In 2007, Apple released the first iPhone, without understatement setting the smartphone development vector for 10 years. But all this time, the company's competitors did not sit still and recently offered models that were better not only in functionality, but also in design. The latter was especially true, since Apple essentially used the iPhone 6 case for three years in a row, making cosmetic changes to it and changing materials. This caused more and more discontent among users who wanted not only new functions with the purchase of another iPhone, but also new sensations from using it. Apple decided to meet this need with the release of the anniversary iPhone X, which received a completely new design, as well as a new technology of biometric Face ID authentication instead of the usual fingerprint scanner. That being said, Apple has valued the new looks and technologies more than ever before, so let's take a look at what the iPhone X is capable of.
Contents of delivery
Despite the high price tag, the iPhone X comes with nothing to surprise you. In the box with the smartphone, you can find the same familiar set: a charger, a cable and headphones with Lightning, as well as an adapter for a 3.5 mm jack.
As with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, Apple even skimped on the USB-C to Lightning cable, which allows you to quickly charge your smartphone through the power supplies of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops, or directly from them.
Design and materials
iPhone X is the first Apple smartphone with a 5.8-inch display, which takes up almost the entire bezel of the case, rounded at the corners and leaving only relatively thin bezels, as well as a noticeable protrusion at the top. The latter caused an ambiguous reaction after the announcement of the smartphone, but in practice, after a day of using the iPhone X, you cease to notice it.
Apple justifies the presence of the protrusion by hiding underneath the cameras and TrueDepth sensors required for Face ID to work. But he also has another purpose - to make the iPhone X stand out from the background of other "frameless" models. After all, judge for yourself, the next few generations, all top smartphones will look almost the same: with large screens and thin frames. And how to make your model stand out from the rest will be a headache for all designers. I am sure that Johnny Ive thought for a long time how to get out of this situation, and in the end he came up with a protrusion that, although it takes a piece of the smartphone screen, makes it recognizable. Even if you just draw the silhouette of the device, you will most likely recognize the iPhone X in it.
Of the other "frameless" models, only the Galaxy S8 / S8 + and Essential Phone can boast of the same recognizability.
The back of the iPhone X also received a recognizable design element in the form of a vertically positioned camera block. But otherwise, this part of the body is not much different from what we have already seen in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
The main body material of the iPhone X is glass, which covers both the front and back panels of the case, slightly curving around the edges. The edges are made of polished surgical steel.
In general, the design of the new Apple smartphone is still more pleasant than not. Live the device looks very different from the pictures and feels really modern.
The dimensions of the iPhone X are 143.5x70.9x7.7 mm and weighs 174 grams. The new smartphone is slightly larger than the iPhone 8, but much more compact than the iPhone 8 Plus.
At the moment, two iPhone X body colors are available for purchase: Space Gray and Silver.
Both options have a black bezel.
Water and dust resistant
IPhone X is IP67 water and dust resistant and can be briefly submerged in water up to 1 meter deep. However, given the price of the smartphone, it is better not to risk it, the warranty does not cover the failure of the device due to water ingress.
TrueDepth and Face ID
The lip that forms the case at the top of the iPhone X display houses the TrueDepth camera system. It consists of an infrared camera, an infrared emitter, a 7 megapixel camera and a dot projector.
All this is necessary in order to create a detailed structural map of the user's face and activate the Face ID biometric authentication system. The TrueDepth camera projects about 30,000 invisible points, while the infrared camera reads them, creating a volumetric facial map in the infrared spectrum. The infrared sensor allows you to do this even in complete darkness. The collected data is sent to the Secure Enclave module embedded in the A11 Bionic processor. Apple assures that they are not transferred to the cloud, but are stored only on the device itself. With further use of Face ID, the data from the cameras is compared with the data from the Secure Enclave, after which the user is authenticated.
Face ID can be activated the first time you turn on your iPhone X, or later. The whole setup process is easier and faster than it was with Touch ID. In the camera window that appears, you just need to turn your head, the easiest way is to imagine that you are describing a circle with your nose. After that TrueDepth creates a face map and the magic begins. Despite all the rumors that in order to speed up the production of the iPhone X, Apple has reduced the accuracy of the system, it works almost perfectly. And it doesn't matter if you are wearing glasses or wearing a hat. I scanned my face without glasses, and it was not difficult for Face ID to recognize me when I was outside in the dark with glasses and a hood over my head. At the same time, the system learns if you try to puff out your cheeks, thereby changing the shape of your face, Face ID will not work, but only the first time. After you enter the unlock pin code, the system understands that it was you and will continue to work without interruptions.
Overall, Face ID is slightly slower than the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, but the difference isn't significant enough to make any difference. Moreover, with Face ID you don't need to press anything at all. The screen itself activates when you move, when you pick it up from the table or take it out of your pocket, and the moment you look at it, the lock is removed. If you close your eyes, the block will not be removed. Even the alerts won't show until TrueDepth makes sure you're looking directly at the screen.
After using the iPhone X, you begin to realize that Face ID is generally more convenient than a fingerprint scanner. This system seems to take you back to the past, when only a password could be used to protect data in a smartphone, but everyone was too lazy to set it. Only in the case of Face ID does the protection really work. True, if you have an angry twin brother or sister, or close relatives similar to you, then Face ID may miss them. But in such a situation, in any case, you need to acquire a complex password.
Display
The iPhone X is Apple's first OLED display with a 5.8-inch diagonal, 2436-by-1125 dots (458 ppi) resolution and a 19.5: 9 aspect ratio. The screen was marketed as Super Retina HD, with a standard contrast ratio of 1,000,000: 1, brightness up to 625 cd / m², and support for 3D Touch pressure recognition.
The display looks very colorful, but its color reproduction is closer to natural colors thanks to the factory calibration, and it can display the extended color gamut of P3. The screen also features True Tone technology, which, using a 10-channel light sensor, adjusts the white balance to match the color temperature of the display to the ambient light, reducing eye strain. At the same time, unlike the iPhone 8/8 Plus, the iPhone X screen supports Dolby Vision HDR, so some YouTube and iTunes videos will be played with increased brightness for better contrasting scenes.
Like all OLEDs, the iPhone X uses a PenTile pixel layout, with each pixel having a red, blue, and green subpixel. At a lower resolution, the iPhone X's display would be grainy, but at 458ppi, the PenTile can only be seen by people with super vision.
The 19.5: 9 aspect ratio on the iPhone X means the screen is taller and narrower than 16: 9. This makes UI elements, images, and text appear smaller on the 5.8-inch iPhone X display than on the 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus.
In addition, not all iOS applications have been adapted to the new aspect ratio yet, and the video is cropped at the edges. Although it can be stretched to fill the entire screen, the protrusion will still get in the way a little.
