What Tech Writers And Critics Are Saying About The iPhone X
On the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone, Apple unveiled the highly anticipated iPhone X (pronounced "ten," not "ex"). The glass-encased, almost bezel-less smartphone unlocks with facial recognition technology and charges wirelessly. With the basic model costing $999, it's also the most expensive iPhone ever. Is the iPhone X a game-changer or just a very expensive, very sleek-looking pocket computer? Here's what tech writers are saying after spending a little bit of hands-on time with the iPhone X at Apple's event yesterday.
The Almost Bezel-Less Design Is Beautiful To Behold But Not Perfect
Apart from the Essential Phone, the new iPhone looks like one of the least-bezelled phones on the market. The lip on the top of the 5.8-inch screen is the only thing that gets in the way of you and the new operating system, with the effect rather stunning.
What did bother me a little more than expected were the bezels that run around the screen. To be absolutely clear: they're really not that big, and I expect most people thinking about dropping $1,000 on a phone couldn't care less. Still, given that Apple's competition has done an incredible job trimming the cruft from around their displays, I can't help but feel that the iPhone X's design doesn't have the same kind of impact as, say, the Essential or Samsung's recent Galaxys… I definitely can't complain about build quality, though: the X's glass front and back melt effortlessly into the stainless steel ring that runs around the phone, and the precision on display here is nothing short of fantastic.
[Engadget]
The X Combines The Screen Size Of An iPhone Plus With A Smaller, More Comfortable Body Size
Apple's iPhone X presentation kind of buried the headline: This phone gives you the jumbo screen size of a Plus model into the compact body size of the non-Plus iPhones. That's a big, big deal for anyone who loves the features of the Plus models (a zoom camera lens, longer battery life, huge screen) but isn't crazy about wielding a phone the size of a VHS cassette.
The X feels like it's exactly the right size. In my hand it's about equal to the iPhone 7 (not the Plus, the smaller model) despite having a 5.8-inch screen running from corner to corner. It's a little heavier and sturdier than the 7, but not much, and if anything it feels a little more stable as a result.
[Wired]
The Glass Back Seems Like A Bad Idea
The rear, which is now glass, doesn't feel as premium as the almost-ceramic metal of previous models, but it still feels solid and secure in the hand. The edges aren't sharp, instead folding into the palm in a way that's pleasant to hold.
Apple being Apple, the company claims that it has the hardest, most durable glass ever put on a smartphone… If you're like me, you might not be able to keep a phone's screen scratch-free for longer than a month, so doubling the surface area of vulnerability to include the back is just not a recipe for good things happening.
Only long-term use can prove out Apple's claims and soothe my anxious mind. Either the iPhone X lives up to the durability of its aluminum predecessors — in which case, thumbs up all around — or it will spur a sudden golden age for phone repair businesses.
Living Without A Home Button Will Take Some Getting Used To, But We'll Probably Adjust
is no brake pedal." We use the Home button for everything! One press to wake the phone. Touch to unlock. Long touch for Apple Pay. Two presses to switch apps. Press and hold for Siri. How can we get along without a Home button?" data-reactid="96″ class="">We use the Home button for everything! One press to wake the phone. Touch to unlock. Long touch for Apple Pay. Two presses to switch apps. Press and hold for Siri. How can we get along without a Home button?
Lots of these functions have been assigned to the Sleep/Wake switch on the right side. You now hold it down to trigger Siri, for example, or triple-click it to fire up the Magnifier.
[N]ow, you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to view all your running apps in card form, and getting back to the home screen involves dragging the app window down and flicking it away. After years of mashing the home button, using the iPhone X was… very strange for the first few minutes. Once everything clicked, I was shocked that Apple hadn't tried to do this sooner. It feels incredibly natural, to the point where after a few minutes of playtime, I really don't want to go back to the 7 Plus.
[Engadget]
How do the iPhone X gestures actually work in practice? At first blush, I can't say that the idea of swiping up from the bottom to return home is particularly intuitive, and neither is the distinction between a swipe down from the left of the screen's monobrow (for notifications) and a swipe down from the right (which pulls up the iOS Control Center). Users are likely to adapt, as they have adapted to Apple's other significant changes like the removal of the headphone jack, but that won't mean they'll necessarily like or prefer it.
