If you have a beloved pair of wired headphones, however, prepare to be seriously pissed off and thoroughly put out by the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Sure, you can use the included 3.5mm to Lightning adapter, but dongles aren’t exactly high-class. It’s small, so you could easily lose it, and the wire connection between the 3.5mm port and the Lightning connector feels flimsy. Much like the included iPhone charging cords, which always break after a year or two, we suspect this adapter may not have the longest life. We shall see.

It certainly is nice that Apple included the adapter; it’s just a shame that it’s so flimsy. But on the bright side, the dongle didn’t impact the sound quality in any obvious way.

The wired earbuds that come with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus sound reasonably good for included headphones, but they’re not discernably better than the typical 3.5mm earbuds that have shipped with iPhones past. Of our two sets of EarPods, one stopped working properly after a day, forcing us to repeatedly plug them in and jiggle them to try and get them to work – like a very old set of earbuds. They broke for us on day two, which makes us very concerned about the Lightning port as an alternative to the audio jack.

The lack of a headphone jack also prompted Apple to improve wireless audio — the result is the W1 wireless chip. It’s implemented in another new Apple product, the AirPods, which are completely wireless and get 5 hours of battery life. They aren’t included in the box, and you can read more about the $160 wireless earbuds here. We tried a pair on and they are exactly like EarPods, just without the cord and somewhat sillier looking. You can also use any normal wireless headphones with the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus; check out our favorites here.

Although there aren’t many lightning connected headphones out yet, we expect many more will come in the following months. We’ve already reviewed a pair from Audeze, which sound great.

The other bright spot on the audio front is that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have stereo speakers — both at the top and bottom of the devices for “increased dynamic range.” The speakers do sound better and louder on the iPhone 7 Plus, though they aren’t as powerful as the front-facing speakers on the ZTE Axon 7 or the older HTC One phones.
Subtle aluminum design is finally water-resistant

The iPhone 7 Plus doesn’t look all that different from last year’s iPhone 6S Plus — you’ll have to wait for next year’s iPhone 7S/8 for major changes, and rumors are already plentiful.

Although the aluminum uni-body design is nearly identical to last year’s iPhone, that’s not to say it isn’t beautiful. The metal is soft and smooth, and the Apple logo shines out of the center back of the phone. The antenna lines now curve around the corners instead of slashing across the back of the phone, resulting in a cleaner, more minimalistic appearance. The dual-camera module sticks out on the back, making it look quite similar to LG’s G5.
Apple introduced two new color options this year: Black and Jet Black. Jet Black features a “pristine, mirror-like surface” and a high-gloss, which is sadly prone to scratches. It also picks up fingerprints like nobody’s business. The Jet Black model is as fingerprint-prone as any glass-backed Galaxy S7, and that’s a real shame. It looks so pretty until you touch it; then it’s covered in oily smears. Personally, I hate fingerprint-covered phones and I much prefer the matte Black finish. Apple still offers silver, gold, and rose gold for traditionalists who don’t want the new black models.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 7 Plus is still gigantic. When you compare it to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, which has the same 5.5-inch screen, it looks positively monstrous in size. The bezels at the top and bottom of the phone are overlarge, and slimming them down would make the phone far more manageable. The iPhone 7 Plus’ footprint could be much smaller, which would appeal to more users and be more comfortable to hold.

It’s not that the iPhone 7 Plus is uncomfortably large – it’s about the same size as a Nexus 6P or the LG V20 – but it’s definitely a device you want to hold with two hands after a while. That said, I have small hands, and the iPhone 7 Plus is still the one I’d choose between the two 7s.

The biggest cosmetic difference (besides the removal of the headphone jack) is that both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are (finally!) water- and dust-resistant with an IP67 rating. That means you’ll be able to take either of them under up to 1 meter of water for about 30 minutes. The water resistance level isn’t as high on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus as it is on the Galaxy S7 and most other water-resistant phones, all of which support IP68 water and dust resistance. The difference is that you can submerge the Galaxy S7 in 5 meters of water versus 1 meter with the iPhone 7. But unless you literally swim with your phone, it’s really not a huge deal. Still, it’s a shame that Apple’s water resistance rating is lower.

We dunked both iPhones in a beer stein full of water to see if they’d pass the test, and they did with flying colors. Both were fully operational after several submersion tests. We even played music on the iPhone 7 Plus while it was underwater in the glass, and it pumped out sound like normal. If anything, the speakers sounded better with the amplification of the glass and water.

http://gtbensmag.com/2016/09/20/ios-10-review/

Apple should stop exploiting customers. Everything iOS does, Android can equallly do. HABA!

Apple has his its way of doing things. They have their targets as a company.