iPhone X First Impressions

So, I posted last week that I ordered an iPhone X. I got an estimated delivery date of 12/12 to 12/17. A few days later that got bumped up to 12/1. Well, I woke up at around 6am Saturday morning (Thank you 11 month old Ava) and checked the Apple Store app. I had read the previous night that stores were going to have stock available for in store pickup starting at 6am, so I gave it a shot. To my surprise, the Apple Store at Saddle Creek had the model I wanted (Verizon, White, 256gb) in stock for pickup that day. I cancelled my online preorder and placed a new order for in store pickup Saturday. By a few minutes after noon I was walking out with my new phone. So how is it? Overall, very good.

The phone feels really solidly built, which isn’t really all that much of a surprise, most Apple products are. The size is about perfect for me. I was a long time member of #plusclub, but I’ve actually been kinda thinking about going with something smaller ever since I bought an LTE IPad Pro this summer to replace my 12” macbook. The iPad is basically with me everywhere I go, so I no longer feel the need to have a super large battery and screen in my phone. If I’m stuck somewhere and I’m going to break out Netflix or something, I’m going to do it on the iPad no matter how big my phone’s screen is.

 

The X seems like the perfect companion to something like the iPad Pro. Like the 4.7” iPhones it’s small and easy to pocket, but thanks to the edge to edge display you get a screen more in line with a plus model. Everyone is already talking about the possibility of an “X Plus” next year, and while I generally like larger phones, or at least thought I did, using the X for just one day so far is enough to make me seriously reconsider wanting a larger phone. I really do feel like it’s the perfect size, and I’ve never said that about an IPhone before.

FaceID seems to be the thing that everyone was most worried about. So far for me, it’s been effectively flawless. It’s actually less intrusive than TouchID in that one day in, I’ve already started to forget it’s even a thing most of the time. Effectively, I just pick up my phone and it’s unlocked. It’s only failed a handful of times, like when my face was half on a pillow.

 

The screen so far has been awesome too, I’ve used OLED screens before so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but this looks to me to be a really good OLED display. Color shift at off angles is minimal and colors seem accurate and bright. I haven’t used it in the sun much because I’ve had the cold that will never end, but it seems very bright even in direct sunlight in my admittedly very limited usage.

Animoji is a lot of fun, I don’t care what anyone says.

 

Battery life seems to be good, and should be good based on the battery size and processor. I haven’t used it enough to really test, but it feels on par with my 7+.

Like I said before, the size is really, really nice, at least to my smallish hands. Between the grippier glass back and the more easily gripped (read: reduced) width, I’m actually considering not using a case. Also I bought AppleCare+, so I’m a little braver.

​ Camera seems very good, I took this picture today:

I obviously haven’t had this phone long enough to do a comprehensive review, but so far I am super pleased with it. I’ll post updates as I find new things or run into any issues, but so far it’s been a very positive experience and definitely feels like a truly new iPhone for the first time in quite a few years.

 

Edit: I realized after posting this that I didn’t mention “The Notch” at all, I had completely forgotten it was supposed to be a huge issue. I guess that pretty much says all that needs to be said about The Notch. One day in and I forgot it was a thing. I will say it would probably be annoying if you’re a big video consumer on your phone. As I mentioned above I tend to use my iPad for that. In normal phone use for texting, twitter, facebook, weather, camera, etc it’s 100% not an issue.