iPhone X Diary

There’s been a lot of chatter lately about smartphone addiction, digital detoxing and the like. An interesting piece by Dieter Bohn over at The Verge got me thinking about whether I really need all those notifications.

I decided initially to try a ‘notifications diet’ – dramatically cutting back on the number of apps allowed to send me notifications. But as I started going through the list in Settings, I realized I also had apps I never use. I opted to extend the plan to an ‘app diet’ too …

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I took a week off last week to get unpacked and settled into our new home. This was a time-consuming process, so I didn’t get much time to get out and about, but with a fabulous view from our new apartment, that didn’t stop me putting the iPhone X camera through its paces. You’ll just have to excuse the fact that the photos are rather lacking in variety!

For each of the photos, I’m showing the original, straight-from-camera version as well as the edited version. And to make it true to the real-life behavior of most people, I’ve used only the stock Camera and Photos apps for both photography and edits.

To be honest, any recent iPhone is a fantastic camera in bright sunlight, so I’m concentrating here on the real test of a camera: low-light performance …

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The executive summary of this iPhone X Diary piece – almost a week in – is that I still love it, and I have found very little more to complain about.

Let’s start with the look and feel. I still love it. It still feels like a single slab of glass, and it has a really great tactile feel in the hand.

To me, the large size is a compromise. I do still really like the iPhone SE size, but it’s a compromise that pays off. The screen is large enough for content to feel immersive – I’ve even watched some Netflix on it – while still remaining reasonably pocketable. I can also comfortably hold it in my hand …

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My first impression diary pieces are usually exactly that: based on just taking it out of the box, setting it up and playing with it for an hour or three.

This time, however, my iPhone X didn’t arrive until the end of the day on Friday, by which time I was already out for the evening. So this time I’ve had a weekend of use, and have a bit more to say.

I previously outlined the reasons I was buying it, despite my fondness for the iPhone SE. As someone who loves the design of the classic iPhones (iPhone 4/4S/5/5S/SE), and who isn’t a fan of the 6/6S/7/8, the first question I had was what I’d make of the design of the iPhone X …

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Yesterday’s keynote was not without its challenges for Apple. First, thanks to our digging into the leaked code, there were few surprises.

Second, there was the fact that Apple had to kick-off with the understudy. The iPhone 8 – for all the features it borrowed from the iPhone X – looked very much like the iPhone 7, which itself looked very much like the iPhone 6. It was hard to make an iPhone 6sss seem too exciting – especially when everyone was waiting for the main act.

And then there was the failed Face ID demo. The flagship iPhone X feature falling over the first time it was demonstrated. Update: This was because other people were handling it prior to the demo, and the phone was trying to match their face and treating it as a login attempt. After several failed attempts, it fell back to requiring the passcode, as it’s designed to to.

But for my part, the keynote didn’t have much of a job to do …

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Those who follow my various diary series’ (Apple Watch, iPad Pro, Apple Music, iPhone SE, Smart Home, Drone) won’t be too surprised that I’m beginning this one before the device has even been officially announced.

The idea behind the diary format is that a single review will always provide an incomplete impression, and sometimes even a misleading one. It represents one particular slice in time. With things I use as heavily as Apple kit, it’s almost certain that my views will change over time.

And with something as heavily hyped as the iPhone 8/Edition, I thought it made sense to begin the diary now – with my impressions from the various rumors and leaks, and why I already know I’ll be buying one despite four good reasons not to …

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