Gotechtor select and review products independently. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

iPhone X Review: The Start of a New Beginning

Updated on

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Herby has a healthy obsession with all things technology, especially smartphones. He loves to rip things apart to see how they work. He is responsible for the editorial direction, strategy, and growth of Gotechtor.

Gotechtor's Editorial Guidelines

I’ve been using the iPhone X for more than a month now. All I can say is it’s the best iPhone yet. Period.

With no home button, Super AMOLED edge-to-edge display, TrueDepth Camera system, and wireless charging, it’s a new beginning for a product already loved and cherished by millions.

About this iPhone X review

I believe to make a full review of a smartphone, you need to spend some time with it. However, I do give first impressions. This in-depth review is based on the fact that I’ve been using the iPhone X for more than a month in a realistic way, with a couple of iOS 11 updates.

Unit reviewed: iPhone X, 64GB, Silver color

iPhone X review
iPhone X
Verdict
The iPhone X is the most innovative iPhone since iPhone was born. With no home button, edge-to-edge screen, and Face ID, Apple's latest smartphone has once again raised the bar for the competition.
Design
8.5
Features
9
Performance
9
Camera
8
Battery
8
The Good
Face ID
Best screen on an iPhone ever
Great camera
The Bad
Very expensive
No headphone jack
The notch can be intrusive
8.5
Gotechtor Score
Where to buy

How we rate and review products

iPhone X Package Contents

For a $1000 phone, you’d think you won’t need to buy any accessories. You’re wrong. These are what you get in the iPhone X box.

  • Documentation
  • Two Apple stickers
  • The iPhone X itself
  • Wall charger
  • Wired EarPods (dongle included)
  • Lightning cable

That’s pretty much it! For $1000, that’s all you get. For any other accessories, you must buy them separately.

Some accessories, like the wireless charging pad and wireless AirPods, are necessary for a great experience. It would be perfect if they’d included the wireless AirPods.

They got rid of the headphone jack for a better audio experience, and yet they put a wired headphone with a dongle in the box. Make it make sense for me.

Wireless charging isn’t really necessary since it’s slower than wired charging. However, Apple’s wireless charging mat is very convenient since you can charge up to three devices at once (iPhone X, AirPods, Apple Watch).

If you want Apple’s AirPods, they’ll cost you $159, and they’re already sold out until 2018 at the time of this writing. If you were planning to buy a pair for Christmas, you won’t get them until January. Too bad.

The wireless charging pad will set you back between $15 and $60. That’s for third-party manufacturers. The original will definitely be more expensive.

Hardware and Design

If you’ve been using iPhones for the last couple of years, you know this one is different. Previous models always looked the same, except for the iPhone 5, which felt different because of the taller screen.

You may take a look at the iPhone evolution to have a better idea of how much it has changed over the years.

The iPhone X looks and feels premium. It’s all screen in the front except there’s a notch at the top of the screen, which houses the TrueDepth Camera system. This is one of the most significant upgrades the iPhone has had since 2007.

There’s no home button. It’s all about touch gestures to move around your iPhone. You swipe up to go home.

The OLED screen looks brighter and has better contrast than the LCD used in previous models. It also has Apple’s true tone system, which adjusts temperature color to the ambient light, so your screen always looks sharp and bright regardless of where you are.

Since it’s an OLED screen, you can expect burn-in when you tilt your phone. On my daily use, I have experienced none of that. At least not yet.

You got more real estate screen–a 5.8-inch OLED display–in a more pocketable iPhone. As long as you don’t mind losing in width since the iPhone X’s display is narrower than the iPhone Plus models.

It weighs 174 grams, which makes it lighter than the iPhone 8 Plus and slightly heavier than the iPhone 8.

iphone x review

The back is made of glass, which allows wireless charging. A double-camera system (one wide-angle lens and one 2x telephoto) is vertically aligned with a big protrusion in the upper left corner of the phone.

Without a case, it will certainly get in the way when the phone is lying flat on a surface. Most people will use their iPhone X with a case, so it’s no big deal since they won’t notice that bump. Since day one, I’ve been using mine with a case, so it doesn’t bother me at all.

Nothing has really changed on the sides of the phone except the power button, which is now larger and makes it easier to find and press.

Now, the power button alone cannot turn off the phone. You need to press the power and volume buttons to turn off the phone. If you press and hold it, you’ll summon Siri. Double-tap will activate Apple Pay.

There’s still no headphone jack. The only port you’ll find at the bottom is the lightning port between the two speakers. Nothing new here.

You’ll connect your wireless headphones through Bluetooth 5 technology for music and other listening. If you want to use your wired headphones, here’s the dongle for that.

No headphone jack shouldn’t be a problem for most people. Technology is moving fast, and we’ve got to understand headphone jacks will be a thing of the past soon.

Wireless connectivity is the future we’re heading towards. More phone manufacturers are ditching the headphone jack in favor of wireless earbuds, and the phone makers that still keep it will eventually get rid of it.

Face ID and Animoji

Touch ID is gone. It’s a thing of the past. Touch ID was fast and working fine, except in certain conditions when your fingers are sweaty, it may not work properly.

Most people would have preferred Apple to leave Touch ID as a second option to unlock the phone. But Apple decided to remove it altogether along with the home button.

Face ID is impressive, and it’s easy to set up. It requires access to your eyes, nose, and mouth. I cover my chin, and it still works. So far, it’s been working fine as advertised.