Platform and performance
The iPhone X is built on the same hardware platform as the iPhone 8 Plus. The smartphone is equipped with a 10nm 6-core A11 Bionic processor (4 + 2 cores) with 64-bit architecture, clocked at 2.39 GHz. It also has a Neural Engine chip for machine learning, an M11 motion coprocessor and a 3-core graphics accelerator. Both in synthetic tests and in personal impressions of use, the A11 Bionic is one of the fastest processors today.
The interface, games and applications run very quickly on the iPhone X. At the same time, it should be noted that Apple traditionally does not pursue large amounts of RAM. Like the iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus, the new smartphone comes with 3GB of RAM. But this turns out to be more than enough for comfortable work with the device in multitasking mode.
The amount of internal memory in the iPhone X can be 64 or 256 GB. There is no support for memory cards in Apple smartphones.
Interface and control
Since in the iPhone X almost the entire front panel is occupied by the screen, there was no place on the smartphone body for the Home key, which is familiar to users. So Apple had to come up with new ways to navigate the interface. And the company as a whole succeeded. Applications in the iPhone X are minimized with a swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen, and if you hold your finger a little, a menu with cards of all open programs opens.
In order to close and not minimize the application, now you need to hold and hold your finger on the program window in the multitasking menu until a red circle with a white minus appears in its upper left corner. It's not as convenient as the usual swipe on iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, but most iOS users rarely quit apps anyway.
The new gesture from the bottom to the top of the screen required the transfer of the control center, and now it is called by pulling the display on the upper right side down. Why right? Yes, because with a downward gesture from the upper left and center of the screen, the notification panel is called up with access to the widgets and the camera.
This kind of navigation is a little confusing and takes some getting used to. In addition, it is difficult to open the notification panel with the thumbs of the right hand, and the control center with the left one. Such is the deterioration in ergonomics.
Other changes to the iPhone X interface include the keyboard. It sits just above the bottom edge of the display for a more familiar typing experience. Nevertheless, the empty space under the keyboard is not used very efficiently. Under it there is a key for changing the language, as well as for voice input, and that's all, although you could fit into it, for example, a panel with emoticons. In addition, pressing the button for switching languages is not very convenient, with the thumb of your left hand you have to reach to the very bottom of the case.
Otherwise, working with iOS 11.1 on the iPhone X is convenient, especially the quick transition between applications, with a simple swipe at the bottom of the screen, you can switch from one window to another.
By removing the Home button, Apple had to figure out how not to increase the number of keys on the edges, transferring it to its existing other functions. As a result, all the mechanical buttons on the side edges of the iPhone X have become multitasking. Let me remind you that there is a power key on the right side of the case, and a volume rocker on the left.
All buttons are larger than in previous iPhones and are easier to press. This was necessary in order to facilitate the use of keyboard shortcuts. For example, if you press the volume control up and the power button, you will get a screenshot. But if you hold down the same combination, a window will open through which you can turn off or restart the smartphone. Siri is called by pressing the power button, and if you press it five times in a row, Face ID turns off and the smartphone requires a password to unlock.
Animoji
The funniest innovation in the iPhone X is animated emoji, or Animoji, as Apple calls them.
At the moment, they are only available in iMessage and allow you to send voice messages or just facial expressions through animated emoji. They managed to implement them thanks to the same TrueDepth system, which is able to track the movements of 50 facial muscles and, accordingly, animate emoji with the user's facial expressions.
There are not many practical uses for Animoji, but it is a very fun way to exchange messages. And some users are already amusing themselves by arranging karaoke from animoji. Just look at these masterpieces:
Cameras
Both main cameras in the iPhone X are 12-megapixel and equipped with optical stabilization, but the module with a wide-angle lens has an aperture of f / 1.8, and with a telephoto lens - f / 2.4. Let me remind you that the iPhone 8 Plus has a telephoto camera without OIS and with an f / 2.8 aperture. Thus, the pictures taken with a wide-angle camera from smartphones are almost no different.
Shots with a wide-angle camera in good lighting:
Wide-angle camera shots in low light:
The advantage is seen when shooting with a telephoto camera, as well as when creating portraits.
Pictures with a telephoto camera in good lighting:
Portrait mode works well when it is able to clearly separate the boundaries of the subject from the background:
Nevertheless, he still weakly works out the hair, blurring it, or vice versa, gluing pieces of the background to it:
In general, like the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X's cameras capture high-quality images in both good and low light.
It is also worth noting the new features of the portrait mode, which allow you to change the lighting on it after the photo has been taken. While they are in beta, they do not always work well, but in conditions where the system can determine the edges of the subject, you can get really interesting shots.
The front camera of the iPhone X is 7-megapixel, and in itself there is nothing special about it. But since the device is also equipped with the TrueDepth system, this allowed Apple to implement portrait mode on the front camera, taking pictures with a blurred background.
While this does not work very well, the camera often makes the mistake of blending the edges of the subject with the background.
Audio
The iPhone X does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack; you can connect them either via an adapter or directly via Lightning. Therefore, for more convenience, it is worth getting wireless headphones. The smartphone supports connection via Bluetooth 5.0.
Like the iPhone 8/8 Plus, the iPhone X has stereo speakers, one located next to the spoken one and the other on the bottom edge. The smartphone sounds a little louder than the iPhone 8 Plus, but less voluminous.
Autonomy
The iPhone X has a 2,716mAh battery, slightly more than the 2,675mAh of the iPhone 8 Plus. However, a larger display with a higher resolution virtually eliminates the difference in battery life. Thus, the iPhone X lasts a little over a day on a single charge. In Geekbench 4 test at 50% screen brightness and maximum load, it lasted 5.5 hours.
Minuses: nuances of the interface, the bundled power supply does not support fast charging, high price even for iPhone
Conclusion: iPhone X is the most expensive and at the same time the most advanced Apple smartphone in all ten years of the iPhone. For the first time in three years, the company has completely renewed the design of a new model, following the trend of decreasing screen bezels. And that alone was enough to generate a lot of interest from buyers. But Apple did not limit itself to just one appearance, the iPhone X received a large OLED display, an innovative Face ID system, two main cameras with optical stabilization, and all this in addition to a set of the already good characteristics of the iPhone 8 Plus. Thus, Apple has got a functional, very productive and most importantly recognizable smartphone. That being said, don't assume that the iPhone X is flawless. This is both a high price, and a package, and a not entirely thought-out interface. How serious these disadvantages are, each potential buyer of the iPhone X will decide on their own. I will note that the advantages of the new iPhone are still greater. In addition, if 10 years ago Apple made a breakthrough with its multi-touch screen, today TrueDepth looks no less impressive. This set of sensors and cameras could really change the way we interact with smartphones in the future.
Smartphone
iPhone 2017 will be special - it became clear back in the summer of 2016. At first, there weren't even rumors, but fan theories: they say, in 2017 the very first Apple smartphone will be 10 years old, and the company will try to surprise with another novelty to the maximum, implementing in it an innovative design and the most progressive technologies, as not yet mastered not by any other manufacturer, as well as those for the absence of which in the "iPhones" of the Californian company has long been blamed (for example, OLED screens).
