Here is a side-to-side comparison between the yesteryear’s iPhone 7 Plus and the recently unveiled iPhone 8 Plus.
Following months of leaks and rumors, Apple recently unveiled its latest iPhone lineup for this year. This year’s Keynote event has in fact re-written the history of iPhone launch as Apple unveiled not just two but three new iPhones at the event. Although two of these – iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – are only an incremental upgrade over their previous generation counterparts, the 10th Anniversary edition device – iPhone X – indeed stole the show with its brand new all-screen design.
The new iPhones are, of course, faster than the previous generation iPhones. But more importantly, they have managed to blow their Android rivals out of the water in a recent GeekBench test. Yes, we are indeed talking about the most powerful Android handsets out there, including the Galaxy S8 and OnePlus 5. They have failed miserably in front of the powerful A11 chipset that’s powering the latest iPhones.
According to a GeekBench test put forward by peeps at Tom’s Guide, the iPhone 8 manages to score a whopping 10,472 points against the 6,564 points scored by the Galaxy Note 8. The test further goes on to tell us that the former is even more powerful than some laptops including the MacBook Pro 13-inch and Dell XPS 13. Long story short, Apple has managed to put forward a mobile performance powerhouse in the form of the latest iPhones.
To give you a better perspective on how these figures actually translate to real-world performance, Tom’s Guide notes, ” To really put the A11 Bionic chip through its paces, we put the same 2-minute video, shot in 4K by a drone, on the iPhone 8, Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8+, and then added the same transitions and effects before exporting and saving the video. The iPhone 8 finished this strenuous task in just 42 seconds, while the Note 8 took more than 3 minutes. The Galaxy S8+ took more than 4 minutes.”
While the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are both fantastic devices, they have failed to catch as much attention as the iPhone X from both fans and media alike thanks to Apple for not ditching the three-year-old design. However, if you don’t wish to spend an arm and a leg on your next smartphone, then either the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus is your only sensible choice. Speaking of, the iPhone X will release in the US markets come November for a whopping price of $1000.
And like every year, the price of older iPhones including the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have reduced substantially following the launch of the three new iPhones. Most online e-tailers have slashed about $100 off on the original price of the iPhone 7 Plus which, needless to say, is now a steal for the price.
Now, if you already own an iPhone 7 Plus and are confused whether or not to upgrade to the latest iPhone 8 Plus, then here are a few key differences between the two phablets that you need to now.
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Design
If you place an iPhone 7 Plus and an iPhone 8 Plus side by side on a table, you wouldn’t notice any huge difference between the two handsets, believe it or not! In fact, you might even end up confused as to identify which one of them is what. Even though the new iPhone 8 Plus looks like a mirror image of its predecessor, the handset has its own variations, although petite. It’s worth noting that they differ slightly in dimensions and the iPhone 8 Plus is a tad heavier than the iPhone 7 Plus thanks to the new glass rear.
- iPhone 7 Plus: 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5 mm, 202g
- iPhone 8 Plus: 158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm, 188g
As I’ve mentioned before, the new iPhone 8 Plus has a glass rear so as to facilitate the fast charging technology. However, as unfortunate as it seems, the new iPhones don’t come with a fast charge-supporting power brick out of the box, instead, you’ll have to buy them separately in case you fancy the new charging technology. And that’s a bummer if you ask me!
The good stuff remains as well, the IP67 water and dust certification, and stiff Series 7000 Aluminium internal frame.
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Performance
Although there haven’t been any noticeable upgrades in terms of design, the new phablet is a powerhouse when it comes to performance. It has managed to beat almost every powerful Android smartphone in the market by a huge mark in several benchmarking tests and it could be said, without a speck of doubt, that the iPhone 8 Plus is faster than the iPhone 7 Plus.
Let’s get this out of the way: the iPhone 8 Plus houses Apple’s latest A11 chipset and has 3 gigs of RAM on board. Apple’s new 10nm chipset has six cores packed inside — 2 high-power Monsoon cores and 4 low-power Mistral cores. The iPhone 7 Plus, on the other hand, houses an A10 chipset — a 16nm chipset featuring four cores — two high-performance Hurricane cores and two energy-efficient Zephyr cores.
