As expected, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are essentially what we’ve been reading about for the past six months. They look like last year’s models, just with tweaked internals, an impressive new camera and a couple of new colour options in the form of “Jet Black” and “Black”.

Neither handset has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which really does suck despite Apple’s claims to the contrary about being “brave” for removing it. The workaround Apple has come up with is an adapter which will ship with all iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 units.

Apple says its sold a billion iPhones since 2007, which is impressive. The pace of adoption over the years has been frankly insane. But that party is drawing to an end. As we saw earlier this year, things, while still very respectable, are beginning to slow down.

Tim Cook glossed over dipping sales in 2016 but that’s to be expected. Apple’s main MO for the event was simply to show off how many brands it is now associated with – brands like Nike, Pokemon, Nintendo and, err… James Cordon.

Apple’s decision to move to a three-year hardware cycle has been met with a lot of resistance. Many feel the iPhone 6 design language the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are based on are tired and in need of a refresh. Whether you agree is entirely subjective. Personally, I don’t mind the way they look, though I definitely wouldn’t buy one of these right now as I am infinitely more interested in the Google Pixel XL – but that’s just me.

Apple knows what its users like and it knows how to give it to them. This is why it is the biggest tech brand in the world. The split in features between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, however, is only getting bigger. I mean, save for size, I cannot think of a good reason not to get the Plus over the standard model. Case in point: for the first time ever, shipments of the iPhone 7 Plus model have out-paced the standard iPhone 7 model.

This is significant because it not only shows a maturation inside Apple’s traditional user base, they’re warming to the idea of larger phones, but it also shines a light on just how important consumers see the cameras on their phones. Apple says the iPhone 7 Plus is the best camera it has ever created. Whether this is the case will be detailed later on.

We've already delivered our verdict on the standard iPhone 7, but for those who crave a big-screen experience, the 7 Plus is likely to be of more interest. We'll be covering the key differences between the two siblings in this review, but won't be going into as much detail on the elements which are common across both phones - you can refer to our iPhone 7 review for those points.

iPhone 7 Plus Review: Design & Display

The 7 Plus shares an almost identical design to the smaller model, with the only significant difference - aside from the dimensions - being the fact that it has a dual camera setup on the back, which we'll cover later in this review. In every other regard this is simply just a bigger iPhone 7, so we advise you to refer to that review for more information.

It goes without saying that the iPhone 7 Plus boasts a larger screen than the standard model. Its 5.5-inch backlit LED panel has a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, which is a jump from the 4.7-inch, 750 x 1334 pixel screen on the smaller model. A 1080p display on a phablet isn't all that impressive in 2016, and many smaller Android phones have sharper screens. However, as was the case with the standard iPhone 7, it's impossible to pick out individual pixels so it's not that much of a concern. The panel is brighter and better at replicating colours than the one seen on the iPhone 6S Plus, which should give existing iPhone fans reason to upgrade.

iPhone 7 Plus Review: Hardware Specifications

In terms of technical specifications, the 7 Plus is an exact match to the iPhone 7, aside from RAM - the larger model has 3GB while the smaller version has 2GB. To be honest, it's hard to notice any real difference in day-to-day use, although the additional gigabyte should ensure smoother performance on the 7 Plus in the long run.

The powerful A10 Fusion chipset is something of a beast, and we weren't able to make it stutter or stumble during the review period. It's that good.

iPhone 7 Plus Review: Camera

Aside from the screen, this is one of the key areas where the 7 Plus differs from the normal iPhone 7. It has the same 12 megapixel lens as its smaller stablemate, which boasts an aperture of f/1.8 and OIS, allowing for really effective low-light shooting. However, the 7 Plus is packing a second 12 megapixel, f/2.8 telephoto lens which gives x2 optical zoom and works in conjunction with the other camera to create some impressive depth-of-field effects.

When taking a photo, the phone uses the data from both lens to create a depth map and then applies a nifty "Bokeh" effect to blur out the background and bring the subject into sharper focus. While the effect is artificial to degree, it's convincing - and to achieve it via normal means you'd need an expensive DSLR camera with a wide aperture, so what Apple has achieved here is remarkable. The telephoto lens also allows for incredible macro shots, and once you've taken a few snaps with the 7 Plus, you'll wonder how you ever coped without it.

iPhone 7 Plus Review: Battery Life

There's a 2900 mAh battery inside the 7 Plus, which is a big jump from the 1960 mAh cell seen in the smaller model. Stamina could be something of a concern with the standard iPhone 7, but that's not the case with the Plus model - even by the end of the day, our review unit still had juice in the tank and we were able to push it a lot more in terms of playing games, watching movies and surfing the web.

iPhone 7 Plus Review: Conclusion

If you're not concerned with size, then the iPhone 7 Plus is arguably a much better choice than the standard model. It has a roomier screen, better camera setup, improved stamina and an extra gigabyte of RAM - all of which adds up to a superior phone. However, it's also more expensive and is larger than many other 5.5-inch Android phones thanks to those large bezels around the screen, so it's not an entirely perfect offering by any means.

Thanks to Mobile Fun for supplying the Apple iPhone 7 Plus used in this review.