Apple iPhone 7 First Impressions

At about 3AM last week, I ordered an iPhone 7 in black and at that time I was wondering why I even bothered as I would have rather enjoyed the sleep than an updated iPhone. Alas, I am upgrading from a 6 which means this is about two years of Apple ‘innovation’ that I hope warrants the money I spent.

I’ve been playing with the phone for about two hours or so which means these are my first impressions and a full review will come shortly.

Out of the box, the black looks much better in person and I am happy that I did not go with the jet black model. While I liked the look of it, I never use a case with my phone and considering Apple is warning that scratches occur easily, I didn’t want to take any chances.

I opted to go with the 7 over the 7+ as I currently have the smaller phone and while the size is ok, I prefer a screen size of 5.1 inches, the 5.5 of the Plus is a bit too big. I’d rather have a phone that’s a bit too small than something too big for my liking. That being said, Paul prefers the Plus and you may very well too but for me, the 7 was the phone to go with.

The biggest difference between the two is the camera and while the 7+ has a better camera with 2x optical zoom and some bokeh tricks up its virtual sleeve (when Apple releases that update) it wasn’t enough for the price bump.

Anyways, the iPhone 7 is a lot like the 6 and 6S, you are ‘upgrading’ to a better screen, improved camera/flash, better battery life, a faster CPU and those are the high points. What you are giving up is the headphone jack and a home button.

The home “button” is now a force touch pad which is really Apple’s way of preparing us for a phone without a home button. The designated spot you touch has the ‘tatpic engine’ to provide feedback but it’s not a button just a flat spot you touch and this will take some time to adjust to. I’m not sure if I like or dislike it yet but it really is different.

The cameras is good and that’s to be expected. Apple has consistently focused on improving its camera and once again, the iPhone 7 does a decent job at serving the role of replacing your point-and-shoot.  Fast shutter response, easy photo manipulation and panoramas are all accessible but this is not unique to the iPhone, nearly any modern smartphone has this functionality.

The phone really doesn’t have any killer features but is simply a well-rounded set of updates that make it a good choice if you already like iPhones but for those looking to switch from Android/Windows Phone, it’s not the most compelling release. Look for upcoming full review that should land next week sometime and will give me more time to dive into the new features and the shortcomings of the phone.