iPhone 7/7+ Verge Review

[randomhkkid]

 

The Verge has released its iPhone review for this refresh cycle. I won't take away from people wanting to read the review but in summary its an excellent phone (as expected) but it feels incomplete due to missing features. 

Also interesting to note that the Note 7 and S7 Edge both scored higher than the iPhone duo. IMHO I like the Verge as a news publication despite the lambasting by many of its perceived 'iVerge' views.

 

Review TL;DR

Spoiler

Good Stuff

• Improved cameras

• Better battery life

• Great display

• Taptic engine feedback is neat

• Dual camera zoom on the 7 Plus is great

 

Bad Stuff

• Lack of headphone jack is inconvenient

• Jet Black model scratches easily

• Looks just like an iPhone 6 in a case

• Wireless audio ecosystem is immature

• #donglelife

• iPhone 7 Plus design feels big compared to competition

• Other iPhone 7 Plus dual camera features haven't shipped yet

[Ridska]

*RANT MODE ACTIVATED*

TRIGGER/TILTED WARNING!!

 

The subject is about the headphone jack and the lighting port headphones.

 

Ever sense i heard that apple or the retarded fruit company that likes to use the words '' innovative'' or ''advanced '' to explain there products, Wanted to remove the headphone jack , i always repeated this line like a broken vinyl record toward apple : '' Dont remove it , Replace it ''. Sense when did removing something became innovative ?! The definition of innovation what i believe is to replace something old with the new, Like how USB type c has slowly replacing the Micro USB. That is innovation. 

IMO , a smart phone should have 2 ports minimum, a H E A D P H O N E J A C K ( making it easier for the brainless fruit company to read that one ) and a charging port.  

And give a round of applause to the bitten fruit company for scrutinizing other small headphone manufactures and trying to monopolize the headphone market.

but some of you might be saying : '' l o l fcking scUb , eabbpple iz deh beehhhst , dehy prevehdehd a adddapder fur deh ehphone 7'' 

wich i would say : remember that mac which had a one usb type c port ? remember that ? did u see any sensible human being buying that? what was even the point of that really and what is the point of the iphone 7 ?  ( apple fan boys do not count as human beings with brains ).

 

But who am i kidding , innovation and apple where like water and oil, they dont mix , unless you wanna set that oil on fire to burn yourself , that is totally fine. 

 

RANT OVER.

[Spartan Jack 17]

So it's an iterative update over the last version, but missing the headphone port?

[alexyy]

In other words an iPhone 6 without a Audio Jack. ok.

[Bsmith]

I looked at the photo that's included in the OP and I was more interested by the camera lenses around it, like the canon 85mm F/1.2 that stands there.
 

on topic:

apple is now getting a lot of shit, but once USB-C headphones come on the market and USB-C becoming standard I wonder how long the headphone jack lasts.

[Nineshadow]

Wait, The Verge didn't praise Apple? What's happening? Are they becoming non-biased for once?

[qwertywarrior]

 

i knew things were changing at apple when they were talking about pokemon go

 

sad times

 

 

[Shivan]

maybe the new iPhone would only have Bluetooth and no ports

[suicidalfranco]

58 minutes ago, Nineshadow said:

Wait, The Verge didn't praise Apple? What's happening? Are they becoming non-biased for once?

Still gets a 9, the verge never disappoints 

[Trixanity]

2 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

Still gets a 9, the verge never disappoints 

They're not the only ones who do it. I seem to recall the MacBook Air scoring something like 87/100 in display score on a site. Then there's a bunch of full 1080p and 1800p IPS displays scoring 83. In either case: it's like the scoring system is different for Apple products so even if the Apple product has worse X, Y and Z, the non-Apple still scores worse in those categories. And cons for one product is either not an issue or a feature for the Apple product.

[Sauron]

Loving the photo with all the camera lenses on the sides, as if the phone's camera or zoom was even remotely close to what you can expect from a camera that uses those lenses.

