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iPhone 7 battery charging is so much slower than rivals (but at least it won’t explode)

Published Oct 12th, 2016 2:53PM EDT
iPhone 7 Battery
Image: Jonathan Geller, BGR

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One hesitates to call the iPhone 7 a surprise success but in many ways that’s exactly what it is. While there was never any doubt that Apple’s next-gen smartphone would move millions of units, the narrative that the iPhone 7 was going to be an exceedingly boring device was so pervasive that many were quick to dismiss it as nothing more than a stop-gap measure before Apple introduced the radically redesigned iPhone 8.

In reality, the iPhone 7 has proven to be far more successful than most anticipated. Bolstered by an improved display, blazing fast hardware, and more, customers flocked to the iPhone 7 in droves. What’s more, the iPhone 7 finally delivered long-awaited, if not long-overdue, improvements to overall battery life.

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Recently, AnandTech’s in-depth technical review of Apple’s iPhone 7 models confirmed that the devices are some of the fastest smartphones on the market. Not mincing words, the review said that the iPhone 7’s “hardware is unparalleled and a cut above anything else in the industry.”

All of that praise aside, there is one area where the iPhone 7 woefully lags behind the competition — battery charging time. We didn’t get a chance to touch on this earlier, but AnandTech’s iPhone 7 review put Apple’s new devices to the test and found that when it comes to charging the battery, the iPhone has a long ways to go.

iphone-7-charging-time

As you can tell from the chart above, Apple’s iPhone 7 models lag way behind devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7, the Note 7 (RIP), and even last year’s iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 Plus in particular takes a little over 3 hours to reach a 100% charge. Meanwhile, Samsung’s flagship S7 needs only about an hour and a half.

We’ve heard rumors of Apple incorporating fast-charging technology into the iPhone for quite some time now. The chart above simply underscores how helpful such a feature would be.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.