The Facial Recognition Technology Doesn't Always Work The Way It's Supposed To
When held at the right distance, it worked well and quickly, but we saw plenty of missed unlocks in our time with the phone. Apparently it'll learn your face as time goes on, but this is something we really need to test out to make sure it's easy to get into your phone.
It's cool that the phone will only turn on when you look at the screen, showing it knows you, but the accuracy needs to be tip top.
Of course, Samsung's phones have offered facial recognition for some time. But after trying Face ID a couple of dozen times, I realized that it's much faster and more reliable. In fact, it took a few tries for me even to notice that it was doing anything. Only the tiny opening of a padlock on the Lock screen signified that facial recognition had done its thing.
Face ID, at least in the brief demos I got, worked one of two ways: amazingly fast or not at all. It won't work if your phone's flat on a table — you'll have to pick up and look at your phone every time you want to unlock it. I suspect a lot of people will just go back to having numerical passcodes.
[Wired]
And It's Not At All Clear That FaceID Will Be As Convenient And Secure As TouchID
TouchID is gone. This is killer. I use it constantly. Perhaps it's ignorant of me to dismiss FaceID before trying it, so call me ignorant. It's not a replacement for TouchID which requires the most minimal of user interaction and works perfectly in the dark and on the sly.
FaceID sounds great in theory and perhaps I'll change my tune after the bugs are worked out. After watching the system fail during the first public demo, I knew this wasn't something I wanted to beta test for Apple.
Aside from the basic ergonomic differences between them, Face ID brings up potential security issues that Touch ID didn't have, such as someone unlocking your phone by just holding it up to your face. Apple has put preventive measures in place, including the demand for the user's eyes to be open, and it does claim there's a much lower chance of Face ID being spoofed or fooled than Touch ID. But still, even with a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of another person successfully logging into your phone via Face ID, biometrics remain a less secure (both practically and legally) method to keep your private data private.
Apple Finally Supports A Wireless Charging Standard — But The X Won't Work With Every Charging Pad
[T]he two competing standards, Qi and PMA, are both supported [with Samsung's devices], so consumers don't have to make a choice.
Apple is supporting only one of them – Qi – but it's brought out its own charger to allow people to juice up their phone without needing to plug in a cable.
There's already a wide range of cars and charging mats out there which support the standard Apple is adopting, but it's a shame that Apple hasn't copied Samsung and supported both methods.
Props to Apple, at least, for adopting the same charging standard that Samsung and other companies use, called Qi (pronounced "chee"). You don't have to buy Apple's charging pad; you can use any company's. They're about $12 each on Amazon.
Unless You're Very Wealthy, The Price Tag Will Still Make You Pause
The iPhone X costs $999. You can get a great smartphone for half that price (the Moto Z2 Play is a good example), which will provide you with more than 90 percent of the X's functionality, even if it might not feel quite as polished or cohesive as the Apple product.
The iPhone X is going to cost me more money than anything I've purchased since my last MacBook. When I sit back and consider the gravity of that price tag, images of reasonably priced pants, bags of groceries, plane tickets to vacation destinations, and other sensible things one might spend money on float through my mind. It's a fleeting vision, because as soon as I come to terms with the prospect of buying an overpriced smartphone I don't need, I remember how easy Apple makes it to buy a new iPhone these days. The Apple payment plan makes it deceptively simple, and here I am, willingly deceived.
[Gizmodo]
TL;DR
When Apple unveiled the iPhone X, Tim Cook said it was the reflection of the company's vision of the smartphone of the future. Well, as impressed as I am by the X's level of craftsmanship, performance and software thoughtfulness, I think Tim might have been overstating things. The X's set of features are progressive for Apple, but we've seen quite a few of them before. I obviously can't render a verdict without having played with an X for more than a few minutes, but here's hoping the real deal reveals itself to be more than the sum of its parts.
[Engadget]