iPhone 7 Tested
Worth the upgrade? We reveal what it’s really like to use
The metronomic quality of Apple’s yearly iPhone upgrades seems to have come to a halt – or the pendulum is stuck. It used to be that you got a dramatic redesign with every new numbered model, and feature improvements with every S model. But the iPhone 7 looks a little bit like the second S model in a row, though that’s on the harsh side: this is more than just an S upgrade – but it’s not as much of a push forward as many would have expected given the huge changes in the iPhone 4 and 6 in particular.
There are refinements to the design (the smoothing of the camera “bump,” better hiding of the antenna bands, and a new Jet Black color, of course. But the two biggest design changes on the iPhone 7 are major talking points: it can now survive dives into a swimming pool, thanks to the water-resistant chassis, and the headphone jack on the bottom of the phone is no longer there.
Let’s start with the biggest of those changes: the omission of the headphone jack. The loss of this port will impact users to varying degrees: for some people, it’ll be no more than a shrug before they get on with their day, because they only use the EarPods in the iPhone box – and those are still there, just with a Lightning connector. And if you use Bluetooth headphones, little has changed. For others, though, it’ll be an inconvenience, because they’ll need to attach the short white dongle to the 3.5mm jack on the end of their headphones in order to plug them into the Lightning port. And losing the headphone jack limits the next pair of headphones you might buy to use with your iPhone (unless you’re happy with the adapter). Ultimately, how big a problem this is comes down to you: it’s an inconvenience for sure (if nothing else, it stops you listening with wired headphones and charging it at the same time), but if you use EarPods or wireless headphones, it’s probably something you can live with easily enough. If you have a set of 3.5mm-connected headphones you’re wedded to, it means awkwardness.
It’s fairly impressive that the iPhone’s thickness hasn’t changed with the addition of waterproofing, since this always add thickness, because the seals need some space within the device. The water-resistance works well too – we got our review model good and wet (within its tolerances) and had no problems.
The new dual speakers, which fire out of the top and bottom of the phone, sound great – not as good as the iPad Pro’s impressive sound quality, but a notable improvement.
The home button, that iconic design from Apple that’s endured for years, has changed dramatically too: it’s no longer a clickable, physical entity, but a sunken point that responds to the force of your touch. Initially, we found the loss of the dependable, pressable button awful – the Taptic Engine replacement like an imposter under our thumb.
But, suddenly, it clicked (so to speak), and it felt like a natural motion. And we love that the degree to which it “clicks” is adjustable.
The main change to the screen on the iPhone 7 is its brightness and color – it’s otherwise identical, with a 4.7-inch, 1334x750 resolution display. But you now get the wider color gamut offered by the likes of the iPad Pro. The screen is more colorful – not in an overpowering technicolor way, but in terms of richness, with the depth of color matching that of a cinema screen. The brightness is also improved in the right way – again, it’s not overpowering, but gives you better visibility of the screen when it’s at full brightness.
The white balance of the display is also improved to a warmer tone – though sadly Apple didn’t include the fantastic True Tone display technology from the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Low-light love The iPhone 7 doesn’t have the elaborate dual-camera system of its Plus sibling, but it is improved from the 6s. The 12-megapixel sensor is matched with an improved f/1.8 aperture lens for better photos in lower light, an enhanced ability to gather color and light into the lens, and optical image stabilization (formerly a Plus-only feature).
The changes add up to a few strong steps forward in a number of areas, rather than making a colossal stride forward in picture quality. Darker shots are where the iPhone 7 has improved the most – all of its new features help with low-light shots, with image stabilization in particular helping shots look sharper. But in all cases, the brightness was better, and the colors are improved thanks to not only the sensor’s ability to pick up a wider array of colors, but also the screen’s ability to display them. The difference in colors in shots taken and viewed on a 6s compared to those taken and viewed on an iPhone 7 is immediate and clear. But you do need the wide color screen to get the full effect.
The front-facing camera has been upgraded, now featuring a 7MP sensor that’s also better in lower light, and picks up sharper images with more vibrant colors. Fast Fusion The iPhone 7 comes with the new A10 Fusion chip, which is (of course) the fastest mobile chip in a phone right now, but also includes two extra low-power processor cores, to improve battery life during light use. And yes, it’s blistering fast. You can fly between different apps with no waiting, opening up music before browsing the web, then playing a game. It’s not quite a complete revelation compared to the iPhone 6s, but the difference is noticeable.
Speaking of games, the A10 has a more powerful graphics chip, but the new feature that really improves the gaming experience is actually the Taptic Engine. This delivers smaller, more targeted buzzing of the phone, so when you’re firing a machine gun, or crashing a car into the side of a wall, it feels more realistic and engaging.
One of the aims of the A10 Fusion chip is to improve battery life, with Apple saying the 7 gets two more hours than the 6s in its tests. In practice, we saw little improvement in most use, though watching videos used less battery than previous models – it appears that its life is improved for media, but other app types still take their toll. We wish we could see if the A10’s low-power cores were active or not, to learn more. Still, one great addition is that you can use an iPad’s higher-power 2.1A charger to juice up the iPhone 7 faster than previous models.
Apple has hit its marks with the iPhone 7, delivering upgrades in the right areas and to a strong level at times. Water-resistance is a welcome feature, the improved camera and screen are great together, the speakers are impressive, and we can’t argue with its speed. The headphone jack might be a dealbreaker – there’s also a question for those upgrading from a 5s or 5c whether you’d be better off with the iPhone 6s for now, which is cheaper, not hugely inferior, and has a jack. Or there’s the 7 Plus, of course, and we have some thoughts on that on the next page…
The bottom line. The iPhone 7 isn’t a huge upgrade; it’s a series of small, useful steps forward, that make for a really great phone. Gareth Beavis & Matt Bolton
The new a10 fusion chip is blistering fast – you can fly between apps