My initial impressions after briefly using the iPhone X
No, I didn't buy one. (Though I could have; the nearby Apple store has had them in stock each day.) But I did spend about 20 minutes playing with one, just to compare it to my 8 Plus. Here then are my thoughts after that extensive hands-on period…
- The screen is lovely (most of the time; see below). Very high pixel density makes for incredibly crisp text, and the OLED tech means blacks are black, and colors in images look stunning.
The 120Hz sample rate on the touchscreen makes for very snappy interactions.
Compared to my 8 Plus, the narrower iPhone X feels nicely sized in my hand.
I don't think it would take too long to get used to the gesture-based interface; I already find myself wishing that the "short drag up" to activate the app switcher worked on my iPhone 8 Plus.
Face ID is very easy to set up, much more so than Touch ID. (The store phones have a demo setup so you can see how it works and test it, but not really apply it as you would on your own iPhone.)
There's more, of course, but they're things that apply to the iPhone 8/8 Plus, too: The glass design feels good in the hand, much improved cameras, speedy CPU, etc. The X has all of that, though with an even better camera, thanks to stabilization on the zoom lens, too.
So much for the good…