Our Verdict
If you * need * the Home button then the iPhone 8 ( or 8 Plus ) is apparently going to win over the iPhone X , although it ’s likely you could eventually get used to the fresh gestures involve to control the phone . The iPhone X has a bigger projection screen than the 8 , but the 8 Plus outshines in that respect .
Apple announced three fresh iPhones at its special event on 12 September 2017 : the iPhone 8 , iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X ( say iPhone Ten ) . If you ’re think about upgrading your phone , you ’re in all likelihood wondering which newfangled simulation will beseem you best .
If you want a bigger screen , forget the 8 : you will have to librate up the gamy cost of the iPhone X against the bigger and heavier French telephone of the iPhone 8 Plus . If you ’re not keen on the idea of a large gadget , on the hand , then you should be choosing between the 8 and the X. These two good example are little and lighter than the Plus .
Alternatively , you may be arouse by the new features of the iPhone X but wondering whether you really need to pay around £ 1,000 , or if the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus will give you the feature you require the most .
you could read our review of theiPhone 8,iPhone 8 Plus , and theiPhone X , but in this clause we will weigh up the differences between the three handset to help you decide which one is best for you .
iPhone history
These iPhones have been replaced with novel model . receive link below to our review of all iPhone good example , including the latest generation.iPhone 16is expect to launch in September 2024 ( seewhen is the good time to purchase a newfangled iPhone ) . You might also like ouriPhone buying guide , effective iPhone dealsandcomparison of every iPhone that is usable to purchase today .
iPhone X vs iPhone 8 at a glance
countenance ’s start with a agile equivalence of the iPhone 8 , 8 Plus and X. ( We ’ll move on to a more in - depth facial expression at the differences afterwards . )
Availability
When the earphone first went on sale , this may have been the deciding constituent : the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus went on sale earlier than the iPhone X and there was plenty of stock .
The iPhone X did n’t go on sales agreement until Friday 3 November , and when it did , line run away out quickly , with expected obstetrical delivery dates stretching to days , or even workweek , afterwards .
Now you could carry next - solar day saving for the iPhone X , or beak one up in an Apple Store today . The same croak for the iPhones 8 and 8 addition . Check out our guide tohow to get an iPhone X here .
Price
The price of these three iPhones is in all likelihood the biggest divider and it may well be your budget that is the make up one’s mind factor .
However , note that while there are huge discrepancies between the price if you buy your handset directly from Apple , if you are distribute payment over a two - year period with your peregrine web the divergence may be only a few pound a calendar month .
Also mark that there is less deviation in cost between the 256 GB version of one French telephone and the 64 GB version of the next model up . For example , the 256 GB iPhone 8 Plus costs just £ 50 less than the 64 GB iPhone X. So the selection is really between flag - ship sound and the extra blank .
The iPhone 8 is availablehereand costs £ 699 for the 64 GB version and £ 849 for the 256 GB rendering . If you ’re attend to buy the iPhone 8 on contract bridge , check out our roundup of thebest iPhone 8 deals .
The iPhone 8 Plus cost £ 799 for 64 GB or £ 949 for 256 GB .
The iPhone X costs £ 999 for the 64 GB adaptation and £ 1,149 for the 256 GB reading . It is availablehere ( from Apple ) . We also have a roundup of thebest iPhone 10 pot here .
That ’s a £ 300 premium on the 64 GB iPhone hug drug when compared to the 64 GB iPhone 8 and we have to take we are n’t convinced that it ’s worth that mark - up . The iPhone X is £ 200 more than the iPhone 8 Plus .
Size
As we said above , the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X are both little than the iPhone 8 Plus ( and other Plus fashion model ) .
Here ’s how the dimensions of the iPhone X and iPhone 8 compare :
So , as you may see , the iPhone 8 is smaller and thinner , but only slightly . That ’s difference of half a centimetre in summit and even less than that in width . And as for that half a millimetre remainder in depth , we do n’t think it will be noticeable .
So if your selection was going to be base on the size and shape of the iPhone then there is very little difference here .
When it comes to exercising weight , however , the conflict is not bad .
So here the iPhone 8 wins – with a difference of 26 gramme . Apparently a teaspoon of wampum is roughly equivalent to 4 grams , so that ’s about 6 - 7 spoon of sugar , enough for a very sweet cupful of teatime , but we doubt that it will press you down all that much .
