It seems like yesterday when Steve Jobs was on stage introducing the first edition of the Apple iPhone. A decade has passed and sadly so has Steve, but his legacy continues. Apple launched the iPhone X on November 3 globally and for the first time simultaneously in India. Both Hollywood and Bollywood actors have gone gaga over this smartphone. Apple iPhone X (Ten as the company calls it) came to our test bench for assessment and this is our review of the most talked about smartphone.
iPhone X Display and Design
Coming from large handheld devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus, when we first held the iPhone X it seemed a bit small. But few minutes with the phone you realise that the screen is larger than the iPhone 8 plus (5.5-inches). Apple iPhone X has Super Retina HD OLED display (HDR ready) measuring 5.8-inches, but the overall size of the phone is smaller because it is almost bezel-less. So, while it has a larger screen than its brother, it is great to work, with just one hand. The contrast ratio of this mobile is 1,000,000:1 and supports a resolution of 2,436x1,125 pixels.
We absolutely loved the display of the iPhone X, it makes everything look vibrant. Personally, we favoured it over the iPhone 8 Plus. We played lot of games and YouTube Videos on it and we were not once disappointed.
The phone fits well in one hand and users can easily grip it thanks to the polished steel band running across the sides. Which also brings back a bit of nostalgia as some of early generations of iPhones had slightly similar design. The Apple iPhone X with its all display front has no home button now. The notch on top is the only exception on the edge to edge display. It houses two cameras (infrared and one 7 MP), proximity, ambient light and other sensors, along with a MIC and a speakerphone.
The left side of the Apple iPhone X has the ringer off toggle key and the volume buttons. Whereas the right side has the power key, which doubles up as the Siri button and a single Nano Sim slot. The bottom places the speaker and microphone grille with the lightening port in the middle. Turn the mobile over and the first thing you notice is the suave glass back, like what is found on the iPhone 8 and 8 plus. This makes the Apple iPhone X wireless charging ready too. Apple has also placed two 12 MP (tele-photo and wide angle) cameras at the back. These are like the ones found on the iPhone 8 Plus, however the placement has been changed from side to side, to one over the other. The quad LED flash is placed in the middle of the two. The silver Apple logo can found on the top half of the back, while the iPhone logo is on the bottom half. Colour options? The Apple iPhone X is available in two colours space grey and silver.
Apple iPhone X Performance and Camera
We have said this before and we will say it again. Apple knows how to build a phone when it comes to space-age performance. Setting up process is the usual as found on the iPhone 8, except one step has been added of Face ID. The Apple iPhone X can be unlocked using your face. Setting this up did not take any time at all and within seconds we were ready. When using, the Face ID works nicely and nine out of ten times we could open the phone with just a look. Even in low-light.
The biggest change in this special edition of the iPhone is its edge to edge screen and omission of the home button. Built on iOS 11.1 the Apple iPhone X does demand a bit of getting used to. You can check some neat changes that the Apple has brought in the new OS here . There are changes on the OS gesture and tap system, as well. For instance, to go back to the home screen from an app, the users should swipe up. The notifications now drop down from the top left side. Similarly, the control centre comes down if the user swipes downwards from top right. To open the multitask system one needs to swipe up from bottom and hold. Another feature worth talking about is Animoji. This feature uses the front cameras to animate the user as a cartoon, which can be sent over as a message. You can know more about this feature here .
All this runs smoothly because the Apple iPhone X has extremely powerful machinery inside it. To start with, it's got the latest Bionic A11 chipset with 6 cores running at 2.39 GHz. This is coupled with 3 GB RAM and the users have the option to pick the 64GB or the 256 GB version of storage. There is no middle version any more. All this makes the heaviest of AR apps, games and HD videos run effortlessly. We ran Antutu benchmark on the Apple iPhone X and it sped past all scoring an incredible 2,28,551 points. This is over 10,000 points more when compared the iPhone 8 Plus.
Jumping over to another brilliant aspect of the Apple iPhone X -- its camera system (front and back). Our jaws dropped when we experienced the new front portrait scheme of things on the Apple iPhone X. It is the best we have experienced so far and the selfies taken just took our breath away. The same features that were seen on the Apple iPhone 8 Plus rear cameras are now available on the Apple iPhone X front and rear cameras. Our favourite is the stage light that creates black masking around the subject, highlighting it.
The photos captured from both front 7 MP and the rear 12 MP sensors were outstanding. We got great details and rarely did we get the urge to re-click an image. The colours are vivid, even at 2X zoom. Videos are no different. 4K videos can be shot at 60 FPS and the results are spectacular. The Apple iPhone X can give some of the best standalone video cameras a run for their money.
