The new iPhone is a lot like the old iPhone this is a phone of old ideas repackaged the water resistance the little conveniences even the assassination of the noble headphone jack none of it is truly new but Apple as always is less about novelty than about repackaging what already exists in a new and interesting way the iPhone 7 lives up to that legacy you just need to be able to see past the boring bits to realize it I’m Michael Fisher and this is the iphone 7 review from mr.Mobile let me lay something out here in the past few months I’ve criticized a great many Android manufacturers for derivative industrial design and by no means does Apple get a pass in the hand the iPhone 7 feels nearly identical to the two generations of iPhone that came before it unless you get the incredibly scratch prone jet-black version instead of the matte black finish on my review device yes the minimized antenna inlays are welcome and the new casting around the camera lens is impressive but these are details that only the discerning eye can appreciate and up front you’ve got a display whose resolution hasn’t changed since 2014 stuff like this as part of the reason phone nerds get up in arms about people spending so much money on iPhones on the surface Apple seems to be selling yesterday’s leftovers to a gullible populace but that’s not true truth is you don’t need crazy high resolution on a display this small and what it lacks in pixel density it makes up for in color balance while the 7 is just as thin as and slightly lighter than last year’s iPhone it is water and dust resistant is something I’ve confirmed with the help of several fountains and several stupid shower selfies and the single speaker has been split into two now placed above and below the display for more immersive sound than any iPhone to date speaking of sound let’s talk about that headphone jack for a second yes it’s gone and no I don’t really miss it bluetooth headphones have become a big part of my life since using the moto Z earlier this year which also didn’t offer a headphone jack if you’re an audiophile who needs the kind of fidelity only an analog wired connection can deliver or if your car doesn’t have bluetooth obviously this isn’t the phone for you everyone else will either learn to live with the lightning earpods in the box or use their existing headphones with apple’s included adapter or use bluetooth the point is you’ve got options the space Apple saved by
axing the headphone jack it filled back up with an improved tactic engine the linear motor that gives the iPhone its good vibrations haptic responses everywhere on the iPhone 7 from the little bump when the notification shade bounces off the bottom of the screen to the subtle clicks that tick off bearing marks in the compass and slots on click wheels to the artificial buzz of 3d touch the iPhone feels more alive in the hand than ever before and haptic response is more important than ever to sell the illusion of the new home button which is actually a capacitive touch pad whose click is produced entirely by the taptic engine it feels so futuristic that the spring-loaded buttons on older iPhones already feel clunky and dated to me if your hands are wet or gloved the button won’t work but Apple borrowed a page from Motorola and Nokia here with rays to wake the iPhone 7 will turn on its screen when you pull it from a pocket or pluck it from a tabletop and it works pretty well in practice from there it’s just a firm press on the fingerprint scanner to jump into iOS 10 now personally I still hate being locked into Apple’s idea of a homescreen this static grid of icons that I only have the barest control over and some of the precedents iOS established with the first iPhone are now woefully out of date like putting the back button in the least accessible corner of the screen that said I do like the new code paint on iOS 10 the control center keeps a lot of Handy toggles within a thumbs reach widgets and frequently used apps have been broken out into a separate panel off to the left swiping down still lets you search for pretty much anything right from the home screen and when you just don’t want to be bothered the palme inspired mute switch is still the simplest way to silence a phone in other words iOS 10 on the iPhone 7 is a really nice mix of old and new phone calls on the iPhone 7 are outstanding I tested it on t-mobile and whenever I was talking to another t-mobile customer with HD voice or doing a VoIP call over Wi-Fi the sound quality was tremendous Apple uses active noise cancellation in the earpiece which makes me feel it well tell them Wesley I feel strange but also good what I mean is it’s a little disorienting in a loud room because it’s actively removing noise from only one side of your head but it does a phenomenal job of isolating the colors of voice so you can hear him or her back on software day to day
responsiveness is Apple’s typical slick and quick though I found a few more minor hiccups than I expected in gaming I also had one instance where the phone refused to unlock despite recognizing my thumbprint I figured these are teething issues with either the new a10 processor or iOS 10 but I mentioned them mainly to remind folks that yes even the iPhone is susceptible to the occasional bug finally there’s the camera which has seen almost every major component upgraded this year by far the most notable of these is optical stabilization which smoothes video in walking shots and allows for clearer long exposures in low-light thanks to this and probably thanks to the new larger aperture as well the new iPhone delivered well in dim conditions and photos taken everywhere else we’re fine I say fine because while in a vacuum they’re excellent when you put them up against the closest competition from Samsung Galaxy s7 and I actually tend to prefer the s7s pictures part of that is because I like Samsung’s slightly larger than life saturation but the s Evans photos are also crisper sharper in most conditions the iPhone has a tendency to go soft the iPhone 7 is still one of the fastest most forgiving cameras out there and while you’re taking in a few more samples let’s talk endurance you’ll probably get through a day of moderate use with the iPhone 7 but step it up to heavy with even a little streaming radio or tethering and you should expect a low battery warning before dinnertime the nerdy side of me wants to lash out at the iPhone 7 to whine about the familiar design to join the chorus of voices who say this phone is too expensive but the people buying iPhones don’t need me to tell them that Apple’s an expensive company you should know that by now and more importantly Apple doesn’t deserve to be beaten down just for making an excellent product that’s only marginally more excellent than last year’s because make no mistake the iPhone 7 is an excellent smart phone one of the best you can buy in 2016 even if it’s not the head turner it once was don’t forget the iPhone sevens bigger sibling folks I’ll be reviewing the 7 plus shortly and the Apple watch series too as well so make sure you’re subscribed to mr.mobile on YouTube so you don’t miss it until next time thanks for watching and stay mobile my friends .
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