iPhone 7 Hands-On: Improved Cameras, New Jet Black Color, AirPods, No Headphone Jack, and More

[maxsix]

I dunno why people are so hot and bothered by how the Air Pods look.

They look exactly like the earbuds that have always shipped with iPhones, just without wires.

Facts:

- Apple's known for Stylish Products
- Apple is a World Class Company
- J. Ive is a World Class Designer

So it's not unreasonable to expect AirPods to have a bit of style.

Not to look like a q-tip sticking out of your ear...

 

[Tom-Helge]

Actually, last time I checked, Samsung products run Android. Hate to rain on your over-hyped and glorified list of misleading specs, but in the interest of... you know... actual usage:

Try against the Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos version) instead. The Galaxy S7 edge is only 10 seconds slower than the iPhone 6S Plus which is nothing for the casual users.

Here is is......

Galaxy Note7 has software issues that slows it down, even on the Exynos version. It seems like it has the whole RAM management issues the Galaxy S6 phones had in the beginning.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Your broken English and “Samsung best!” defensively-deflective praise against Apple reminds me of the pro-Samsung astroturf trolling that was so prevalently-pervasive a few years ago throughout the Internet.

It's probably just Samsung boosting their online marketing budget after their implosive recall. Maybe they should increase it more and improve the marketing quality.

 

[jrodmonaco]

So far with this update, will Apple release a "Jack to Lightning" adapter so I can use the iphone 7 earpods with the macbook pro???

 

[jmaluso]

Ok so you can't charge and use normal headphones any more, you have these ugly wireless EarPods instead... do these EarPods do hands free mic stuff for in the car?

The AirPods do work with voice calls if that's what you mean. And I am sure man adapters will be released that allow you to charge and listen to music at the same time. Apple just isn't including one in the box.

 

[Jakexb]

I would like to note that the Airpods video carefully never showed someone head-on, with both earphones visible. I suspect it's because it looks a little weird.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

The earphones remind me of when Apple came out with that black bluetooth headset.

I almost forgot about that! I remember vaguely they did this. This must've been around 2012?

 

[jmgregory1]

Voice quality for conference calls on BT headphones is questionable ... whereas the old iPhone headphones just worked.

I've not heard any complaints in years and I haven't used wired headphones since maybe the 3G.

 

[iLeoMarc]

FYI. In case you missed. There were multiple reports that the iPhone 6S was fast then the S7 and S7 Note. With iPhone 7 being even faster, we'll let just say it's good thing the S7 has dust resistence to help deal with the dust of being left behind Apple. Again.

I'm on android, but until android device makers start adding faster memory it will always feel slower. Forget benchmarks, read and write speeds help with rebooting, launching apps, etc. Which Apple got right, and doesn't appear well on spec sheets.

 

[teeoh717]

Try against the Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos version) instead. The Galaxy S7 edge is only 10 seconds slower than the iPhone 6S Plus which is nothing for the casual users.

Here is is......

Galaxy Note7 has software issues that slows it down, even on the Exynos version. It seems like it has the whole RAM management issues the Galaxy S6 phones had in the beginning.

"Which is nothing for the casual user". A one year-old iPhone with inferior hardware STILL beating out a brand new smartphone housing vastly superior tech isn't a big deal? I disagree.

 

[Feenician]

"Which is nothing for the casual user". A one year-old iPhone with inferior hardware STILL beating out a brand new smartphone housing vastly superior tech isn't a big deal? I disagree.

Come on dude. Bezels = end of the world. Poor performance and stuttering = innovation!. Get with the program

 

[igrover]

Put down the crack pipe.

My body is ready

for Galaxy S7 Edge ha ha

But seriously.. Fastest chip on a smartphone? Samsung should add Tizen to S7 just to prove how fast Samsung Exynos 8890 really is! Will destroy the iPhone 7 in terms of speed
If you want prove? wait until you see a comparison between Gears S3 vs Apple Watch, the Samsung single core will destroy the dual core from the Watch, Intel is the king PC cpu while Samsung is the king in mobile CPUs

Icon X is so much better in every aspect than the AirPods and Gear S3 Frontier will destroy the Watch especially in sales!

