My first impressions iPhone X

iPhone X (10, not ‘ex’) was unveiled yesterday and obviously is talk of the town. Town being earth.  I wouldn’t call myself an apple-geek but I do use their products exclusively. Paradox. For the context of this blog, all the pictures I use to review flights and hotels are taken on my iPhone 6 (‘iPhoneography’). Needless to say, everything I have read and seen online about the new iPhone X is astronomically better than the iPhone 6 I currently use. Contemplating jumping on the iPhone X bandwagon, here are my first impressions of iPhone X.

First impressions iPhone X

There is a lot to unpack here but I have picked the features that caught my attention the most;

Model and Pricing: iPhone X weighs 6.14 ounces or 174 grams and comes in Silver and Space Grey with 64 GB ($999 USD / $1319 CAD) or 256 GB ($1149 USD / $1529 CAD) capacity. Sticker shock and Gouging are my first and only impressions here. 

Image Credit: apple.com

New Design: The edge-to-edge screen still comes with a slight bezel or a border which means the new 5.8 inch Super retina screen is still ‘boxed in’. I like the slight boxed in design because I am not a fan of edge-to-edge screen or wrap around screens. Increased screen space was achieved by eliminating the home button. The curved edges of the phone is something I have become accustomed to with previous iPhone models. Wireless charging remains much the same as in iPhone 8.

Image Credit: apple.com

Camera/TrueDepth Camera: Finally, a dual camera to talk about – 12MP. There is a lot going on in the tiny area upfront, which includes camera and sensors to enable the new facial recognition technology – Face ID. Face ID replaces the finger print sensor and will be used for unlocking, apple pay and much more.

Image Credit: apple.com

The True Depth Camera also supports ‘Animoji’ – analyses muscle movements and mirrors the expression on an animal emoji. Fun!

Image Credit: apple.com

Both cameras are wide angle and telephoto cameras with optical image stabilization and faster lenses to enable better pictures even in low light. This excites me the most, with regards to ‘iphoneography’ abilities and travel pictures.

Also, 4K video recording at 24/30/60 fps capabilities.

Faster Processor: The new processor A11 Bionic promises to be industry leading in smartphones and up to 70% faster than its predecessor. True multitasking ability which I appreciate as I do a lot of my blogging and picture editing on the go.

Battery Life: Apple claims that the new battery design in the iPhone X should yield 2 extra hours of battery life than the iPhone 7. Wireless charging, up to 50% charge in 30 minutes, up to 12 hours of internet use and 13 hours of video playback – all good features in writing but I will believe it when I use it. As I have learnt from previous models, there can be inconsistencies between theory and practice.

Augmented Reality: Something I haven’t dabbled in much but now that iPhone X opens the possibility, I am excited to use and experience it on a smartphone. Obviously this targets and opens a huge gaming market for Apple. Video demos on YouTube about AR capabilities on iPhone are incredible, do check them out.

Obviously there is a lot more to the iPhone X but I wanted to highlight my first impressions iPhone X on features that I use as a travel blogger.

Take Away

As always, Apple has done an outstanding job in packaging the iPhone X as a must have gadget – BUT THAT PRICE!!! is so prohibitive. Its easy to look past it if you are not on that Apple bandwagon, for Apple fans though, its yet another product they don’t need but will simply want. Must have.

Bonus: Hilarious Ozzy Man Review of the iPhone X ad;