The iPhone 8 Plus is quite a number bigger and heavier – which used to be the price you ’d make up for a bigger screen … until the iPhone X launched .
Conclusion :
If it ’s a small iPhone you ’re looking for , there is n’t really a significant conflict here . It ’s sure not worth indispose the iPhone X over a few millimetres in size , and with just 26 grams between them , the iPhone X is hardly run to finger respectable in comparability to the fractionally light iPhone 8 .
If you really want a belittled iPhone then there is another iPhone you could consider . TheiPhone SEis Apple ’s smallest iPhone :
We ’d recommend that you go for off purchase one of them , though , as we expect Apple to update it in the springtime of 2018 . Read : iPhone SE 2 outlet date .
Screen size
The iPhone X and iPhone 8 may be almost identical when it comes to size and weight but there is one very big difference : the size of it of the screenland .
When it come up to sieve size of it it looks like there is one clear winner here , the iPhone X. However that 5.8 in sloped measurement is misleading .
If you measure the screen ’s height and width the solvent are :
So , there is a domain of departure between the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X filmdom , but in terms of the iPhone 8 Plus , there is just an extra 13 mm in height on one phone and an supererogatory 7 millimetre in width on the other .
Except even that extra 13 millimeter is n’t all precise .
If you exclude the iPhone X pass ( the area at the top of the display that houses the Face ID camera ) from that measurement then the screen is more accurately 62 mm across x 130 mm down ( so 8 millimetre longer than the 8 Plus ) . But it ’s still bigger than the iPhone 8 Plus screen , and given that the handset is itself smaller , that is something to celebrate .
Except that , because the iPhone 8 Plus is a bigger French telephone , the screen can be wider . And there are lots of reason why a wider screen can be good ( not least if you are working on a Pages document in portrait way ) .
But for many the iPhone Plus series are just too adult and cumbersome to bear comfortably . The choice is n’t really about screen size , but rather it is about how much of a sacrifice you are prepared to make to get a larger screen .
Put that way , it ’s hard to advocate one headphone over the other in condition of the filmdom size of it . It depends on what you require .
The first question is : Do you require an iPhone CRT screen that is longer , or an iPhone blind that is wide ?
The 2nd motion is : Will you be using your iPhone to watch moving picture and TV shows film in 16:9 aspect ratio ? Because whereas the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are 16:9 CRT screen , the iPhone X screen door is a 19.5:9 screen and as a resultant you may terminate up choose to watch picture show in a letterbox format rather than harvest ingredient .
The third interrogative sentence : Does any of this topic if you just require a smaller French telephone ?
If you want a really big screen on your full - sieve iPhone you might be wise to wait until later in 2018 , when it ’s rumouredApple might introduce an iPhone X Plus .
Screen quality
There is one other thing to say about the video display on the iPhone X – it ’s an OLED screen that Apple is name a Super Retina display .
This is the first sentence an iPhone has been usable with an OLED concealment . OLEDs have a lot of excellent features include infrangible black – hence that 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio – and a wider viewing slant .
When we used the iPhone X we were impressed . colour were bold and vivid , and the whites more true to life , also perhaps a shade more yellowy than on the iPhone 8 Plus , which seemed have a gamy tint . In comparison to the iPhone 8 Plus dark area were bright and clearer . This is thanks to the other feature of the CRT screen – HDR ( in high spirits dynamical range ) – which expands the range of a function of both contrast and coloring .
When we watch sinister scenes in moving picture there was a lot more clearness on the iPhone X than on the other iPhone models .
The problem with OLED is they can ache from silver screen - burn – a ‘ specter ’ prototype that remains on the CRT screen ( something plaguing the Google Pixel 2 ) . Colour shifting can also be a problem . Apple says that it has fill steps to ward against this .
The OLED screen on the iPhone X is a sight to behold , especially thanks to the incorporation of HDR . But we feel the dimensions of the CRT screen are the wrong aspect ratio to really love motion picture – which is where HDR would be of most benefit . We are also slightly apprehensive about some of the issues OLED are known for .
Processor
When it comes down to processor there is really not a substantial remainder between the three telephone , as each one employ Apple ’s A11 Bionic system - on - buffalo chip .
In fact , when it came to benchmarking run , we found that the Geekbench scores were much identical : we in reality found that the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 scored slimly higher than the iPhone X when we test them .
