Apple iPhone 7 review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Name: Apple iPhone 7
Brand: Apple

Alex Kidman

Last updated: 2 August 2018

The iPhone 7 is an impressive performer, but really struggles with battery life, an issue Apple resolved with the iPhone 8.

4.7 inches

Display size

750 x 1334px

32GB, 128GB, 256GB

Internal storage

12 MP

Rear camera

1,960 mAh

Battery size

Finder rated as Good vs similar phones

Details

Display

Display Size

4.7 inches

Resolution

750 x 1334px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

326 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

12MP

Rear camera aperture size

f/1.8

Video recording

Front camera megapixels

7MP

Front camera aperture size

f/2.2

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

138.3mm x 67.1mm x 7.1mm

Weight

138g

Connectivity

NFC

Yes

Wi-Fi

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Network category speed

Category 9

Power, storage and battery

Processor

A10

RAM

2GB

Operating system

iOS10

Internal storage

32GB, 128GB, 256GB

Battery capacity

1,960mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Fingerprint sensor

Yes

Water resistance rating

IP67

Wireless charging

Launch price (RRP)	$1,079
Launch date	2016-09

Go to Apple's site More info

Alex Kidman

Alex Kidman was the tech and telco editor at Finder and is now a freelance technology writer. He's been a technology writer with experience spanning more than 20 years, writing and editing at Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and many more. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

Where to buy

The good

Water resistant at last
Taptic touch button
Powerful processor
Good camera

The bad

Battery life is still lacking
No headphone jack
Price might make the iPhone 7 Plus a better bet

Apple’s iPhone 7 is sleek and attractive and powerful, except in the critical area of battery life.

Apple loves to hype up its iPhone lines as the ultimate premium phones. In the premium space it’s under increasing pressure from devices manufactured by Samsung, such as the Galaxy S7 Edge, or Google with its Pixel/Pixel XL phones.

However, there’s little doubting that Australians love iPhones as a category, with each year’s release typically selling out of stock at retail and telco levels for months at a time after launch. We’ve already run the large and largely impressive iPhone 7 Plus through its paces, but it’s the more regular sized iPhone 7 that’s likely to catch most people’s attention due to the lower asking price and slightly more hand-friendly design.

Design

Water resistance brings the iPhone 7 up to snuff with other premium smartphones
Removing the headphone jack is far from "courageous"

Apple sells the iPhone as much as a fashion accessory as a phone, and the inclusion of Black and Jet Black iPhone models really helps them to stand out. As with the iPhone 7 Plus, the Black variants have proven to be much more popular than the Gold, Silver or Rose Gold variants, so if you’re keen you might face a wait to score one.
Apple finally joined the water resistance crowd with the iPhone 7, which carries an IP67 rating for dust and water ingress. It is worth noting that the warranty Apple supplies doesn’t actually cover the iPhone for water ingress into the body of the phone, but at least in our testing for basic accidental drops into a sink or clean water bath it should be fine.
The home button on the iPhone 7 isn’t a button at all, but instead a small vibrating motor that sits behind where the home button circle sits. This gives you the sensation of a tap, but also opens up other possibilities for force feedback events in other apps across the device.
Unfortunately, you still can’t easily add microSD storage to an iPhone, and that’s definitely a pain point, but at least 2016’s iPhone models no longer come in a pathetically small 16GB minimum storage configuration. 32GB is the new baseline, all the way up to 256GB if you’re in need of maximum storage.
The most contentious part of the iPhone’s redesign in this era has been Apple’s "courageous" decision to omit the headphone jack.
Apple delayed the release of its Airpod solution to the headphone jack problem, and Bluetooth headphones have their own issues anyway, not the least of which is the fact that you probably already have a decent pair of headphones with a standard jack on them. Apple does supply a single Lightning-to-3.5mm adaptor in the box, but any iPhone 7 owner should probably plan on buying a few more of them to avoid not having to do without headphones at all.
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Camera

Optical image stabilisation and a slick camera app make taking quality photos easier than ever
Single lens set-up means no depth-of-field effects or other fancy features

The baseline iPhone models have always played second fiddle to the Plus variants for as long as there have been Plus variant phones, and that’s still true for the iPhone 7.
If you want the dual camera and depth-of-field portrait effect, you’ll need to look at Apple’s larger smartphone, but that doesn’t mean that the iPhone 7’s own camera is a slouch. It nabs optical image stabilisation from the larger iPhone family, alongside a 13MP front sensor that operates very well in most shooting locations.
Apple’s camera app remains fast to launch and quick to focus, so for most practical situations, it will deliver very good images.
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Performance

Strong performance increases over the iPhone 6
A10 Fusion processor automatically adjusts power based on what you're doing

The iPhone 7 shares the same A10 Fusion processor as the iPhone 7 Plus, and predictably it offers a significant boost in performance terms over its predecessor. Apple has the distinct advantage of being able to heavily optimise its operating systems to take advantage of the new hardware in new iOS devices, and in anecdotal use this certainly appears true.