I just told my sister who owns a Galaxy S7..look the iPhone 7 just came out and your camera from the S7 it's better than the one from the iPhone 7 xD! I got admit they added some intersting stuff to the camera but when it comes to photo quality..the S7 wins!

 

[Tom-Helge]

"Which is nothing for the casual user". A one year-old iPhone with inferior hardware STILL beating out a brand new smartphone housing vastly superior tech isn't a big deal? I disagree.

There is a million other things on a smartphone today that is as important than just the speed alone.

Yeah, iPhones are faster which gains the iPhone one advantage, but what about the other 1 million advantages the Galaxy S and Note phones have over the iPhones then?

Those doesn't matters?

 

[dotnet]

I'm not shocked. Captive (fake) buttons can't hold a candle to a physical (real) button.

Until the physical button gets wobbly or mushy or hard to press. The fake button feel can be tuned in software.
[doublepost=1473304812][/doublepost]

Not in my experience. I call it backward compatibility.

With the emphasis being on "backward". It's funny how people incessantly demand innovation but won't let go of ancient crap.

 

[teeoh717]

There is a million other things on a smartphone today that is as important than just the speed alone.

Yeah, iPhones are faster which gains the iPhone one advantage, but what about the other 1 million advantages the Galaxy S and Note phones have over the iPhones then?

Those doesn't matters?

Setting your obvious Samsung fanboy issues aside, it seems like you're missing the entire point of these tests. The videos posted demonstrate how quickly the phones are able to launch apps, switch between apps, and perform within apps with active background processes, ram pressure, etc. Even entertaining the possibility of your "1 million advantages" means nothing if the core feature of the phone doesn't perform as advertised--which is first and foremost navigating the user interface.

 

[mountain]

It's nice to know the headphone jack adapter is only $9 by itself. For all of the rumors and hysteria that the adapters could cost $30 or more, I think Apple did a sufficient job today of quelling those fears.

I do wish they'd added a pass-through Lightning port to offer charging and playback simultaneously, however.

You really think $9 is justifiable? It should be free and the earphone jack is always welcome. They are trying to nickle and dime the customers.

 

[Keirasplace]

Try against the Galaxy S7 edge (Exynos version) instead. The Galaxy S7 edge is only 10 seconds slower than the iPhone 6S Plus which is nothing for the casual users.

Here is is......

Galaxy Note7 has software issues that slows it down, even on the Exynos version. It seems like it has the whole RAM management issues the Galaxy S6 phones had in the beginning.

The browser is much much slower than that so says, ALL BROWSER BENCHMARKS.

 

[jamesrick80]

Setting your obvious Samsung fanboy issues aside, it seems like you're missing the entire point of these tests. The videos posted demonstrate how quickly the phones are able to launch apps, switch between apps, and perform within apps with active background processes, ram pressure, etc. Even entertaining the possibility of your "1 million advantages" means nothing if the core feature of the phone doesn't perform as advertised--which is first and foremost navigating the user interface.

My note 7 performs smoothly...no issues navigating the interface...how hard is it to navigate a interface in today's devices...doesn't take a rocket scientist. Most powerful android devices have barely any lag...I can even make my iPad Pro lag if I wanted to and I have seen both my 9.7 and 12.9 inch pros lag at times.....the core apps on any major android device such as the note 7 perform just fine....you really should experience one for yourself and learn how to actually have fun with a phone again with few limitations.

 

[Feenician]

My note 7 performs smoothly...no issues navigating the interface...how hard is it to navigate a interface in today's devices...doesn't take a rocket scientist. Most powerful android devices have barely any lag...I can even make my iPad Pro lag if I wanted to and I have seen both my 9.7 and 12.9 inch pros lag at times.....the core apps on any major android device such as the note 7 perform just fine....you really should experience one for yourself and learn how to actually have fun with a phone again with few limitations.

