Introduction
On the seventh day the designers rested. In came the engineers. And the master of controversy struck again.
Apple feels proud of making the bold move of removing the audio jack. But in pretty much every other aspect they've seemingly taken the conservative route as the new iPhone looks basically the same as the iPhone 6/6s.
Well, it's not as easy as that. The iPhone 7 is in many ways a better phone. We can see some of the issues we had with the last iPhone sorted and, no, we are not claiming credit for it - simply acknowledging the fact.
Waterproofing, stereo speakers and, finally, sane storage options - and that's on top of the usual performance upgrades we've come to take for granted every year. Think this is the story of the iPhone 7? Apple's first water-resistant handset, first quad-core processor, first pair of stereo speakers on a phone.
Not trying to build suspense. The story has been hijacked and you know it. But we're going to tell it anyway.
Key features
- Water-proof metal unibody with redesigned, less-obtrusive antenna strips
- 4.7" 16M-color LED-backlit IPS LCD of 750 x 1334px resolution, 326ppi, wide color gamut, 3D Touch tech
- Pressure-sensitive Home key powered by a brand new Taptic Engine
- Quad-core (2+2) 64-bit Apple CPU, hexa-core GPU, 3GB of RAM, Apple A10 Fusion SoC
- 12MP F/1.8 camera with a quad-LED flash, optical image stabilization, phase detection auto focus, wide color capture, face and body detection; 2160p@30fps video recording
- 7MP F/2.2 front-facing camera with BSI sensor and HDR mode, 1080p@30fps video
- Comes in 32, 128, and 256GB of built-in storage
- Second-gen Touch ID fingerprint sensor
- 4G LTE Cat.12 (600Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.2; Lightning port; GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS; NFC (Apple Pay only)
- 1,960mAh battery
Main disadvantages
- No 3.5mm audio jack (ships with a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter)
- No microSD slot
- No dual-camera of the iPhone 7 Plus
- NFC functionality limited to Apple Pay
- Still no fast or wireless charging, no IR port or FM radio
- No user-replaceable battery
- Scratch-prone Jet Black model
Once you wrap your head around the missing audio jack (it's not the end of it, you can get a designated adapter for your favorite headphones), the Apple iPhone 7 is a major upgrade. IP67-certified water-resistant body. Bigger and brighter camera with OIS. New FaceTime cam. Stereo speakers. Faster processor and 50% GPU performance increase, more RAM. New pressure-sensitive Home key powered by a new taptic engine. Revised storage options.
The new Home button, rather the lack thereof, is nearly as controversial as the missing audio jack. Apple used the same taptic engine behind the MacBook's trackpad, so things might actually turn out better there.
Apple doubled the storage capacity on all three flavors, so it finally starts at 32GB, the other two being 128GB or 256GB. Unfortunately, fast or wireless charging still doesn't mean anything to Apple, which is a shame in 2016.
Anyway, the iPhone 7 is ready to get unwrapped, so let's get to it. Head to the next page for our traditional hardware and exterior checkup.
Unboxing the Apple iPhone 7
The Apple iPhone 7 comes in a very familiar box, which packs an A/C adapter, a Lightning cable, and a pair of EarPods ending on a Lightning plug.
There is also a Lighting to 3.5mm adapter so you can continue using your headset of choice. You can get extra adaptors from Apple if you like to have a designated adapter for each of your headphones.
Apple iPhone 7 360-degree view
At 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm, the iPhone7 is exactly the same size as the 6s. The new flagship managed to somehow lose 5g down to 138g.
Design and build quality
Next year is the iPhone's 10th anniversary and that perhaps explains why Apple settled for refining the iPhone 6 design instead of going for a complete overhaul. Or they might have wanted to avoid a double shocker where people end up hating the new look, blaming it for the missing audio jack and "fake" Home button.
Apple iPhone 6s next to the iPhone 7
Speculation aside, the iPhone 7 may look too familiar, but feels different enough and still pretty relevant. A subtle change makes a good enough difference - the antenna strips have been pushed all the way to the top and bottom, following the phone's curvature. They are less intrusive this way and almost invisible on the black and jet black models.
The new antennas flow with the phone's curves � How it used to be
We've already seen similar antenna design in phones like the Meizu Pro 6 and Apple did well to acknowledge the need for improvement.
There are two other visible changes to the iPhone 7's unibody design: the camera hump is bigger but also more discreet and, of course, there is no audio jack.
In recent times every new generation of iPhones has introduced a new color option, and the 7th is no exception. Apple has retired the Space Gray paint job in favor or two new Black options. Just Black is the new matte black flavor featuring the same grippy finish as its Space Gray predecessor, while the Jet Black is a true blast from the past.
The Jet Black iPhone 7's glossy finish looks amazing and evokes fond memories of the iPhone 3G and 3GS. It is only available for the 128 and 256 GB models, which suggests Apple considers it the premium color option.
Unfortunately, the Jet Black edition is highly scratch-prone and picks up fingerprints in no time. Even Apple admitted the Jet Black phones are not for everyone as their shiny looks are rather easily ruined by scratches unless protected by a case.
Handling the iPhone 7 is a pure pleasure - it's very thin and lightweight, while the 4.7" screen makes it one of the most compact flagships out there. Even though the iPhone 7 is rounded in shape, the matte finish provides a secure enough grip, while the waterproofing will take your worries away even if you do drop it in water.
Quite expectedly, opting for the Jet Black one will require some extra care, but we must admit it looks even better than its matte counterparts.
Apple did a great job of making the new iPhone 7 a competitive and attractive proposition, even though the design is not what you would call new. It still feels as premium as it did two years ago.
Controls
At the bottom of the iPhone 7, there is the Lightning jack and two grilles. Teardowns have revealed that there is a mic behind both of these grilles, but one is joined by the phone's primary speaker, while the other sits next to a seemingly unused space inside the phone. Apple responded to that and claims it's a barometric vent, which is used to allow access to the ambient air for the barometer sensor in the otherwise water-tight body of the iPhone 7.
