Friends+Design
- Exquisite design and materials, in-line with the price of the phone - the iPhone X is a piece of desire
- And of course, there is no home button, just a stunning 5.8-inch screen that hugs the edge, reaching for the silver band that’s just millimeters away - the iPhone X is a looker
- The steel construction is of a gorgeous surgical steel, up to the highest standards of industrial design
- Measured diagonally, the iPhone X screen is the largest on any iPhone ever made, yet the device fits comfortably in your hand - thanks to the bezel-less display
- The back of the iPhone X is protected by ultra-hard glass (the same Corning custom blend that backs the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus) with a smudge-resistant oleophobic coating on the outside - touching the smooth glass exterior and looking at the steel-and-copper-plate frame underneath, the iPhone X feels like a beautiful contradiction
- The metal rim can scuff without a case
Display
- The display itself is simply gorgeous - in addition to being Apple’s first OLED display on a phone — the 5.8-inch screen is the highest-resolution smartphone display Apple has ever made - the 2436 x 1125 resolution screen has a whopping 458 pixels per inch - the iPhone X display also supports HDR (High Dynamic Range), which means you see a greater contrast range and more colors than on non-HDR screens - this is simply the best iPhone display ever - you have never seen such bright, touchable colors or inky blacks on an iPhone handset, nor have you ever seen an iPhone screen hug the virtually bezel-less edge and corners of a device the way the iPhone X does
Software
- One of the first results of that is a highly effective iPhone X unlocking routine, based on FaceID - unlike pressing and holding the home button, accessing the iPhone X feels like a single gesture - it is also super accurate and extremely difficult to fool
- The other function of the home button - to get you to the iPhone home screen - is replaced by system-wide intuitive gestures - they will take a couple of days to get used to - but once you do, they are pretty seamless
- Apple Pay and Siri also now live under the now substantially longer sleep/lock button - it takes a double press to access Apple Pay - pressing and holding down the side button activates Siri
- With the new home-button-less interface, you will need to learn a new gesture based approach to navigation (although, in fairness, it is pretty intuitive, and shouldn't take more than a couple of days to learn)
Performance
- The Apple iPhone X runs the exact same CPU as the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus - the A11 Bionic chip is super powerful and impressive with killer benchmark scores and significant, built-in AI power - expectedly, it runs silky smooth, and responsive, whatever you throw at it
Camera
- Like the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X has a dual-camera system (one wide-angle lens and one 2x telephoto) on the rear camera (though it is interestingly turned 90 degrees to align with the long edge of the device, adding to the iPhone X's distinctive looks)
- Among the current top crop of flagship phones - the Galaxy Note 8, the Pixel 2, and the iPhone X - it's a close contest for the best camera, but they are all really really good
- Video recording performance is top-notch too, with excellent stabilisation
- Low-light photography is excellent too - and again comparable to other top cameras like the Galaxy Note 8
- On the whole, the camera performance is a little bit better than the already amazing iPhone 8 Plus camera, especially in low light - and comparable even to professional stand-alone cameras
- The front camera takes things up another notch with "TrueDepth" - the same technology that helps with FaceID - unlocking some fascinating and often entertaining use cases
- Firstly, the 7-megapixel camera is now a Selfie Portrait Mode camera - relying on TrueDepth to create the bokeh effect, even with a single front camera - given the right light, the results are truly impressive
- The TrueDepth camera is also responsible for animojis - another of Apple's innovations - adorable animated heads that can move in sync with your mouth, head and facial expressions - Animojis tracked virtually every head turn, nod, wink, smile, eyebrow raise, and furrowed brow - and integrate seamlessly with iMessage
- The TrueDepth camera will also take third-party apps to new places - Snapchat for instance is already developing new 3D skins that take advantage of the TrueDepth camera
Audio
- Very good call quality
- Best in class speakers
Battery
- Very good battery life - comparable to the excellent iPhone 8 Plus - should comfortably last the day even with heavy use
- Also supports wireless charging and works with any Qi-compatible charging base
- Fast charging is supported too
- Fast charging is supported but you will need to buy new accessories for that
More
- On the whole, while there are similarities between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 Plus, but the way the iPhone X looks, feels and, most importantly, works, puts it on a different plane
- The iPhone X changes everything - and takes you on a trip that is as refreshing as perhaps the very first iPhone was
- All considered, this is right now the best smartphone (a lot of) money can buy - and if you find yourself on your phone more than you do on your computer, constantly staring down at it, then it might make sense to get the best one out there
- You can of course opt for the significantly cheaper iPhone 8/Plus, but you'll lose the design and the screen on the iPhone X, which make for an experience in themselves
- While, mostly, new phones are iterative upgrades to last year’s model, this, the iPhone X, feels like the future - this is the closest to smartphone perfection Apple has ever got
