jet Black is gorgeous, but it's prone to scratching and picks up fingerprints like no one's business. Matte Black is easier to maintain, and arguably just as attractive. A new PRODUCT (RED) model launched in 2017 has a red back panel and edges with a white face.
Storage options have changed as well. The base model starts at 32GB for $649, and increases to 128GB for $749, and 256GB for $849. Most users will be happy with the 128GB model, especially if you like to record a lot of video or play games.
Battery and Performance
Apple says the iPhone 7 has longer battery life than the iPhone 6s, and our tests bore that out. Our standard battery test does a poor job of comparing iPhones with Android devices, as the iPhone's battery life is much more dependent on screen-on time, so I ran more tests than I usually do.
In terms of screen-on time, the iPhone 7 has much longer usage time than the previous iPhone 6s, at 5 hours, 45 minutes compared with 4 hours, 21 minutes. The Samsung Galaxy S7 has a much more power-efficient screen and that gets up to 9 hours. But you can see that kind of screen-on battery life just by reducing the iPhone's brightness to half, which isn't an issue since the display is brighter and less reflective than last year's model.
You have to go deeper to find the iPhone's advantages over an Android phone, like in standby mode. Leaving the iPhone 7 alone for six and a half hours, it only bleeds about 1 percent battery, whereas the Galaxy S7 loses 9 percent of battery in the same amount of time. Bluetooth also has less impact on the iPhone. An hour of Bluetooth audio consumes only 1.25 percent of the iPhone 7's battery, but 4 percent of the Galaxy S7's battery.
The result is that you'll be able to get a full day's use out of the iPhone 7, and it'll probably last longer than the Galaxy S7 in mixed use.
The iPhone 7 has the same new A10 processor as the iPhone 7 Plus, which is 30 percent faster than both the A9 in the iPhone 6s and 40 percent faster than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 in leading Android phones. But it only has 2GB of RAM compared with 3GB in the 7 Plus. That means the 7 Plus is better for multitasking.
Both phones run iOS 10, the latest version of Apple's operating system, without a hiccup. For more, see our Hidden Tips for Mastering iOS 10.
Camera
The iPhone 7 has a single 12-megapixel camera on the back, and a 7-megapixel selfie camera on the front. They're identical, in image quality and features, to the front and rear cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus, which we cover in full in our review.
However, we're recommending the iPhone 7 Plus because I feel that Apple's future is in its dual-camera arrangement, which the iPhone 7 lacks. Apple is only promising zoom and depth-of-field tricks, but you can also use dual cameras for augmented-reality depth sensing, which I think is going to be an iOS 11 feature. Even right now, the 7 Plus has a 2x optical zoom, which means you can capture photos with significantly more detail than you can with the digital zoom on the iPhone 7 (or the Galaxy S7 for that matter).
In daylight, it's hard to tell the difference between the cameras on the iPhone 7, the iPhone 6s, and the Galaxy S7. Of the three, I prefer the Galaxy S7 because I feel that it meters light a bit better; especially with some bright daylight macro shots, the iPhone 7 blows out elements in the foreground.
But in low light, the iPhone 7's excellent optical image stabilization really comes to the fore. Our lab tests show that the wider aperture and bigger sensor on the Galaxy S7 make for better performance than the iPhone when both phones are on tripods. But in my shaky hand, I found that shots taken at 1/15 second with the iPhone were more stable and less blurry than shots taken at 1/30 or 1/40 second with the Galaxy. That makes for a distinct real-life advantage.
The iPhone 7's selfie camera, at 7 megapixels, definitely takes more detailed shots than both the 6s and the Galaxy S7. They aren't always more flattering, though: my stubble and blemishes came through much more clearly on the iPhone 7 than on the Galaxy S7, which applies aggressive smoothing algorithms by default.
Comparisons and Conclusions
There's a simple question this year: Are the iPhone 7's new features worth the headphone jack hassle, especially right now, when there aren't many Lightning headphones available and Bluetooth is still divisive?
From left to right: iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7
If you have an iPhone 6s, I don't think the iPhone 7 is worth it—yet. Yes, the iPhone 7 is better: It has a better camera, better battery life, and a better processor. But if you use more than one set of headphones, or you have different devices you want to use your headphones with, swapping dongles is going to get old fast. The iPhone 7 Plus's dual cameras, bigger battery, and extra memory offer arguments to put up with the hassle that the iPhone 7 can't muster.
This all may change six months down the road, as Lightning headphones and Bluetooth devices using Apple's W1 pairing system (including the company's own AirPods ($89.00 at Amazon) ) hit the market. Right now, though, the best reason to get an iPhone 7 is if you have an iPhone 6 and the battery is starting to get a bit worn down. You'll get a serious boost in juice with the new unit, not to mention a processor that's 127 percent faster.
If you want the best iPhone experience this year, get the iPhone 7 Plus. For those with older iPhone models, I recommend the iPhone SE, which has a fast processor, a terrific little form factor, and a traditional headphone jack. I've broken other upgrade scenarios in the chart at the right.
Apple says its steps this year are "courageous," and the company is on the right side of history. Just as we moved away from the RS-232 and parallel ports, we're likely to move away from the standard audio jack—probably to USB-C on most devices, and to Lightning on Apple's gadgets. But that doesn't mean you have to be a day-one adopter of the courageous new technology. For the moment, I'll be just a little more conservative and recommend the iPhone SE and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge over the iPhone 7, although I am giving the Editor's Choice award to the more powerful iPhone 7 Plus.
Apple's iPhone 7 is better than last year's model in almost every way, but it isn't quite as good as its bigger sibling, the iPhone 7 Plus.
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