Methods for combining phase data from array RF coils are quantitatively compared at 7 T. Of the reference-free approaches (which all leave arbitrary contributions to the total phase), the Virtual Reference Coil method yielded the best phase matching. The reference-free method COMPOSER removed non-B0-related phase but requires an artifact-free short echo-time reference measurement. Of the multi-echo methods, SVD, HIP and ASPIRE all had uniform phase matching. ASPIRE has higher CNR for a narrow range of echo times, but requires TE2=2 x TE1. The data and assessment scripts used in this study will be made publicly available.
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