iPhone X — Full review
Hey, after 1 month using the iPhone X I am here to do the full review of the Apple’s new device.
On the history of Apple, this new iPhone is iconic. After 10 years since the first one, we finally have a device that feels like a ‘new iPhone’. We can all have different opinions but to be honest, this is in my opinion, the best smartphone ever.
This review is not to discuss if this phone is better than the Galaxy S8 or Google Pixel 2, also it’s not to discuss the HUGE price of this phone and I will not talk about the tech specifications. I’m here to talk about my experience using this phone and what I love and what I hate on this phone.
Hardware & Feel
Holding the phone now feels great. The size is perfect now, it’s not a small phone but is not a ‘phablet’ too. I’ve used the iPhone 6 Plus and when I bought the iPhone 7 I’ve opted to buy the normal version instead of the plus because I think that the plus is too big to my ‘girly’ hands. Now, with the new iPhone, I think that I have the best size. It’s a little bigger than the ‘normal’ size and not so big as the Plus version. Further, now we have a bigger screen that feels bigger than it actually is.
Glass
This new phone (like the iPhone 8) is all glass. Apple says that this is the most resistant glass in a smartphone (and maybe it is) and I love the design of this device (it’s so shiny) but I’ve seen this ‘film’ on the iPhone 7 Jet black and we all know that if you don’t use a case probably you’ll have a million scratches and this is probably the most breakable iPhone ever thanks to having glass on the back.
Camera bump
The only issue that I have is the camera bump on the back but now I am kind of used to. I don’t think that this is horrible but it’s a little irritant when I have the phone at my table.
The Screen
Finally, Apple. The OLED display is obviously the best in the market. And now, we have it. Honestly, when I started using my iPhone I didn’t realise that the screen had changed too much but over time I’ve noticed a significant difference.
The colours are better. The contrast is better too. And yes, the black is really black.
This is the perfect phone to have the real ‘black’. When we are in a dark app or using a black wallpaper the ‘Notch’ just disappears. It’s magic.
Well done, Samsung 😉
Truetone
On this new phone, Apple has introduced a new feature called ‘True tone’. This feature adapts the iPhone display based on ambient lighting conditions to make colours appear consistent in different environments.
I have to tell you: I don’t like it.
I do not know why but when I tested it seemed fake to me.
The notch!
This was the most controversial theme of this new device. When you want to shrink the bezels to have a modern phone you need to have all the sensors, cameras, micros (and others) somewhere. And Apple instead of reserve all the top bar to have this content has decided to just have a little notch at the top of the screen. You can think that this is horrible and hate it but honestly, I just don’t notice it. When you are using the phone you forget that you have this notch at the top. So, for me, the people that hate the notch are the people that don’t have the iPhone X. The people that have one says: I don’t care. I don’t notice it anymore.
Status bar
And this what I don’t like the most. For me, the notch is fine where it is. But the status bar is not good. The status bar of the other iPhones are perfect. It’s clean but informative at the same time. And now, to see almost all the status we need to open the control centre.
Also, the design doesn’t look good! In terms of interaction it’s horrible. So you can understand what I am saying, on the left we have the hours and the location icon and on the right, we have the network icon, the 4G and the battery icon too. When we push the control centre, the network icon appears on the left with the network’s name and the 4G. And on the right, we have the location icon, the Bluetooth and the battery icon next to the battery percentage.
*you can check the icon below to see what I’m saying.
Whatching videos
Yeah, I need to admit that this really kind of awkward cause the notch will cover the video. But yeah, if you can avoid it and just double tap on the screen and you’ll see the bezels again (and you are back to the iPhone 8).
Camera
The iPhone X camera is really good. I don’t have a professional camera because I am not addicted to taking pictures so I usually take pictures with my phone. And yeah, this camera works very well, especially with a lot of light and filming. In low light, the camera is not really bad but the Pixel 2 camera is absolutely better. In terms of colours, for me, the iPhone camera is better than the other smartphones. The colours are not so saturated has the other phones and it’s more easy to edit the photos.
Portrait
Also, the portrait mode generally works well but we need to have a lot of light. Otherwise, the camera doesn’t recognise your face and the blur doesn’t work well.
Front camera
To be honest I don’t use the front face camera. But I’ve tested it. Really bad experience. The quality of the camera is not good and the portrait mode… well … doesn’t work.
Videos
Fantastic! The videos on iPhone X are really good. With the optical Stabilization, for me, the new iPhone has the best video camera on any smartphone.
Face ID
I have to be honest. It’s better than I was expecting. This thing works really well. In one month if Face ID has failed me, it was 1 or 2 times and when I wake up because when I wake up I can’t open both eyes haha.
In fact, I think that I prefer this instead of touch ID. This is fast, works well and almost never fails. So, haters, please stop.
In this case, well done Apple. Nothing to complain.
Interactions/iOS
This ‘futurist’ Apple device, unlike previous ones, has some big fundamental changes to the way you use the phone. At the beginning it can be a huge change but after some hours you’ll think that all the interactions are easy to learn.
No home button
As I said, we don’t have the bezels. So, to do that, Apple has removed the home button. Now to go back to the home screen you just have to slide up instead of clicking on the home button. Sounds weird but actually it’s a better way to go back. After using the iPhone one or two hours I noticed that it is much more intuitive than clicking in a button.
Control center
On the previous iPhones, to open the notifications screen you slide up. Since now, the slide up is the interaction to back to the home screen, to open the control centre you need to slide down on the top-right. Yeah, top right. If you slide down on the centre or left you’ll open the notifications screen. It’s kind of awkward but works well. Two or Three hours are sufficient to be intuitive.
Multi-tasks
Instead of double click on the ‘old’ home button, to open the multi tasks you need to slide up and hold and here it is. To close the apps you can’t just slide up. You need to tap and hold any app and then slide up or click on the top left cross. It’s easier than you think actually.
And yeah, animojis
Obviously, that is not a key feature to pay $1.000 (€1.200 here in Portugal) for a smartphone but it is a funny and very cool feature. You will not use this more than a few times just for fun but the face tracking is unbelievable.
Final conclusions
I am really happy with this smartphone. Finally, Apple launched a really different phone that feels ‘fresh’ and modern.
If you ask me if this phone should cost $1.000, I’ll say ‘No’. But if you ask me if you should buy it you’ll be disappointed my answer is ‘No!’. It’s a really nice phone that has cool features, a fresh and intuitive system and feels so premium.
I will definitely keep you posted on how things are going.
Have a great week,
Filipe.
