[davidf18]

Hardware feature table mentions WiFi, but not the LTE modem and radio which is far more important as LTE has to deal with skyscrapers and buildings with stone and steel which conveniently block LTE signals, population density, and spectrum consumption has been dramatically increasing year to year. The unit has the Qualcomm X12 modem but that modem doesn't cover AWS-3 (Band 66) which is a very large swath of spectrum, making the phone already obsolete for dense markets (e.g., large cities).

So, it would be very helpful to see 1) signal improvement, 2) download speed improvement, 3) improvement in voice quality when listening, 4) improvement on voice quality when speaking including background cancellation.

For example, something I rarely saw in iPhone 6s(+) reviews was the addition of a 4th microphone for noise cancellation. I also rarely saw any talk of the H.265 compression (2 x H.264) for FaceTime Video over cell networks in the 6s.

Last Sat, I was in a Starbucks speaking with a friend who was in a different Starbucks. I was on the 7+ he on the 5S. I could hear annoying background noise, he could hear no background noise. These things are critically important, but it seems as if the reviewers are not using these units in real world situations.

I think this is because the people doing the reviews don't really have technical backgrounds. Otherwise, they'd be testing this issues.

EDIT: The modem specs (for Verizon/Sprint). AT&T, T-mobile use a lesser Intel Modem. https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/modems/x12

[davidf18]

No longer able to edit my comment:

Apparently iPhone 7(+) does not have the antennas for 4x4 MIMO / 256 QAM which the Samsung S7 does provide for. http://cellularinsights.com/samsung-galaxy-s7-the-first-4x4-...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12678124

LG V20 which should be shipping by end of Oct does support AWS-3 (Band 66) http://cellularinsights.com/lg-v20-the-first-aws-3-capable-s...

These issues are important to extend signal and to make better use of spectrum in areas with large buildings and high population density.

[mirsadm]

In addition, touch screen latency is something that never gets tested but is a huge factor in how the device feels to use. Some phones have terrible latency and its impossible to find out until you own the device.

[retromario]

Absolutely, it's actually incredible how little real-world information there is on latency. The last useful articles I can find are from 2-3 years ago!

Where is Microsoft's 1ms latency touch screen from 2012? https://www.engadget.com/2012/03/10/microsoft-cuts-touchscre...

[ak217]

Thank you! This is the kind of detail I would have expected from AnandTech. It's a bit disappointing that they'll use the great teardown work provided by iFixit and Chipworks but not capitalize on it by actually analyzing the guts of the phone.

[samfisher83]

They used to do deep dive the on chip architecture too. I guess now that anand is no longer there maybe their mission has changed.

[joshuaho96]

It's coming, but it's been moved out of the review to improve timeliness.

This was very nearly called part 1 of the iPhone 7 review.

[gxs]

Get off your high horse. They clearly said they are doing a deep dive review and that if you were after details like this you should wait for that review.

[davidf18]

> "Today’s review of the iPhone 7 is just that, a review of the phone. Meanwhile we’ll be publishing a deep dive article later this month on A10, Hurricane, A10’s GPU, wide color gamut photography, and the rest of those fine architectural details that we like to dig into."

He said the review is a review of the phone. That includes voice and signal quality. His hardware table doesn't even mention the LTE modem and radio while mentioning the WiFi standards.

[jpalomaki]

Or maybe they are not testing these kind of things, because proper testing of important aspects like signal reception and voice quality would require complicated test setups and expensive equipment.

[davidf18]

One could do a "subjective" review by carrying around both a iPhone 6s+ and 7+ on Verizon Network (best case conditions) in NYC or other city with skyscrapers and population density and comparing signal, making voice calls, checking download speeds, etc.

[antisthenes]

Thank you for bringing this to light. It's extremely frustrating when reviewers focus 90% of their attention on the easily available specs like screen resolution or whether it has the latest wi-fi spec (my landlines at home or work can't even saturate 2.4ghz 802.11n, let alone anything higher)

[pavelrub]

Hearing some background noise when taking to somebody in Starbucks isn't "critically important".

[davidf18]

It is indicative of more challenging situations where it can be a problem hearing people speaking because of background noise. For many, being heard clearly on the phone or hearing people on the phone without background noise is critically important.

[pavelrub]

Having the general ability to hear and be heard clearly on the phone is indeed critically important. Expecting it to be possible at all times and with zero background noise isn't, and nobody expects this from his/her phone. Nor am I sure what your Starbucks example is indicative of. All it tells us is that iPhone 7 has worse noise cancellation than iPhone 5s, not that iPhone 5s cancels all noise at all times. The existence of "challenging situations where it can be a problem hearing people speaking because of background noise" exists for both phones. Even if the threshold is lower for the iPhone 7, it is unclear how this difference is "critically important".

[davidf18]

The iPhone 7(+) has better noise cancellation that the 5S, not the other way around. As noted in the original post, a 4th microphone was added to the 6S to assist with noise cancellation. There may have been improvements in the 7(+) over the 6S, but nobody has done the review to tell us, which is my point.

For some people being heard when there is background noise is not so important. For most, it is critically important for critically important calls which happen from time to time.

[pavelrub]

Sorry about the 7 - 5S confusion. However you still haven't provided any arguments for why the difference in noise cancellation between 5S and 7 is "critically important". The scenario where it is "critically important" is so contrived that we might as well call everything "critically important", including the color of the iPhone. It's ok to say that noise cancellation is a nice feature to have, but calling it "critically important" is a huge exaggeration.