I had an iPhone 6 Plus before getting the iPhone 7, and I began to experience problems with the device. The iSight camera had a faulty part which was recalled and repaired by Apple, prior to the repair the camera wouldn't focus in low light and had very wavy and blurry photos. After the repair, it would flicker and jump occasionally, making stable video very difficult to achieve. The FaceTime camera stopped working all together, the battery life was not performing to suit my needs anymore and the screen was beginning to exhibit symptoms of touch disease; there were lines going down half of the screen occasionally and many times the touch screen would be unresponsive and I would need to lock and unlock the phone to regain touch ability.
Ok so first of all, because of the problems with my iPhone 6 Plus, I was not willing to wait two months for a new phone, so I went for an easy upgrade option and got the iPhone 7 (there was also a delay on the 7 Plus which was my next pick after the Note 7). However, I should've gone for the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge.
The battery life on the iPhone 7 was promised to be longer than the 6S and be sufficient for the day. So far, my battery life is horrible. I woke up at 9am and by 5PM my battery was on 30% with moderate usage and a bit of music play. Before battery problems surfaced on my 6 Plus, the same usage would've seen a battery percentage of around 60-65% at this point in the day. I understand the the 6 Plus has 1000 mah more than the iPhone 7, however, Apple's promise for longer and sufficient battery life has not been delivered here. Regardless of a phones features, battery life is one of the most important factors for many consumers and I would say that it is the biggest let down of the phone.
One thing to keep in mind with battery life, is that I have disabled Auto Brightness and Background App Refresh, My brightness is on approximately 40%, and I keep my bluetooth off unless I am using my Apple Watch, which I only use when I leave the house.
The camera has been quite clear, and after having a dysfunctional camera I have been happy with the camera. Zoomed photos look quite good on the iPhone 7, they are still a tad unclear when very zoomed but are much clearer than previous iPhone cameras. I did, however, disable Live Photos. I found them to be quite annoying and a waste of time and valuable space so I decided to kill them within 3 hours of taking the phone out of the box.
The performance has seemed quite good so far, I am noticing a difference in speed with everything that I am doing all the time. But given the battery life, it doesn't really seem like much of a big deal.
At first, I thought I wouldn't care about the removal of the headphone jack. However, while I was driving, my music wasn't as loud as it could've been and I wanted to plug in my Aux. I didn't have my adaptor with me from the box (lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor), so this was not an option. The stereo speakers have been quite impressive, they sounds quite nice. I'm disappointed at the absence of a carry case for the new ear pods, as I believe that this was the reason that my iPhone 5 ear pods are still in brand new condition (and yes, I gave my brand new ear pods from my iPhone 6 Plus to my cousin when I gave him my iPhone 5). So I have not taken the new ear pods out of the box, and I also have no intentions of buying the over priced and easy to lose air pods, which will probably drain my battery even further.
Reviewing more features of the iPhone 7 will need to come after more usage, but so far I am quite disappointed by the poor battery life. I feel that this could be a reasonable phone if the battery life was sufficient for daily use without needing a charging boost. I stand by my regrets of getting an iPhone 7 and say to those who are in two mindsets, if battery life is a concern for you, the iPhone 7 is not for you.
Do you have an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus? Are you thinking of getting one? Do you dislike it? I'd like to know what you think, leave a comment below and let's see everyones opinions roll in.