A notable omission on the bottom is the 3.5mm audio jack but more on that later.
The top of the iPhone 7, on the other hand, is perfectly clean.
The bottom � the second speaker � the top
The left side of the iPhone 7 has the well-known mute switch and the two volume keys. The right one houses the power/lock key, and the nano-SIM ejectable slot.
The left side � the mute switch � the right side � the nano-SIM slot
Finally, the back of the iPhone 7 shows the only visible change - the new antenna bands moved to the top and bottom. The camera lens is bigger and is less protruding and there is a new quad-LED true-tone flash around.
The small hole between the lens and the flash is the third microphone found on board the phone - most probably the one that is used for noise-cancellation during calls. It's real shame that with all those mics on board that iPhone 7 still records its videos with mono audio. But we digress.
The redesigned back � the new camera
The front of the Apple iPhone 7 is familiar, though there are a few surprises beneath the surface. Above the screen is the earpiece, the new 7MP FaceTime camera and a bunch of sensors.
The earpiece now doubles as a speaker, part of the two speaker setup introduced with the iPhone 7. The second speaker is where it has always been - at the bottom under a nicely carved grille.
The front � the earpiece/speaker
Below the screen is the second novelty - the Home button with a second-gen Touch ID fingerprint sensor. While the ID scanner is the same as on the iPhone 6s, the Home key is something we have a lot to talk about.
Below the screen � the new Home key
First, it's no longer a button. It's a flat round piece, which does not physically sink in when pressed. Instead, it's connected to Apple's updated Taptic Engine inside the phone. The iPhone 6s also had a Taptic engine but the module was much smaller.
Thanks to the taptic engine, the key is pressure sensitive and recognize whether you are pressing the are or merely tapping it.
The Taptic Engine works nice and creates a nice illusion of a real click. You can even configure the force of the feedback. It may take a few days to get used to the new clicks, but once you do, and trust us - you will, you'll hardly miss the old physical feedback.
Configuring the feedback for new Home key
But some of us are still missing the reassuring travel of a physical key and can't shake off the feeling that the new key feels like innovation for the sole sake of innovating as opposed to filling a particular need. Not only the press feedback is inferior to a real button but the bigger Taptic Engine module is now occupying a big part of the space vacated by the 3.5mm audio jack.
Of course, we wouldn't have objected if the pressure-sensitive Home was the only way to ensure waterproofing but we can see both Samsung and Sony making waterproofed phones with physical keys.
There is another aspect and that's longevity and repairs - Apple may as well have gone for the new key design so that they don't have to deal with faulty Home buttons and phones bricked (the infamous Error 53) by unauthorized replacements of faulty button/fingerprint sensor combos.
But whatever the reason for this move, the worst part is that Apple is not frank about it. It's instead beating around the bush claiming technological innovation while the replaced part provided better user experience overall.
It's the same situation with the 3.5mm audio jack. It's like Apple is hiding the real reasons for removing it. They didn't really need to get rid of it because they don't have an industry-wide standard to replace it with except... Bluetooth. Could it be that it's the push towards wireless Bluetooth audio to blame? After all, the company just came up with a new wireless set called AirPods, which retails for $159. No, we're not conspiracy theorists.
Display
While the display may hide an improved panel, it's still has the same specs in terms of size and resolution: a 4.7" unit with a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels (that's 326ppi). It's a LED-backlit IPS LCD screen with RGB matrix. It's also 3D Touch-enabled, a technology we first saw on the iPhone 6s.
The new Retina display is 25% brighter and conforms to an even wider color gamut (cinema-standard) though few users will notice a change. Those are the upgrades over the already excellent screen that the iPhone 6s had.
The iPhone 7 offers a maximum brightness of 560 nits at the far end of its brightness slider, which is slightly better than the iPhone 6. If you leave it on Auto, however, the screen will readily go as high as 660 nits in bright light conditions, which is certainly nice.
The blacks offer by the new Retina screen are deep and combined with the high brightness they make for an excellent 1225:1 contrast ratio.
The best part of the new screen are its color calibration. This doesn't have anything to do with the wider color gamut mentioned above but rather the accuracy with which it reproduces the most common set of colors we see in everyday life.
In this respect the iPhone 7 screen offers an average DeltaE of 1.7, which is class leading and so far, only the Galaxy Note5 and the Lumia 950 family were capable of such an excellent color reprodcution. All individual colors stay well below a deviation DeltaE of 4. So the iPhone 7 screen is among the few phones on the market, which are perfectly color calibrated to be used professionally in color critical environment.
Display test | 100% brightness | ||
Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
0.35 | 561 | 1225 | |
0.40 | 656 | 1225 | |
0.36 | 536 | 1481 | |
0.43 | 590 | 1382 | |
0.77 | 618 | 804 | |
0.00 | 391 | 8 | |
0.00 | 563 | 8 | |
0.46 | 500 | 1094 | |
0.00 | 433 | 8 | |
0.44 | 539 | 1219 | |
0.51 | 628 | 1227 | |
0.29 | 428 | 1543 |
Apple offers the so-called Night Shift mode which adjusts the colors in your device's display to make sure that your eyes aren't exposed to the bright blue light after sunset. You can choose the exact start and end hours and your screen will be yellow-ish during that time.
In bright sunlight the iPhone 7 screen faired exceptionally well and remained legible all the time. We won't be posting our usual sunlight legibility test for now but we'll take care to add it later. Check back next week for that.
Battery life
The iPhone 7 is equipped with a non-removable Li-Po 1960mAh battery, which is about 15% beefier than the one of the iPhone 6s. There is also the new energy-efficient Apple A10 Fusion chip, which combined with the new battery and optimized iOS 10, should offer an longer battery life than before.
And in case you need your phone by the end of its charge, the Low-Power mode, which you can enable manually, should save your iPhone 7 from dying faster once the charge drops below 20%.
The iPhone 7 posted very balanced scores across the board - it can do about 11 and a half hours of 3G calls or web browsing on a single charge, while you can watch videos for about 9 hours. The standby endurance turned out average and thus the final rating of the average 61 hours.
