iPhone X:
So I’ve had quite a few people ask me about my new iPhone X and what I think of it.
While it’s not something I normally review here’s my feelings on it:
Firstly let me say that while I am very careful with my phones i do tend to give them quite a hard time.
Mobile phones are tools that allow me to work and connect with an audience and I put a lot of daily stress on them.
My old 6s+ has served me well but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have issues: The screen scratches way too easily,
It’s absolutely huge and isn’t comfortable to walk around with in my pocket. I have to take it out if I’m getting into my car because it feels awkward to sit down with it. I never really got used to it’s size, It’s gotten super slow since the last IOS update and worse of all the camera while good in the right lighting is just plain awful in low light.
I was due an upgrade and got a really good deal so decided on this, the iPhone X.
The good:
It’s smaller and actually fits my pocket like a mobile phone should and the screen size is much the same as my old phone.
The camera is pretty much as good as I’ve ever seen on a phone, even in low light this thing is just plain incredible.
It can shoot glorious video in 60fps which comes out smooth as silk.
The OLED screen is a thing of beauty, it is head and shoulders above any previous iPhone.
The facial recognition works so well it’s spooky (I can’t get past the fact it knows when I’m looking at it) apart from the odd occasion in harsh light or if it’s flat on a table, it works pretty much perfectly.
I thought I’d miss the home button but after 10 minutes use I got use to operating without it and don’t miss the button at all, in fact it makes my old 6S+ seem old fashioned by comparison.
It’s powerful enough to video edit on and it does so lightning fast.
However it’s not all rainbows and sunshine here’s the bad:
As soon as I ordered this I also ordered a screen protector after my experience with the 6s+ I knew it would be prone to scratching. The screen protector was arriving the next day so I used it for just 24 hours without a protector and….. you guessed it, despite being very careful it still picked up a scratch. I still have my trusty iPhone 5 which despite 3 years of abuse, flying al over world with it and never being in a case or having any screen protector still hasn’t got a single scratch. I don’t know what Apple has done or changed lately but their screens are awful for durability.
It’s stupidly expensive.
Okay I get that it’s got a nice, polished stainless steel case, a good camera and a nice or be it, scratch prone screen but €1179 for a mobile phone is just mental. It feels to me that there’s android phones out there for half this price point with the same if not better technology. It’s not twice as good so why charge twice the price? Also Apple not only chooses to ignore the exchange rate but charge more for the European market so a $999 64gb iPhone in the US actually costed $1455 in Europe. Why?
It comes with all this great technology, but not in the box. This is first iPhone to support fast charge. Want to use it? Well that’ll be an additional €100 Euro or so for a charger and cable. Why not include it in the box for €1179 Apple? It’s also got wireless charging. Oh you want to use that too? That’ll be another €65 because guess what, the pad is not included either. You won’t even get a case to put it in and given the fact it’s a scratch magnet Is made almost entirely out of glass you’ll absolutely have to buy one.
The camera bump on the back is now so large and pronounced that it’s impossible to type with this thing lying flat on a table. It’s as if the engineers knew you were gong to wrap this super fragile thing in a thick protective case anyway so screw it, we’ll just make the lens as big as we need to.
There’s no headphone jack and even though they did think to include a dongle adapter in the box, now when you go the gym you’re not only screwed because you forgot your headphones your also screwed if you forget your dongle. “Bro I can’t believe I left my dongle at home” you couldn’t make this stuff up.
Conclusion:
It is easily the best iPhone I’ve ever used. It feels like the first new iPhone in a very long time because the 4,5,6 and 7 were all so similar by design. But for that price they should include a fast charge wireless charge pad, a decent hard case and even a pair of wireless air pods. I personally think they would have sold a lot more and found it easier to justify the cost.
Should you buy one?
If you’re really into Apple phones, this is the one to have. If you don’t want to spend the ridiculous amount of money just wait for the 9. I’m convinced the 9 will have all the technology the X has. Why? Because it’s too good, the Face ID, home buttonless OLED screen, they’ll be forced to include it in their phones going forward. Or come under fire for moving backwards.
Belt.