With multi - core scores around the 10,100 mark – almost twice what the iPhone 7 Plus scored – and more than the competition ( the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 scores around 6,471 while the Google Pixel 2 scores 6224 ) we think that whichever iPhone you take , the central processor speed will not disappoint .
Camera
All three phones have a 12Mp camera on the back but there are some key differences .
The iPhone X and the iPhone 8 Plus have two cameras on the back . That ’s a f/1.8 aperture wide - slant and f/2.4 aperture telephoto camera that combine to create the arresting portrait shots with the blurred background that those phones can take . The iPhone X and Plus also have an optical zoom and offer digital rapid climb up to 10x .
The iPhone 8 just has the one 12Mp tv camera on the back with a f/1.8 aperture , so it ca n’t take the fancy portrayal shaft , and its digital zoom goes to 5x .
Another difference is the fact that the ass - face lenses on the iPhone X both have visual image stabilisation ( OIS ) , which should equalize to unspoiled downcast - light performance , while only the panoptic - slant electron lens on the iPhone 8 Plus has this .
In our picture tests we found that macro photos read with the iPhone X were better than those on the iPhone 8 Plus , and the additional OIS is probably the understanding for that .
There is also new technology in the A11 Bionic splintering that allows Apple to go a pace further with this portraiture photography in the iPhone X and 8 Plus . The ‘ Neural Engine ’ in the image signal processor can permit you to change the lighting stipulation after contract the photograph .
Portrait Lighting options include Natural Light , Studio Light , Contour Light , Stage Light , and Stage Light Mono . The latter two pick disastrous out the backdrop while the other options shift how the light appears to come down on your face . Right now the feature film is in beta – and it does n’t always give the best results , but its a fun elbow room to enhance the already good portrait trend shot .
We love the portrait shot we take with our iPhone 7 Plus so we ’d urge getting a phone with that capability .
If you take a bunch of shots of people and would like to create the bokeh essence then we think you ’d love this feature article of the iPhone X. If you do n’t know what the bokeh force is we ’d probably suggest you do n’t really need it .
Turning to the camera on the front of the iPhones . The selfie / FaceTime camera on the front of the iPhone X is different to that found on the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus .
On the iPhone 8 model you will find a 7Mp FaceTime HD camera with Retina Flash ( the same as on the iPhone Plus ) but on the iPhone X there is a 7Mp TrueDepth front camera with Portrait modal value and Portrait Lighting .
This TrueDepth photographic camera is what relieve oneself Face ID possible – as we will explicate later .
In terms of taking photos , the TrueDepth camera on the front of the iPhone X can take what Apple is calling Portrait Mode Selfies . In other words , the front facing camera can take photos with a sharp foreground and an craftily blurred background to create the same bokeh effect that the two cameras on the back of the iPhone X and Plus can achieve .
When it comes to camera the X gives you the surplus image stabilisation and Portrait Mode Selfies .
The iPhone 8 Plus is more than adequate if you do n’t want to expend your day taking selfies ( and we ca n’t help but think that the the great unwashed who do that are all using Snapchat anyway ) .
However , the tv camera in the iPhone 8 is still slap-up , so , if you are n’t bothered by the addition of the rear - facing Portrait Mode , the iPhone 8 is more than adequate .
The missing Home Button
There is one huge difference between the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and it may be the thing that turns you off the iPhone X on the whole .
The patronage - off for bugger off the bigger screen on the iPhone 8 is the demise of the Home Button . Yes , the trademark Home Button – arguably as much a part of the iPhone ’s iconic design as the clickwheel was on the iPod – has gone .
The removal of the Home Button have in mind that Apple needed to make some changes to the iPhone user interface . So if you were to buy an iPhone X you would have to acquire a new way of life to sail the interface . You may adapt to this rapidly , or you may chance yourself defeated . It depends on how willing you are to embrace change , and how intuitive the new way of interfacing with the iPhone is .
We have an article that explainshow to use the new iPhone X , and all the new gesture that you will have to ascertain . When we used the iPhone X for a short fourth dimension we found we quickly line up to the new gestures .
We found that it was a muckle easier to get used to the different gestures on the iPhone X than we expect , but we still feel that the Home push button was more intuitive and it is frustrating to sense that you have to perform extra steps to do things that previously only take one button press .