The rating means two days and nice hours is how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the iPhone 7 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. Such usage pattern may not apply to your own use case but we've established it so our battery results are comparable across devices.
An interesting point to be made is that on the surface these results may seem like what we got from last year's iPhone 6s. But you also have got to remember that due to the change of the battery testing methodology, we conducted the web browsing and video playback tests back then with a screen brightness of 150nits instead of the 200nits of brightness that we use now as standard. Hence, if screen brightness levels were to be equalized, it would become apparent that the new iPhone 7 indeed offers an improvement in battery life.
The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Connectivity
The Apple iPhone 7 comes with a bunch of wireless connectivity features. It supports faster LTE Cat. 12 (up to 450Mpbs down, 150Mbps up) and has one of the widest LTE band coverage we've seen. Regular 2G and 3G connectivity is all safely covered as well with a multitude of supported network bands.
The iPhone 7 also supports the latest Voice over LTE (VoLTE), HD Voice and Wi-Fi calling protocols, but those are carrier dependent features so not everyone will get to enjoy them.
Naturally, the latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standards are dully covered. There is also support for NFC, but its functionality is only limited to Apple's region-restricted Apple Pay system.
The iPhone 7 uses a proprietary Lightning connector for wired data transfers, charging, and audio. There is limited USB Host support - you can attach some certified accessories or access your digital camera storage via proprietary adapters sold separately. You can pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the phone should you need this sort of peripheral.
Now that there is no 3.5mm audio jack on board the phone, you can use the provided Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter to continue using your favorite pair of wired headphones with the iPhone.
Or you can get Apple's new wireless AirPods. The most interesting thing about them from connectivity point of view is that they come with an extra chip Apple calls W1, which makes Bluetooth pairing much faster and easier.
It's a proprietary chip but we may see other certified MiFi Bluetooth headsets come with it down the road as well. We'll have to wait and see.
Apple iOS 10
Apple unveiled iOS 10 last June. As part of the new update Apple refined the lock and home screens, the notification and control centers, the 3D Touch experience, Siri, and improved the system apps.
Since the beginning the iOS user experience has successfully revolved around a few basic premises anyone can pick up quickly and iOS doesn't bring any changes in that direction.
First - the homescreen. All apps go there and you can group those in folders. There are no widgets on the homescreen, there is no separate app drawer either.
The new addition to the homescreen is the fixed leftmost Today page, which now supports various widgets, including the mandatory Spotlight search. But more on the Today page later.
The homescreen � All apps are there � A folder � The Today pane � Spotlight search
Second - the Notification Center. It's a page you bring down from the top and it has all your notifications.
Notification Center � Today page in Notifications � Notification settings � Notification settings
Third - Control Center. You slide out this pane from the bottom and it packs quick toggles and quick shortcuts. You can swipe the contents of the pane left and right to get to music controls and HomeKit menus.
Fourth - the Settings menu. Every setting is packed in there, just like with any other mobile OS. It isn't the best organized settings menu we've seen as there are quite a few inconsistencies, but it does the job.
Now that's out of the way, join us as we explore some of iOS 10 features in more detail trying to see what's new and what's gone for good.
Apple has redesigned the lockscreen and even though it seems familiar, it has lots of new features. It now supports pick up to wake and the phone lights up every time you take it in your hand.
There is an easier way to access the camera now - just swipe left. If you swipe right, you'll find your Today widget page. At a time when when Android has just gotten rid of the lockscreen widgets, Apple is keen on bringing them back.
The new lockscreen � quick camera access � Today page � PIN � You need to press for unlock
The screen may wake up automatically, but it doesn't unlock when you laying your finger on the Touch ID sensor. Instead, you'll need to press the Home button to go further. This ensures you have the opportunity to interact with the widgets and notifications on your lockscreen but many users will find this new way inconvenient. Luckily, you can enable Rest Finger to Open option from Accessibility -> Home Button. The Today page on the lockscreen, along with the Notification and Control Centers can be disabled.
Speaking of the Notification Center, it has been redesigned with new bubble-like notifications. The Today page is also available here.
The Control Center is now comprised of three panes - one with toggles and one with music controls. Its design also features bubbles. There is a third Control Center Tab if you are using the new Home app - shortcuts for your home appliances.
Notification Center � Control Center � Control Center
Let's talk about this new Today page we've mention so often. It's like a homescreen with a list of widgets and you choose which ones should be present. The top is always the Spotlight search field, and then you can put weather, calendar, Siri app suggestions, and whatever widgets your apps are offering.
Today � Today � Adding widgets � More widgets � Disable Today within Touch ID settings
The Today page is the leftmost page on your lockscreen, homescreen, and Notification Center. If you prefer, you can disable it altogether.
The 3D Touch functionality got implemented into even more places across iOS. and Apple is fighting well for its last year innovation. It may have started as a gimmick, but its usefulness is growing with each update.
You can use the 3D Touch on app various app shortcuts to reveal quick actions. But now Apple has expanded those quick actions with system apps by showing an additional row of favorites, quick contacts, recent music, and other relevant app-specific content. If you like those additional views, you can add them as widgets to your Today page straight from here.
Using 3D Touch across the interface
Naturally, pop-up preview of pictures, web links, messages, mails, notes, and photos, is available.
You can now force press on notifications (both in the Notification Center or the pop-up ones) and expand them into actionable balloons. Apple calls those Rich Notifications. This means you can chat on Viber, respond to messages, or mails, straight from those 3D Touch bubbles and then return to what you were doing without ever leaving the app.
A notification � Replying with 3D Touch in a bubble � 3D Touch overview of a conversation
Finally, Siri has gotten an update, too. It is now opened to developers. What does this mean? Well, you can call an Uber via Siri. Or send Viber text and photos. Or send money through a Money app such as PayPal. If an app is compatible with Siri, you can now ask Siri for specific third-party app actions and it will do it.
