Apple iPhone X review: Status symbol reinstated!

Apple took a big leap of faith with the iPhone X, the phone that celebrates 10th anniversary of the first iPhone. The first iPhone brought about a tectonic shift in the way we interacted with our personal communication devices. Almost a decade later, Apple introduced a phone that Tim Cook described as the "future of smartphones."

Let's forget about the hyperbole for a moment. Think just about the iPhone X. The smartphone completely reimagines the iPhones with an edge-to-edge panel, customised UI and just Face ID for biometric authentication. It will be unfair not to talk about the price of the iPhone X. It's expensive, and in fact is the most expensive iPhone ever.

So, how's it like using the best and most expensive iPhone ever? Here's what I found after spending nearly three weeks with it.

Turning eyes

"Oh, it's that phone!" "Hey, is it the iPhone X?" "Wah, iPhone X? Kaisa hain?" Curiosity among people around me was a good indication that this phone has regenerated interest in the iPhone. While travelling in the metro, I could sense a few kids curiously looking over at the device. Some would ask me about it, others appeared reluctant.

The amount of attention it drew convinced me that at least one objective Apple set out to achieve with the X was met: the iPhone is back as a status symbol.

Changing habit

Being a loyal iPhone 6 user for the last two years, it took me a while to feel at home with the iPhone X, which brings a raft of new gestures. The biggest change you notice is the lack of the home button. At first, muscle memory had me reaching for the bottom to unlock the phone. But soon, I FaceID — which is as simple as just looking at the phone —grows on you. It's fast and works almost in all light conditions, though there have been instances when it did not. But the misses have been too low to factor in this review.

Apart from FaceID, the UI has been changed too. Swiping down from the right top corner shows the control center whereas the left corner shows the notifications. Small things like shutting down the iPhone has changed too. To switch off iPhone X, you either need to go to Settings> General > Shut Down or press slider button and volume button together for a few seconds.

As the days progressed, a lot of apps have been optimised for the iPhone X screen, specifically to adapt to the notch that cuts into the display from the top. As I mentioned in the first impressions, the notch is a bit distracting. But after weeks of usage, I hardly noticed it.

The only time an iPhone user will notice the notch is when an application is yet to optimise for it. These apps launch in a truncated size, leaving ugly black spaces on either side.

A powerhouse

At the end of the day what matters is that a phone with that kind of price tag has to deliver good performance. The iPhone X doesn't disappoint on that parameter. It can handle graphic intensive games like Freeblade with ease. Similarly, multitasking is effortless.

Battery life is somewhat near satisfactory, though if you are not a power user, you can easily get it to last a full day. But if you keep location services on and spend a good time browsing, gaming or multimedia streaming, carrying a power-bank is recommended.

The iPhone X's camera is impressive, especially in low light, though it is overall not significantly better than the iPhone 8 Plus's. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 outperforms the iPhone X in taking better photos in low light images. The portrait mode, which is also available for the front camera on the iPhone X, however takes much better selfies than other iPhones.

Verdict

The iPhone X is simply the best iPhone so far. This is THE Phone to have in 2017. But, will you buy it? People who have the budget and love Apple, would have already bought one. And those who are planning to buy, this review is unlikely to change their minds.