iPhone 16 Plus review: Apple’s battery beast | iPhone

Apple’s iPhone The 16 Plus adds two things to the regular iPhone: a larger screen and longer battery life.

The new plus-size model has the exact same specs, camera and extra buttons as the vanilla 16, and offers a larger screen apple The most expensive one, the 16 Pro Max, comes with a large 6.9-inch display, allowing you to enjoy the phone experience without breaking your budget.

Instead, it’s priced from £899 (€1,099 / $899 / AU$1,599), putting it right in the middle of the £799 range iphone 16 and £999 iPhone 16 Pro Model.

The 16 Plus has the same bright, crisp 6.7-inch display as its predecessor and sticks to a slower 60Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling through Apple’s Pro iPhones and rivals less smooth. Still, it looks good for watching movies and TV shows while commuting.

It’s an aluminum and glass sandwich with cameras rearranged on the back, reminiscent of iPhone 12. While the Plus weighs 199 grams, which is quite light for a large phone, it still requires both hands to use it most of the time. a case or cell phone grip Might be wise.

The two new buttons are in line with other 16-series iPhones this year. The action button replaces the silent switch on previous models and can be used to open apps, perform actions, turn on the flashlight, or activate focus or silent mode. The camera control button quickly opens the camera, then you can adjust settings like zoom or depth and snap a photo with one finger.

it runs iOS 18 Out of the box, it currently lacks Apple’s much-touted artificial intelligence capabilities. They won’t be available until beta iOS 18.1 update The waiting time in the United States is the end of October, the UK, Australia and other non-US English-speaking countries have waiting times in December, and the rest of Europe has longer wait times.

Specification

• screen: 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR (OLED) (460ppi)

• processor: Apple A18

• Memory: 8GB

• Storage: 128, 256 or 512GB

• operating system: iOS 18

• camera: 48MP main + 12MP UW; 12MP front

• Connectivity: 5G, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Thread, USB-C, satellite, UWB and GNSS

• Water resistance: IP68 (6 meters 30 minutes)

• aspect: 160.9×77.8×7.8mm

• weight: 199 grams

Faster A18 chip and long battery life

Powered by the same new A18 chip as its smaller sibling, the 16 Plus performs similarly, feels noticeably faster than its predecessor, has plenty of headroom to stay fast for long periods of time, and requires 8GB of RAM and an AI processor to Support for upcoming Apple Intelligence features.

Improved power efficiency also contributes to the 16 Plus’ long battery life, which can last for nearly 72 hours per charge, including a mix of 5G and WiFi use, and 9 hours of active screen use. That means charging every three days, which is about one day longer than the regular iPhone 16.

Sustainable development

Apple says battery Should last over 1,000 full charge cycles Has at least 80% of its original capacity and can Replacement is £95. Out of warranty Screen repair costs £349. 16 Plus offers repair guides and wins awards Repairability is 7 out of 10 Provided by experts iFixit.

It contains more than 30% recycled materials, including aluminum, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, plastics, rare earth elements, steel, tin and tungsten. The company broke down The impact of mobile phones on the environment in its report. Apple offers trade-in and free recycling programs, including for non-Apple products.

better camera

The dual-lens system on the back is the same as the previous generation Regular iPhone 16. Its 48MP main camera and 12MP ultrawide camera are faster than the previous model, which makes a difference in sports and low-light situations.

The main camera captures beautiful images, and the new macro photography mode is really fun on the ultra-wide camera. The Photography Style feature adjusts the colors, tones, and palette of your photos to adjust their appearance while you’re taking it or afterward. If you don’t like the look of Apple’s default photos, you can get creative with your own settings.

The camera can also take photos and videos of the space for viewing on the headset For example Vision Proand has the impressive 16 Pro video and audio mixing capabilities.

Overall, the 16 Plus has a decent camera, but the lack of a long zoom camera is disappointing, especially at this size and price.

price

The iPhone 16 Plus is priced at £899 (€1,099/$899/AUD 1,599) has 128GB of storage space.

For comparison, the iphone 16 cost £799, iPhone 16 Pro cost £999iPhone 16 Pro Max cost £1,199this Google Pixel 9 Pro XL cost £1,099Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus cost £999 and Fairphone 5 cost £499.

judgment

The iPhone 16 Plus occupies an odd spot in Apple’s 2024 smartphone lineup. It has the same features and hardware as the cheaper, smaller iPhone 16, which means it lacks the zoom camera, more advanced screen and other features of the company’s Pro iPhones.

While the 6.7-inch display is quite large, it’s no longer the largest screen on an iPhone, as the 16 Pro Max has a bigger, better display, for which you’ll pay a hefty premium. Conversely, the Plus’s battery life is very long, typically lasting three days on a charge, and even longer than the most days of use.

So the 16 Plus is for people who want a bigger but not the best screen or who need really long battery life. The trade-off is that it’s £100 more expensive than the already great regular iPhone 16, is difficult to use with one hand, and is a bit bulky in your pocket.

advantage: Fast, good dual camera with macro mode, big screen, action buttons, camera controls, photography styles, USB-C, long battery life, long-term software support, Face ID.

shortcoming: There’s no telephoto lens, the screen is slower than competitors and Pro iPhones, there’s no always-on display mode, and it requires two hands to use most of the time.