iPhone 8 & 8 Plus Review - the Agony and the Ecstasy By MobileTechReview

This is Lisa from mobile tech review and this is not the iPhone 7 and 7 plus. Well, you can tell the back on this one. At least it's different, because the new space gray is kind of like almost well. It's a grayish black glass thing, but there's a lot. That's similar! That's led to some laments well. You've, probably seen several reviews already and read some reviews, but we're gonna talk particularly about what's great and, what's not so great, called the agony and the ecstasy we're gonna.

Look at it now. Ok, let's start a couple of the basics before we get into the well the agony and the ecstasy of the iPhone 8 and 8. Plus this one starts at $700. This one starts at $800. The prices have in general gone up from a couple of generations ago.

Is it the price of Last or flash storage? The same reason that Apple actually raised the price on the higher storage capacities of the recent iPad Pro models? I, don't know they gain to be pricey proposition. So this one right here, it's $150 more again, so that's 950 dollars. If you want the higher storage capacity, you're, pushing close to the price of the iPhone 10 already, aren't you, so I know some people don't want to get the iPhone 10, because they're thinking, they're gonna, look like the rich tool who doesn't know better they're, not spending their money wisely, but if you do want to stay with iOS you've already just about reach the same price level as one of these. If you want the higher storage capacity on this one, so there's that- and you know I- think Apple people in general run into that image, whether it's right or wrong. A lot of people think that about people who buy Apple stuff already anyway, so I say screw that by whichever iPhone you want now, I can't tell you how good the iPhone 10 is for sure, because it's not available yet for us to use in our hands that comes at the beginning in November.

So back to these guys this whole these two here hold the tradition of being your standard. iPhones Apple obviously had to do something different because they look so much alike that, let me just make the point right hear hear. We have two plus models, which is which, which is the new generation, which is the old right. Okay, from the front, you really can't tell you, have the slightly wider color gamut on the new model at that p3 cinema gamut, which means movies actually doing pretty nice and HDR, is actually supported. You know about 615 to 615 it's a brightness, it's enough for HDR and supported and things like Netflix, and it does look pretty nice turn them around, and it becomes a little more obvious.

Now this one is called gold, even though I would still say this is more like rose gold, it's fairly pink. The pink on the edges is almost exactly the same, so we have a glass back here. We have wireless charging as a result. That's why Apple went back to the glass back. Metal doesn't work for a wireless charging.

People like wireless charging, we've been doing for years with Android and so on, so yeah that that's one nice improvement right there, but that's also the part that hurts, because a lot of what Apple's doing here is playing catch-up. Here's the agony, part of this okay. There are those of you out there who are just saying: oh screw it, and you got yourself your Galaxy S8 or your beautiful note.8 here OLED displays wireless charging more features than you can shake a stick out and keep track of, probably, and even phones like the LG G six glass back wireless charging, nice looking phone, this one's, not OLED the LG b 30 will have that and these are all less expensive that hurts right. So what's the reason, why would you still go with an iPhone? Well, you know what I think people who are iPhone lovers, iOS lovers. They know the answer to that already: it's the ecosystem, stupid! That's what they would say.

It's the fact that when I booted one of these up and I had an older iPhone this one, this seven plus here is actually my iPhone. They have this new feature, you just put them near each other, and you don't even have to log into your iTunes account you don't plug it into your computer, nothing boom. It makes it so easy. It's just amazing when you do an iCloud restore it, because thank God Apple at least added the cloud support a couple of years ago. You can make your new phone look pretty much in terms of the software.

That's installed chests like your old phone in 20 minutes or less it's just pretty darn seamless. So generally speaking, and I also use Android, I own a note, 8 thanks to their great trading program for burning, no 7 owners, it's its more seamless, and it's easier. The touch I D on the iPhone, it's still hard to be, which is why people are a little bummed by the iPhone 10, because it's wishing the face ID, we don't know how good that is. It is just the bee's knees there with your iCloud keychain sync and your touch ID. Just a simple press of the button pick it up.

You got motion unlock you press. This button boom you're there I'm already authenticated on my new phone there's very little pain, not so smooth generally with Android when switching from phone to phone, so that keeps a lot of people sold then there's the whole in-person store or over the phone tech support experience. Oh boy, let me tell you business see this is this: is an Apple Watch LTE series 3 right here on my wrist as I'll, be reviewing if you've read about activation? Was there true so just having to call up if you deal with Apple? Generally speaking, if you go into the store, there's nice people there they're fairly knowledgeable they have a Genius Bar. They can help you out. They don't give you the BS and the runaround, calling up the carrier's just to deal with this interaction with one of these phones working with Verizon and AT&T though I'd say AT&T is worse.