And so it happened. For several years now, new generations of smartphones (both Apple products and products from other manufacturers) have only slightly improved and upgraded the user experience, but the essence has remained the same. The iPhone X (Apple pronounces it as "ten", not "X") changes it dramatically: a different method of unlocking and confirming purchases, a more functional selfie camera, a completely different control mechanics, a large screen in a compact body, finally, for the first time in three years the new design is controversial, but effectively "rebuilds" the iPhone X from dozens of "bezel-less" and seemingly such Android smartphones.
I received an iPhone X for testing on the afternoon of Tuesday October 31, and gave myself 48 hours to prepare a review - negligible compared to the usual testing period, but enough to identify the main pros and cons. Due to the limited time (after all, I really want to publish the text before the new items appear on sale), in this review I am not ready to draw unambiguous conclusions about two things: the battery life (in the early days, the smartphone battery is traditionally discharged faster than usual - new ones are installed programs, and just hands constantly reaching out to fiddle with the device) and the quality of the camera in comparison with the main competitors - Galaxy Note8 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro (Pixel 2 and 2 XL will be taken out of the brackets - in Russia they are unlikely to be officially sold and I have samples on no hands). But I'll tell you about the things that cause the most questions - FaceID and the quality of its work, the convenience of a new control scheme using gestures and the intrusiveness of a conspicuous protrusion with True Depth camera sensors, which some have already dubbed "the eyebrow". So let's go.
IPhone X review: taking Apple's new product in hand
I confess: I never held the first iPhone in my hands (I started writing on high-tech topics only two years after its release, in 2009), but for some reason I want to compare the new iPhone X first of all with it. Maybe it's the brightly shiny frame - polished "surgical" (Apple's marketers use this term) steel, unpainted on the white iPhone X and painted "at the molecular level" in black. Maybe - in a slightly increased thickness compared to previous models up to 7.7 mm (after putting on a proprietary cover that turns the "protrusion" of the double camera into a "depression", it increases even more).
The memories of the iPhone 4 are also appropriate: after all, it was with it that the design of the "glass sandwich" type debuted, then repeatedly copied by competitors. Design, quickly abandoned by Apple, and now, in 2017, again triumphantly returning. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, maybe in recent years such a design had too many imitators, but something prevents me from experiencing the still alive in memory of the iPhone 4 (and how many years have passed) a sense of delight and involvement "with of the future "when you hold your iPhone X in your hand.
Maybe the line connecting the steel frame and the glass of the screen / back cover would not be felt at all. In the iPhone X there, if you look closely or run your fingernail, you can see the shock-absorbing and sealing structure of the plastic pad, and when you hold the smartphone in your hand, your fingers and palm feel uneven - it's tiny, but you can't ignore it. Maybe the vertically oriented dual camera looks too massive on a relatively compact body. Or maybe just the frames around the screen seem, after they got rid of the "forehead" and "chin" that have become almost native in 10 years, not narrow enough. After all, it is known - when you remove from somewhere "almost everything superfluous", what still remains will be striking with a vengeance.
Instead of the "forehead", attention in the upper part of the smartphone is now attracted by the "ears" of the screen and the "eyebrow" separating them - the protrusion in which the earpiece, light / proximity sensors and the same TrueDepth camera with an infrared illuminator, a projector of points and two (normal and infrared) sensors. The camera, which, in all honesty, is the main and only truly unique innovation in the iPhone X., and how it works in practice, I'll tell you later in this review.
Does the protrusion on the iPhone X screen get in the way, is it an eyesore? More likely no than yes. In the vertical orientation, applications optimized for the novelty (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat) have learned to "wrap around" it, in Safari, "Notes" or iBooks, it is effectively compensated by the increased "height" of the screen. In horizontal - and most often we turn the iPhone horizontally to watch a video or photo - it is simply not visible if the aspect ratio of the picture is 16: 9 or 4: 3, such in practice (YouTube, popular TV shows, photos and videos from a smartphone camera) are overwhelming majority.
Problems will arise with films where the aspect ratio of the picture is "theatrical" - 21: 9 or more. Then the owners of the iPhone X are left with two options, both bad: to watch a video with black frames on all four sides, or to "fit" it into the screen so that the unfortunate protrusion will "bite off" part of the picture from the edge. In this rather rare scenario, the "endless" displays of the flagships of Samsung or Huawei Mate 10 Pro are better suited - you have to put up only with black stripes at the top and bottom, or with the "cropping" of the picture on the right and left.
Finding fault with the appearance of the iPhone X, like any other smartphone, can be quite long. Perhaps if fate had given Steve Jobs six more years of his life, he would have forced his colleagues to create something more uncompromising. But the fact is this: the appearance of Apple's new product is absolutely recognizable, the screen with an "eyebrow" allows you to uniquely identify the iPhone X even from a distance of several meters, you can't even confuse it with the Essential Phone, which has a similar protrusion much narrower and contains only one front camera.
If Apple followed the path of Android-manufacturers, which cut side frames to the limit and leave smartphones with narrow "forehead" and "chin", the iPhone X would lose its recognition and risk being confused with "Samsung and other Huawei". And people who are going to give $ 1000 or more for it in the coming weeks would not forgive the creators of the novelty for this. It is much easier to forgive the not so thin, as some dreamed of, the framework.
IPhone X review: gestures instead of the Home button and other features of xOS 11
Although the iPhone X runs on the same operating system as other iPhones and iPads - iOS 11.1, it tempts to call it xOS, because there are quite noticeable differences, both external - rounded corners of the screen, and functional. Don't bother trying to find the Home button and TouchID fingerprint reader - they're not here. The front-facing TrueDepth camera and the FaceID function are now responsible for unlocking, the work of which we will discuss separately. As for the "business card" of the iPhone from the very first model - the round "Home" button - and functional combinations with its participation, they were replaced by completely new gestures and button "combos". Here is an exhaustive list of magic passes that all iPhone X owners will have to master:
How to control iPhone X
Unlocking: take the smartphone in hand / swing it slightly / touch the screen once / press the side lock button → slide your finger from the very bottom edge of the screen (if FaceID protection is installed, it manages to trigger during manipulations)
How to sign out of the app to the Home screen on iPhone X: swipe up from the bottom of the screen
How to call the "Control Center" or "Action Center": drag your finger from the top edge of the screen to the right or left, respectively
How to invoke Reachability on iPhone X(when the active application or the home screen "descends" to half the screen for convenient one-handed operation, on the iPhone 6-6S-7-8 Plus, double-tapping the "Home" button was called): slide your finger along the bottom edge of the screen from top to bottom. Works, including on the "Home" screen
Quickly switch between recently launched apps on iPhone X: slide your finger horizontally along the strip at the bottom of the screen, also works on the Home screen
Bring up the multitasking interface with "cards" applications on the iPhone X: swipe from the bottom of the screen to the middle, wait half a second for tactile feedback, release your finger
Force Quit Application on iPhone X: see the previous point, then touch and hold the application card until all cards have a minus icon in the corner, then swipe the application up or press the minus:
How to turn off iPhone X: Press and hold the lock button and any of the volume buttons for a few seconds until the shutdown / emergency call interface appears on the screen
How to take a screenshot on iPhone X: Press and then release the lock and volume up buttons at the same time
How to call Siri on iPhone X: Press and hold the side lock button
How to pay with Apple Pay in a store on iPhone X: quickly press the side lock button twice, select the desired card, wait for FaceID to work (most likely, it will have time to work in a second after double-pressing the side button), bring the smartphone to the payment terminal
How to turn on camera or flashlight on iPhone X without unlocking: press firmly on the corresponding icons on the lock screen and release:
Press and quickly release the "Volume Up" button, then the "Volume Down" button, then hold down the side lock button and hold it until the screen turns off and the Apple logo appears on it.
