Praised by tech-savvy people and fashionistas who understand it from each of their knowledge bases. But consistently underrated by the tech press desperate for clicks.
The X is by far my favorite iPhone. Face ID is a big step from Touch ID. The edge to edge screen is a great touch. My only complaint is that it is a bit too large for me, even with large hands. I would like to be able to swipe down the control center more easily when operating with one hand.
For me, Face ID is a huge annoyance and only works ~25% of the time. I like to have my phone flat on my desk at work and now I have to pick it up every time to unlock it. It also doesn't work well when I'm lounging on the couch, it needs you to be looking perfectly straight at it. After it fails it has some weird delay before allowing a second attempt that I can never get right.
The only problem I have with Face ID is that I cannot be discreet with Apple Pay. With Touch ID you. can kinda do the touch part out of sight and then move the phone close to the payment device. With Face ID you have to hold the phone up so the world can see you are using Apple Pay.
With 'Reachability' enabled (Settings -> General -> Accessibility), you can partially get around this. Activate Reachability (swipe down on home bar), then swipe down on the (now-easier-to-reach) battery/signal area to access the control center. It should be noted this trick does not work from the lock screen.
Edit: this still works even if the battery/signal icon isn't there, you just have to guess approximately where the new location for the 'top right' of the screen is, and swipe down there to get the control center.
Edit2: messed around a little more and I guess you can actually access notifications using this method, it doesn't feel very consistent for me though.
I like the guts and the technology, and I'm always impressed when I use one. But edge-to-edge touch screen is still problematic for me.
I like a phone with a place I can grab without worrying about activating it. Perhaps it's just psychological. Perhaps it's OK to grab the phone anywhere and it won't blow up or start dialing or whatever.
That said, every member of my family with an X can do nothing but rave about it; and they're anything but techies.
I've had every iPhone from launch day through the 6 Plus, and have never put a case on any of them. I think it's a shame that Apple's engineers spend so much time and energy trying to make the machine small, thin, and beautiful and then people slap an ugly rubber cover on it. It's like dating a supermodel and asking her to wear a parka in public.
I'm not a butterfingers, so I've not had any problems with dropping or breaking any of them yet.
However, there is a butterfingers in my family who's dropped her X at least three times that I know about onto hard surfaces (concrete sidewalk, gravel driveway, tile floor) and it was undamaged.
Since Apple releases subjective statements instead of hard numbers about iPhone X sales, I have to go by personal anecdote.
In my circle, where at least one person always buys the new iPhone, there isn't a single iPhone X owner. I know several would love to have it, but the improvements vs. the previous generation can't justify the expense.
My opinion is similar. Before the announcement, I wanted to change my Android for an iPhone. After seeing the price, I'll go with a vastly more capable Android again.
This. I could improve my life with a more expensive phone, but not enough to outweigh the opportunity cost of spending that additional money elsewhere.
it's disappointing to see such a contentless puff piece upvoted on hackernews. "radically reinvent?" "cynical view"? "minor qualifier"? it's a suffocating piece with dangerous language meant to subtly sway its readers towards a predetermined conclusion.
as a side note regarding the design, i really dislike the camera sticking out the way it does. i tried it out at a store. i don't use cases for my phones, for many reasons, and so when you set the iPhone X (and 8 for that matter) on a table, it rocks back and forth due to the asymmetric stick out. pretty annoying and cheap feeling. there are plenty of other things wrong with this phone's design, so calling it a masterpiece is more than suspect.
I actually don't mind the bump because I find it makes the phone easier to pick up on flat surfaces. Lifting my Samsung S8 off of a granite countertop feels like trying to pull apart two magnets, but the iPhone is far less "sticky" thanks to the bump.
It's an interesting article, because yet again it seems to imply that Apple invented what they're doing. Edge-to-edge phones had existed for a long time before Apple released theirs, and Samsung's S8 family had even done it on a flagship level.
Apple did it very well, but it isn't "true courage" to follow clear market trends.
TLDR Despite all the praise and joy and everything amazing and underrated about the phone, the author prefers the Google’s Pixel 2 XL for its superior camera.
Why didn't they just add 1cm of bevel above the screen so there's no notch?
It's like Steve Jobs's last request to Tim Cook was to make everything smaller at any cost and every bonehead idea Apple has made since stems from this request.
Subjectively: There is nothing I can do on the iPhoneX that I would want to do on my iPhone6s. Basically, its just .. too fat .. too extreme .. and the wall of the garden far, far too well laid out for me to want to upgrade.
I'll hold out and switch to something .. anything .. in desperation .. that will return the feeling of free reign over my personal data, like the PC did .. but I really wonder how that'll happen.
In the meantime, sure is weird to see things go the way they have gone, in the last 15 years. I mean, sheesh.
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 68.9 ms ] threadFor more, Google is your friend.
Edit: this still works even if the battery/signal icon isn't there, you just have to guess approximately where the new location for the 'top right' of the screen is, and swipe down there to get the control center.
Edit2: messed around a little more and I guess you can actually access notifications using this method, it doesn't feel very consistent for me though.
I like a phone with a place I can grab without worrying about activating it. Perhaps it's just psychological. Perhaps it's OK to grab the phone anywhere and it won't blow up or start dialing or whatever.
That said, every member of my family with an X can do nothing but rave about it; and they're anything but techies.
I'm not a butterfingers, so I've not had any problems with dropping or breaking any of them yet.
However, there is a butterfingers in my family who's dropped her X at least three times that I know about onto hard surfaces (concrete sidewalk, gravel driveway, tile floor) and it was undamaged.
[citation needed]
In my circle, where at least one person always buys the new iPhone, there isn't a single iPhone X owner. I know several would love to have it, but the improvements vs. the previous generation can't justify the expense.
My opinion is similar. Before the announcement, I wanted to change my Android for an iPhone. After seeing the price, I'll go with a vastly more capable Android again.
as a side note regarding the design, i really dislike the camera sticking out the way it does. i tried it out at a store. i don't use cases for my phones, for many reasons, and so when you set the iPhone X (and 8 for that matter) on a table, it rocks back and forth due to the asymmetric stick out. pretty annoying and cheap feeling. there are plenty of other things wrong with this phone's design, so calling it a masterpiece is more than suspect.
Apple did it very well, but it isn't "true courage" to follow clear market trends.
You don't say...
It's like Steve Jobs's last request to Tim Cook was to make everything smaller at any cost and every bonehead idea Apple has made since stems from this request.
Subjectively: There is nothing I can do on the iPhoneX that I would want to do on my iPhone6s. Basically, its just .. too fat .. too extreme .. and the wall of the garden far, far too well laid out for me to want to upgrade.
I'll hold out and switch to something .. anything .. in desperation .. that will return the feeling of free reign over my personal data, like the PC did .. but I really wonder how that'll happen.
In the meantime, sure is weird to see things go the way they have gone, in the last 15 years. I mean, sheesh.
We've unleashed a monster.