IPhone 7 Review: Ready or Not, This Is the Future
Christina Warren
9/23/16 1: 40pm
Filed to: IPHONE 7 REVIEW
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At a glance, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus might be confused for their predecessors, the 6s and 6s Plus. It’s deceptive. The iPhone 7 is perhaps the most drastic revision of the phone since it was first released nearly a decade ago. It’s not just the missing headphone jack. There are several other big ideas, including a new dual camera system ( on the 7 Plus) , a new touch sensor home button, and mercifully, newly added water resistance. These are substantial changes, and they hint at what we can expect from the future of Apple phones.
After using the new devices for a week, what’s most remarkable is that Apple managed to change things up without completely ruining the iPhone’s trademark polish. In fact, let’s get it out of the way right now: The new iPhones are good.
Those hints at the future start with the new jet black finish option. I can’t help but think the jet black finish is something we’ll see more of in next year’s iPhone. If you squint hard enough, you can almost see the all-glass OLED design Apple is reportedly planning for the iPhone 8 ( or whatever it’ll be called) . It’s there in the invisible antenna lines and seamless transition between screen and case.
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The jet black iPhone looks great when the phone is off. Unfortunately, the new finish scratches easily, and shows fingerprints. Within minutes of having my review unit, it was littered with fingerprints, and within a week, the phone was covered in faint marks.
Aesthetics aside, the real changes begin with the home button. Apple has swapped its iconic physical home button for a solid-state sensor. Eschewing the button has a few real-world advantages, like cutting out a wearable part that frequently fails, and helping seal off the chassis so the device is waterproof. But using the new home button is very different now. And different doesn’t mean good. The old home button always elicited a satisfying click, which is basically gone. The new sensor gives you just a flaccid haptic tap.
Unlike the Force Touch sensors on the trackpads of the MacBook and MacBook Pro, the click doesn’t feel natural now. The first few hours with the new home button were the worst, precisely because of that unnatural feeling. I’ve gotten more used to the new button as the days have passed.
I don’t love the button, but I do think it prepares us for a future where the button is embedded in the screen. If Apple does remove the bezel home button next year, opting instead to embed it into the bottom of the screen, this sensor could be the path that helps users adjust.
The new camera system, on the other hand, is a game changer. The cameras in both devices now have a 28mm f/1.8 lens, which is better in low-light than the old phones. The iPhone 7 also gains optical image stabilization for photo and video. This was a feature that the bigger phones already had, but it’s great to see trickle down into the smaller body. Kiss those shaky shots goodbye.
iPhone 6s on left and iPhone 7 on right. The low light performance with the iPhone 7 is a lot better here. Not only is the Samsung 360 more illuminated, there is less noise in the blacks.
iPhone 6s on left and iPhone 7 Plus on right. Again, the noise levels in low light are a lot better on the iPhone 7 Plus. You can also see more details on the wall. The lighting through the window on the 7 Plus is a more natural too.
The iPhone 7 Plus camera is even more advanced. It has a second 56mm “telephoto” lens, in addition to the standard issue. Pressing a button in the camera app lets you switch between the lenses for instant 2x zoom.
It also makes a big difference in the types of shots you can get.
In Times Square over the weekend, I was able to zoom in more clearly on l