Review iPhone 7 Plus Review

Having owned an iPhone 6 Plus for nearly two years now, iOS is no longer new or a surprise to me. I have grown accustomed to it and found it to be excellent. I knew what I was getting when I got the 7 Plus and I was aware of the differences between the two.

With the purchase of the 7 Plus, I no longer have any Android devices. All are Apple. The 7 Plus is on my (almost) 23-year-old primary line, with the 6 Plus shifting to my secondary. I had previously used a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge on the secondary line. That phone was turned in with the purchase of the 7 Plus. The S7 Edge is a great phone, but I no longer care for Android. It made more sense for me to go full Apple. Plus the monthly payments for the 7 Plus are nearly half the price of the S7 Edge (because of a Verizon X-mas promotion).

Here are the Pros and Cons of the 7 Plus.

Pros:

• Incredible screen color and clarity
• Haptic feedback
• Faster processor than the 6 Plus
• Force touch (not on the 6 Plus or S7 Edge)
• Easy customization
  
• Call quality
• iOS & Mac interconnectability (Handoff)
• Fingerprint unlock accuracy
• iCloud connectivity
• Easy to navigate settings
• Dual lens camera
• 128GB version cheaper than same 6 Plus version
• Raise to wake feature
• Dual speakers
• Does not bleed LTE data when on Wi-Fi (unlike S7 Edge)
• Easy setup (via iTunes restore backup of 6 Plus)
• Water and dust resistant (N/A on 6 Plus)

Cons:

• Combined headphone/charger port
• 6 Plus battery much better at purchase than 7 Plus

Can't say I found more cons than what I listed, as the 7 Plus is just an updated version of the 6 Plus. It does what I need it to do. Setting it up was easy, as I used a restore backup of the 6 Plus to get the 7 Plus the way I wanted it. I don't have a major issue with the headphones dongle. I just hope I don't lose it.

The 6 Plus had the best battery life I've ever seen on a phone when I first got it. Even after almost 2 years, it still does pretty good. Initially, it would take 4 to 5 days of (light to moderate) use before it would come close to needing a charge. The 7 Plus has the same battery life as the two year old 6 Plus does now. Not a horrible negative, but a disappointment nonetheless.

iOS/Mac interplay between Apple devices is the best. This is the primary reason I went all Apple. For me, it makes things more efficient. I could even take calls from the 7 Plus line on the 6 Plus, but for the sake of avoiding confusion (with all iOS devices ringing at the same time), I turned that off. But still, it is an awesome feature. This is the kind of device interplay I wish Microsoft and Android had. It makes Contacts, Notes, Reminders, Photos, Messages (and more) so simple and easy. All of it works via a single Apple ID (with a big help from iCloud).

I am very happy with the 7 Plus. Apple devices aren't perfect. I never expected them to be. But they do what they do very well, IMO. The 6 Plus is the best phone I've ever owned, so I knew the 7 Plus would be an easy choice. I knew what to expect and I know how it works. The simplicity of iOS (and Mac) is why I'll stick with Apple.

 

Whenever I had LTE data on with the S7 Edge, I'd discover data being used even though I was on Wi-Fi the whole time. Not sure why. I could tell when I checked the MyVerizon app. It hasn't happened with the iPhones. I ended up turning data off on the S7 Edge and the bleeding stopped. I monitor my data usage frequently and clearly saw an issue with the Samsung. Not sure if other Android phones do this, but the S7 Edge sure did.

 

Actually no. I turned that option off shortly after I got the S7 Edge and saw it in action. It made the phone VERY hot, so I disabled it. I had Wi-FI on always, but for some reason, with LTE on, it always bled data. I could tell when I checked my data usage via Verizon's app and the S7 Edge had used data I know I DIDN'T use. At times I would have more data used on that phone than the iPhone 6. Once I turned LTE off, the data bleeding stopped.

By the way, you didn't ask a stupid question (it is a VERY smart question). I never even thought of that until I saw your post. Fortunately, I remembered turning the option off early on.

 

I can tell you, viewfly, I have cellular data open for nearly all apps and I've never had an issue with extra data being used when on Wi-Fi. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I monitor my data like a hawk. I am on Wi-Fi 90% of the time, so I know the times when I use LTE data. I have never seen a spike in iPhone LTE data use when I'm strictly Wi-Fi, unlike on the S7 Edge. When Wi-Fi is on on the iPhones, it's ON, with no LTE bleed-through.

When I first began to notice the issue on the S7 Edge, I monitored my data use much more closely than normal. I also monitored the iPhone 6+ at the same time. I did not use the S7 Edge at all for a day (Wi-Fi on) and noticed it used up LTE data. The iPhone was on Wi-Fi the whole time with no LTE data use recorded. The numbers on Verizon for the iPhone were the same as before the experiment. I don't know if it is an Android thing or a Samsung issue. I kept data off on the S7 edge for the past 3 months I owned the phone.

If iOS used to bleed data before, Apple has stopped that leak. I began my iPhone life with iOS 8 (May 2015), so it hasn't been an issue. And I'm very glad for it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it is. It was never a huge amount of data (unlike the iOS 5 situation from the link KevinJames posted), but something I wasn't keen on. I have the lowest data plan on Verizon because I use Wi-Fi primarily, so I noticed unexpected upticks in data use. Fortunately, it's not an issue anymore, though I really did love the S7 Edge (just not Android anymore either).

 

One more thing, iPhone has something else in its favor with the new addition of the Samsung Gear S app, which now allows me to connect the Gear S2 to my phone.