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Apple’s iPhone 16 Plus takes the regular iPhone and adds two things: a much larger screen and even longer battery life.
The new full-size model has exactly the same specs, camera and multiple extra buttons as the vanilla 16, offering the big-screen Apple phone experience without spending a lot of money on the more expensive 16 Pro Max with its huge 6.9 screen. inches.
Instead, at £899 (€1,099 / $899 / A$1,599), it sits right between the £799 iPhone 16 and £999 iPhone 16 Pro models.
The 16 Plus has a bright, sharp 6.7-inch display, just like its predecessor, and maintains the slower 60Hz refresh rate, making it less fluid when scrolling through Apple’s iPhone Pros and their rivals. However, it still looks good for movies and TV shows while traveling.
It’s an aluminum and glass sandwich with realigned cameras on the back reminiscent of the iPhone 12. While the Plus is fairly light for a large phone at 199g, it will still require two-handed use most of the time. A phone case or grip might be advisable.
The two new buttons match the other 16 series iPhones this year. The action button replaces the mute switch on previous models and can be used to open apps, perform actions, turn on the flashlight, or activate focus or silent modes. The camera control button quickly opens the camera and you can then adjust settings like zoom or depth and take photos, all with one finger.
It runs iOS 18 out of the box, which currently lacks Apple’s much-hyped AI features. They will not be available in beta until iOS 18.1 update in late October in the US and in December for the UK, Australia and other English-speaking countries outside the US, while the rest of Europe has a longer wait.
Budget
Screen: 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR (OLED) (460 ppi)
Processor: Apple A18
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128, 256 or 512 GB
Operating system: iOS 18
Camera: 48MP main + 12MP Ultra; 12MP front
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Thread, USB-C, Satellite, UWB and GNSS
Water resistance: IP68 (6 meters for 30 minutes)
Dimensions: 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8mm
Weight: 199g
Fastest A18 chip with epic battery life
The 16 Plus has the same new A18 chip as its smaller brother and performs similarly, running significantly snappier than its predecessors, with room to stay fast for a long time and the prerequisites of 8GB of RAM and AI processor. to support the imminent Apple Intelligence. characteristics.
The increased power efficiency also helps the 16 Plus have tremendous battery life, lasting nearly 72 hours of general use between charges, including a combination of 5G and Wi-Fi while actively using the screen for nine hours. That means charging it every three days, which is about a day more than the regular iPhone 16. Even with heavy use exclusively on 5G and with a lot of mapping, the 16 Plus lasted up to two days.
Sustainability
Apple says the battery should last over 1000 full charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity and can be replaced for £95. Out of warranty screen repairs cost £349. The 16 Plus has repair guides available and was awarded seven out of 10 in repairability by iFixit specialists.
Contains more than 30% recycled material, including aluminum, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, plastic, rare earths, steel, tin and tungsten. The company breaks down the phone’s environmental impact in its report. Apple offers free exchange and recycling programs, even for non-Apple products.
best camera
The dual camera system on the back is the same as the regular iPhone 16. It has faster versions of its 48MP main and 12MP ultrawide cameras compared to previous models, which make a difference with motion and in low-light environments.
The main camera takes great images, while the new macro photography mode is a lot of fun on the ultra-wide camera. The Photo Styles feature adjusts the color, tone, and palette of photos to change how they look, either while you take them or after the fact. If you don’t like Apple’s default look for photos, you can get very creative with your own settings.
The camera can also take spatial photos and videos for viewing on headphones like the Vision Pro, and it has the impressive audio-to-video mixing feature of the 16 Pro.
Overall, the 16 Plus has a good camera, but the lack of an extended zoom camera is disappointing, particularly at this size and price.
Price
The iPhone 16 Plus costs from £899 (€1,099/$899/A$1,599) with 128GB of storage.
For comparison, the iPhone 16 costs £799, the iPhone 16 Pro costs £999, the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £1,199, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL costs £1,099the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus costs £999 and the Fairphone 5 costs £499.
Verdict
The iPhone 16 Plus occupies a strange place in Apple’s 2024 smartphone lineup. It’s identical in capability and hardware to the smaller, cheaper iPhone 16, meaning it lacks the zoom camera, more advanced display, and other capabilities of the company’s Pro iPhones.
While the 6.7-inch screen is sizeable, it’s no longer the largest screen on an iPhone, as the 16 Pro Max has an even bigger and better screen, for which you pay a hefty premium. Instead, the Plus has tremendous battery life that should see general use up to three days between charges and outlast days of heavier use.
So the 16 Plus is for those who want a bigger but not the best screen or need really long battery life. The downside is that it costs £100 more than the already excellent regular iPhone 16, is difficult to use one-handed, and is a bit bulky in your pocket.
Advantages: fast, good dual camera with macro mode, large screen, action button, camera control button, photo styles, USB-C, very long battery life, long software support, Face ID.
Cons: no telephoto camera, slower screen than the competition and iPhone Pros, no always-on display mode, you need two hands to use it most of the time.