Oh, my goodness, nobody really knows. What's going on there, they made up stories. I can't tell you how many silly cuts contradictory stories. I got over that I just wanted to go back to Apple and deal with somebody who is not going to disrespect me in that way. So there's the reason why people put up with the agony of looking at other phones that are less expensive but have OLED screens and wireless charging years before Apple did and pens and all that sort of thing, like the note series does, since we finally do get wireless charging as part of work towards the ecstasy.

Well, we finally got it. How well does it work? This is hilarious. This is the latest generation Samsung QI, wireless charger, so yeah it doesn't matter. You don't have to go out and wait for some special Apple charger. All these cheap charges on the market work.

To put it down, probably heard the charging sound even more charming is now. This is really weird because right, iPhones didn't have wireless charging a lot of the cases that I had for the iPhone actually work with wireless charging, which is often hit or miss, forget Letterbox. Generally speaking, those are not going to work for you, but this one I love these things. These are the insignia 20 bucks or fewer cheap cases that you get from Best Buy this one's a year old. So it's turning slightly yellow like clear cases.

Do it cheap rugged works, put it on there. The iPhone is still gonna charge for this one. So you know you might say: okay, that's the skinny CPU case, but I've. You skinny CPU cases on some of the Galaxy products that actually don't work. Why this does work? I, don't know.

So we put this one on down list field here in the charging sound there. It is, and it's boring to watch me go through all these, but this is Apple's leather case here. Even this one works, so that's pretty nice because I was thinking yeah wireless charging, the only drawback is, you often have to take it out of the case and Apple people seem to always use cases because before was a scratchy limited back there you're going to be worried about this hardened glass. Whatever it is, Apple claims it's very hard and unlikely to break you're. Still gonna worry and probably put a case on it.

I see naked Android phones, sometimes I almost never see a naked iPhone out in the field. Next thing, the iPhone has one of the better speakers on a phone and that's something: I miss out you and I switch over to my s8, and my note 8 and speakers membrane out not super far well. They made it even louder and supposedly fuller for the 8 and the A+, and it is noticeable this latter I was like actually turning it down as a little embarrassing or watching Netflix and bothering other people in the room. So that's nice improvement for the display. It looks a little better, and now it supports the p3 color gamut.

That's a wide cinema, color gamut, which is nice, it's sort of akin to going from the iPad to the iPad Pro display, but the difference isn't as striking to my eyes. It does look better, and you also have that color adjustment which you can enable or disable it will make things warmer inside the average household, because your indoor lighting tends to be warmer. You may like that. You may not like it. It is easier on the eyes, of course, there's still that in nighttime mode too, but it is a little zinger, and it's telling that there is a difference in the displays, because Netflix is supporting HDR mode on the 8, the 8 plus and the 10, and the latest generation iPad Pro models, but not on the previous iPhone.

So obviously they can't do it. Brightness is still about the same. It's about 650, Anti, 15, to 50, and while that's not going to out seer the Galaxy SII, which you know it. Ain't goes beyond a thousand only on auto-brightness granted and when you're in a very outdoor right kind of setting, but still it's bright enough. That I have never had trouble, seeing it outdoors, and it's bright enough, apparently to do HDR mode.

So that's pretty darn nice stuff there, and it's a nice little improvement. Is this enough for you to go from a 7 to an eight I, don't know so much! That's up for you to decide! A lot of people do have the new every year plan these days. All the carriers are pushing that so every 12 months you just keep making your monthly finance payments, and you go, and you swap to a new model. These things might be enough to push you over wireless charging. Is nice I? Don't know you've done without it for so long, but the more vivid poppy screen? Yes, the most important thing for me because I love photography is the camera, and you can see on screen now some examples comparing the old, iPhone, and I'm focusing on 7 plus, because it has that portrait mode with the faux both and all that sort of thing we've got some no need comparisons, because it has a feature too, but it's noticeably better when the iPhone 7 and 7 plus came out particularly the 7 plus again, because that portrait feature that was done pretty darn well, it was really great I use it all the time, and then it was eclipsed I had the LG G 6, there's a pretty great camera.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a better camera than note.8 has a better camera than the iPhone 7 and 7 plus family, but with the 8 and A+, just as you expected, they upped the game again and these days smartphone cameras are improving so fast, and it's 50% software and 50% hardware improvements generally speaking and Apple's, perfect at the software, and I'm a plus users, because I love that portrait feature they've improved the both. So you don't see so much a weird friend, Johann, fringing and haloing around here, and also you can see that they added these nifty new modes, the spotlight mode, the contour lighting mode. So its different portrait lighting effects that are actually pretty effective, and you can see a couple that one of our staff members took of me. I take some pretty nice portraits, but nobody wants to appear in our YouTube video and risk being seen by 100,000 people or more, so I can't show you any of those. But those are those effects again.