The iPhone 7 is fast and responsive across multiple applications in use, taking advantage of the effective "dual dual core" approach that the Fusion processor offers. Two lower power cores cover basic apps while two higher performance cores kick in for more demanding tasks.

This is borne out in the iPhone 7’s benchmark scores, where it performs in the top tier of 2016 premium smartphones. Here’s how it compares against its contemporaries using Geekbench 4’s CPU test:

Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	3374	5649
Apple iPhone 7	3452	5599
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	1359	5333
Samsung Galaxy S7	1378	4718
Apple iPhone SE	2449	4171
Apple iPhone 6s	2465	4052
Google Pixel XL	1629	4051
Motorola Moto Z	1477	3853
Sony Xperia XZ	1636	3604
Google Nexus 6P	1293	3594
Motorola Moto X Force	1352	3581
Motorola Moto Z Play	799	2648
Sony Xperia X	1122	2626
LG X Power	554	1482
Motorola Moto G Play	522	1334

That exceptional (for its era) performance carries across in 3DMark’s Ice Storm Unlimited test:

Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	37956
Apple iPhone 7	37717
LG G5	29597
Apple iPhone SE	29276
Samsung Galaxy S7	28903
Samsung Note7	28646
Google Pixel XL	28458
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	28402
Apple iPhone 6s	28171
HTC 10	27392
Sony Xperia XZ	26279
Sony Xperia X Performance	26125
Motorola Moto Z	25629
Google Nexus 6P	24703

Battery life

Continues the Apple trend of disappointing battery life
Greatly outmatched by other smartphones in the premium space

iPhone owners are all too familiar with that sinking feeling that often comes about in the afternoon as their phones shift from a healthy green power bar to a more alarming red one. We noted with the iPhone 7 Plus that it appeared Apple had beaten this particular demon down, but the iPhone 7’s battery performance left us wanting a lot more from what’s meant to be a premium phone.

Yes, it’s "better" than the iPhone 6s, but falling short of that phone would have involved some kind of permanent tether to the wall. Not a hard target to beat, and while the iPhone 7 did beat it, for the premium price that the iPhone 7 commands it should be able to compete with the best-in-class Android options. Put simply, it doesn’t, either in anecdotal testing or more formal battery benchmarks.

Here’s how the iPhone 7 compares using Geekbench 3’s older battery test:

Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	11:55:00	7150
Huawei Mate 8	11:14:40	6659
Apple iPhone 7 Plus	11:11:20	6713
Samsung Galaxy Note7	11:02:20	6623
Sony Xperia X	10:40:40	6406
Samsung Galaxy S7	10:01:20	6013
Samsung Galaxy Note 5	9:18:00	5580
Google Pixel XL	9:14:20	5543
Huawei P9	8:26:30	4948
Sony Xperia XZ	8:24:20	5042
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+	8:24:10	5041
Apple iPhone 7	7:50:10	4701
Apple iPhone 6S Plus	7:48:10	4681
LG G5	7:36:10	4561
iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case	7:21:10	4407
HTC 10	6:54:30	4145
Apple iPhone SE	4:27:10	2671
Apple iPhone 6s	3:52:10	2321

Verdict

As refined and stylish as ever
Lacklustre battery life remains frustrating

The iPhone 7 continues a relatively steady design path for the iPhone family, and that’s an approach that’s likely to appeal to its hardcore existing crowd for the most part. If you don’t like having a larger phone in your pocket or purse but want something stylish and powerful it’s an exceptionally good choice, but be sure to invest in a spare charger or external battery to go with it.
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Pricing and availability

Price: From RRP $849
Where to buy: Amazon Australia | eBay | Kogan The Good Guys | Harvey Norman | JB Hi-Fi

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