iPhone X Review
Bwah-ha-ha! I got my hands on an iPhone 10 without paying for it! Yes, I convinced my little brother that he really needed / deserved a new phone so he could give his current iPhone 6+ to his daughter for college.
But that's not important.
What's important is finding out if the iPhone 10 is PR hype or dream phone. And just to get this out of the way up front, as much as it pains me to say it, it is pretty much as dreamy as phones can get in 2017.
The screen is dazzling. The phone feels great in the hand and gives you a lot of screen without making it feel like you are holding a small tablet up to your ear. The camera is pretty much state-of-the-art for phone cameras in 2017. So, no, it is not hype. Apple has created their next generation phone.
However, if you are currently on Android, does this make any difference? Has Apple changed the game so much that you will have to toss your Samsungs, HTCs, and Motorola's in the trash and mortgage your house to get Apple's new uber device? No, I don't think so. 95% of this is pretty much also available on Google, Samsung, Sony and Huawei flagships.
What's Great?
The screen is lovely and makes the iPhone 8 look kind of dowdy.
Face ID works fine. (Not really a surprise for me, Microsoft phones have had that feature for a couple of years.)
The camera is the biggest step forward. Not only have they given a slight upgrade to the electronics over the iPhone 8, there is an optical zoom lens - a first for a smartphone camera as far as I know. That means that rather than crop a close up out of a shot that is farther away, the iPhone 10 camera can actually optically enlarge the image on the sensor so you don't lose any quality or introduce noise and softness. If that is something you need, then this is the only phone that can give it to you. For now.
It's not that big. Even me, the ultimate one-handed phone freak could get used to this phone if I needed the extra screen real estate. It's much closer in size to a taller version of the iPhone 6/7/8 than it is to the fatter plus sized big brother. Yet it has a larger screen than the Plus. Sort of. Maybe. In a way.
What's not that great?
The big lie - Apple tells you that the screen is 5.8" diagonal. But that is including the top portion of the screen with the cutout for the camera and sensor which is really unusable.
GSM Arena has a really good article explaining how the usable area gets cut down.
The bottom line is that for viewing a 16:9 standard aspect ratio movie, it is smaller on the X than the Plus. But on the other hand, for viewing apps and web pages you have a taller screen for more lines of information on the X than the Plus.
The absence of the Home button takes some getting used to. Maybe half a day, then it's not a problem. Unless you have to switch back and forth between the X and another iPhone - in which case it will drive you crazy.
It is, to paraphrase Blondie, a Phone of Glass. Look at it cross-ways and it will shatter. Don't even think of buying this without Apple Care insurance and a good protective case. (Which kind of defeats the purpose of having the Most Beautiful Phone in the World.)
Who's it for?
- If you have an iPhone and are on the annual upgrade program (essentially you are leasing your phone) then you can pay a few hundred and have the latest and greatest. Why not?
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- If your phone is your main camera and you need the flexibility of an optical zoom - this could be your next phone.
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- If you want to be hip, cool, or better than everyone else - this is your accessory.
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- If you are techno-forward and want to experience the future of the smartphone - this is it.
The rest of us will just have to make do with our phones that do 90% of what the iPhone 10 does, but cost less than half as much.
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