iPhone X First Impressions after Day One

Picked up my iPhone before 9am today, but just got a few first impression thoughts to go by. Even if it’s not a popular phone with ozbargainers it’ll be good if your kids are screaming for them to know what to expect.

I’ll be spouting these out in random order as it comes to my head.

  • It’s bloody heavy. I moved from an iPhone 6 and it seems to have significantly greater mass. Larger size and glass construction does that.

  • All glass body means FINGERPRINTS EVERYWHERE. I’d buy a case just not to have those smears everywhere.

  • Not many non-mainstream apps support the new display yet. Looks funky as a box that’s significantly smaller than it should be, especially for landscape apps as they remove the width for the home swipe too.

  • No battery percentage number anymore. The notch at the top is bigger than i first thought and there’s only room for wifi, 3G and battery icon itself.

  • No option to require password after 5, 15 mins etc. it’s only available option is immediately. To avoid this, restore a backup from a phone with passcode required every 5 mins etc. though not many using touchID would have this optioned anyways.

  • Space grey looks extremely grey in some lighting conditions.

  • Awesome screen brightness, helps when using phone in bright conditions.

  • regarding screen, few apps can actually use the whole screen that I’ve come across. YouTube can scale it to the full width, but you lose the top and bottom of the video. Looks great in detail but… everything that fits on the iPhone X fits on the 6, 7 and 8. Still 6 icons tall and it feels like a waste of space really…

  • Swipe to open is easy to get used to. I used to press the home button to wake the phone, thought I’d have to use the lock button now. But you can tap anywhere on the phone and it’ll wake, which is quite neat. Only problem is you need to swipe from the very bottom of the phone. The large screen size makes it difficult to one hand wield with smaller lands, given bulk and weight of the phone.

  • FaceID is flawless when you’re holding the phone square on, but it gets a bit finicky if it’s flat on the table for example. That’s one of the reasons I like to have auto-lock of phone after 5 minutes. But if you just bring the phone to your face and swipe up, chances are FaceID will have unlocked during that time, so it seems smooth.

  • Vibration alerts on the IPhone X are much lower and deeper than my IPhone 6… Not sure if I like it, doesn't feel or sound as 'crisp'.

I think that’s enough for now but if you have any other questions about the iPhone X, or other impressions pop them down below!

Edit: Oh one last thing. I feel like the IPhone X runs a bit hotter than it should. Does anyone else have any feedback regarding this?

Comments

  • +4

    How do you feel knowing that the post office sells a smartphone for $33 that does everything that iPhone does?

    jks I actually bought 2 iPhone Xs as gifts but preordered them
    (Seeing people get their devices today is a little eye wrinkling since I chose to pre-order mine as soon as it opened and it wont come for another 3 weeks :( sniff)

    anyway I wanted to ask what you thought of the space grey, is it a nice colour? are the metal sides of the phone a dark chrome?

    • +1

      Couldnt even get an IPhone 3GS for that price…

      Unfortunate with the preorders. I ordered mine by 6:12 on the first day and got the third available pickup slot, and from what i could tell there were only around 5 reservations per half hour slot. But for those lining up there were heaps in stock.

      As for the colour, the side is a very dark, shiny metal that reminds me of the jet black iphone colour. The backing though, tbh looks a bit dull. Especially under the sun or bright light. But if you're in the dark or there isnt a direct light shining on it, that is where the colour looks best. Its like black but not quite black in that setting.

      All that said, I've got a case on, wont be seeing it much at all.

      • ok thanks for your response!

        • So, who are the lucky two? :P

        • @ATangk: 2 cousins of mine that I haven't seen for a long long time so I thought I'd get them a SUPER gift

        • +4

          @Sock: I want to be your cousin :)

  • How well does it bounce? Drop it and see :)

    (j/k - thanks for the feedback)

  • +1

    Why didn't you just save your money and buy a decent phone?

    • +2

      I came here to read about the iPhone X, it seems every thread about iPhone is ruined by comments like this that are irrelevant.

      • -1

        Welcome to ozbargain.

  • +3

    Honestly what you said is spot on. FaceID is brilliant and has worked flawless for me just a shame about the battery percentage.

    • FaceID was in LG G2 long time ago. Is it only available the first time on iPhone X?

      • Defiantly far superior than the lg variety

  • I ordered mine around 605 and got first batch. This was while everyone was busy complaining on social media so guess I got lucky.

    Yes the phone does seem to run usually hotter than other iphones

  • +4

    Does it blend?

    • Have you got a blendtec on you?

      • That's what Costco is for.

  • I'm curious, does FaceID work with your eyes closed?

    Eg, you're a sleep and your partner points the phone to your face, will it unlock?

    • +7

      Hahaha…Trust issues?

    • No

    • +8

      There is an option that you can check. It reads something along the line of checking for your attention. I think its made as an option to check if you are looking at the camera or not. If it unlocks whilst eyes closed i cant tell, because i wont be able to see if its unlocked or not.

      Edit: Tested, wasnt able to unlock with both eyes closed or one eye closed.

  • -2

    Haters gunna hate. This is ozbargain after all.

