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Here's how to decide between the jet black iPhone 7 and the matte black one

Here's how to decide between the jet black iPhone 7 and the matte black one

This is the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 in matte black.

And this is the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus model in the same matte black color.

Brownlee liked the matte black a lot. "Something about the stealth look just speaks to me," he said.

The matte black is darker than the space gray iPhone 6 and 6s, but not quite as dark as the new jet black option.

In contrast, this is the iPhone 7 in jet black.

Close up, the polished look is really gorgeous.

The jet black iPhone 7 has a glossy mirror-like quality, which unfortunately means it can also smudge like a mirror. Expect this to be a fingerprint magnet, too.

It's also prone to scratches. Apple's website warns the jet black iPhone 7 is susceptible to "micro-abrasions over time," and Brownlee found one of the jet black iPhone 7 models in the demo room already had small scratches on it. That's a bummer.

All that said, I'm going to go with the matte black iPhone 7 Plus, shown here.

This one quote from Brownlee's video sealed the deal for me:

"I don't think I can seriously recommend [the jet black iPhone 7] to anyone. It looks good when you keep it clean, which is what they were doing [in Apple's demo room], but not only is it going to be the slipperiest iPhone of all time, but it's also going to be super-prone to fingerprints, like Samsung phones, and scratches."

The jury's out on whether or not the jet black iPhone 7 is actually more "slippery" than other iPhones, but to me, it's not worth the headache to be constantly worrying about fingerprints and/or scratches ruining the look of this phone. Sure, you could wear a case, but I think that ruins the point of buying a pretty-looking phone, I'm totally averse to phone cases in general.

So with that said, I'm going with the matte black: It's beautiful to look at, and it doesn't have the same fingerprint/scratching issues as the jet black model. But if smudges and tiny scratches don't matter to you, pull the trigger on the jet black iPhone 7. Otherwise, I think you'll be really happy with the matte black option.

I highly recommend watching Brownlee's entire video, but if you just want to see all the color options, skip ahead to the 0:57 mark. I also recommend watching this in full-screen so you can really get all the details.