Apple did a good job refining the interface and there are enough new features to enhance the user experience without complicating it. You may never use some of those and you will still get to experience the iOS in its full beauty. But if you do, you may find it easier to just force press on something or ask Siri to do stuff instead of you. It's nothing ground breaking, but it's definitely moving forward.
Performance
Apple has equipped the iPhone 7 with a new-generation A10 Fusion chip. It has a quad-core CPU, a first for the iPhones, with two high-performance cores running at 2.34GHz and two power-saving ones. The high-performance ones run about 40% faster than the A9 chip and two times faster than the A8. The other two are more power-efficient cores and require only 20% of the power needed for the high-performance cores.
There's a new GPU inside as well. It's a six-core one and is 50% faster than the A9's GPU and draws just 66% of the power.
Finally, the iPhone 7 uses 2GB of RAM, while the iPhone 7 Plus will offer 3GB.
The guys over Chipworks have been working hard to decrypt the new A10 Fusion chip and what's interesting is that they can't find the two low-power cores. In fact, those are not available to anything but the OS itself. No benchmark or game can use those; in fact, the benchmarks can't detect them at all - they show the CPU as dual-core.
Chipworks are still guessing the position on the chip of those two cores, but their placement is not of importance right now, but the fact that they are exclusive to the iOS and can't be found by anything else. So, as far as the processing performance is concerned - all benchmarks use the two high-performance A10 cores ticking at 2.34GHz.
And speaking of CPU cores, meet the most powerful processor core in the world to date - the one inside Apple A10 Fusion. It runs on 2.34GHz, which is among the highest clocks we've seen, but it is also offers the best performance right now. The new A10 core offers double the processing power of the Snapdragon 820's Kryo (OnePlus 3), double the Cortex-A72 performance (Huawei P9), and 40% increase over the CPU Twister core inside the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and SE.
GeekBench 4 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
3488 - Apple iPhone SE
2514 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
2509 - Apple iPhone 6s
2380 - Samsung Galaxy S7
1854 - Huawei Honor 8
1720 - OnePlus 3
1719 - Sony Xperia XZ
1578 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
1471 - Apple iPhone 6
1465 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
1332 - Huawei nova
842
But how about two of those? Well, the dual-core A10 processor is more powerful than any other dual, quad, hexa, octa, or deca-core processor on the market. It's 40% better than the quad-core Kryo (S820, OnePlus 3) and the dual-core Twister inside the iPhone 6s generation, and just a hair on top of the latest Kirin chipset inside the Honor 8 (4x A72 + 4x A53).
GeekBench 4 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
5654 - Huawei Honor 8
5447 - Samsung Galaxy S7
5245 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
4234 - Apple iPhone SE
4158 - OnePlus 3
4045 - Apple iPhone 6s
4001 - Sony Xperia XZ
3868 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
3754 - Huawei nova
3105 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
2465 - Apple iPhone 6
2459
Chipworks hasn't yet determined the exact GPU model, but it confirmed it's indeed a six-core unit (just like the PowerVR GT7600 six-core GPU inside the iPhone 6s). We know Apple promises a 50% performance bump, so let's see.
The 1080p offscreen tests which help us determine the raw performance put the A10 GPU on top of any other GPU we've tested so far. The 3.0 test gives the A10 GPU about 20% more power over the Adreno 530 in the OnePlus 3 and 30% over the latest Mali-T880MP12 inside the Exynos-powered Galaxy Note7. It is also 50% better than the PowerVR GT7600 inside the iPhone 6s, as promised.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
61 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
49 - OnePlus 3
46 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
40 - Apple iPhone SE
39.6 - Apple iPhone 6s
39.5 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
39.5 - Samsung Galaxy S7
38 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
21 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
18.6 - Huawei Honor 8
18 - Huawei P9
18 - Apple iPhone 6
17.7 - Sony Xperia X
14 - Huawei nova
10
The 3.1 test gives the A10 GPU 30% more power over the Adreno 530 and 50% sharp over the Mali-T880MP12 (Note7) and PowerVR GT7600 (iPhone 6s).
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
32 - Sony Xperia XZ
31 - OnePlus 3
31 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
28 - Samsung Galaxy S7
28 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
27.9 - Apple iPhone SE
26.8 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
15 - Huawei Honor 8
10 - Huawei P9
10 - Sony Xperia X
9.2 - Huawei nova
6.3
The iPhone 7 runs on a sub-1080p resolution, which gives it an advantage over the flagship competition running at 1080p or 1440p. The iPhone 7 reaches the 60fps refresh-rate cap on both tests, so there is nothing the phone can't handle not today, and not for the next couple of years to come.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
60 - Apple iPhone SE
59.2 - Apple iPhone 6s
53.6 - OnePlus 3
45 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
38.6 - Apple iPhone 6
29.2 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
29 - Samsung Galaxy S7
27 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
27 - Huawei Honor 8
19 - Huawei P9
19 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
15 - Sony Xperia X
15 - Huawei nova
10
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
60 - Apple iPhone SE
58 - Sony Xperia XZ
32 - OnePlus 3
30 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
27.9 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
16 - Samsung Galaxy S7
15 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
15 - Huawei Honor 8
11 - Huawei P9
11 - Sony Xperia X
10 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
6.7 - Huawei nova
6.5
BaseMark ES 3.1 is a super-heavy GPU benchmark that only flagships can finish without crashing or taking an hour or two. The iPhone 7' GPU not only topped that one by a mile, but it also received another gold medal by BaseMark for being the best device in their database so far!
Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
1547 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
916 - Apple iPhone SE
882 - Apple iPhone 6s
879 - Samsung Galaxy S7
732 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
727 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
629 - OnePlus 3
625 - Huawei Honor 8
345 - Huawei P9
341 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
316 - Sony Xperia X
251 - Huawei nova
138
Next, it's time to run the compound benchmarks, which compute CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, UX performance among others. You bet the iPhone 7 topped the BaseMark OS II 2.0 test with a huge gap between the second-best phone - the two Galaxy Note7 models. The device also received a Gold medal for being the best device in BaseMark OS II 2.0 all-time chart taking the first place! A respectable moment of awe silence goes here.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
3416 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
2676 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
2432 - OnePlus 3
2365 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
2261 - Apple iPhone 6s
2195 - Apple iPhone SE
2163 - Sony Xperia XZ
2151 - Samsung Galaxy S7
2128 - Huawei Honor 8
2099 - Huawei P9
2068 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
1880 - Sony Xperia X
1714 - Huawei nova
1218
Finally, AnTuTu 6 pretty much confirms the BaseMark OS 2.0 conclusions - there isn't any better smartphone than the iPhone 7 right now.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 7
179386 - OnePlus 3
141764 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
137420 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Exynos)
134660 - Samsung Galaxy S7
132084 - Samsung Galaxy Note7 (Snapdragon)
130111 - Apple iPhone 6s
129990 - Apple iPhone SE
123961 - Huawei P9
98069 - Huawei Honor 8
94892 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
81615 - Sony Xperia X
77537 - Huawei nova
65021
Apple has done it again - it made the best mobile chipset from which others can only learn from. Its dual-core processor, even without the help of the tiny energy efficient cores, beats any other processor out there. The A10 GPU is equally impressive acing every graphic benchmark.
The iPhone 7 is the fastest and most powerful smartphone in the world. It runs cooler than any other flagship even at peak performance though along the edge around the power key there is a zone that gets quite hot at times when the phone is under load but it's still within reasonable limits.
Telephony
The iOS 10 Phone and Contacts apps look the same as before utilizing a clean interface and you can force press here and there for some quick actions. Blacklist is available for those needing this feature.
The phone app with Favorites � call log � phonebook � a contact
The Phone app has been opened to third-party messengers such as Skype, Viber, and WhatsApp and those can now share the same in-call screen as your phone calls. Even better, you can assign numbers within your phonebook to make calls through Viber or Skype by default, no need of switching apps whatsoever.
FaceTime is naturally available for all compatible iOS and Mac devices and allows you to make free voice and video calls to any other FaceTime-enabled device. The same goes for iMessage - once enabled you can send free text and multimedia content, including voice-recorded messages, to any other iMessage-enabled Apple gadget.
Apple is also offering Wi-Fi calling. If your carrier supports it, your phone can be set to automatically place calls over Wi-Fi whenever you prefer. Some carriers won't even count the talk time generated over Wi-Fi against your monthly allotment.
As usual we've tested the new stereo loudspeaker setup performance of the iPhone 7. It is the loudest iPhone to date and its two speakers are equally loud and with excellent sound quality. It posted a Good score on our test, but its total is just 2dB shy of the Very Good mark so it's a solid improvement over the previous iPhones.
Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing | Overall score | |
61.6 | 65.5 | 67.6 | Below Average | |
63.9 | 66.7 | 66.8 | Below Average | |
63.6 | 68.0 | 68.0 | Below Average | |
66.6 | 65.7 | 72.8 | Average | |
66.9 | 67.2 | 74.0 | Good | |
69.5 | 69.3 | 71.1 | Good | |
69.5 | 69.5 | 71.7 | Good | |
62.4 | 71.0 | 77.8 | Good | |
72.1 | 66.6 | 75.6 | Good | |
67.6 | 73.2 | 75.7 | Good | |
64.0 | 71.5 | 89.1 | Very Good | |
88.9 | 79.3 | 82.7 | Excellent |
Messaging
Apple decided to freshen up its Messages app this year and it made some serious upgrades on its clean and easy to use messaging client. The good news is the interface remained very much the same.
You can now change the look of the messaging bubbles, but not in a traditional way. You can add bubble animations and your friends can all see if you are shouting or whispering with the new pop-up animations and styles.
Messages app � A shouting bubble
You can also send handwritten text. There is also support for full screen animations for occasions like birthdays or national holidays. You can even make invisible messages where your friends need to scrub the screen to reveal them.
Handwriting � Full-screen animations � A hidden message � Scrub to reveal
The cool drawings and heartbeats introduced with the first Apple Watch are now available in Messages, too. There are also new emojis, word to emoji translation, new predefined quick replies which appear as badges in the conversation.
Drawings � More drawings � Drawing on a picture � Words to emoji translation � Predefined quick replies as badges
One of the biggest addition to Messages is the Sticker support. You can download sticker packs from the App Store (Viber says 'Hi').
Stickers � Download more stickers � Angry Birds stickers
Finally, the Messages app has been also opened to third-party apps and now you can send money, add or edit pictures, share content straight within the Messages interface.
Keyboard
Apple's keyboard has been updated as well. While it keeps the same looks, there is a big improvement underneath. It now learns from your content, and is capable of contextual predictions including suggestion free time according to your calendar schedule, numbers from phonebook corresponding to names, and, of course, just words by learning from your type patterns.
Multilingual typing is available and iOS will know you are typing in both in English and Spanish and will predict and correct words on both languages without you changing keyboards.
Quick Type keyboard with multilingual support � Keyboard suggestions � Number suggestions
Notable default apps
With every newly activated iPhone you also get the complete iWorks suite including Pages (viewing, editing docs), Numbers (viewing, editing excel files), and Keynote (viewing, editing presentations).
Apps such as Calendar, Notes, Weather, Calculator and Alarm are available, but they received very few upgrades, if any. The only thing worth mentioning is the Notes app, which now supports collaboration between different contributors. Other than that it still has all the features from before like sketching, checklists, different formatting with bullets and lists, inserting multimedia, among others.
Calendar � Weather � Calculator
The News app gets the same design as the new Music app. It is still in a very regionally limited run, but it will probably make it to most markets. As the name suggests, the app is a news aggregator developed by Apple that will search for stories you may like and offer them for you at a glance. It supports various topics and comes with clean interface. Save for Later is available as well. For now News is only available in the US, Australia, and the UK.