IPhone X control gestures: impressions
In my opinion, gesture control of the iPhone X is no more difficult, and in some ways more natural than previous models using the Home button and other keys. It took literally a few hours to get used to it - by the end of the first day of use, I was already automatically trying to exit applications by swiping from below on the iPhone 7 Plus. So far, my favorite gesture is a horizontal swipe along the strip at the bottom of the screen; it has not been possible to switch between programs so easily on any smartphone, be it Apple products or other manufacturers. There is a suspicion that in the coming year the market for Android smartphones will face a lot of, in varying degrees, successful attempts to imitate this function.
What is causing the most inconvenience so far is the "move" of the "Control Center" call zone to the upper right "ear" of the screen. Previously, it was possible to reach the camera, timer, alarm clock, calculator and, most importantly, the music controls by holding the smartphone with one hand - swiping from below could be done without any problems on the massive iPhone 7 Plus. Now you have to reach up with your finger, and this distance is not much shorter for the iPhone X than for the Plus, and without intercepting the body higher or using the Easy Access, it is impossible to reach there. It is also sad that there is no more room for a numerical indicator of the remaining battery charge in the status bar because of the "eyebrow" of the screen, even in power saving mode - "percent" can be seen only by "pulling out" the "control center" panel from the top.
Instagram, Facebook and a number of other popular programs no longer have problems with "wrapping" the screen protrusion.
However, these problems pale in comparison with the "perfectionist hell" in which you plunge, launching applications not adapted to the new aspect ratio of the screen - and this is the majority of programs, except for ultra-popular on a global scale, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat. Applications, depending on the approach used by the developers to draw the interface, either display the picture in the aspect ratio of the iPhone 6/7/8, leaving huge black bars at the top and bottom (for example, "Sberbank"), or rebuild it automatically so that it would be better not to rebuild ... For example, the text input line may appear exactly in the middle of the screen, or the background in the "ears" area will be partially transparent. Popular applications like Telegram or VK will probably be promptly updated, but with less actively supported programs, I feel that I will have to suffer no less than in the first year after the iPhone 6/6 Plus appeared.
Interface glitches in Telegram
Another reason to grumble about the decrease in the usability of the interface is the keyboard. In general, typing on it is more convenient than ever: the keys are larger than on the iPhone 6/7/8, but at the same time the width of the keyboard (and the body of the smartphone) is smaller, that is, two birds with one stone are struck outright. Nevertheless, the Apple UI developers failed not to spoil the holiday for us: the button for switching the layout, which is relevant for Russians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese and any other users whose native language does not use the Latin alphabet, has moved to the most difficult to achieve with the "one-handed" dialing place - bottom left corner of the screen.
Thus, only left-handers were lucky. I really want to get a setting in future iOS updates that allows you to swap the input language switch and the "microphone" located now on the right to activate dictation. It is also interesting to see how third-party keyboards - Fleksy, Swype, SwiftKey, etc. will be updated for the iPhone X.
IPhone X review: how to set up and use FaceID
What is FaceID anyway? The answer is: this is the first ever 3D face and gaze recognition system to be produced on such a large scale and to work so efficiently. And yes, this is the most important innovation of the iPhone X - unlike wireless charging or the "endless" screen, no one has had anything like this. Yes, there were attempts to integrate unlocking by face and / or iris scan from Google and Samsung, but these systems were capricious and unsafe (for example, they were easily "fooled" by a high-quality photo). Apple managed not only to embed its own modified analogue of Microsoft Kinect into the "eyebrow" of the iPhone X, but also to make it work no worse than TouchID, at least no worse than its first version. About the device that provides infrared 3D scanning of the front camera face, I see no reason to repeat myself, here I will talk about the practical side of the matter.
The iPhone X will offer to register FaceID during the initial setup - just twist your nose twice (literally) in front of the front camera. You can skip this and do it later, but I personally don't see any point in avoiding registering FaceID - because it works, especially for a technology debuting for the first time in a mass product, just fine. Ideally, the iPhone X is unlocked by scanning the face like this: take the smartphone in your hand, while the screen turns on, you pull your finger to the bottom edge of the screen, swipe up, perhaps a split second delay during which an animation is displayed in the middle of the screen, and that's it - the smartphone is unlocked ...
In practice, in the first hours of use, FaceID is triggered about four times out of five, refusing to recognize a face at an angle, at too great or too small distance, in a backlight, wearing glasses (if you registered FaceID without glasses), wearing a hat, etc. But the system, as promised by Apple, learns very quickly, "remembering" each new image that it initially refused to recognize, but received its confirmation in the form of a PIN or password. By the end of the first day of use, the iPhone X recognized me both in large headphones on my head, and on the street with the lower half of my face covered with a scarf, and with a grimace on my face. This morning I used my iPhone X in the car for the first time, fixing it on the air duct grid - I had to "train" the 3D scanner again by entering the password, after which it was unlocked even when I was looking at the road, sitting behind the wheel in a normal position, without turning my head to the phone ...
What the system, alas, apparently, in principle, cannot be taught is to "see" you from a large angle when you are working at the table and the smartphone is lying nearby. You have to bring your face closer to the TrueDepth camera or put the iPhone upright - for the first time I regretted that I had not acquired a proprietary docking station. By the way, in this case, for the first time, a completely contactless launch of programs becomes possible: you "wake up" Siri through "Hey Siri", give the command to start, for example, Twitter, the voice assistant activates FaceID, the smartphone unlocks and launches the application.
By default, FaceID requires the user to look at the smartphone at the time of unlocking - otherwise, the device can be "opened" with your face while you sleep. However, if you often have to unlock your smartphone on the go, or, for example, do not want to take your eyes off the road while driving, you can disable this function. Regardless of this, "Attention" can be activated to prevent the automatic blocking of the smartphone in the absence of touching the screen for a long time - it is useful, for example, when you read some text for a long time.
