iPhone 7 Review

Apple just released its new iPhones:  the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 plus.  Every year people ask if they should upgrade and it is becoming a questions that is harder and harder to answer.

As smartphones mature, most of what everyone has is good enough.  Take the iPhone 6 and you will find an adequate phone that is fast, takes good pictures, and has a great screen.  Sure, maybe the battery is less than what it was but a replacement is only $79 which is certainly less than the $649 for an new iPhone 7.

So what does the iPhone 7 bring thats new?  It has the obvious improvements such as a newer and faster chip, the A10.  The camera brings OIS for the first time to the iPhone 7 and now dual cameras for actual optical zoom on the iPhone 7 plus.  The phone is billed as water resistant, yes you can take a shower with it.  The A10 is also so efficient you actually get hours more of battery life.  However, the iPhone 7 also takes away with the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

As such the iPhone 7 is deservedly the most controversial iPhone ever, but it also the best.  Not only is it the best iPhone, but it is handedly the best smartphone.  Period.  It is not a spec war, Apple is right with their marketing that it is a combination of hardware and software.  Nothings beat the premium hardware that Apple makes.  The premium fit and finish and the attention to detail.  My iPhone 6 still feels brand new and other than a sluggish battery you wouldn’t know it was 2 years old.  But the software makes it all click together.

I’m sorry, it is the simple stuff of being able to update on my schedule and not when AT&T or Verizon decide.  It is also the advanced stuff of hardware and software working together to create better performance than any other competing device.  It doesn’t hurt that the A10 out benchmarks the competition but your can ignore the other specs.  There is a reason the iPhone gets a premium while devices that may have more ram, a better camera, or a faster processor have a lower price.  Its because they have to.

For some the decision will all be about a single removal.  I struggled too.  I looked at the Samsung Galaxy S7 but could never force myself to buy it.  I could however embrace a future wireless world.  Take a look at Star Trek.  You never saw them charging or plugging things in.  Everything just worked.  That is a future I can get behind.

So should you get an iPhone 7?  Well that depends, if you like to be on the bleeding edge of technology you probably have already upgraded.  If you are satisfied with your phone, then hold tight till it doesn’t work then get the right iPhone for you which may include the iPhone SE.  Gone are the days where you have to upgrade every 2 years. The iPhone 7 is an amazing package that is the right phone today for those looking to upgrade today but in less than a year there will be an even better iPhone with more than likely wireless charging so you truly can be wireless.