  • -1

    so, what 'revolutionary' feature it got for a $1800 phone

    face unlocking, oled, full display…. ? sounds familiar

    i'd much rather get something real revolutionary like razer phone

    120hz display
    front stereo dual amp firing speakers (now you can leave your bluetooth speakers behind)

    • +1

      As someone who has switched between android and iPhone 3x over the years and I write this on my LG g6, I find iPhones are much better value. They just work, iMessage and FaceTime are brilliant, regular updates and strong resale. I'll be going back and likely won't come back to android as I'm fed up with the fragmentation.

      Btw, I sold my 3 year old iPhone 6 for $500 before I bought this g6 a month ago. That's amazing value considering I paid $1100 on launch and used it heavily.

      In the end, only few care about specs and what matters is whether it's right for you. To me, the initial cost of an iPhone is worth it in the long run.

  • Great practical phone.
    The difference between Apple & everyone else is when they have a specification, it actually does what it states.

    • -1

      But in iPhone X the entire screen is not used for display as is claimed. Apple might fix the odd looking notch (subjective though) in XS.

  • +2

    You bought an iPhone X ?
    Ok, hand back your OzBargain card now.

    • +3

      He's swapping his OzBargain card with OzBargain X card

  • 1 - Have you had a chance to check the battery life on idle/full on using apps? (i know it may be hard considering it is new)
    2 - How does this compare to the iPhone 6/7/8? (if anyone owned these before) … Is it a massive improvement? I mean does an iPhone 6/7 does most of the tasks that the X does?
    3 - Is it worth the money or has the euphoria already worn off?

    Cheers

    • Battery life is okay but I havent really run it down dramatically.

      Jumping from a 6 to the X is the same as when i jumped from the 4S to the 6. Improvements to screen, brightness, camera, faster with apps. The 6 is still perfectly usable, and probably more user friendly (thinner, lighter and smaller, still decent screen real estate). If those little lags and pauses between apps annoys you, then upgrading to something faster would definitely help. Otherwise I'd recommend staying on older iOS for the i6, it works now why break it by upgrading to iOS 11.

      worth the money is always going to be subjective. I never thought of the IPX as anything super special. For example I dont want to use FaceID so I have kept my original iphone 6 arrangement of requiring passcode/faceid only after 5 minutes of inactivity. Nicer screen, smoother experience, clean UI, its just like any upgrade really.

      And on second thoughts about the screen, in a dark setting the iphone 6 actually looks brighter than the iphone x… not sure whats going on here.

    • On the battery point I’ve been using it constantly for past 8hrs using general apps and web browsing and my battery is at 71%

  • I'm curious, if you pre-order, will the receipt dated on your pre-order date, or when you receive the stock?
    I'm travelling overseas on January, so good time for TRS refund

    • Im travelling in december, so this was a good time for me to pick it up.

      Just pulled up my tax invoice and it mentions my order date (27/10) but is dated itself as 01/11. So it isnt the order date but it isnt the pickup date either. Probably will be invoiced on the processing date which could be the week before delivery or whenever. Probably as they ship it for bookkeeping purposes.

      • Thanks for confirming…
        So which date do you think TRS will use?

        I might preorder exactly 60 days before I leave, but if Apple can't fill that order in time, I'll miss that 10% refund :(

        • 60 days is a long time, theyll be able to stock it by then. TRS is likely to use the receipt date (so 01/11 for me). A preorder doesnt constitute a sale would be my justification for this.

  • FYI for anyone with one and wondering; battery percentage is shown when you pull up control center when you drag down from the right of the notch.

    • I like to be able to check it easily. I have a small hand and having to reach to the bottom to unlock is already far enough. The top right is impossible for one handed use. Even the Apple Watch can implement a battery percentage in a small form, so why do they have to use a battery icon. (numbers inside outer circle loop which decreases in size with battery.)

      • Oh don’t get me wrong I really miss having the percentage too I just wanted to make sure people know it is still SOMEWHERE. I’m hoping Apple address some little things like this in time now that it’s in people’s hands and they’ll be getting feedback from the masses. Overall I think it’s a really nice phone. Come “down” from a plus model and it’s a refreshing change.

        • I think what they're aiming is to ideally stop you from checking the percentage. If the battery lasts long enough you wouldn't have to worry about it.

          Think your flash light, garage remote, FitBit, Kindle, watch. You almost never care about the battery percentage because they you can almost consistently tell when they're running out of battery.

          Sadly the fact is, while today my iPhone X lasts way more than a day and I charge it every night, I know that there'll be days when it doesn't last a day, like my current iPhone 6. I think they're trying to solve it, and hopefully they succeed, but I'm pessimistic.

  • Been using it for two days. Also from 6.

    It's amazing. The battery last the whole day and more. The screen is seriously glorious.

    Face ID is not really perfect, but I'd take it all the time over Touch ID.

    Hope by 2020 they make it much better like how they've made Touch ID so much faster than the first time they did it.

  • What would be some good reasons to to be an early adopter on the latest phone? Try to justify for myself being one - for the trouble, time and money, is it worth it?

    • I don’t see how you’d be classified as an early adopter, since many have already started receiving later mail orders too. Though not sure if you can just walk in and buy one st this stage.

      Trouble I don’t really see there as much trouble.

      Time, not sure if you can buy it directly from Apple store yet, or if you have to wait for their daily ration of iPhone stock to sell.

      Money, if you don’t have this don’t bother considering it. An older iPhone SE for example works great.

      At the end of the day it’s more a want than a need. Is your current phone on it’s last legs? Do you use your phone often? What do you use it for other than taking calls? These questions you need to answer yourself.

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