Early Geekbench tests have revealed that not only does the new A11 chipset outperform the older A10 chipset, but it also manages to beat the recently unveiled A10X Fusion chipset found in the new iPad Pro models. What’s more enticing is that the A11 has also managed to beat some laptops including the MacBook Air 13-inch and Dell XPS 13.
Apple, at the Keynote event, revealed that the high-performance cores on the new A11 chipset are 25% faster than those of the A10 chip. The Cupertino giant also noted that the four energy-efficient cores on the A11 are 70% faster than the Zephyr cores of A10.
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Is lower battery on the new iPhone a bummer?
Make no mistake: The addition of a lower capacity battery on the new iPhone doesn’t mean it has a lower battery life than the iPhone 7 Plus. The battery life on the iPhone 8 Plus is as good as that of its forerunner, if not better!
In case you didn’t know, the iPhone 8 Plus features a relatively lower 2691 mAh battery when compared to the 2900 mAh battery on the iPhone 7 Plus. But, thanks to the addition of highly power-efficient A11 chipset, the 2691 mAh battery is good enough to provide juice for the iPhone 8 Plus for as long as a day even with extremely power-demanding games and apps.
Also, the iPhone 8 Plus supports fast-charging feature that lets you charge the device from 0 – 50 percent in just 30 minutes, which is pretty amazing. The wireless charging is also an interesting add-on if you ask me!
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Same old camera, but with new tricks
The camera specs of the iPhone 8 Plus may not sound enticing on paper as it pretty much is the same as the iPhone 7 Plus. The new camera setup has retained the same camera config as before: one wide-angle lens with f/1.8 aperture and one telephoto lens with f/2.8 aperture. And yet, the iPhone 8 Plus clicks better-looking pictures than last year’s iPhone. Now, how is that possible?
Apple, this time, has incorporated a larger and faster sensor in the iPhone 8 to enhance the low-light photography. It has also added a new color filter on the new image sensors for more saturated colors deeper pixels. Further, the portrait mode has seen an incremental update and now take photos with better bokeh effects.
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Specs recap
iPhone 8 Plus
- Display: 5.5-inch IPS LCD, 1080 x 1920 pixels
- Processor: Hexa-core A11 Bionic
- RAM: 3GB
- Storage: 64/256GB
- Front camera: 7MP, f/2.2
- Rear camera: dual-12MP
- Battery: 2691 mAh
- Other features: TouchID, NFC, fast charging, wireless charging, IP67 water and dust resistance
- Color variants: Silver, Space Gray, and Gold
iPhone 7 Plus
- Display: 5.5-inch IPS LCD, 1080 x 1920 pixels
- Processor: quad-core A10
- RAM: 3GB
- Storage: 32/128/256GB
- Front Camera: 7MP, f/2.2
- Rear camera: dual-12MP
- Battery: 2900 mAh
- Other features: TouchID, NFC, IP67 water and dust resistance
- Color Variants: Silver, Jet Black, Black, Silver, Gold, Rose Gold and Red
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Should You Upgrade?
If you already own an iPhone 7 Plus, it wouldn’t be a wise choice to ditch it in favor the iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone 8 Plus is only a small upgrade over its predecessor, and you wouldn’t find any remarkable improvements both in terms of design and performance. So I would suggest you better stick with your current device rather than betting money on a new device that is pretty much the same as its older counterpart.
However, if you’re willing to disburse $1000 on your next smartphone, then I would recommend buying the iPhone X which is a rather new beast. It comes with a new radical design, and a plethora of new features including the FaceID (minus TouchID), and Animoji.
iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 8 Plus: Pricing
BEST iPhone 7 Plus deals in the US
- 32GB, Unlocked – $729 on Amazon
- 128GB, Unlocked – $824 on Amazon
- 256GB, Unlocked – $833 on Amazon
- 32GB – $22.34 per mo for 30 months on AT&T
BEST iPhone 8 Plus deals in the US
- 64GB – $33.33 per mo for 24 months on Verizon
- 64GB – $26.67 per mo for 30 months on AT&T
- 64GB – $29.17 per mo for 24 months on T-Mobile
- 64GB – $33.34 per mo for 18 months on Sprint
While you’re here, make sure to check out “Why iPhone X is expensive” video by our Contributing Editor, Tom Hitchins.
