Although I wasn't expecting to get it for another week or two, my iPhone X (Silver 256GB) arrived on Friday. My excitement of receiving the email on Thursday alerting me that it would arrive on Friday was quickly swapped with the thought of my bank account taking a massive hit.
Yes, it is expensive, the most expensive iPhone yet. It costs about the annual GDP of a small country. I did a lot of thinking about purchasing it before its was released, or whether to go for the iPhone 8 and know that I still had the home button to push that has been the identifying feature of the phone since the original. So was it worth it? Time will tell, but at this point these are my impressions after a weekends worth of use.
- OLED Screen - Although advertised as a full screen, that's not quite true, there is part taken out at the top for the true depth camera and earpiece. Still, the 5.8 inch super retina screen is stunning. Simply stunning, There is no doubt that it is a cut above the last iPhone.
- Face ID - So far it has recognised me every time, even with sunglasses and a hat on. Have also tested it in the dark and it still works. It takes a little getting used to but it does become natural after a couple of hours.
- Wireless charging - now that a standard has been accepted wireless charging has been incorporated: Qi. Belkin and Mophie currently have charger that work and Apple is releasing a charging mat early in 2018 (I shudder to think how much it will cost).
- Size - It's smaller than my previous iPhone due to the removal of the home button and it feels like a better size, it goes into pockets more easily.
- Camera - True depth camera on the front (7 megapixels) with two 12 megapixel rear lenses, f1.8 and f2.4 positioned vertically to each other, both with Optical Image Stabilisation. The (beta) portrait modes are impressive and I will post some images when I find a suitable model. Both the front and rear cameras are auto HDR, which was a little confusing when I was looking for the HDR option earlier.
- Location - Covered by GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS, which if memory serves is the first time that it is covered by four different global navigation satellite systems.
- Connections - Yep, no 3.5mm 100 year old technology, move on people if it's not wireless your living in the past. Apple decided to still include a dongle for the backward thinking, which personally I think is a mistake it would be better that they made people move on. I cannot see the next iPhone coming with the free dongle.
- Glass - front and back, i have seen pictures and videos of the drop test. I shudder to think of the cost of replacing this, I would expect painful. It annoys me that I have to cover such a beautiful piece of technology into a leather case to give it some protection from the horror of dropping it. Apple claims that it is the most durable glass ever... but it is still glass.
- Animoji - I can't even...
In summary, the Face ID has impressed me, and the iOS11 gesturing is natural once you get the idea that there is no home button. The screen has blown me away, in all light conditions it really is stunning. The camera's, as you would expect are better, faster and more stabler than the previous models.
Worth the money? That's a tough question. I think this is going to be the price of the higher end iPhones from now on and that is a serious chunk of change if you are a yearly updater.