 

I've been through this already, long story short removing the jack could make sense if in its place there was another lighting port or a usb c one. Just removing it is nothing other than a downgrade and utter nonsense on a phone that costs over 700$ as a baseline. But then, on an iPhone it's the rule to not have features that have been the norm on other phones for years, like proper nfc, an sd card slot, dual sim, oled, wireless charging and of course a dedicated audio port. And it's slower than the competition, as expected by now. I see the camera as little more than a gimmick, it's nice to have but I wouldn't make a purchase decision for a smartphone based on it, because ultimately it is still comparatively mediocre when seen beside a dedicated camera.

 

Unless you really want ios there is no reason to even consider it at its price point.

[Sauron]

54 minutes ago, Shivan said:

maybe the new iPhone would only have Bluetooth and no ports

I fully expect that, in fact I think it might have been this one if they had bothered to introduce wireless charging.

[VerticalDiscussions]

Well, i did quick reading on theyr review, which is basically what a user with both phones after spending some time with them would say...

 

Technical details of the display quality were missing other than what Apple has already told and i didnt see much in-depth analisys either on the components and build quality.

 

Gsmarena definetly the one to see when it comes to see the details, followed by JerryRigEverything for durability, Pocketnow for camera and maybe Displaymate, if they intend to clarify the display quality.

[randomhkkid]

6 minutes ago, VerticalDiscussions said:

Well, i did quick reading on theyr review, which is basically what a user with both phones after spending some time with them would say...

 

Technical details of the display quality were missing other than what Apple has already told and i didnt see much in-depth analisys either on the components and build quality.

 

Gsmarena definetly the one to see when it comes to see the details, followed by JerryRigEverything for durability, Pocketnow for camera and maybe Displaymate, if they intend to clarify the display quality.

Don't forget Anandtech for a gratuitous technical breakdown.

[randomhkkid]

1 hour ago, suicidalfranco said:

Still gets a 9, the verge never disappoints 

 

55 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

They're not the only ones who do it. I seem to recall the MacBook Air scoring something like 87/100 in display score on a site. Then there's a bunch of full 1080p and 1800p IPS displays scoring 83. In either case: it's like the scoring system is different for Apple products so even if the Apple product has worse X, Y and Z, the non-Apple still scores worse in those categories. And cons for one product is either not an issue or a feature for the Apple product.

True, though for the first time ever (I think) the iPhone isn't the highest rated phone of this generation. Hopefully things are looking up, I honestly just enjoy the breadth of their coverage and their penchant for eyecandy.

[suicidalfranco]

1 minute ago, randomhkkid said:

 

True, though for the first time ever (I think) the iPhone isn't the highest rated phone of this generation. Hopefully things are looking up, I honestly just enjoy the breadth of their coverage and their penchant for eyecandy.

yeah, Note 7 is the verge highest so far this year with 9.3

[ShadowCaptain]

50 minutes ago, Sauron said:

 And it's slower than the competition, as expected by now. I see the camera as little more than a gimmick, it's nice to have but I wouldn't make a purchase decision for a smartphone based on it, because ultimately it is still comparatively mediocre when seen beside a dedicated camera

I am not sure where you got that its slower? i believe the A10 is more powerful than the A9X in the iPad pro which wipes the floor with any smartphone, even close to competing with a surface pro 4 i5 - the A10 is possible even on par

The camera is not gimmicky, not to those of us that value having a good quality camera in our pocket, - if it takes good photos and 4k video, it replaces an RX100 style camera, and means for casual shooting I dont need my big gear

[GoodBytes]

3 hours ago, randomhkkid said:

Also interesting to note that the Note 7 and S7 Edge both scored higher than the iPhone duo. IMHO I like the Verge as a news publication despite the lambasting by many of its perceived 'iVerge' views.

 

 

I don't know.. With all these downside mentioned, and still get s a 9/10?! That is pretty bias.

[GoodBytes]

3 hours ago, randomhkkid said:

Also interesting to note that the Note 7 and S7 Edge both scored higher than the iPhone duo. IMHO I like the Verge as a news publication despite the lambasting by many of its perceived 'iVerge' views.

 

3 hours ago, Nineshadow said:

Wait, The Verge didn't praise Apple? What's happening? Are they becoming non-biased for once?

I don't know.. With all these downside mentioned, and still get s a 9/10?! That is pretty bias.

[Carpenoctem]

I followed the live stream and I was already not much impressed by this new model, so further reviews wont change that opinion  

 

But unlike the raging internet, I honestly could not care less about the audio jack. 