If it fails to unlock your phone, you’ve got to understand you need to line up your phone at certain angles so it can see your whole face. It works in the dark, too, thanks to that infrared illuminator.

Face ID has a feature called Attention Awareness that’s enabled by default. So make sure you look at the screen. Otherwise, Face ID won’t work. You can also turn it off in settings.

iphone x review

It’s more convenient than Touch ID sometimes. It doesn’t matter if you have wet fingers or gloves on. The fact that I can authenticate myself with a simple glance at the screen feels simple and natural. However, you have to swipe up to get to the home screen.

To make it work faster, you don’t need to wait for the lock icon to switch from closed to open before swiping up. While Face ID scans your face, which takes less than a second, you can swipe up, and it will unlock faster. That is what I’ve observed in my day-to-day use. 

Animoji alone isn’t a strong enough selling point to convince someone to spend $1,000 on a phone. Don’t get me wrong, Animoji is fun. I’ve used it once in a while for now.

I see what Apple is trying to do here. People love emojis; they use them all the time and everywhere. But static emojis can sometimes feel a bit boring.

Besides Face ID and the first-of-its-kind TrueDepth Camera system, Apple gives its customers another appealing reason to buy the iPhone X: Animoji. It’s incredibly well done, but not everybody will find it a buying factor.

Animoji is included in iMessage and lets people send animated emojis. So far, there’re twelve characters, and of course, they include the Smiling Pile of Poo.

It’s weird, but it’s 2017. The point here is that the camera can track and map your facial expressions, which blows my mind.

Camera

iphone x review

If you bought an iPhone 8 Plus, you won’t notice much difference when comparing pictures taken from the iPhone X since both have very similar cameras. The cameras are among the very best in the smartphone industry.

To take great pictures with iPhones, you need to know the tricks. But with a larger aperture on the telephoto lens and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on both lenses, it will help you take superb pictures.

There’s no issue with shooting pictures after sunset thanks to the f/2.4 aperture, which allows sharper and brighter images in low light. Now, you can shoot portrait selfies. They don’t look quite as natural as the Pixel phones, which don’t have depth sensors.

However, portrait pictures from the rear cameras look much better. The TrueDepth Camera, which is responsible for Face ID and Animoji, is another addition to the camera system, as described in the section above.

The technology they’ve put into that little cut-out at the top of the screen (the notch) really sets the iPhone X apart from its competitors.

Software, Battery Life, Performance

iphone x review

The software is pretty much the same as that of any iPhone running iOS 11, except with some tweaks. Since there’s no home button, we now rely on touch gestures to navigate the iPhone X.

Honestly, it didn’t take me long to get used to them. I feel awkward when I use an iPhone Plus model because of the size and the home button, but touch gestures are effortless and feel more natural.

With an OLED display, we expect more battery life from the iPhone X since it consumes less power than the LCD. I’m a heavy smartphone user and use my iPhone X a lot, so it barely lasts me a full day without recharging.

It might differ for someone who doesn’t use it as much as I do. Well, with a phone with that kind of technology, it definitely makes sense to use the hell out of it. Don’t get me wrong, its battery life is good, but the iPhone 8 Plus battery is better.

There’s no question about performance. The iPhone X is simply a monster. With that A11 Bionic processor, it handles everything I throw at it in my testing. Everything is smooth and responds instantly to multiple apps running simultaneously.

You have enough horsepower to get through just everything. However, you’ll probably have a smoother and better experience with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus since they don’t have the augmented reality (AR) features the iPhone X has, which require more power.

Final Thoughts on this iPhone X Review

So now, is it worth the money they’re asking for? Apple products have always been expensive, so this should be no surprise to anybody.

iphone x review

It’s all relative. Everyone sees expensive, affordable, and cheap differently. What might be expensive to you might be affordable to somebody else. To truly justify the iPhone X price, we cannot just consider one particular aspect as a selling point.

The iPhone X overall is a great product, with advanced technology and solid OS. You’ll find posts on the internet that break down the iPhone X components’ price to justify it’s not worth the price. I’m trying here to be as unbiased as I can be.

You should note that the parts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making an iPhone. The big deal is the research and development of the technology inside the phone.

It was just a matter of time before Apple’s iPhones reached the four-figure price range. Phones like the Galaxy Note 8 are in the same price range, but nobody makes a big deal out of it.

It is unrealistic to charge $200 more for the iPhone X than the 8 Plus. The main differences are the OLED display and the TrueDepth Camera system.

Sure, OLED displays are twice as expensive as LCD displays, and Face ID is a great technology, but it still doesn’t justify that big price difference.

It would have made more sense if Apple had charged $100 more for the iPhone X, which would have made it cheaper than the Note 8. For $1000, Apple could have added either the AirPods or a wireless charger.

At the end of the day, it’s Apple. They’re known for many things in the world of technology, and selling affordable products is certainly not one of them.

Should you buy it? It totally depends on you. But you may consider the iPhone 8 Plus, a great alternative. With those $200, you can buy yourself a nice pair of AirPods.

Founder & Editor-in-Chief

Herby has a healthy obsession with all things technology, especially smartphones. He loves to rip things apart to see how they work. He is responsible for the editorial direction, strategy, and growth of Gotechtor.

Herby Jasmin

's latest stories

Leave a Comment

Be kind. Ask questions. Discriminatory language, personal attacks, promotion, and spam will be removed. Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.