Apple says that the chance of unlocking a FaceID-protected smartphone with the face of another person is 1 in a million (TouchID has 1 in 50,000). True, the probability is higher if a twin or a close relative similar to you tries to do it. In addition, FaceID is less safe for children under 13, whose not fully formed facial features are not as unique as in adults. They are advised to use only a PIN or password. And one more limitation: only one person can be registered per iPhone X. Using TouchID, it was possible to register an "alien" finger, for example, to give someone close to someone close to the smartphone, just in case. IPhone X owners will have to share a PIN to do this. Most likely, the limitation is caused by the fact that with the addition of the second face variant, the smartphone would have to perform twice as many calculations with each unlock request, comparing the "seen" not with one, but with two facial "3D-maps".
I have the most positive impressions of FaceID for two days of use: like any really thoughtful and advanced technology, after the initial stage of additional "training", it becomes completely invisible. As in the literal sense - infrared illuminators and lasers of the invisible spectrum are used, they are invisible in the dark, and in a portable one - you stop noticing the work of the "front" scanner, everything happens "by itself": unlocking the smartphone, authorizing in the banking application, confirming the download of new applications in the App Store (if you want, you can turn it off, but it's convenient!) It seems as if he has returned to the blessed times of unafraid youth, when it never occurred to protect the phone with a password.
IPhone X Review: True Depth Camera, Selfie Portrait Mode, Animoji
FaceID is just one of the features offered by the True Depth front camera. Accurate measurement of the distance to objects in the frame made it possible to turn on the "portrait" mode for a selfie camera with a blurred background (emulation of the bokeh effect typical for professional cameras with appropriate optics). Just like shooting with the rear camera of the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X's camera menu has “studio effects” that change the way the face and background light in selfies is changed. Among other things, you can (you just have to choose a background that is even and "equidistant" from the subject - otherwise oddities are possible) to stylishly "photograph" yourself against a black background, as if in a darkened studio. Here's an example:
Animoji is considered the dumbest by some, and the most innovative feature of the iPhone X, according to others. How to use Animoji: in iMessage, select the "monkey" in the lower bar with application icons, a window appears for selecting one of 12 characters to be "animated" (and, if desired, voiced). "Animoji" try to exactly repeat your facial expressions (or anyone else who looks at the front camera at this time), scanning the movements of about 50 facial muscles. Some characters are more expressive: of course, "turd" is out of competition. I also noticed that the characters work better with joyful and surprised grimaces than sad ones - apparently, Apple traditionally gave a positive attitude.
Finally, in a future version of the Clips app (in iOS 11.1 it has not been updated yet), it will be possible to "embed" yourself in various 360-degree scenes such as a night city or an illustration stylized in the spirit of the Prisma app. And this, of course, will also be realized with the True Depth camera.
IPhone X review: a few words about the OLED screen
In 2017, OLED screens - which do not require separate backlighting and are able to "turn off" completely separate pixels (and, therefore, giving out real black instead of dark gray in LCDs, and more economical) - made their way to Apple smartphones. ... It's just that no other company that knows how to make OLEDs can afford the required volumes for Apple (), so you have to mutually beneficially cooperate with the sworn competitor. What is important, Apple not only buys displays from Koreans, but (as the representatives of the American company claim) independently developed and set the necessary characteristics for them. Here is how the displays of the Samsung Galaxy Note8 (top) and iPhone X look in comparison (both have maximum brightness, auto brightness is off, the functions "Adaptive display" and True Tone, respectively, are on):
A lot, of course, depends on the setting and how the software displays colors, but it seems to me that the two flagships are on an equal footing here. In the photo with the leaves, it seems that the iPhone has a slightly higher dynamic contrast, where the site is open, if you look closely, the white background of the Apple smartphone is barely distinguishable, but whiter. Testing is complicated by the fact that the Note8 has four different color options, I preferred to use Adaptive Display as it was enabled by default on my test device.
In my opinion, the 5.7-inch OLED screen of the iPhone X with (also a first for Apple smartphones!) Super Retina resolution (not quite QuadHD, 1125 x 2436 pixels) is the best thing that has happened to the iPhone screens in their history. ... Yes, like all OLED screens, the iPhone X screen changes slightly and loses contrast when viewed from a high angle, but compared to OLED screens in the vast majority of Android smartphones, this change is almost imperceptible: it seems that they both developed and customized the display with perfectionism peculiar to the Californian company. But, I emphasize, the screens of the Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 + and Note8 do not look worse on the whole.
If you turn off TrueTone (also available on iPad Pro and iPhone 8/8 Plus), iPhone X can feel colder than an LCD iPhone. But with TrueTone they feel noticeably warmer when the user is indoors. Apple also seems to have applied tighter lamination to the iPhone X's screen, making the pixels appear even closer to the glass surface than in previous models. In short, beauty.
IPhone X review: photos and videos
I want to devote a separate material to a detailed study of the iPhone X as a photo and video camera, to compare the new product both with its predecessor and with the main competitor - I would only wait for at least a little sun from the Moscow autumn. In the meantime, briefly about the technical features of the main camera. It, like the cameras in the iPhone 8/8 Plus, processes data from the matrix with a new signal processor and color filter, providing richer colors. The dual rear camera of the iPhone X differs from the "big" "eight" in the characteristics of a telephoto lens that complements the "wide-angle". First, it's faster (f / 2.4 versus f / 2.8 for the iPhone 8 Plus). Secondly, it also received an optical stabilization system (the iPhone 8 Plus has only the "wide-angle" stabilized, while the Samsung Galaxy Note8 has both lenses). As a result, portraits with simulated bokeh require less light, and telephoto shots at night and indoors are sharper.
For the last few years, to get the best camera from Apple, you had to buy the Plus "shovel" and put up with not the most progressive ergonomics. Now the best camera fits into a much more compact body: only half a millimeter thicker and 3.5 mm wider than the iPhone 8. This, in my opinion, is a great joy for anyone who wants to take the highest quality pictures with optical zoom, but does not want to (or due to the small size of the palms, he simply cannot) use the "shovels".
IPhone X review: battery, performance
Having used the iPhone X for only two days, I, forgive me, will not dare to draw unambiguous conclusions about the "survivability" of its battery. Apple says on its official website 12 hours of internet surfing (2 hours more than the iPhone 7), 13 hours of wireless video playback and 60 hours of music. Since any test of a smartphone begins with the installation of a dozen or two applications and almost continuous use of the screen - I want to tinker with the novelty continuously, the first time I successfully drained the iPhone X battery literally in the evening. On the second day, the situation was a little better, but, let's say, so far, the battery of the Apple flagship did not impress me.
