● APPLE iPHONE 7 PLUS PRODUCT RED £819 +++++
SUPERTEST SUPERPHONESThe home button isn’t a
button at all, but you can
set three different levels
of haptic feedback to trick
your brain into thinking
it responds to your prods
and presses.A pretty red herring keeps
the iPhone in the spotlight
Things are better when they
come in pairs. Fact. As if a solitary
KitKat finger could ever last
your entire tea break! And that’s
our thinking when we consider
the two cameras pointing out
of the back of the iPhone 7 Plus:
what used to just be a plus-sized
version of the iPhone has now
fully stolen the spotlight from
its smaller brother, thanks to its
clever camera tech. Yes, it’s a
pocket-busting size that not
everyone will like, but with better
battery life than its wee bruv, we
reckon the Plus is undoubtedly the
iPhone to go for now.
This Product Red edition is
the same on the inside but swaps
Apple’s usual metallic colours
for a gorgeous crimson hue. The
shiny rear is just as resistant tofingerprints as other models (jet
black version excluded), but not
everyone will appreciate the white
glass front. We reckon it would’ve
looked even meaner if Apple had
gone for black glass instead.
Apple has never focused on
hardware, which usually leaves
the iPhone languishing towards
the bottom of any specs tables,
but bespoke software designedspecifically for Apple’s own A10
Fusion CPU means iOS is still
undeniably slick.
The iPhone’s camera has
always been one of its greatest
weapons against the encroaching
army of Android rivals; so while it
loses out in the design stakes to
Samsung’s gorgeous Galaxy, if
you’re firmly entrenched in camp
iOS, it’s time to go big or go home.DESIGN
Reddy for its close-up
The new red colour choice
helps make the iPhone feel
fresh again – useful, because
the basic design hasn’t
changed for three years.
Sure, Apple made the iPhone 7
waterproof, and those twin
camera lenses are a dead
giveaway you’ve got one, but
it’s beginning to look dated –
especially with those chunky
bezels. The headphone port is
gone too, ditched in favour of
Lightning. That means lugging
around a clunky adaptor if you
want to use your existing set
of cans, or cutting the cord
altogether with Bluetooth.
●●●●●●●●●●CAMERA
Two become one
Apple’s twin-camera concept
is centred on zoom, letting
you toggle between 1x and
2x to get closer to the action
without having to edge nearer
to your subject. Optical image
stabilisation goes a long way
to keeping your shots steady,
even when you’re zoomed
in, so you’ll be able to pap
unsuspecting wildlife. The
cameras also work together
to create depth of field in
Portrait Mode, which can
look stunning. Image quality
here is consistently among the
best we’ve seen, in just about
all lighting conditions.
●●●●●●●●●●OS AND APPS
A perfect 10
Aside from a few tweaks, it’s
the same basic OS we’ve been
using for years. iOS 10 makes
Apple’s 3D Touch pressure-
sensitive screen tech that little
bit more useful, with most of
the major apps now featuring
pop-up menus.
●●●●●●●●●●SCREEN
Gamut of thrones
The 5.5in screen hasn’t grown
from last year’s iPhone 6s, and
resolution stays at 1080p too,
but Apple has swapped to a
wider colour gamut panel for
more realistic colours. You can
actually see the screen properly
in direct sunlight now.
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