iPhone X review : Screen star ...

iPhone 8 vs iPhone X: At a glance

If you're looking for a quick comparison of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, you can find that in the table below. For a more in-depth look at the difference between the two, read on.

	iPhone 8	iPhone 8 Plus	iPhone X
iOS	iOS 11	iOS 11	iOS 11
Colours	Gold, Silver, Space Grey	Gold, Silver, Space Grey	Silver, Space Grey
Display	4.7in Retina HD (1334x750, 326ppi) IPS	5.5in Retina HD (1920x1080, 401ppi) IPS	5.8in Super Retina Display (2436x1125, 458ppi) OLED
Processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor
Storage	64GB/256GB	64GB/256GB	64GB/256GB
Rear camera	12Mp, f/1.8, 5x digital zoom, quad-LED flash	12Mp wide-angle, f/1.8, OIS + 12Mp telephoto, f/2,8, optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Portrait Lighting, Portrait Mode, quad-LED flash	12Mp wide-angle, f/1.8, OIS + 12Mp telephoto, f/2.4, OIS, optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Portrait Lighting, Portrait Mode, quad-LED flash
Front camera	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video
Video recording	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps
Biometric security	Touch ID	Touch ID	Face ID
Wireless charging?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Waterproofing	IP67	IP67	IP67
Dimensions	67.3x138.4x7.3mm	78.1x158.4x7.5mm	70.9x143.6x7.7mm
Weight	148g	202g	174g

As said above, the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X are both smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus (and other Plus models).

Here’s how the dimensions of the iPhone X and iPhone 8 compare:

• The iPhone X measures 143.6mm by 70.9mm, and is 7.7m thick.
• The iPhone 8 is 138.4mm by 67.3mm and is 7.3mm thick.

So, as you can see, the iPhone 8 is smaller and thinner, but only slightly. That’s difference of half a centimetre in height and even less than that in width. And as for that half a millimetre difference in depth, we don’t think it will really be noticeable.

Screen, screen and more screen

The iPhone X is also Apple’s first go at the OLED market. They’ve caught tons of flack in the tech sphere over the last couple years because they were the only company still using LCD displays—and even now, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus come with LCD. 

The iPhone X features an OLED True Tone display that also boasts Apple’s “Super Retina” technology. What that translates to is a phone with a resolution of 2436 x 1125 and 458 PPI, which in and of itself is visually stunning. However, the Note 8, with its 6.3-inch infinity screen and Super AMOLED display clocks in at 2960 x 1440 and 532 PPI. There’s also competition from LG’s V30 (1440 x 2880, 537 PPI), the HTC U11 (1440 x 2560, 534 PPI), and even the Google Pixel (1040 x 1920, 441 PPI).

Camera

Both phones have a 12MP camera on the back but there are some key differences.

The iPhone X, like the iPhone 8 Plus, actually has two cameras on the back. That’s a ƒ/1.8 aperture wide-angle and ƒ/2.4 aperture telephoto camera, which combine to create the stunning portrait shots with the blurred background that those phones can take. The iPhone X (and Plus) has an optical zoom and can digital zoom up to 10x.

The iPhone 8 camera is also 12MP, but it is just the one camera with a ƒ/1.8 aperture, so it can’t take the fancy portrait shots, and it’s digital zoom goes to 5x.

Tuning to the camera on the front of the iPhones. The selfie/FaceTime camera on the front of the iPhone X is different to that found on the iPhone 8.

On the iPhone 8 you will find a 7MP FaceTime HD camera with Retina Flash (the same as on the iPhone Plus) but on the iPhone X there is a 7MP TrueDepth front camera with Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting.

This TrueDepth camera is what makes Face ID possible - as we will explain below.

In terms of taking photos, the TrueDepth camera on the front of the iPhone X can take what Apple is calling Portrait Mode Selfies. In other words, the front facing camera can take photos with a sharp foreground and an artfully blurred background to create the same bokeh effect that the two cameras on the back of the iPhone X can achieve.

The missing Home Button

There is one huge difference between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 and it may be the thing that turns you off the iPhone X altogether.

The trade off for getting the bigger screen on the iPhone 8 is the demise of the Home Button. 

The removal of the Home Button means that Apple needed to make some changes to the iPhone interface. So if you were to buy an iPhone X you would have to learn a new way to navigate the interface. 

Face ID v Touch ID

The Face ID is enabled by the TrueDepth camera and is set up by basically wiggling your face in front of the camera for a little bit. From your wiggling and head turning, the camera creates a precision depth map of your face comprising over 30,000 individual pinpoints.

Its feels a bit sad  the loss of Touch ID.The simplicity of being able to unlock our phone just by touching the Home Button, and enjoying being able to use our iPhone to pay for things in shops was amazing. With Face ID you will unlock your phone by looking at it.

In terms of whether anyone could hack into your phone using Face ID, Apple says that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID (as long as you don’t have an identical twin intent on reading your iMessages).

With the iPhone X not launching until November it will be a while before anyone gets to see how Face ID Will work in practice.

When we get to use Face ID we may be blown away by it. But for now we would say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Touch ID on the iPhone 8 - and we’d be inclined to say to Apple: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

A new version of iOS

Obviously with the new iPhone X having so much more screen to play with, there were going to have to be some changes to the way iOS works. There's a new version of iOS 11 that develops a new way to facilitate it.

The 'main display' is still the same, with the standard grid of icons. That's not changed. But the bottom of the phone, where the bezel and home button used to sit, has now been repurposed as the home button; a flick up from the base of the phone – in the same way as the Control Center of old – will get you home.

It's intuitive and works well, although you do have to get used to balancing the phone in your palm.

The Control Center is now at the top right, and that needs a little more dexterity to hit – you'll have to use two hands for that generally.

Wireless charging

Something every iPhone user wants is more battery life. Whether you're a power user and can't get through to the end of the working day without reaching for the charger, or you're a lighter user but would like to not need a top-up every day, there's more for Apple to do here.

The iPhone X battery size was – as usual – not mentioned on stage during launch, but there are big upgrades coming according to the brand. However, the biggest change is the way you can charge the new iPhone, with wireless charging now added to the mix.

The battery life of the iPhone X has been extended, with two hours more power than the iPhone 7 from a single charge – and that should be a real help given all the battery-sapping features on display here.

iPhone X’s A11 Bionic Chip

With the unveiling of the new batch of iPhones came the reveal of Apple’s new A11 Bionic chip, which really does look like it’s going to give the Apple an advantage in an area where it has lost serious footing over the last couple years.

The competition—including the Note 8—is using Snapdragon’s 835 chip, which albeit bad ass, doesn’t look like it can hold a candle to Apple’s six-core, 4.3-billion-transistor A11.

Of course, this race is also still too close to call. The iPhone X looks to have undoubtedly more raw processing power than the Note 8, but there’s an equalizer here: RAM. Though the details are still a little murky, from what we can tell, the iPhone X will pack just 3GB of RAM. The Note 8 packs a confirmed 6GB. fast.