Yes, the battery really drains more slowly than the iPhone 7, the "big" iPhone 7/8 Plus, the new iPhone X, in my opinion, is inferior, but for a full day of use without fanaticism it should be enough. Again, I'll make a reservation - this is a purely preliminary impression, I will definitely supplement this part of the review in a week or two. In addition, while there was no opportunity to test wireless charging - there is no "plate" at hand with support for the Qi standard. Likewise, there is no Apple Powerful USB-C Charger (from a MacBook or MacBook Pro) and a USB-C cable to test the manufacturer's fast charge claims with them, promising a 50% full battery in the first half hour. I checked it with a charger from a regular iPad, it turned out 31% in the first half hour, another 30 for the second and another 24% for the third, and a full charge took a little over two hours.
When it comes to performance, we have one of the fastest smartphones on the market, no matter how you measure it. Here is a photo with the results of the Geekbench 4 computational performance test: (from left to right) iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note8. Electronic computing "parrots" in the iPhone X and its A11 Bionic processor have been planted in abundance, do not worry.
Who needs it?
7 years ago, I held in my fist the equivalent of about 1100 rubles in rubles at the then exchange rate and went to Gorbushka for the gray iPhone 4. Because that smartphone was radically different from everything else that Apple's competitors offered at that time - it was distinguished by an ultra-clear screen, incredible in those times with a camera and design "from the future". I have never regretted the money spent in the fall of 2010, and I still sometimes turn on that iPhone 4 for nostalgic reasons, never ceasing to enjoy its appearance, despite the continuous grid of scratches approach iPhone 6s Plus, did not respect).
Today the situation on the market is different - there are many good (that is, meeting 90 percent of the needs of 90 percent of users) smartphones. "Gray" iPhone 7 costs from 35,000 rubles, iPhone 8 - from 45,000, Galaxy S8 - from 36,000, Huawei Honor 9 - generally from 23,000. And all these are smartphones, which, given the price, are quite difficult to find fault with.
iPhone X is a device not without nuances (especially if you are conservative and not ready to get used to new things), and it costs from 80,000 rubles. Its design, it seems to me, can hardly be called futuristic, the "wow" bar set by the iPhone 4 remains unattainable. Moreover, the latest Samsung smartphones with "disappearing" at the edges of the screens today are much more like an accessory from a science fiction movie. But the iPhone X is not the case when for the extra money you get just a gold back panel with a portrait of Putin and inlaid with semiprecious stones. And you get functions, albeit not absolutely necessary, but radically changing the user experience and preparing you for the next decade in the evolution of handheld computers: FaceID (no one else has analogues), wireless charging (with the support of Apple, this technology will surely receive a new impetus for development ), the "magic" capabilities of the cameras, provided by the "neurochip" in the A11 Bionic processor, the screen of new proportions, the absence of "margins" above and below it.
It is this new experience (and, of course, the prohibitive price) that serves as the source of the notorious "wow" in the new Apple flagship, which the happy owners of the novelty will have to hear from envious people in the coming months. Plus, this is one of the best pocket cameras today - although the Pixel 2 and Samsung flagships shoot just as well in most situations, they don't have the ability to really "see" the distance to each point of the user's face when shooting selfies. Finally, it is (as is the case with the latest flagships of Samsung, LG, Huawei and a number of other companies) a large screen in a compact dust-proof and waterproof (IP67 standard) case. True, measuring screens diagonally is a crafty thing, you sometimes miss the wider and "lower" screen of the 7 Plus, and the Note8 display after the iPhone X seems just huge (but there, of course, proportionally huge problems with usability). The iPhone X is indeed more convenient than the iPhone 7/8 Plus, but not as convenient as the iPhone 7 or Samsung Galaxy S8, whose body is almost 3 mm narrower than the case of "dozens".
iPhone X goes on sale in the US, Russia and 51 more countries around the world tomorrow, November 3. Prices: 79,990 rubles for a model with a rather modest 64GB drive by today's standards and 91,990 for a full-fledged 256GB version. From my point of view, you need to take the latter - photos, videos, applications, music stored on the device and podcasts will fill 64 gigabytes of memory much faster than you expect. If you nevertheless decide to save money, use Google Photo to upload photos and videos there from time to time and clear them from your smartphone's memory.
On September 12, 2017, Apple once again came under the scrutiny of millions of people. Probably everyone knew that one of the most anticipated products of the company would be presented on this day. The iPhone X marks the 10th anniversary of the first game-changing iPhone in the cell phone industry.
Why iPhone X?
The release of the iphone X has become an event that the whole world is talking about. In addition to the characteristics and design, the name of the smartphone aroused no less interest. Why X? How does the name of the new item sound correctly? Is the iPhone 9 coming? The questions are quite clear, and we have the answers to them. Let's start in order. Correctly the name of the phone sounds like iPhone "ten". "X" is the Latin number 10, not "X". Ten years ago, the first iPhone was born, and Apple, by skipping the number 9, wanted to show what a breakthrough the company had achieved over that decade.
How has it always been? A model appeared, which received, for example, number 4. It was replaced in a year by a more perfect model, which was assigned the symbol "S". The next model got a higher number and so on. It turns out that Apple has jumped a whole lineup, presenting the "top ten" at once. This numbered game is designed to show how the company has made a breakthrough. Clever? It seems to me quite in the spirit of the company.
Will the iPhone 9 ever be presented? I think it will repeat the fate of the Windows 9 operating system, which never saw the light of day.
Along with the iphone X, other products from the company were presented, including the iPhone 8 and version 8 Plus. Their announcement was another mystery. Why in one day present two good devices that pale in comparison with the "ten"? "Eights" themselves are good, like the improved models of their predecessors, but all the best and most interesting went to the jubilee iPhone. iPhone 8 and its older brother, as it seems, is a kind of intermediate option. After the announcement of the "dozen", the pre-order of the iphone X started only on October 27, and the "eights" could be purchased from September 29. It turns out that they fill the market before the appearance of the “ten”. Considering the number of pre-orders for it, we should expect a shortage of new items. It is quite possible that someone does not want to languish in anticipation and buy one of the "eights".
Apple iPhone X: overview of the characteristics of the flagship smartphone
"Ten" turned out to be the most innovative and conceptual device of the company at the moment. If you look closely, Apple did not create anything new, but took trendy ideas and brought them to mind.
Specifications:
- Display: Super AMOLED, 5.8 inches, resolution 1125 x 2436 pixels, density 468 ppi, technology True Tone.
- Processor: Six-core A11 Bionic.
- Memory: RAM 3 GB, storage capacity 64/256 GB.
- Main camera: dual, 12 MP (wide-angle module and telephoto lens), aperture f / 1.8 and f / 2.4, optical stabilization and optical zoom.
- Front camera: 7-megapixel, f / 2.2 aperture.
- Battery: capacity 2716 mAh, support for wireless charging (Qi).
- Dimensions: 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm.
- Weight: 174 g.
All iPhone X problems and glitches
In order not to torment and certainly do not be offended by all fans of the smartphone, but first, we will tell you about all the known problems. We all understand that the smartphone is flagship, sophisticated and beautiful. This, unfortunately, does not mean that there are no shortcomings. Therefore, we will quickly go over them, and therefore already in detail about the "buns" of the smartphone.
