Why I bought an iPhone 8 Plus over iPhone X – and why you might want to as well

Apple broke from tradition at its September hardware event this year, unveiling not two – but three separate iPhone models.

The new iPhone line-up includes two iterative updates, in the form of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, as well as an all-new iPhone X.

Apple says the iPhone X is a glimpse into the future of the iPhone, and its design and technologies will define its best-selling smartphone range over the next decade.

There is undoubtedly something alluringly futuristic about the iPhone X – with its new Home Button-less design, curvaceous glass design, and face scanning biometric security features.

It looks phenomenal. But I am not buying an iPhone X.

“Our teams have been hard at work for years on something that is important to all of us: the future of the smartphone,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on-stage, before theatrically unveiling the iPhone X to huge applause.

“The first iPhone revolutionised the decade of technology and changed the world in the process.

“Now 10 years later, it is only fitting that we are here in this place, on this day, to reveal a product that will set the path for technology for the next decade.

“This is iPhone X. It is the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone.

iPhone X is a dramatic change for the iPhone – made only more noticeable because of the fact that Apple has kept the design of its flagship smartphone largely unchanged since the iPhone 6, which launched back in September 2014.

Following in the footsteps of a number of rival smartphone titans, like LG and Samsung, the iPhone X boasts an edge-to-edge display.

It looks staggeringly good. And more importantly, it enables Apple to squeeze a 5.8-inch OLED display into a handset that’s barely larger than the iPhone 8, which has a 4.7-inch display.

Unfortunately, the decision to move to an edge-to-edge screen has forced Apple to drop its iconic circular Home Button from the front of the device.

And herein lies my first issue with the iPhone X.

Apple has replaced its trusty Touch ID fingerprint scanner, which was embedded in the Home Button on previous iterations of the iPhone, with a new face scanning system, dubbed Face ID.

The system is designed to unlock as soon as you make eye-contact with iPhone X.

iPhone X projects 30,000 invisible IR dots to create a mathematical model of the users’ face. This can be used to login, authenticate contactless payments, and unlock secure apps.

It’s an incredibly clever system – but it’s also an untested.

Apple says it has worked with thousands of people from around the globe to design its Face ID, but we won’t really be able to judge the success of Face ID until millions of customers rely on it every single day.

This feedback will enable Apple to tweak and improve the system, much in the way it did with the beta launch of Portrait Mode on the iPhone 7 Plus last year.

Likewise, the Cupertino company completely redesigned the user interface on the Apple Watch – dropping entire menus and reassigning buttons – following feedback from users.

For that to happen with Face ID, those who buy an iPhone X on day-dot will be guinea pigs for the rest of us.

And even if there are no kinks to iron-out with Face ID, it will still take some time for the new authentication system to become widely-adopted.

My banking app only recently added Touch ID authentication to its iOS app – if they manage to incorporate Face ID into the app at the same break-neck speed, I’ll be able to check my balance with my face by 2021.

So, no need to rush to queue outside the Apple Store on November 3rd then.

Besides the introduction of Face ID, the other headline feature of the iPhone X is the gorgeous 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED display.

There’s no denying the new display looks awesome – a gargantuan improvement on the antiquated iPhone 8 design, with its sizeable bezels, and laughable chin and forehead around the display.

But despite the iPhone X display measuring almost 6 inches, it will actually display less information than the iPhone 8 Plus, which has a 5.5-inch panel.

Developers trawling through iOS ahead of the iPhone X have unearthed the effective display area of the iPhone X, which is about 30 per cent larger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 8.

However, those moving from the iPhone 6 Plus, 6S Plus, 7 Plus or 8 Plus will lose around 5 per cent of their display area.

The display on the iPhone X also has a narrower build, so you won’t see as much content on webpages when holding the phone in portrait mode, and you can expect some extra word wrapping.

It might be a small difference, but one that’s not immediately obvious when looking at the difference in display size on paper.

And while we’re on that new 5.8-inch display, Apple has had to reassign a number of functions previously allocated to the Home Button to other areas on the screen.

For example, swiping up from the bottom of the display now performs the same function as pressing the Home Button.

Swiping and holding launches the multi-tasking interface.

Since the swipe-up gesture was previously assigned to Control Centre, the shortcut menu that quickly enables users to toggle Wi-Fi and other settings, this is now accessed by swiping down on the right hand-side of the notch at the top of the display.

It’s a nice solution, but might make one-handed use a little problematic.

Reaching-up to the very top of the 5.65-inch handset could be a little bit of a stretch, especially when you’re walking along, juggling a coffee and a backpack.

The final reason I decided to buy an iPhone 8 Plus over an iPhone X is the price.

iPhone 8 Plus has a number of the same flagship camera features – Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, wireless charging, A11 Biconic processor, True Tone display – but costs £200 less than the iPhone X for the same 64GB storage configuration.

And it’s not just the price of the handset.

Apple charges £199 for two-years of AppleCare+ technical support and accidental damage coverage, compared to £149 for the same cover on the iPhone 8 Plus.

The US technology firm hasn’t revealed its pricing for screen repairs on the iPhone X yet, but I’m willing to bet they’re moire expensive than the equivalent procedure on the iPhone 8 Plus.

iPhone X is clearly the future of the iPhone range.

Face ID will slowly permeate across the iPhone, iPad and MacBook line-up in the coming years, and the writing is on the wall for the physical Home Button.

But while the technology that powers enables the iPhone X’s futuristic new design is undoubtedly impressive, there’s nothing there that seems enough of a monumental upgrade from the iPhone 8 Plus to convince me it’s worth spending the extra £200.

And in fact, there are still some questions around elements of the new technology powering the iPhone X – like the reliability of Face ID, how fast apps will be updated to support Face ID, and how well the new gesture controls will work in practice.

Once those questions are answered, and the nitpicks have been ironed out – I’ll be first in line for the iPhone X1.