They just get me feeling all creative, and suddenly I'm posting pictures on Instagram again now, even if you go with the regular 8 for standard non portrait, non both things you're still getting the same basic good camera right there with up optical image, stabilization, finally important for your 4k video shooting it's a very good general-purpose camera and looks really sharp it's pretty hard to tell the difference between it and a s8 in terms of quality, so they've upped the game and that's a lot of fun. So this is one of the reasons I would want to upgrade is because the cameras gotten that much better and those new portrait effect modes, they're, really fun. Next, there's speed, you get more cores, you get the usual processor improvement, the a11 Bionic chip, it's just I, don't know it's come with Goofy name, sorry, but the scores don't align here and those are some impressive numbers so once again, because especially some websites always love to say well, look the iPhone, it scores everybody else once again. Well, it actually is trim particular that single core number is just like wow, that's pretty darn insane stuff there. So what does that mean? Is there a point to that? Even I mean our phones are faster than we know.

What to do is what Apple's does a perfect job, and this is one of the ecstasy moments here. They find things that are useful, for example, again, if you got Gallo for the 8 plus model or the iPhone 10 when that comes out, those new portrait features the studio lighting things as all software, algorithms that are very complicated edge detection. All these things are going on there right, so that's a great use for your processor and your phone, but it's doing in software what SLR would use Hardware instead, that's pretty neat, also the AR stuff and I showed you that in our iOS 11, what's new video that takes a lot of horsepower to do well, and it's been very responsive and actually a little better than a lot of the AR augmented reality. Implementations I've, seen in terms of the objects, actually do move smoothly in virtual space. On your phone they're placed in the proper spot, so it's using the processor really well and Apple now makes their own GPU.

Besides the help of these accelerations to make an AR experience that I think is going to foster whites widespread adoption. Finally, instead of being this kind of niche thing and being limited to Pok?mon, go on phones, it's its good use of otherwise wasteful horsepower inside of phones. This is nice to see so back to the egg. The part again, it's almost shameful that a $700 phone has a 720p display and just IPS. Okay, it's a wide color gamut, one.

It's pretty nice as IPS goes. That's like embarrassing, hey, dude, I've been 700 bucks or maybe 850, and look what I got right: 720p in Android land. You know how it goes.1080P is your mid-range and below only phone resolution these days, unless your sony still thinks they're only competing with Apple, so they go with 1080p and with the eight plus you've got a 1080p display, it seems kind of pedestrian. If you look at a Galaxy Note, 8 and part of it, because it's only it does look a little sharper, you know no matter what Apple says about what's red, that what is it and all that sort of thing it depends on your vision. I could see a little difference in sharpness there, which leans me towards maybe that iPhone 10 might be the more awesome thing in favor of the plus versus the iPhone 10, though this is the same thing to happen when with Samsung count came out with the galaxy s 8 and is plus and LG with you know the g6.

These really long narrow aspect ratios mean that the physical size of display height versus with may mean that you're not seeing as much on screen as you think, because they're quite narrow but tall. So that's why the iPhone 10 is five point, eight inches, yet it's physically smaller than the plus, which is only five point, five inches, because it also has a narrower at this point, and you're going to black bars on the sides of your video there we go again the same thing else. Yes, a people went through in the LG G 6 people, some it's an interesting mixed bag, but you know the 16 by 9 stance, they're, an aspect ratio on the plus is a pretty functional model. For such things, it'd be nice. It was higher resolution, but it's not battery life in my experience so far is about pretty much the same as the last generation.

Not much has changed. They're in a physical capacity went down a teeny bit, but the processor got more efficient. You know the usual story. There is some not much to say and, as usual, the plus model is one of the longer-lasting. Bigger footprint smartphones on the market is just really amazing.

In terms of battery life, the iPhone 8 is decent. It's among to these speaking, smaller phones, I, suppose you'd, say these days hard to find one that small any more 4.7 inches it's okay, it's not as stellar, though the iPhone 10 promises to have even better battery life. Again, we won't know until November, beginning of November, so there you have it meet the new iPhone, not quite the same as the old iPhone thank God right. Yes, not enough has changed to get people excited, and now we have that whole canoodles of the iPhone 10 coming out at the very beginning of November. If you want a big and radical change, there's still stuff to like about this, an apples model.

Well, it makes some sense. They figured probably every other year. A lot of you are upgrading, and then the improvements are significant enough. That you're going to be happy, largely they're, counting on the fact that many of you are locked into the ecosystem. You love iOS that can only go so far like I said that worked for blackberry until it didn't that work for the trio until it didn't.

So, let's see what the iPhone 10 brings for those who you really want to see something new I'm, Lea, super mobile tech review be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more cool tech, videos and thumbs up. If you like this vid.

Source : MobileTechReview