It’s been ten years since the the first iPhone was unveiled to the world, and this year Apple celebrated the occasion by introducing a new generation of iPhones that paves the way to the next decade come, just as they have done with the first iPhone. Released in the UAE and around the world on November 3rd, it has since been in high demand, bringing back the good old release day queues across the world.
The new iPhone X brings many changes to how the phone looks and functions thanks to the edge-to-edge screen and doing away with the iconic home button. We’ve been using the iPhone X for more than 10 days now and putting it to the test to see if the new flagship will really revolutionize the mobile phone industry once again. Let’s dive into it and see.
Design – Welcome to the new world, one without a home button
In terms of size, the iPhone X is a bit larger than the iPhone 8, but is mostly all-screen with a notch on top (we’ll get into that in a bit), giving us a 5.8-inch screen estate with the same glass-back design that Apple reintroduced with iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. On the sides, Apple decided to go with a stainless steel frame that reminds us a bit of the iPhone 3GS.
The notch!
Of course, with a screen stretching across the front of the phone, Apple had to replace the Touch ID technology with its new TrueDepth camera system, which is housed in the infamous notch.
The TrueDepth camera system includes an infrared camera, flood illuminator, and dot projector, all working together to scan various points between the mouth, nose, eyes and project 30,000 invisible dots to form a 3D map of your face. The 3D map serves as a biometric authentication for Face ID as well as other advanced features for the the front facing camera and, the all new Animojis (with my favorite being “poop”, of course). In our use, Face ID has been fast and reliable so far, and there was not a single missed authentication regardless of time and out of the boundaries of Apple’s recommended distance.
Additionally, apps that previously relied on Touch ID to unlock now work with Face ID, and actually perform better (feels more futuristic).
The iPhone X has another small but awesome trick up its sleeve: Notifications previews are now off by default and they only show the actual content as soon as Face ID authenticates you. While this is possible on Touch ID iPhones where you have to place your finger on the sensor to unlock, the simple glance at the screen in this case makes a big difference.
The screen – OLED finally comes to the iPhone
Before diving into the screen specs, we can confirm that the new Super Retina HD display is absolutely impressive!
Apple calls the display Super Retina HD, a screen that offers 2436 x 1125 pixel resolution at 458 ppi, has a million-to-one contrast ratio, features True Tone technology and is of course HDR. The significance of the HDR display on a smartphone means that HDR content is no longer constrained to a niche market of high-end TVs; we will be expecting a lot more HDR content in the near future. Additionally, the Super Retina display uses a higher 2.17:1 aspect ratio, as compared to the more standard 16:9 (1.77:1) and now support Dolby Vision and HDR10 are for watching videos in an impressive viewing experience.
Since we are talking about this new resolution and the notch, let’s address the elephant in the room: A lot of apps are not yet optimized to take advantage of the new screen on the iPhone X, which leads to an ugly boxed version with black bezels, but that is gradually changing with developers pushing their updated apps to the App Store. It is the price to pay as early adopters of new technology.
Wireless Charging
Although wireless charging isn’t new — other smartphones have been using the tech for sometime now — Apple’s entry is a positive indication that technology will be pushed further. The iPhone X supports any charger using the Qi standard, and there are quite a number of wireless chargers available in the market, but we found one in particular to delivery great performance, the new 7.5-Watt Boost Up charger optimized for the iPhone 8 and X.
We got our hands in the Belkin Boost Up for review. The charger has a sleek circular design wit a non-slip surface on both the top and the bottom. Placing the phone on the charger lights up a green LED which indicates the charging status.
We’ve placed the iPhone X at 0% battery around 8PM, less than 2 hours later, the battery was around 58%, and fully charged around 11:45PM. It’s worth pointing out that with the current version of iOS, Apple only supports a 5W output, but will boost the iPhone 8 and X capability to use a 7.5W output in its upcoming update.
The Belkin Boost Up has also a foreign-object detection and a thermal protection sensor to keep your device safe.
You can buy the new Belkin Boost Up for AED 249 here.
Gestures
So, that new brave world without a home button is here, Apple introduced a bunch of new gestures to navigate its new flagship.
A combination of on-screen gestures now gives users full control on how to navigate, from a swipe up to switch apps to a swipe up from the bottom of the screen to go back to the home screen. Control Centre is now activated by swiping down from the top-right corner of the screen, while the Notification Center is accessible by a swipe down from the top-left edge.
As previously mentioned, the swipe up brings up the apps switcher. Hold that swipe for a second, and you’ll be able to navigate thought your open apps. You can also jump back and forth to the previous app open by swiping in a semi circular manner from the far bottom edges of the screen.
Other gestures include:
- Screenshots: Press the side button and the volume up button simultaneously.
- Siri: Long press the side button.
- Apple Pay: Double press the side button.
- Switch off the iPhone X: Side button and volume down simultaneously.
- Hard reset: Press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, and then press and hold the side button until the device restarts.
Camera
The iPhone X camera packs a dual 12Mp sensors with optical image stabilization on both the f/1.8 wide-angle and f/2.8 telephoto lenses. The sensors are uprated with larger, ‘deeper’ pixels for better low-light performance and dynamic range. The telephoto lens is able to get closer to objects without losing detail.
The iPhone X has a new Portrait Lighting feature with five different styles which also work on the 7Mp front facing camera through its TrueDepth technology. The TrueDepth camera also opens up a few other fun feature, like the ones in Apple’s new Clips update, which introduces a collection of “Selfie Scenes” and the of course, the use of Animojis.
Similarly to the iPhone 8, iPhone X also shoots in low-sync flash, allowing the camera collects ambient light and fires a gentler flash at the subject. The iPhone X can record 4K at 60 frames per second with superb results.
Other than the Portrait Lighting mode and a more stable zoom, the camera is nearly identical to the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. You can check out our review to see examples.
The Verdict
The iPhone X is definitely the iPhone to buy, and is worth the high price tag, specially if you are an Apple fan, you’ll just fall in love.
The combination of the new hardware, A11 Bionic chip with the buttery smooth new gestures and Face ID implantation makes this device one of the best, If not the best phone Apple has ever made.