Review of the iPhone X, purchased entirely w/ STEEM rewards!

Good evening, Steemit, and it is a good evening! I’ve had great day. Earlier this week, I ran in to a crpyto-woes with an exchange harboring 6.0 ETH that I couldn’t withdrawal for the life of me. Tonight, thanks to @denno pointing out the obvious, “Did you check your spam folder?”, BOOM! Achievement unlocked and with half of that, I was able to take @blocktrades on a date that resulted in 1126 STEEM, just as the uptick currently happening now, began! That is a good fucking day.


Tonight’s post celebrates Steemit above and beyond the secondary tech review it will be. Six months ago, I made a post titled “I just bought the new 12.9" iPad Pro, paid for entirely w/ STEEM rewards!”. A few days ago, I received my anticipated iPhone X, paid for in full with STEEM. Reference above why buying back 1126.012 was such a big deal for me? Because that’s almost exactly what I spent to buy this new piece of hardware. Steemit isn’t a golden goose, but it’s given me flexibility to buy […and sell], making otherwise impossible situations like this, happen. On an unpredictable freelance income, I was able to pre-order the iPhone X, and shortly after it arrived, buy back the STEEM I spent to make it all possible.

On to the review! Here’s something you should know. I’m in no way unbiased. I’m an unapologetic Apple fanboy, so digest that and decide whether or not you’d like to upvote, resteem or even read on. Apple makes great products, sure, but the company’s hardware and software has fundamentally impacted my life. The 12.9” iPad Pro and Apple Pencil […thank you, Steemit] has been nothing short of a revolutionary tool in my comic book aspirations. That said, here’s the breakdown on the iPhone X!

Face ID 

This was the “…wait and see” feature. Other phones have implemented facial recognition but it was far from the promise we’d expected as technology moved forward. When I opened the iPhone X, I walked through setup and was promoted to enable Face ID. It scanned my face from all angles, then with a second scan, completed. Done.

Over the last few days, I’ve had to get used to Face ID. There’s a learning curve, for sure. It misses now and then and prompts me to enter my passcode. This is a feature. During Apple’s iPhone X event, they drilled down into the on device machine learning. You can tell it’s actually doing just that. The miss isn’t repeated, and gets better and more accurate every time I unlock the phone by looking at it […or it looks at me…weird!]. 

In a very Apple touch, there’s even intuitive features that utilize Face ID. At times, when you look at the phone, it’ll gradually brighten because it’s recognized your attention. I just read an article in BGR that it lowers the volume of your alarm when it’s aware you’re awake and looking at your phone! Crazy. Animoji’s are fun as all shit! I’ve been using them to mock @tarotbyfergus when I beat him at Magic: The Gathering.

UI 

I’ve read that the iPhone X isn’t for everyone. It’s for early adopters of new technology, which I am. Even for me, though, the lack of a home button is a barrier. I’ve been psychological trained to click that damn button for ten years […yes, I stood in line at the AT&T store for 6 hours at the Wyoming Valley Mall to get my original iPhone]. Some apps haven’t been updated for the iPhone X and already had “swipe up” gestures, like SnapChat. When you try to get home from one of those apps, it’s a roll of the dice what will happen. The new app switcher is cards. Also, far from a “no brainier”. It’s a new gesture and I’m learning. Sometimes it can be frustrating. 

The Notch

The “notch”, “ears” or “horns” are what everyone is talking about. That cut out where the cameras and sensors live at the top of the display. My belief is that Apple intentionally committed to that design because it’s so distinct. For ten years, the simple iPhone icon was a small rectangle with a dot to represent the home button. I think that was an intentional design choice to create the next generation of iconic art. A lot of people say the notch goes away and you won’t even notice it, and I am here to say as an Apple fanboy, that is bullshit…at least with me. I see it all the time.

Size

The size is just right for me. Prior to the iPhone X I purchased the iPhone 8 Plus on the upgrade program […it’s now been adopted by @vermillionfox]. I anticipated the iPhone X being impossible to get and I bought the 8 Plus almost exclusively for the camera and portrait mode to capture memories with @guthrie. The size of the 8 Plus was cumbersome for me. I constant felt like I was fumbling it, it didn’t fit in my pocket. The iPhone X is the sweet spot for me just slightly larger than the iPhone 8 with a larger screen and those outstanding dual cameras.

Speed

This thing is SO fast. I’ve read that it’s most likely over engineered and I’d believe that with the coming AR ambitions of Apple. The A11 Bionic woke up the internet when it’s benchmark speed tests in the iPhone 8 out performed a 13” MacBook Pro in Tom’s Guide’s review. Well, the iPhone X just smoked a Pixel 2 XL. It’s the fastest consumer phone on the market.

Screen

I love the display on this phone, simply because of it’s color accuracy. It doesn’t try to trick you by punching the contrasts, black and saturations. It looks like a photo that constantly changes before your eyes. P3 wide color, 458 psi is unbelievable. These phones are individually calibrated, not batch calibrated. It’s truly a sight to behold, if you can get past that damn notch! Here are the technical specs.

* Super Retina HD display

* HDR display

* 2436-by-1125-pixel resolution at 458 ppi

* 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical)

* True Tone display

* Wide color display (P3)

* 3D Touch

* 625 cd/m2 max brightness (typical)

* Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating

* 5.8-inch (diagonal) OLED Multi-Touch display


Camera

This was ultimately what made me decide to buy the iPhone X. I have a son and I want to capture as many photos and videos of him growing up as I can, and I want them to look as good as technologically possible. I also blog as part of my living […as you know]. Having a phone that can take photos comparable to my DSL makes my life so much easier. Portrait mode creates a pseudo-depth of field that I love. You can read my previous iPhone 8 Plus vs. Nikon D750 test, “Nikon D750 vs. iPhone 8 Plus w/ @vermillionfox!”. A huge upgrade from the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X offers OIS both cameras and the front facing camera now features Portrait Mode […for selfies] as well!

IP67

 I will tell you, this was the part of the Steemit review that made me sick to my stomach. As someone who’s had to pay $299 three times to have my iPhone 6 replaced for water damage, nausea was setting in moments before I tested the IP67 rating on the iPhone X. @mada said to me tonight, “…I wouldn’t have let you do it!”. I submerged my iPhone X in water at @caffetto this afternoon, for science. SCIENCE! After 5 minutes, it seemed fine. I made a call an hour later and had a difficult time hearing the person on the other line. I shook the phone and water was coming from the speaker. A few calls throughout the evening as it improved. I continued shaking the phone in a downward swinging motion, and minuscule amounts of water continued coming from the speaker. I wouldn’t recommend doing this test yourself for funsies, but by the end of the night calls sounded perfectly clear.

iOS 11

 An understated feature in the iPhone X is the new OS. iOS 11 makes things SO much easier, from drag and drop to Files. 4K HDR video and RAW photo and editing capabilities.  Continuity between iOS devices is better than ever. Face ID replaces Touch ID and across so many secure websites that require lengthy passwords, Face ID will prompt you if you’d like to use your face to login. These are the features that make this phone so exceptional.

Thanks for reading and staying with me throughout this lengthy summary of the iPhone X. I’ll most likely do another iPhone X photography-centric blog in the coming weeks. For more tech review, photography, art and illustration, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!