Stockholm Syndrome, the post.

 

[teeoh717]

You really think $9 is justifiable? It should be free and the earphone jack is always welcome. They are trying to nickle and dime the customers.

??? As I understood it is free, bundled with the phones. How is that nickel and diming?

 

[Feenician]

You really think $9 is justifiable? It should be free and the earphone jack is always welcome. They are trying to nickle and dime the customers.

It's included in the box. You really, honestly think it should be free as in anyone can wander in off the street and ask for a free cable? Remind me not to invest in, or work for, any business you run.

 

[jamesrick80]

Stockholm Syndrome, the post.

As someone with multiple devices...just giving a honest opinion and experience thanks......

 

[44267547]

I don't know about those Bluetooth EarPods. I mean, their not very appealing and I was hoping for more concealment. The long stem is throwing me off. I think I will wait for hands on reviews before purchasing.

 

[teeoh717]

My note 7 performs smoothly...no issues navigating the interface...how hard is it to navigate a interface in today's devices...doesn't take a rocket scientist. Most powerful android devices have barely any lag...I can even make my iPad Pro lag if I wanted to and I have seen both my 9.7 and 12.9 inch pros lag at times.....the core apps on any major android device such as the note 7 perform just fine....you really should experience one for yourself and learn how to actually have fun with a phone again with few limitations.

You're talking to the wrong person about "experiencing one" for myself. Either I don't believe you or the anguish simply has not yet found you. I switched away from Android in favor of iOS and I've never looked back. I don't miss that frustrating land of empty promises one bit.

 

[Keirasplace]

I would like it to take better all around photos and videos.
If you add a second lens I would hope it does that.
This one wide and one telephoto just isn't useful for most users.

Camera fell behind more than a year ago.
Screen has been behind amoled for more than a year.
Battery life. (plus is pretty good, still not amazing, but the regular is pathetic)
Fast charging.
Wireless charging.
Bezels
Weight
Waterproofing
Multitasking.
How did it take iOS to have a notification area?
Getting gouged for everything you would buy for an Apple device including apps, cases, battery packs and other accessories, cables.

I'm not sure what "plenty" of metrics you're talking about.
Maybe customer service?
Fluidity compared to some.
App selection regularly gets touted but it's actually often worse than android.

Fingerprint reader (was **** before the last year in Android phones ), no 3D touch (nothing), Camera was a wash UNTIL THIS YEAR (better in some metrics, behind in others), no meaningful encryption until this year in Android phones, slow as ass SOC with throttling even this year no matter how much slow ram and storage they use, slow storage system (Apple uses a custom controller).

AMOLED before 18 months ago was ****, low durability, uncertain colors, etc.
So, basically you just BSing and don't know wth you're talking about.

Bezels Who cares it's a personal preference, weight (it has less features, so less weight), Waterproofing (people tested the phone 6s for 30 min and it survived despite it having no official rating)
Multi-tasking!! Are you for real. Go do your homework bud.
Notification has been around for a long time.

App selection is better unless you want open source things and App quality is off the chart better. Why? Because of the fragmentation of the Android ecosystem it costs more to develop/test on that platform and the buying demos are also a lot worse : equal more money to create apps, less money from selling apps.

Fluidity, there is no discussion here, Apple owns the whole stack, Samsung could put 32 cores in their phones and it still would be slower because they don't control the software; the fact you even mention it makes you look foolish.

 

[jamesrick80]

You're talking to the wrong person about "experiencing one" for myself. Either I don't believe you or the anguish simply has not yet found you. I switched away from Android in favor of iOS and I've never looked back. I don't miss that frustrating land of empty promises one bit.

I'm sorry about your frustrations ...and why should any tech company promise you anything.....lol