- The iPhone X screen stops working when the temperature drops from warm to cold. Many users have noticed that the touchscreen stops responding to touches if you go out with the phone from a warm room to a cold street. After a few minutes, the screen adapts and starts working. By the way, the instructions say that the operating temperature for using a smartphone is from 0 degrees.
- Some owners of the tenth iPhone have found a green strip on the screen at the right edge. It does not disappear - you have to give it under warranty for a replacement.
- Apple itself has warned that the screen can fade in the sun.
- In some iPhones X, extraneous hum and noise can be heard from the speakers. But this only manifests itself at high volume. There is only one way out - to hand over under warranty.
- iPhone X drains battery very quickly. About 20-30% in half an hour. This only happens if you are watching a YouTube video. And Apple's not the problem! But Google has promised to soon release an update to the YouTube app with a bug fix.
- The glass cover of your smartphone can break even if dropped from a height. Some experts claim that this is the most fragile smartphone of all iPhones.
Face id
Let's start, perhaps, the review of the Apple iPhone X with such a new iPhone feature as face unlock. Smartphones have become an indispensable thing for us: they wake us up, allow us to listen to music, take pictures, communicate. We store personal information on smartphones and use banking services with their help. Protecting sensitive data and strong yet simple authentication have become key security issues. Unlocking with a password is not a particularly secure method. Using a fingerprint scanner is already much better. Some manufacturers have gone further and implemented the Face ID face scanner in their devices. The iphone X also has it now. The smartphone has lost its fingerprint scanner. Those who have now remembered how scanners in other devices successfully deceived with the help of photographs, can not worry and breathe easy. The iphone X distinguishes between flat and embossed images. For this, several sensors and cameras work in the device.
Face ID technology has an amazing opportunity: a person can put on glasses, grow a mustache or beard, look at the display from different angles, but the device will still recognize it. The fact is that the smartphone uses a self-learning system that remembers changes in the user's appearance.
Face ID has its drawbacks. Firstly, face unlocking has a higher chance of errors than users expect. Secondly, this feature does not work with children under the age of 13. Thirdly, if the face of the smartphone owner is seriously injured, for example, in a fire, Face ID will not be available to him.
Another nuance - after face recognition, you cannot use the iPhone immediately. To bypass the lock screen, you will have to make an extra swipe of your finger across the display.
CPU
"Ten" received the most powerful A11 Bionic processor with an integrated graphics processor. We will not describe its advantages for a long time - the network is full of video reviews of the Apple iphone X and its hardware. Today Apple iphone X is one of the most productive flagships on the market. It perfectly copes with the current tasks and demanding hardware games. The stock of performance will definitely be enough for him for two, or even three years. What can I say if AnTuTu gives the smartphone 226,058 "parrots"!
Battery, charging and autonomy "tens"
Apple's new flagship also supports fast charging, which is great. But the company once again confuses users - a standard adapter is included with the device.
The battery of the novelty received a capacity of 2716 mAh. It seems that this is not enough for a large screen of "tens", but the battery life of the iPhone X is pleasantly surprising. The smartphone can withstand a day of work in active mode, which is quite good. The main thing is not to get carried away!
Appearance
The flagship iphone X, whose release date was a landmark event, has received the most memorable look of all Apple models. The design of iPhones has not changed for several years. It is not surprising that the appearance of the new flagship of the company, one of the main features of which is the bezel-less display, aroused great interest.
The second feature of the device's appearance is the aspect ratio of 19.5: 9.
Apple is once again using the win-win tandem of tempered glass and metal in the design of its devices. In the case of the “top ten,” this is surgical steel, from which the frame is made around the perimeter of the case. Minus: despite the strength declared by the manufacturer, the frame will eventually become covered with small scratches. The glass front and back panels look stunningly beautiful. It's a shame that such beauty will be hidden from the eyes by covers and overlays, but this is the fate of all the company's devices.
The model will enter the market in two body colors: black and white. And both are great. The white model looks more attractive visually, but the frame will quickly become covered with scratches. The black model, albeit slightly inferior in beauty to the white, is more resistant to wear.
Looking at the dimensions of the "10", you are afraid that it will not be so comfortable to hold it in your hand than the previous models of the company. In fact, the flagship feels in the hand just like a 4.7-inch smartphone. It's all about the proportions: the iphone X is longer than other iPhones, but narrower.
The downside of the updated design is slippery frames and body. If you want to keep your anniversary iPhone safe and sound - buy a cover right away! After a few days, you notice that the ergonomics of the top 10 are quite good. The main thing is that now you can work with the device with one hand.
Screen
This is one of the main features of the flagship. For the first time in an iPhone, it features OLED technology, a 5.8-inch bezel-less display and an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9. The unusual aspect ratio is ideal for watching full-length films. But most games, videos and applications are not adapted for such a screen.
The upper part of the screen looks original - it houses cameras and sensors.
The display quality is at the highest level. Stunning clarity, great contrast are the first things you notice right away.
True Tone is a feature that is now impossible to do without. Now the device screen automatically adjusts to light conditions, relieving eye strain. This function is indispensable when shooting, but more on that later.
Cameras: Remained Unchanged or Better?
The top ten contains the same module as the iPhone 8 Plus. The main camera is dual, consisting of a 12-megapixel wide-angle and telephoto lens. It is located vertically.
Apple has always been the leader in camera quality for its devices, and this is even more noticeable in the top ten. According to many experts, the smartphone has received one of the best cameras to date. It has accurate colors, great detail and the right white balance in all shooting conditions.
Improved portrait mode is a feature supported by the anniversary iPhone. Now you can create shots that simulate professional studio lighting.
Operating system
The jubilee iPhone received the new iOS 11 with superior performance and rich functionality: new control gestures, an updated App Store, augmented reality and animoji.
The cost of the main flagship Apple and the main competitors
The iPhone is always expensive, and the value of Apple devices grows every year. The iPhone X in Moscow (and here it will appear first of all) at the start of sales will cost about 80,000 rubles for a version with 64 GB of internal memory.
If we talk about the flagship rivals, only Samsung Galaxy Note 8 can beat the top ten in some way. As for the cameras, there are more competitors here. Huawei Mate 10 Pro, Google Pixel 2 XL and LG V30 are filming just as well.
The beautiful iPhone X is Apple's new flagship smartphone of the future, which may soon be your future smartphone, and yes, it looks very attractive.
The iPhone X (pronounced "ten") was announced at the redesigned $ 2.5 billion Apple Park campus and is a superb flagship in Apple's phone lineup.
With a bold new design and many new features that are sure to delight everyone from casual owners to gadget geeks. Let's find out the main questions: yes, it is worth buying and yes, you will be very happy with this phone.