Apple Maps is getting better, too. For those unfamiliar, the default Maps client uses TomTom map data and supports Siri directions and voice-guided navigation, public transport support, real-time traffic info, nearby POIs with reviews.
The Maps app is getting a boost with Map layers, smarter and proactive assistance which can help you throughout your day by offering the fastest routes by following all the traffic around you and suggesting places nearby.
The new Maps with Reservations and Lyft support
Maps now supports extensions - thanks to those you will be able to make reservations for Uber or Lyft, as well as reservations at restaurants or other supported places. The support will grow over time when more apps add supported plug-ins for Maps.
Photos
Photos is a very easy to use gallery app with support for albums and camera roll, and even recently deleted section, but it has learned a few new tricks, which are quite familiar as they have been on Android for years.
The app can now show your photos on a map in a dedicated Places album. You can also opt for a grid of thumbs sorted by location.
The app also offers a new People album, where you can find all of your pictures sorted by faces. You can name the albums and explore your moments with a friend of your easily.
Places � Places grid view � People � Browsing by a person
A cool new iOS 10 feature is the AI sorting in Memories, which scans your photos and sorts them in automatic albums by landmarks, animals, people, topics, and various other criteria. For example, if you go on a wedding, you'll get a new album in the Memories tab with all the pictures you snapped on this event, but not the entire day.
Memories � A Memory � Viewing and editing a Memory
Each new Memory gets an automatically created Video Memory, which you can edit anytime. You can add or remove pictures or clips, change the background music and the stitching effects.
Photos also creates some cool-looking Memories such as Best of 2015, Best of the Last Three Months, among others. It automatically chooses pictures by people and landmarks, events, among other criteria.
The gallery also offers some rich editing skills.
And finally, there is an improved search for Photos, which will help you find the right picture from your library very easy - just enter some names, places, months, or similar.
The edits apply on both the picture and the Live Image
Live Images are available, of course and you can fully enjoy those in the Photos app. The Camera app makes the Live Images stabilized now and you can edit them through the default photo editor - apply effects, crop, rotate, or enhanced brightness or contrast.
Limited video player
Unfortunately, yet another iOS update doesn't do anything about the video player. You can upload only supported formats via iTunes or purchase videos from the iTunes store. This is an extremely disappointing showing by a platform that is supposed to excel at multimedia consumption.
The lack of extra functionality is bad enough, but having to use just an extremely limited number of media formats or resorting to converting files, which is both slow and inconvenient, is a real deal-breaker.
Music gets a complete overhaul
The Music app got a complete UI overhaul and Apple did a great job organizing the feature-rich app. There are now five tabs - Library, For You, Browse, Radio, and Search. The new unified design applies on all of these tabs.
You can edit the Library's section if you like.
'For You' tab shows smart suggestions based on your Apple Music preferences and the music you search and listen often. Browse helps you make your way through one of the richest song collection in the world.
Finally, the Radio tab has the Beats 1 radio, which is available 24/7 and the tracks there are chosen by real DJs, not machine algorithms. There are quite a few other stations available already, including programs created automatically by Apple.
The Music app can do without Apple Music, don't you worry. You just need to add your music collection through iTunes and you are good to go. And while many people are suspicious about the Apple's player, it is a very easy process and they shouldn't be afraid.
Apple Music is priced differently in different regions and is accessible from more than 100 countries across the globe. It offers a three month long free trial, after which you have to pay between $2.99 (some Asian markets) and up to �9.99 (UK) depending on where you live. A $14.99/�14.99/�7.99 per month family plan is also available, and this works for up to 6 persons.
Audio output is nicely clean
When plugged into an active external amplifier, the Apple iPhone 7 posted mostly excellent scores, but it's the third iPhone in a row that didn't quite deliver perfect stereo quality. The volume which is just above average doesn't really match the best out there either.
Rather impressively, there's virtually no degradation when you plug in a pair of headphones. The spike in stereo crosstalk is so limited that in comparison, the iPhone 7 fares way better here than in the first test.
So the 7, just like the 6s, is a great performer that will please just about every user, but those extremely demanding few have a few better options.
And now here go the results so you can do your comparison.
Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
+0.06, -0.10 | -92.4 | 92.3 | 0.0015 | 0.0093 | -80.9 | |
+0.03, -0.11 | -92.3 | 92.3 | 0.0011 | 0.012 | -77.0 | |
+0.03, -0.04 | -93.5 | 93.5 | 0.0016 | 0.0075 | -73.2 | |
+0.10, -0.06 | -93.8 | 93.9 | 0.0030 | 0.101 | -68.2 | |
Sony Xperia X Performance | +0.01, -0.04 | -95.2 | 90.0 | 0.0038 | 0.011 | -95.1 |
Sony Xperia X Performance (headphones) | +0.23, -0.17 | -93.2 | 89.3 | 0.0078 | 0.174 | -64.9 |
LG G5 | +0.01, -0.04 | -92.6 | 92.6 | 0.0051 | 0.0096 | -93.3 |
LG G5 (headphones) | +0.05, -0.01 | -92.2 | 92.3 | 0.0029 | 0.037 | -50.7 |
Xiaomi Mi 5 | +0.01, -0.03 | -95.3 | 95.1 | 0.0034 | 0.0065 | -95.1 |
Xiaomi Mi 5 (headphones) | +0.01, -0.03 | -95.2 | 95.1 | 0.0027 | 0.013 | -71.5 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 | +0.01, -0.04 | -92.5 | 92.6 | 0.0027 | 0.0078 | -92.7 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 (headphones) | +0.05, -0.05 | -91.9 | 92.1 | 0.0044 | 0.063 | -73.4 |
Apple iPhone 7 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
A brighter 12MP camera
The iPhone 7 features an updated 12MP camera with f/1.8 six-element lens and optical image stabilization (which was reserved to the Plus model last year). The sensor is 60% faster and 30% more efficient than the previous camera system. The dual-tone LED flash is also updated and now consists of four LEDs - two for each tone.
We can confirm the camera shoots and saves images blazingly fast. There pause for loading or saving even by taking bursts followed by lots of consecutive shots in different directions.
