My nine months later update-
The most noticeable improvements are the portrait mode in the camera which is no more in beta, has better edge detection and improvements in low light images, can take portraits with the flash, and the speakers that have more bass. The portrait lighting features don't work well yet and need time before they come out of beta. Even after coming out of beta, they will continue being "meh".
The general performance is as expected with fast opening apps, but lag and stutters are becoming far more persistent each time Apple releases a new version. They don't affect the usability of the phone in any manner, but people buy iPhones because they are known to be free from such issues. Even with iOS 11.0.2 as on Oct 8th, 2017, micro stutters, lag in 3D touch, app crashes, blanking of home screens is being seen. The screen has truetone built in, which does nothing much other than giving the screen a warmer tint in varying degrees depending on the ambient light the user is in. Battery life, however, has been consistent with 6-7 hours of constant usage. Wireless charging is a novelty which is in dire need of speed improvement. Currently, it seems more like a compromise than a feature, with it being even slower than wired charging. Apple will enable fast charging with a software update in early 2018.
It is iOS that makes the iPhone an iPhone. The integration with MacOS, features like handoff, continuity, universal copy paste, AirDrop make it stand out from its competitors. The stability and fluidity, when the bugs are sorted, timely updates to the OS, iMessage, FaceTime, camera consistency, video stability, 4K at 60fps, 1080p at 240fps, etc are unique and well-performing services. That being said, there is no reason to not consider the competition.
For people who are using the 7 Plus, you are not missing out on ANYTHING. The camera improvements are minimal and not enough to justify spending money on this. Wireless charging is not a life-changing feature. At least not yet. Till the time phones are able to charge from a distance or not require charging in weeks, I don't see how wireless charging is any improvement in the user experience. Plugging in the cord takes 2 extra seconds of your time. That's it. You are going to get wireless charging in all future iPhones, so you must use your current iPhones till they perform reasonably well and not upgrade for this reason alone. We should change the mentality of upgrading every year. That is not worth it, even if you have all the money in the world. Improvements are always incremental.
iPhone 6 or 6 plus owners can upgrade, people switching from Android, or first-time smartphone buyers may consider buying this. Rest everyone else should hold off till the iPhone X or next year's models.
9 months later update:
• Now on iOS 11.4- Most of the bugs have been smoothed out, with 3D Touch lag and frame rate skips eliminated. However, there have been a couple of random reboots in a week with the screen suddenly going blank and the phone restarting. Hope this gets sorted in the next update. Such behaviour is atypical of iPhones. After 9 months, no more random reboots after the few I experienced on iOS 11.2 and earlier versions.
• Battery life has been consistent and exceptional for me giving close to 8 hours of constant use without needing a recharge. Heavy gaming or camera usage will bring down the usage times by half, though.
• Standby times are, as always, excellent with the battery dropping only 2-3% for every 5-6 hours of standby.
• The portrait mode has not seen any drastic changes or improvement. Portrait Lighting still remains inconsistent. Even after 9 months, portrait mode hasn’t seen any improvement.
• Wireless charging is still very slow despite iOS 11.2 bringing in an extra 2.5 watt of current increase through wireless pads. It still takes ages to charge wirelessly.
Other subtle things-
• The glass on the back in the gold colour is very good at hiding finger smudges. Taking it out of a case after prolonged use makes one realise how soft to touch the glass feels. It’s a nice feeling and a welcome change from the aluminium phones of previous years.
• The High-Efficiency Video Coding format used by Apple this time reduces the file size of photos and videos being shot. They take up much less space and makes living with the 64GB variant much easier. Not that I ever found the storage inadequate in the first place.
• The Taptic motor on this phone is hands-down the best in the business. Subtle systemwide haptic feedbacks like the gentle tap when an app reload completes are a nice touch and make the phone feel alive and more immersive to use.
Closing thoughts- My experience has been very pleasing and satisfactory. I hadn’t posted a four star rating earlier in January 2018, but I have changed it to 5 stars as all issues have been sorted by software updates. Software-wise, the performance has been incredible. The hardware has held up really well. I’ve used this without a case for many days at a stretch and no scratches are visible on the Gold model. Other colours may show different results.
This phone will serve me a good 3-4 years before I need to upgrade. Consistent software updates, excellent hardware both inside and out, for me personally, the best camera on any smartphone yet (the pixel 2 is very good but not as consistent as this and it has more digital noise in its images), leave it as the best phone on the market right now.
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