The real practical downside of this change is that I cannot have headphones plugged in and the phone charging at the same time, i.e. when travelling with a battery bank.

 

I am a very happy owner of a 6s model and I have no reason to even remotely consider this as possible upgrade, because the hardware improvements are marginal.

I am glad that they are going with the Big Little approach but the lack of a new screen and better battery is the major let down for me.

[randomhkkid]

52 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

I am not sure where you got that its slower? i believe the A10 is more powerful than the A9X in the iPad pro which wipes the floor with any smartphone, even close to competing with a surface pro 4 i5 - the A10 is possible even on par

The camera is not gimmicky, not to those of us that value having a good quality camera in our pocket, - if it takes good photos and 4k video, it replaces an RX100 style camera, and means for casual shooting I dont need my big gear

Pretty sure this was debunked due to Geekbench 3 scoring differently depending on the architecture due to api and library differences. Also Geekbench 3 favours some test heavily such as SHA2 encryption which is done in fixed function on the A9X skewing scores. Still a powerful processor but not up there with the Core architecture as this chart shows.

 

Edit: Not the original article I read but close enough 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3006268/tablets/tested-why-the-ipad-pro-really-isnt-as-fast-a-laptop.html

[ShadowCaptain]

Just now, randomhkkid said:

Pretty sure this was debunked due to Geekbench 3 scoring differently depending on the architecture due to api and library differences. Still a powerful processor but not up there with the Core architecture as this chart shows

I know, it was just a quick analogy to show that the A9X is more powerful than the snapdragon CPUs

 

I hate sythetics anyway but yeah there is no way the A10 will be slow!

 

examples here etc

http://www.techgrapple.com/helio-x20-vs-snapdragon-820-vs-exynos-8890-vs-apple-a9-vs-apple-a9x-vs-kirin-950/

[randomhkkid]

3 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

I know, it was just a quick analogy to show that the A9X is more powerful than the snapdragon CPUs

 

I hate sythetics anyway but yeah there is no way the A10 will be slow!

 

examples here etc

http://www.techgrapple.com/helio-x20-vs-snapdragon-820-vs-exynos-8890-vs-apple-a9-vs-apple-a9x-vs-kirin-950/

None of the CPUs nowadays are 'slow'.

 

That's true Apple has a large IPC advantage, however in an increasing amount of cases such as Chrome on Android multi-threaded CPUs are able to mitigate that advantage due to the core deficit. Even with the new A10 there is only cluster migration, not heterogenous operation meaning iOS devices still only have 2 cores. Though this is countered by the fact that the locked down Apple eco-system means optimisation to the max.

TL;DR Not enough to compare synthetics and benchmarks when in reality things are a lot more complicated.

[o0Martin]

The Verge also made a video review (Same content) for those too lazy to read: 

Personally I think it's a pretty good and fair review (Both the written and video one) and they cover all important points well enough. 

As far as the pictures go, I think the low light photo was better from the Note 7, and the good lighting burger photo was better on the iPhone 7 Plus which just seemed less washed out and more vibrant. Imo that alongside the other upgrades to the cam on the plus model make it a pretty decent upgrade from the 6s+ for people who are into that stuff.

 

They make a good point at the end of the video though, the iPhone 7/+ at launch isn't when it'll be at its best, the dual cam's best feature will be missing, not much support for the taptic engine and people will still be getting used to wireless headphones and lighting headphones ect. 

The phone almost sets us up for being ready to use the iPhone 8 (Or w/e they'll call the 10th anniversary phone) 

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, randomhkkid said:

None of the CPUs nowadays are 'slow'.

 

TL;DR Not enough to compare synthetics and benchmarks when in reality things are a lot more complicated.

I know that

 

hence why I was confused why @Sauron was saying it had worse performance, which is bullshit

 

14 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

 

I don't know.. With all these downside mentioned, and still get s a 9/10?! That is pretty bias.

Depends on if the downsides diminish the rest of the phone
 

Dont forget, a review is the opinion of the writer, and if that person found the new iPhone features to be good, its performance, camera etc to be what they are looking for, they will score it high

to many people care too much about hating Apple and the iPhone it seems, when its honestly unjustified in many circumstances