Beautiful design made entirely of glass
What amazed me the most in the short time I spent with the phone was that the new iPhone X is not heavy, but definitely a large phone, larger than the Galaxy S8 or iPhone 7 I was comparing it to. It fits perfectly and confidently in the hand; subtle, thoughtful, and unrealistically beautiful.
Gone - This slippery aluminum back that many complained about in previous versions has been replaced. In its place is a completely glass surface (the back of the phone), although now, by accidentally dropping your phone, you can break both of its sides at once.
Incredible screen and new interface
Forget assembly, think about display: The 5.8-inch Super Retina OLED screen with deep blacks is so bright it looks like someone spilled paint all over the iPhone X's screen.I'm not usually a fan of icons, but here I could look on them for hours.
The lack of a Home button is something some iPhone owners have long dreamed of. It also allowed for a new interface. Swipe up on the panel to go to the home screen, or drag down to get to the Control Center, which was previously accessible from the bottom. Scroll left and you get to the notification center, scroll to the right and the camera starts - or did I just accidentally click the camera icon?
Sure, these gestures are easy to learn, but not super intuitive. The lack of a feature like the Home button can confuse people who love iPhone for being easy to use. But I will stick to my opinions on this matter until a full review of the device.
Lots of new features
How about hardware and new features? I want to point out that today's flagship smartphones have become magical little devices: they are powerful, beautiful, and smart. The iPhone X is no exception, there are tons of new features here that are really impressive, and with them Apple strives to differentiate itself from the competition. Remember that this is the "smartphone of the future"? And this expression is entirely about software.
Many of the features Apple has added to the new iPhone are familiar from other tech companies that have introduced them to the market before. But does it matter? Ford did not invent the car, Edison did not invent the light bulb, and Apple did not invent the smartphone. These are companies that just did it right, so history remembers them. So did Apple do it right?
Microsoft Windows Hello recognizes our faces on Windows 10 computers, and in my experience, it does it quickly. I didn't bother scanning my face with the new unlock feature on the iPhone X as I look forward to testing the phone soon, but I've seen Face ID in action, so I can say that Apple has brought the same fast experience to phones.
The Galaxy S8 can wake up quickly, too, by reading the iris or through facial recognition, but infrared cameras and software that reads the contours of your face in real time make Apple's implementation much more secure (as well as more complex). Damn it, it works even in the dark.
However, Windows Hello performance degrades over time in my experience. How will this work for Apple over time?
Wireless charging is another highly anticipated feature that users will welcome on the iPhone X. Android phones have had this feature for several years now and are constantly improving. Still, can Apple do better? The new wireless charging pad looks like a proprietary Qi feature, allowing the user to control multiple devices charging at multiple speeds at the same time. Is Apple's feature the best, or does it just do it differently?
Let's summarize
Apple clearly hit the top 10 with the iPhone X. The bright OLED screen is great, the phone feels great in the hand, and the added power from the A11 Bionic processor means it's responsive and powerful.
So is it worth the consumer to spend $ 1000 on such a phone? Absolutely - Apple's new smartphone of the future may soon be your future smartphone, and if so, such a future looks pretty bright.
Advantages
- Gorgeous 5.8-inch OLED screen
- Speedy Face ID face scanner function
- Shiny edge-to-edge design
Flaws
- Expensive
- The back glass is less durable than metal
Apple IPhone X First Review - Video
If you find an error, the video does not work, please select a piece of text and click Ctrl + Enter.
What is the tenth iPhone? Slightly larger than the iPhone 7, but slightly smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus. At the same time, the so-called frameless screen boasts a diagonal of 5.8 inches. A small notch at the top of the screen, where the front camera and several complex sensors responsible for the new Face ID unlock mode are assembled, is almost not annoying. Almost - because the wow-effect of juicy full-screen photos is nevertheless somewhat leveled by the presence of this black frame. And besides, you could already experience the same wow effect from several Android phones with bezel-less displays that were released in 2017.
The iPhone X looks like a light symbiosis of the very first iPhone (hello to shiny aluminum edges) and the fourth model (because of the glass panels on the back and front).
There are only two colors - black and silver. In this case, the front panel will be black in any case. The new gold color, which appeared on the 8 and 8 Plus, did not make it to the Model X: apparently, the black cutout on the front did not match well with it. Both of the available colors look austere but nice. The glass panels on the front and back look good in the light, but are instantly covered with fingerprints, so you have to either constantly wipe them down or purchase a cover.
No Home Button
Big changes - the round Home button has completely disappeared (in the iPhone 7 the button was already virtual - a special motor was responsible for the tactile feedback). And it turned out that without it, the phone can be controlled quite conveniently.
Swipe up - it will be unlocked. Swipe up with a slight delay - the application selection mode is turned on. Swipe down in the center - the notification window opens. Swipe down from the top right corner to open the control center. It sounds complicated, but you actually get used to it in a couple of minutes.
Other popular Home button commands have been reassigned to volume up and down buttons. Volume up + side button - and the phone takes a screenshot. Volume down + side button - the menu offers to turn off the device. If the iPhone freezes, you can restart it by pressing all three buttons at once.
The fingerprint sensor has disappeared along with the Home button, and fast iPhone unlocking is now done through a Face ID scan. In order for the phone to remember your physiognomy, you need to shake your head in a circle. This allows the device to recognize you from different angles.
The depth sensor puts several thousand virtual dots on your face and monitors their interconnection, so you won't be able to fool Face ID with a flat photo.
The developers assure that even a high-quality mask that copies someone else's face will not work. At the same time, a chip with a neural learning system is responsible for face recognition, which can recognize you if you put on a hat, glasses or grow a beard.
Augmented reality and camera
The iPhone X looks great for augmented reality games. Point the camera at the table, for a couple of seconds the program analyzes the space in search of a flat surface and immediately displays on it, say, a huge robot, which fires back from an attacking mechanical bird.
The two 12-megapixel cameras are now located one under the other (not horizontally, but vertically) and equipped with optical stabilization. For lovers of portrait photography, a new opportunity has appeared - to change the lighting of the model after the shooting. And these are not just filters: a software algorithm analyzes the environment and brightens or darkens certain pixels accordingly, and not just paints everything with one color.
conclusions
Overall, the iPhone X is a great, modern, powerful smartphone. But to call it a greeting from the future, which will determine the development of smartphones for 10 years ahead, as Tim Cook did at the presentation, is a strong exaggeration. Rather, it is the logical crown of the development of smartphones over the past 10 years - just so much has passed since the release of the first iPhone, and that is why the new iPhone was named "tenth".
Apple has long since sought to be the first to introduce new features. However, when she refines ideas from other manufacturers, these innovations become popular with the general public.
With a price of 80 thousand rubles in Russia for the version with 64 gigabytes of memory, the iPhone X is also one of the most expensive smartphones on the market. In Russia, the iPhone X will be available for order on October 27 and will go on sale a week later, on November 3.