Apple has been working hard to better the battery life of its smartphone and results show on the iPhone X. We could squeeze out almost 20 hours of work at 35 per cent screen brightness. This included nominal phone calls on 4G network with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, an hour or two of gaming and YouTube playback. Charging the phone does take a bit of time with the supplied charger. So, we suggest do it over night and be ready for the next day. Thanks to the all glass back on the Apple iPhone X, the smartphone can be charged on a wireless charger as well.
Skipping over to the entertainment and call quality, the loudspeakers on the Apple iPhone X were as powerful as the iPhone 8 plus. However, the music experience is much better on the supplied headphones. Call quality was not bad either and is best in class. We did face a bit of problem in basements, but that is mostly due to the network and has nothing to do with the device.
Verdict
There have been reports of the iPhone X's display becoming unresponsive. During our extensive testing, we faced the issue only twice, once when running a graphic hungry game and once while browsing the Facebook app. Apple has said, in the next update this issue will be resolved. However, this does not ruin the overall experience of the iPhone X and one can overcome this issue (currently) by turning of the screen and restarting the app.
The Apple iPhone X 256GB retails for Rs 1,02,000 and might seem on the higher side, but with the features it offers, it is well worth the high cost. If you can spend, Apple iPhone X is the best iPhone to own.
iPhone X Display and Design
Coming from large handheld devices such as Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Apple iPhone 8 Plus, when we first held the iPhone X it seemed a bit small. But few minutes with the phone you realise that the screen is larger than the iPhone 8 plus (5.5-inches). Apple iPhone X has Super Retina HD OLED display (HDR ready) measuring 5.8-inches, but the overall size of the phone is smaller because it is almost bezel-less. So, while it has a larger screen than its brother, it is great to work, with just one hand. The contrast ratio of this mobile is 1,000,000:1 and supports a resolution of 2,436x1,125 pixels.
We absolutely loved the display of the iPhone X, it makes everything look vibrant. Personally, we favoured it over the iPhone 8 Plus. We played lot of games and YouTube Videos on it and we were not once disappointed.
The phone fits well in one hand and users can easily grip it thanks to the polished steel band running across the sides. Which also brings back a bit of nostalgia as some of early generations of iPhones had slightly similar design. The Apple iPhone X with its all display front has no home button now. The notch on top is the only exception on the edge to edge display. It houses two cameras (infrared and one 7 MP), proximity, ambient light and other sensors, along with a MIC and a speakerphone.
Apple iPhone X Performance and Camera
We have said this before and we will say it again. Apple knows how to build a phone when it comes to space-age performance. Setting up process is the usual as found on the iPhone 8, except one step has been added of Face ID. The Apple iPhone X can be unlocked using your face. Setting this up did not take any time at all and within seconds we were ready. When using, the Face ID works nicely and nine out of ten times we could open the phone with just a look. Even in low-light.
All this runs smoothly because the Apple iPhone X has extremely powerful machinery inside it. To start with, it's got the latest Bionic A11 chipset with 6 cores running at 2.39 GHz. This is coupled with 3 GB RAM and the users have the option to pick the 64GB or the 256 GB version of storage. There is no middle version any more. All this makes the heaviest of AR apps, games and HD videos run effortlessly. We ran Antutu benchmark on the Apple iPhone X and it sped past all scoring an incredible 2,28,551 points. This is over 10,000 points more when compared the iPhone 8 Plus.
The photos captured from both front 7 MP and the rear 12 MP sensors were outstanding. We got great details and rarely did we get the urge to re-click an image. The colours are vivid, even at 2X zoom. Videos are no different. 4K videos can be shot at 60 FPS and the results are spectacular. The Apple iPhone X can give some of the best standalone video cameras a run for their money.
Apple has been working hard to better the battery life of its smartphone and results show on the iPhone X. We could squeeze out almost 20 hours of work at 35 per cent screen brightness. This included nominal phone calls on 4G network with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, an hour or two of gaming and YouTube playback. Charging the phone does take a bit of time with the supplied charger. So, we suggest do it over night and be ready for the next day. Thanks to the all glass back on the Apple iPhone X, the smartphone can be charged on a wireless charger as well.
Skipping over to the entertainment and call quality, the loudspeakers on the Apple iPhone X were as powerful as the iPhone 8 plus. However, the music experience is much better on the supplied headphones. Call quality was not bad either and is best in class. We did face a bit of problem in basements, but that is mostly due to the network and has nothing to do with the device.
Verdict
There have been reports of the iPhone X's display becoming unresponsive. During our extensive testing, we faced the issue only twice, once when running a graphic hungry game and once while browsing the Facebook app. Apple has said, in the next update this issue will be resolved. However, this does not ruin the overall experience of the iPhone X and one can overcome this issue (currently) by turning of the screen and restarting the app.
The Apple iPhone X 256GB retails for Rs 1,02,000 and might seem on the higher side, but with the features it offers, it is well worth the high cost. If you can spend, Apple iPhone X is the best iPhone to own.
No comments:
Post a Comment