Live Images are available - those 3s small videos are captured automatically and they are now stabilized further by the post-processing algorithm.
The camera interface is the same as before. If you tap to focus the phone will give you control over exposure through a slider. This way you can conveniently adjust exposure compensation depending on the scene. You can lock the focus and exposure as well.
Along the left side of the camera viewfinder you'll find controls for switching to the front-facing camera, setting up a timer (either 3s or 10s), choosing the HDR mode (Auto, off and on), turning Live Photo on/off and a setting for the flash (Auto, on or off).
On the right side on each side of the virtual shutter button you get swipe controls that will take you into the photo, square and pano mode on one side and video, slow-mo and time-lapse. To activate the Burst mode you just need to press the camera shutter longer.
Even though Apple upgraded the camera with a new sensor and brighter f/1.8 lens, it's still 12MP in resolution and the samples snapped with the iPhone 7 aren't quite as impressive as we hoped. The resolved detail is good, but it's not dramatically better than what the iPhone 6s and 6 series offered and post-processing is rather heavy-handed - as noticeable in the sharpening halos and the prominent noise. Automatic exposure is a bit too overeager, which at times results in overexposed shots.
Minor corner softness is visible sometimes, while the noise reduction is a bit harsh at times and smear fine detail. The foliage presentation is below average as we've seen much better detail in much cheaper phones.
It seems Apple were a bit lazy on the processing algorithm and did no improvements since the iPhone 6s.
Now the good news - the colors and contrast are great, while the dynamic range is simply great. We've turned the Auto HDR off and yet the images came out great, which is really something given the demanding weather conditions.
If it were a few years back we might have considered the samples among the best in the market, but today with great Galaxy S7 and Huawei P9 generation cameras, we just can't rate the iPhone 7 camera so high. It's good, but not quite the best. Maybe the iPhone 7 Plus with its dual-camera setup will do better, but we are yet to see about that.
Apple iPhone 7 12MP camera samples
Here are a couple of HDR samples.
HDR off � HDR on � HDR off* HDR on
And here is a quick comparison between the new 12MP camera on the iPhone 7 and the old one on the iPhone SE. Thanks to the wider aperture the iPhone 7 sample came out brighter, but other than that, it has the same level of detail and noise, as well as dynamic range, as the iPhone SE.
Apple iPhone 7 � Apple iPhone SE
The optical image stabilization allows the iPhone 7 to drop the shutter speed to as low as 1/4s at handheld shooting, which is an improvement over the 1/17 the iPhone SE/6s camera is capable of. We shot a few comparative night samples but unfortunately, we didn't witness any vast improvements and the images look comparatively the same as exposure. The iPhone 7 image is a bit less noisy but it takes some effort to notice that.
Apple iPhone 7 � Apple iPhone 7 � Apple iPhone SE
We also snapped this setup at low-light, with artificial light, and with the flash. The low-light shot isn't that impressive, the regular indoors one is very good in detail, colors and contrast, while the one with the flash renders colors cooler than witnessed at the scene but captures more detail.
Low-light sample � Regular artificial light � Flash on
The iPhone 7 has four LEDs for its flash and indeed it's twice as brighter as the one on the iPhone 6s/SE. Shooting with the more powerful flash will matter at five or six meters, but when shooting at 1.5m there isn't much of a difference. So, yes, its brighter but your experience will vary.
The optical image stabilization is the one that really matters as it will keep the lens steady and won't allow for blurry shots at low-light. The iPhone SE on the other hand will often out a blurred picture in low light as evident at the second flash scene.
On the other hand, if you use the flash as a flashlight, then you'll appreciate the new one a lot.
Apple iPhone 7 � Apple iPhone SE � Apple iPhone 7 � Apple iPhone SE
The iPhone 7 offer 180-degree panoramic shots, and they can go up to 15,000 x 4,000 pixels or 60MP. The stitching is great, there are no artefacts, and the color rendering is good, too.
Apple iPhone 7 panorama � another panorama � a sunset panorama
The front-facing camera got its resolution boosted to 7MP and records 1080p video. It can use the so-called Retina flash, where your screen lights up in white. The resolved detail is higher than before, the contrast and colors are very good, while the dynamic range is average.
A regular selfie � a low-light selfie with the Retina flash on
You can check out how the iPhone 7 camera stacks up against the competition in our Photo compare tool. The low-light sample is really impressive - it was shot at ISO 100 at 1/6 speed and illustrates the true power of an OIS camera.
Apple iPhone 7 vs. Apple iPhone 6s vs. Galaxy S7 in our Photo quality comparison tool
4K video recording
Apple iPhone 7 is capable of recording 2160p videos at 30 frames in addition to 1080p capturing at 30 and 60 fps. The slow-mo videos can be recorded at 1080p at 120 fps for 720p at 240 fps.
Naturally, there is a time-lapse option as well.
The camcorder UI is as simple as it can get, offering nothing but the flash setting. You can find the resolution switch in the Settings menu instead of having a shortcut in the viewfinder, which is somewhat annoying.
The video options are in the iOS Settings menu
The 4K videos carry a bitrate of around 47Mbps, but audio is subpar recorded in mono at 85Kbps in AAC format. The 1080p videos at 30 fps have a bitrate of 16 Mbps, keeping the same audio, while the 60fps ones came out with 23Mbps bitrate.
The 4K videos are slightly less processed than still images - there is some noise, but less over-sharpening while the detail is decent if not quite class leading. Dynamic range is once again impressive and the frame rate is pretty steady, but the mono audio is disappointing. Some corner softness is visible at times, too. The footage is well stabilized thanks to the presence of both optical and software stabilization.
The 1080p videos at 30 and 60 fps are among the best we've seen, well stabilized again, with great amount of detail, fine colors, steady frame rate and superb dynamic range. Once again - the audio is just mono, which is rather hard to swallow at this price point.
You can download the untouched 2160p at 30 fps (9s, 50MB), 1080p at 60 fps (10s, 30MB), and 1080p at 30 fps (13, 25MB) videos.
