Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus review: Are they worth your money?

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. PHOTO: APPLE
The new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are available in (left to right): rose gold, gold, silver, matte black and glossy black. PHOTO: APPLE
SPH Brightcove Video
The Straits Times Trevor Tan weighs in on Apple's decision to drop the headphone jack from their latest smartphones.

It is September again - that time of the year when Apple releases new iPhones. Trevor Tan tests the latest iPhone 7 and 7 Plus to see if they are worth your moolah.

DESIGN - SAME BUT DIFFERENT

Despite being a full upgrade from 6 to 7 without any "S" suffix, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus look almost like the previous two generations of iPhones.

There is no front and rear glass construction, as rumours claimed. In fact, both iPhones share the same physical dimensions as their immediate "S" predecessors. Thickness, length and width are the same, with the same display size and pixel resolution. However, they are up to 5g lighter than their direct predecessors.

Both new iPhones are rated at IP67, which means they are dust resistant and water resistant (they can be immersed in depths of up to 1m for 30 minutes). You can practically wash the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus after they get dirty or smudgy.

The big news is the lack of a headphone jack. In its place is another set of speakers (more on iPhone's audio later). If you choose one of the two new black models - black or jet black - you can hardly see the antenna bands.

The other three colours - silver, gold and rose gold - have the familiar white fronts, while the black models have both their front and back in black.

The back of the black and jet black versions are finished in matte black and glossy black, respectively. Both finishes pick up a fair share of smudges, but the jet black model is more susceptible to fingerprints and scratches.

I know I am definitely going for a black iPhone 7 Plus, but I am still undecided on which one.

SPH Brightcove Video
The Straits Times Trevor Tan weighs in on Apple's decision to drop the headphone jack from their latest smartphones.

NEW HOME BUTTON

Another design change you cannot see but can feel is the new Home button. It is no longer a physical button but a touch-capacitive button.

Using a new Taptic Engine, the Home button gives haptic feedback when you press it. You can customise the strength of the haptic feedback. I put it to the highest strength.

It takes a little while to get used to it, as you need to press slighter harder to unlock the phone rather than merely touching, like for the previous Home button.

Other than that, it is the same Home button you use for Touch ID, Apple Pay, taking screenshots and Siri.

However, to reboot the iPhone now, you have to press the volume down button (instead of the Home button) and On/Off button together.

CAMERA AND DUAL-CAMERA

A night scene taken with the iPhone 7 Plus' telephoto lens. ST PHOTO: TREVOR TAN
A night scene shot with the iPhone 7 Plus' wide-angle lens. ST PHOTO: TREVOR TAN

The iPhone is the world's most popular camera, according to photo sharing site Flickr. And Apple has improved on the camera of the new iPhones.

The same day scene taken with (left to right) iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. If you zoom into the pictures, you will find that the images taken with the two iPhone 7 models are sharper and exhibit more details. ST PHOTO: TREVOR TAN

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