- [Michael] By this point you probably know that
the iPhone 10 is the most expensive Apple has ever offered.
And you might have also heard
that its the best the company has ever made.
Both of these things are true, but to me the question
is whether that phone is worth the 1000 dollar price tag.
I'm Michael Fisher, and this is the Mr. Mobile review
of the iPhone 10 brought to you by Tech 21.
If you're unclear on the difference between
a hands on video and a review,
this is the perfect opportunity to clear the waters.
Last week, when I had just a few hours with the iPhone 10,
I found its gesture-based interface complicated, clunky.
Its face-ID locking mechanism
only on par with Samsung's similar system.
Well it turns out, this is the kind of device
that you have to live with for a while.
I'm not saying they're flawless, the gestures are less
intuitive than on the Blackberry and Palm platforms
that inspired them and an unlock mechanic
that makes you look at your phone
is still less convenient than a fingerprint sensor.
But after almost a week's use in the world,
this phone's gestures now feel natural enough to make
the old home button seem archaic.
And I've discovered that in about four out of five cases,
face ID is so fast, that I don't even notice its working,
I just swipe to unlock.
The occasional inconvenience of having to punch in a pin
isn't great, but its also not a deal breaker.
On paper, the side-keys on the iPhone 10 are so confusing
that Apple included a cheat sheet right in the box.
But again, you get used to it.
Summoning Siri with a side-key feels natural enough
if you've ever used a walkie-talkie.
I think its worth the side-effect
of now having to use two buttons to turn the phone off.
As for Siri herself, well (sighs).
You also have the option of mapping a five-click shortcut
to 911 so you can call the police quickly
in a sticky situation.
Yes, I still notice the notch in day-to-day use
but I've come to like it more, not less.
No other phone looks quite like this.
And when IOS calls attention to the notch,
it does so in just the right way.
Developers have been adapting their apps to accommodate it
so rapidly that many of my complaints
from a week ago no longer apply.
Now practically speaking those looking
for the maximum amount of screen area
will still be better served by the iPhone eight plus.
And that phone's LCD technology is also less prone
to the burn-in that the iPhone 10s OLED panel
might suffer over time.
So the 10 is still the less practical choice,
the phone for flashy folks.
Maybe there's no better illustration of that flashiness
than an emoji which uses face-mapping to do this.
Yeah, this is a dumb feature, but its here to showcase
Apple's emergent focus on augmented reality.
So expect this tech to be used
for more important features in the future.
I was more excited for the portrait-mode capability
on the front facing camera, but so far I got to tell you
that's been a big let down.
Edge detection just isn't good enough
to reliably separate subject from background.
So you get awkward artifacts and bleed overs.
Just like we've seen since the first day's
of portrait-mode over a year ago.
Google, has Apple soundly beat here with its pixel two line.
And it got there with far less trial and error.
In more traditional photography the iPhone 10
brings the same great performance as the iPhone eight,
now with optical stabilization on the telephoto camera
as well as the primary.
Also like the eight, the 10 can shoot 4K video
at 60 frames a second.
And full HD slo-mo at 240.
That's something not many Android phone's can do yet.
Since the current top of the line quark on silicon
doesn't support it.
But again, with the exception of those selfie portraits
and animoji, both of which are terrible, you can get
nearly the same output from the iPhone eight plus.
And the competition from Samsung holds its own.
Those who don't like the Galaxy Note eight's
punchier colors and higher contrast
have a full sweet of manual controls right out of the box.
I'm using the Note eight as an example because of its price
similarity to the iPhone 10, but between Samsung, Google,
LG, HTC and Huawei the ranks of really good cameras
in the smartphone world are getting crowded.
To its credit, the iPhone 10 does really nail
the fundamentals.
Its voice calls are crisp with good side tone.
Its dual speakers are clear and louder than ever.
Its battery is big enough to get you through a long day
with no problem, even with a few hours of hotspotting.
And its glass and steel frame feels every bit
the luxury indulgence its advertised to be.
And yet, look I'm the biggest phone nerd I know and even I
can't get over this thing's 1000 dollar price tag.
The Note eight, I keep referring to, is up there in price
too, but its 50 bucks cheaper and brings so many more
features that comparing the two is, not even apples
to oranges, we're talking apples to durian.
Meanwhile the iPhone eight, which shares so much
of the iPhone 10s DNA, starts at 700 dollars.
That's a massive mark-up for a look.
This is not the first time Apple has pushed the limits
on price, back in 2007, the first iPhone ws expensive too
and it lacked features like 3G and GPS,
that even at the time were considered essential.
But that iPhone, was a revolutionary rethinking
of what a smartphone should be.
The iPhone 10 isn't nearly as ambitious.
The edge-to-edge screen, the dual-stabilized cameras,
the wireless charging, the gesture interface,
they're all great, but we've seen them before.
And even on this 1000 dollar smartphone, Apple charges
an additional 75 dollars to let you fast-charge it.
A feature that comes standard on every Android flagship.
Its kind of hard not to see that as a cynical cash-grab
by one of the richest companies on the planet.
Now, here's why none of that matters.
Apple has a well earned reputation for excellent customer
service and its got an ecosystem that people
are willing to spend more to be a part of.
In a country like the US where carriers let you spread
the cost of a phone across one or two years, someone who
wants to stay in that ecosystem, but doesn't want a boring
old design, suddenly has the option of paying 40 or 50 bucks
a month for this truly beautiful hardware.
If I were a lifelong iPhone user, I'd definitely be one
of them because there's so much to love about this device.
But I come from the Android world where there's so much
quality available for half or even a third
of this phone's price, that I just can't get past it.
The iPhone 10 is a great smartphone for rich people
or for the Apple loyalist who wants to splurge
to celebrate the iPhone's tenth anniversary.
If that's you, you're gonna love this device.
If that's not you, then almost any other option
will be a smarter use of your money.
One more thing, the iPhone 10 also seems to be no more
durable than any other glass on glass smartphone.
So if you do take the 1000 dollar plunge, set aside another
few bucks to protect your investment with a protective case
from today's sponsor, Tech 21.
These folks have been building phone cases for over 10 years
using scientific materials tested in partnership
with the National Physical Laboratory.
The Tech 21 Evo range with flex-shock material, gives you
an ultra slim profile with 10 foot drop protection.
Designed specifically for your iPhone 10
to keep it covered, drop after drop.
Get yours, from Verizon Wireless
at the link in the description below.
Be sure to subscribe to The Mr.Mobile on YOuTube
for more reviews just like this one.
Til next time, thanks for watching
And stay mobile my friends.