The Apple iPhone 7 is ready to meet the competition in our Video Compare Tool. You can notice the clear superiority of the Galaxy S7 over the iPhones when it comes to detail.
2160p: Apple iPhone 7 vs. Apple iPhone 6s vs. Galaxy S7 in our Video quality comparison tool
1080p: Apple iPhone 7 vs. Apple iPhone 6s vs. Galaxy S7 in our Video quality comparison tool
Final words
Controversy. Apple loves it. It fuels it and it's fueled by it. Rarely is brand hate more vocal and yet people stand in line to get the latest phone. It's part of the marketing game, and it has somehow always worked in Apple's favor. The iPhone 7 is probably the most controversial iPhone yet and Apple likes it this way.
So, is Apple giving haters something else to complain about or is there a hidden agenda? A long-term masterplan that most of us are unaware of? And does the average Joe care enough for it to hurt sales?
But let's not look that far ahead for a moment and forget about agendas. The jack clearly has implications - beyond the pure audiophile qualities and aesthetics - on how music will be consumed and paid for. And that's controversial enough, long-term.
Apple iPhone 7 key test findings:
- The iPhone 7 is built to the usual sky-high standards, an elegant handset with premium looks and feel. The design is being reused for yet another year but still relevant. The new Home key with force press works and feels great, but was there anything wrong with the physical button?
- The iPhone 7 has a class-leading IPS LCD in terms of brightness and color calibration at the very lest. It's less-than-stellar pixel density of 326ppi does not stand to comparison with any of the Android flagships - but that's more a matter of numbers rather than actual user experience.
- Battery life is average with an Endurance rating of 61 hours. The phone has well-balanced scores across all tests and outlasts the iPhone 6s.
- The connectivity is improved with Cat.12 LTE support, but NFC is still limited to Apple Pay. Wireless charging could have been useful, but is still not an option. The lack of analog audio port is, well, between visionary and unforgivable. At least there is a free adapter in the package.
- Performance-wise, the A10-powered iPhone 7 is the most powerful smartphone in the world right now. Its single-core CPU and GPU performance, as well as the overall experience, are unrivaled.
- The stereo speakers are of Good loudness, which is as high as an iPhone has ever achieved, and they sound great.
- The audio quality through the Lighting to 3.5mm converter is very good, but not quite the best in the class - just like with the 6s.
- The 12MP camera produces solid photos, but it won't be winning cameraphones shootouts. OIS makes a difference - so does the brighter aperture.
- The 4K videos offer enough detail and came out with very good dynamic range, the 1080p samples are great. The mono audio recording across all video options is disappointing.
- The front 7MP selfie camera takes nice images even in low-light conditions.
- iOS 10 makes more sense out of 3D Touch, enhances the lockscreen and allows third-party integration with Siri and Maps. All default apps have received meaningful updates too.
So, stereo speakers but still no stereo sound in videos - mind you, it's 4K videos we're talking of. Lightning port instead of USB-C. Still no wireless and fast charging, no proper NFC support (which Apple may need down the line if wireless audio accessories are the next logical step).
Yes, the iPhone 7 comes without an audio jack and pretty much without a Home button - one that you can press the old fashioned way anyhow. It uses the same design and same screen size and resolution. And, yes, it's better than the iPhone 6s in som many ways.
If you are still not impressed, though, the iPhone 7 Plus could be your thing, with a bigger screen and a brand new dual-camera setup, involving a regular and telephoto lens. Or, you may want to wait for the anniversary iPhone next year and keep a very capable iPhone 6s around for another year - if you don't insist on water protection and stereo speakers.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus � Apple iPhone 6s
Speaking of dual-cam set-ups, the Huawei P9 and Honor 8 are packing excellent dual 12MP shooters each, one monochrome and one color. Both phones are equally powerful and run on the same Emotion-skinned Android, but the P9 opts for an all-metal design, while the Honor 8 goes for glass. The Leica-certified P9 is one of the best shooters out there both day and night, the Honor 8 quite a worthy performer itself. And, of course, those are cheaper than the iPhone 7.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a water-proofed, brilliantly designed powerhouse. Its Super AMOLED screen is of higher resolution, and its 12MP camera is much better, in fact, one of the best in the market.
The HTC 10 is less popular perhaps, but by no means underpowered or less attractive. It is a premium handset with flagship-grade metal build, a comparable camera and the latest Snapdragon 820 chipset. The 5.2" AMOLED screen of Quad HD resolution offers a superb multimedia experience.
The OnePlus 3 shares a lot with the HTC 10 except for the price tag. It's much cheaper than both the HTC 10 and the iPhone 7, but still delivers an AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 820 chip, and a better 16MP main camera with OIS.
Samsung Galaxy S7 � HTC 10 � OnePlus 3
The recently announced Sony Xperia XZ is another water-proof flagship with beautiful design, powerful hardware, and an improved 23MP Sony camera.
Finally, if you fancy compact and affordable flagships, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is very thin and lightweight but packs a great screen, chipset, and camera.
So, we got ourselves a bag full of various potential rivals and none would mind that its name came up in relation to the iPhone 7. But we have a feeling that the bigger iPhone 7 Plus will get most of the flak from the competition. The user preference is moving towards 5+ inch screens, and there is also the dual camera setup, which would make for an even more intriguing review.
Of course, Apple has never been about the screen size and pixels, CPU cores and RAM, or insane camera specs. It's about the premium design, the content, the consistency and the user experience. Music is a big part of the smartphone experience, and we guess you see how the jack has implications on all of these. And it's exactly the reason why losing it is a big deal.
But then... The A10 Fusion chip, waterproofing, stereo speakers and sane storage options - these are some of the things the iPhone 6s didn't have and the iPhone 7 kindly delivers. Are they suddenly irrelevant? All you ever wanted was the jack? Come on.
And yet, the iPhone 7 will probably go down in history as the one that got rid of the jack first. Controversy? Apple loves it.
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