Living with the iPhone 7 Plus: 3 week update & mini review

So if you follow me on Twitter, you already know that three weeks ago I purchased the new iPhone 7 Plus. This was kind of a spontaneous purchase for me since I like to do a lot of research before buying a new phone and with this phone I did not. I have the Verizon Edge plan which lets me lease my phone and when I pay off 50% of it I can upgrade without any additional fees (still have to pay the taxes on it). It is a pretty great program if you are like me who likes to upgrade phones quite frequently. 

I know there are a ton of reviews for the new iPhone out there, but this post was requested so ask you shall receive. I did my best to break down the new features and let you guys know if you should upgrade or not. I am a bit of a tech nerd so if I say anything that doesn't make any sense I apologize,

So I upgraded from the iPhone 6s Plus 64 GB in the color Space Grey to the iPhone 7 Plus 128 GB in Silver. Let's start with the size and color option. Once you buy a big phone it is kind of hard to go back to the smaller size so I just stayed with the Plus. In terms of storage size, Apple FINALLY got rid of their 16 GB model (WHOOP WHOOP!!!) and replaced it with a 32 GB as their starting model. The other storage sizes available are 128 GB & 256 GB. I recently combined my work phone and personal phone so the 32 GB as decent as the size is, is unfortunately not enough for me so I went with the 128 GB and so far so good (256 GB was a little unnecessary for me). 

As for the color, Space Grey is no longer an option for the new iPhones, however they did come out with two new colors Jet Black and Black. Jet Black has a shiny black finish and is really nothing new. The iPhone 3 had a very similar finish. The Black option is just a matte black. Both of the new colors are beautiful however scratch very easily and have issues with fingerprint smudging. The Jet Black is also more expensive. Personally the color wasn't a big deal for me. I just ordered what was available. 

As for the phone itself here are the major changes...

Haptic Touch:

There is no longer a physical home button. It is now just a vibration. I personally love it 

Dual Lens Camera (Plus only): 

Apple always upgrades the cameras on their phones every year but I gotta say I was super impressed with the quality of the dual lens camera especially when it came to zooming. The dual lens offers a 2x option which allows close ups but without the grittiness that zooming can cause. The picture quality is very comparable to my Nikon DSLR.

Resolution & Speed:

The pixels and images are so fricking clear and sharp. It really is just a beautiful feature. The overall functioning of the phone is faster such as opening apps, connecting to WiFi, LTE and so forth.

No Headphone Jack:

The biggest change on the new iPhones is that there is no longer a headphone jack instead it is replaced by a second speaker. I know a lot of you out there are probably not happy about this change, but we are living in the 21st century and with that comes lots of tech changes. In the future everything will probably be wireless so we might as well get on board. And for those of you out there who don't want to get on board right away no worries the phone comes with lighting cable headphones and an adapter so you can continue to use your old headphones. 

Water Resistant:

Yes, Apple has finally made their phones water resistant. This is especially good news for klutzes like me. The new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus can be submerged under 1 m of water for up to 30 minutes. Waterproofing isn't exactly new in the tech world but it is very complicated to waterproof/water resistant a phone like the iPhone due to its design and internal structure. Trust me the process can be quite difficult. So bravo Apple! This feature isn't designed so you can take your phone swimming but provides that extra safety days where you do need it. The speakers still can get slightly damaged but hey nothing is perfect and for those Android lovers out there it is the same issue with your phones too. 

There are a couple of other features but these are the only ones really worth mentioning. As far as my opinion goes, I really am impressed and happy I upgraded. It truly is a beautiful phone. I work in social media so upgrading these kind of devices is a no brainer for me however if you don't work in the media or tech industry should you upgrade?

For those of you who have the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, I don't recommend upgrading right away especially if you like your headphone jack. Take another year and wait for the iPhone 8 or even the 7s. 

For those of you who have anything before the 6s, the upgrade is worth it. There will be some new features that will take some time getting used to but overall the experience has been great. 

Cases:

As for cases, I haven't found any I particularly love. I purchased 2 of Apple's silicone cases which are my 2 go cases. I have been using them since the 6 was released. I purchased one in the color Pink Sand and one in Black. They are really nice simple cases that offer a sleek and simple design and good protection (not great but decent). They are $35 for the iPhone 7 and $39 for the 7 Plus. 

The 6s Plus cases will not fit the new plus because of the camera shape. As for the iPhone 7, the 6s cases will fit however the speaker where the old headphone jack use to be will be covered up for those of you who care. 

PINK SAND

BLACK