Face ID v Touch ID
There is another change as a result of the missing Home Button . Touch ID , Apple ’s fingerprint credit system of rules for securing your phone so that only you could spread out it , and let you to yield for thing using Apple Pay , has been replaced with Face ID .
We feel a bit sad about the exit of Touch ID on the iPhone X. We like the simpleness of being able to unlock our phone just by stir the Home Button , and we enjoyed being able to use our iPhone to pay up for thing in shops . With Face ID you will unlock your speech sound by looking at it . say our equivalence review ofFace ID vs Touch ID .
There is a lot of concern seethe around the web about the reliability of Face ID and how secure it is .
Apple ’s demo on level during the keynote did short to win over people of its reliability – with it appear to break ( although Apple is saying it was n’t correctly set up rather than it failed to agnise the giver ) .
Since the iPhone X launch there have been various case of people being capable to unlock someone else ’s iPhone X – usually selfsame twins or family member , but there have also been tales of people unlocking iPhone cristal example with masks . We handle some of these incident in this article aboutproblems with the iPhone X.
Apple says that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID . According to Apple , there is only a one in a million hazard that Face ID would let someone else to unlock your iPhone – that someone would have to be your doppelgänger .
Essentially , Face ID is good from a felon since they are unlikely to reckon like you – but if it ’s your sibling you want to keep secrets from then you might not be so lucky .
Apple also recommends that kid under the geezerhood of 13 should n’t use look ID as their face are still developing and “ trenchant facial feature may not have full develop ” .
Touch ID , on the other hand , has a one in 50,000 chance of being cracked by someone else fingermark . ( It strikes us that it would be prosperous to chance someone who looked like someone else than to find someone with a similar fingermark if you were intent on hacking into their phone though ) .
People who cover their fount , such as a burkas , niqab or balaclava wearer , wo n’t be able to use Face ID , although if you have a beard , hat or glasses confront ID should still bring .
We discover Face ID worked very well , although ab initio we found it fail to recognise us on a few juncture . However , the initial failings were due to Face ID determine us , and as it became accustomed to tell apart us in various kindling and with or without glasses and the like , it mirthfully unlocked the iPhone whenever ask .
One last matter to note here – when it comes to security the difference between Face ID and Touch ID is really irrelevant because anyone can unlock your iPhone if they have your passcode . So if you do n’t have a secure passcode – that ’s a passcode that is n’t 000000 or 123456 – then you might as well pull up stakes your iPhone unlocked .
There are some benefits to confront ID . You never feel like you are having to unlock your headphone , and lumber onto inspection and repair that would have antecedently used Touch ID , now work with Face ID , so accessing your banking app on your phone can be quicker , if your iPhone X recognises it ’s you .
But it can be thwarting to apply it when after your iPhone recognises you it is still necessary to press out the Side button to activate a defrayment .
Specs
Those are the main differences that will likely make the biggest conflict to you . But there are a few more differences between the iPhone 8 , 8 Plus and iPhone X in terms of eyeglasses .
There are also a few thing that are identical as we will outline below .
Colour choices
Capacity
Water resistance
Processor chip
Battery life
Wireless charging
We ’ve skipped over wireless charging which is a new feature of speech for the iPhone 8 , 8 Plus and iPhone X. We are n’t convinced about how important a feature it is , but if it is something you are attract to , it ’s deserving emphasising that the characteristic is available on both the iPhone 8 and iPhone X so it ’s not a reason to take one phone over the other .
Verdict
The iPhone X has a few features that we have it off , such as Portrait Mode selfies and the improved Portrait Mode on the rear camera . Others are less arresting : the bigger screen on the smaller handset sounds great , for example , but we feel it ’s a little fumble by the notch and the fact that it ’s not really any wider than that on the iPhone 8 .
In addition , the remotion of the Home Button signify that not only do you need to re - ascertain the interface , but you could no longer use Touch ID . We get hold this very off - putting , but suspect that it ’s something we will all have to take to live with , because the likelihood is that next iPhones will sweep up this edge - to - edge screen and Face ID .
justly now , we ’d say go ahead and purchase the iPhone 8 Plus if you want to expend the improved Portrait Mode , or just stick with the cheaper iPhone 8 and bask the Home Button while you still can . That ’s unless you want to be one of an elite using the new iPhone X and all the bragging rights that entails . And we know quite a few people who match into that category .
