- Sometimes you've just got to
put the conclusion right up front.
The iPhone 8 is a successful execution of a familiar idea.
It's as iterative an upgrade as you can get,
and with the bleeding edge iPhone 10 on the horizon,
and scads of Android phones that have had similar features
for years, well the iPhone 8 doesn't seem likely to
shine in the annals of iPhone history.
But, if you've got a lot invested in Apple's ecosystem,
and you don't want to spend a thousand dollars on your next
iPhone for some reason, well this phone was made for you.
I'm Michael Fisher, and this is Part two of Mr. Mobile's
iPhone 8 review, brought to you by dbrand.
(lively music playing)
In the first half of this review,
I covered wireless charging, the A11 processor,
and some of the camera features.
If you haven't seen that part you can find it on my
YouTube channel, and please subscribe while you're there.
For part two, I spent a lot more time with the plus
version of the phone than I did the first time around.
So, we'll touch on the fancy camera some more at the end,
and for variety's sake I'm going to
alternate the good points with the bad.
Let's start with the bad point.
These displays, yes, they're the best LCDs Apple has ever
put into an iPhone, but they're still LCDs.
And, while there are compelling reasons for preferring
that technology, in my opinion,
there are many more reasons to prefer OLED.
Again, these screens are fine.
They've got Apple's true tone technology to optimize white
balance depending on your surroundings.
But, put them next to a really good AMOLED panel
like Samsung's and you really notice the
added vibrance, contrast, and brightness.
Another thing not exclusive to
OLED panels is screen real estate.
I mean this is a good example of how using the same design
from three years ago can impair a product.
It's not just about the stale aesthetics,
it's about having less viewable area
compared to much of the competition.
Now, you might be thinking that because of that power
hungry LCD and the slightly shrunken batteries compared to
last year, the iPhone 8 is more sprinter than marathoner.
But, nope, whether it's the A11 or something else going on
under the hood, Apple has worked some serious wizardry with
the battery life with the real performer being the plus.
With its bigger battery, I've been able to hit the end of a
16-hour day with over 20 percent left, and that's with a lot
of camera usage and near constant Bluetooth streaming
of podcasts and songs to my headphones.
And, yeah, it would've been nice for Apple to toss in a fast
charger with its $700 dollar phone, but that's countered
somewhat by the presence of wireless charging,
which I covered in part one.
My other big negative is more a matter of taste,
and it's that home screen, man.
Everything around it is amazing.
IOS 11's new control center is so fun to use and that
built-in video screen capture is what
makes shots like this possible.
I love being able to swipe down on the home screen to type
in a search query or quickly locate an app,
and even the notification center
isn't as messy as it once was.
But, the home screen, itself, this stale grid of icons that
you can only customize in the barest sense,
I mean it's a little extreme to say that it
makes me feel like I'm using a starter
phone for a preteen, but only a little.
On Android, I can put anything anywhere
without worrying about adjacent apps.
I can have widgets for glanceable information or I can clear
everything away so you can actually see my wallpaper.
I can even change out the whole launcher to make for faster
performance or just a better flow.
None of that is possible on the iPhone.
I know a lot of people don't care, and if you're the type
who doesn't want to have to think about that stuff, than,
hey, this will be as enjoyable to you
as the last decade of IOS has been.
As I mentioned, I spent more time with the 8 plus this time
around, and this is absolutely the one I would buy if
I had to choose between iPhones.
Yes, for the battery and the bigger display,
but most crucially for the dual camera.
Now, Apple makes very clear that the new portrait mode
lighting effect is in beta, and yeah, it sure is.
It takes a lot of tries to get it to work properly.
Framing one of these can be very frustrating with the
finicky lighting and distance requirements,
but once you nail it and apply one of those new lighting
effects, the result is a shot you
can't get from any other phone.
Get ready for a lot of profile pictures that look like this.
The telephoto lens is also useful for
long distance photos and video, obviously.
Speaking of, I've continued testing the iPhone 8 plus
against its direct competitor the Galaxy Note 8.
Apple and Samsung have fundamental
differences in how they approach imaging.
The iPhone will generally hue more closely to accurate
colors and it tends to bring out more detail in shadows,
which serves it well in low light compared to the Note.
In daylight, the differences are more polarizing.
The Note 8 punches up the saturation and contrast
for a photo that seems custom made for Instagram,
while the iPhone, again, sticks closer to reality.
Despite what you might read in the comments, which one is
quote unquote better is not a simple matter.
It's actually quite subjective.
It depends on how much you value authenticity.
For me, the richer, less accurate Samsung photos are the
more convenient ones since I tend to upload to social media
with very little editing, and I like that added punchiness
even if it is a little artificial.
If you like to take your pictures into Photoshop to really
perfect them, or you just want something that more
accurately reflects the real world,
you'll probably prefer the iPhone.
The only clear winner here comes in video where the iPhone's
new 4K 60 frames a second shooting and 240 FPS full HD
SloMo give it the crown, hands down.
More video samples in part one.
Winding it down with the details, the external speakers
seem a touch louder this year.
Phone calls are nice and crisp, and for all my complaints
about IOS's home screen, I have to admit, I love some of its
conveniences like 3D touch on the
keyboard to move a cursor around.
Also, hanging out with the iMore crew for a few days
showed me how seductive the Apple ecosystem can be
if your whole family or team is using it.
In particular using Airdrop to move files between iPhone,
MacBook, iPad is a dream, and common tasks like restoring
an old phone to a new one is still more
seamless than it is on Android.
The features Apple introduced with the iPhone 8 will be
remembered for a long time, things like the upgraded camera,
A11 processor, and IOS 11 will serve as the
foundation for iPhones going forward.
But, the phone itself eh, I said it in the intro,
if you've got a seven, you're not missing much, yet.
If you've got a six or older, it's definitely a nice
upgrade, and if you're an Android user contemplating
switching from a green to a blue bubble
well until the 10 comes out, you should probably hold off.
Speaking of holding, a glass on glass phone is a tough
thing to hold on to, and an easy thing to break.
So, if you want to change up your look while adding some
protection, hit the link in the description and pick up a
premium vinyl skin from today's sponsor dbrand,
and while you're at it, be sure to check out the dbrand
Grip, a brand new case designed to make sure your phone
stays where it belongs, in your hand.
The Grip goes up for sale October 1st.
Thanks for putting up with the two-part review format
this time folks, it's not something I'm going to make a
habit of, but this time it just had to be done.
Until next time, thanks for watching
and stay mobile my friends.