First impressions of the iPhone X
I don’t usually write about devices these days. There was a time when each new device dazzled us and changed our lives, but there are so many now that I only bother when something really exceptional appears on the market. That said, the world doesn’t need another review of the iPhone X, so I’m only going to note what surprised and impressed me about it.
What is perhaps most impressive about the iPhone X is its interface. Given that we carry this thing around with us pretty much all the time, interface is more important than it might at first seem. And as the great Marco Arment has pointed out, with the iPhone X, Apple just completely changed the fundamental shape of the most important, most successful, and most recognizable tech product that the world has ever seen, staking its reputation on it and succeeding beyond all expectations.
The first surprise is the facial recognition feature, which is impeccable. Initially I was very critical of the move to end fingerprint access: I used to open my iPhone while taking it out of my pocket, and I thought that having to put the screen up to my face would be uncomfortable. Not all. Facial recognition is not technology, it’s magic: as Steve Jobs repeated like a mantra in 2011: it just works: in light, in complete darkness, with a three-day beard, with glasses, with a hat, partially on the side or whatever you want. I don’t care whether in theory it is possible to cheat with an almost impossible scheme , the fact is you soon get used to it. Apple has set a new benchmark and I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting the feature on my computer, my watch, etc. No more passwords, fingerprints or nonsense.
The second pleasant surprise is the camera: it’s probably the best I’ve used, and while I’m no expert, I like photography very much. It’s not just that the camera has better resolution, better optics or better technology: it’s the artificial intelligence, which understands what is being photographed, if it’s a portrait, if it’s in the background and we want to blur or eliminate it … in short, a series of features that really help you take the photograph you want. In fact this is how all cameras should be, and bearing in mind that the technology is still at 10% of what it will soon be able to do.
The third, and perhaps the most impressive feature of the phone, is the absence of the traditional Apple button: but it took me just a few seconds to understand how return to the initial screen, to change an application or close it, and at no time have I missed the button. It’s as if it never existed. I remember how it bothered me, when I returned to iPhone after a long time using Android, the absence of the buttons at the bottom… but with the X, it’s as if those movements were hard wired in my brain. Again, it just works, and much better than before, with no more clunky buttons and switches. Using it on a daily basis is a pleasure. Again, an impressive success, and a major change that many people might have thought would take some getting used to, and carried out with no fuss.
The iPhone X is expensive, yes. And if you drop it, you’ll probably want to slash your wrists with the shattered glass. But remember: this is not a telephone, but an important device that plays a big role in our daily lives, without which we are lost, and that we use to do more and more things. But it is also fragile: putting a glass back on it means that that if you drop it, it will break, because the glass, no matter how reinforced, is more brittle than the metal that absorbed the impact of the earlier model, most of the time. Now, either use a good cover, which goes against my principles, or be very, very careful.
But the device, regardless of its problems, is impressive and is a radical advance and a real success. My wallet still hurts, but it is worth the money, and I say that with impartiality and after a rigorous test drive.
Doubtless, many people will disagree with my analysis. I’m just laying out my impressions of a device that will play an important role in my daily life, which I already use for hundreds of things, which replaces another with which I was very satisfied, and that has proved easy to adapt to: after transferring my data, I started using it immediately, and here I am, not missing the previous one at all, and truly impressed. That doesn’t happen often. In a few months, all other smartphones will be trying to look like the iPhone X, but none will succeed. With the iPhone X, Apple has once again shown how important a company it is.
(En español, aquí)
