Richard Goodwin 14/09/2017 - 3:48pm

The iPhone 8 has almost everything most will want from a new iPhone, and it costs quite a bit less than the iPhone X

The iPhone 8 and iPhone X are now official, following Apple’s extensive keynote speech at the company’s new Steve Jobs theatre in Cupertino, where the company also announced the Apple Watch 3 and Apple TV 4K.

The iPhone X, as the rumours suggested, was the main event with its brand new design, OLED display, Face ID instead of TouchID, and fancy new styling which sees the front the handset dominated by an expansive Super Retina OLED panel.

All the rumours you read about in the run up to the launch of the new iPhones turned out to be true. The iPhone X is very expensive, prohibitively expensive in some instances, and while it is a very good-looking phone, I am kind of struggling to find the motivation to part with £1000 for a unit.

Why? Simple: for me, the iPhone 8, though familiar, is a very competitive update. It has the same A11 CPU as Apple’s iPhone X, which has already been shown to be stupidly powerful, it has wireless charging, a brilliant camera, and, because it still runs 1080p panels, likely a very impressive battery life.

Apple’s new A11 CPU is a lot smaller than what came before, smaller and more powerful, and this will mean it is more efficient. And this combined with further optimisations will likely make the battery life of the iPhone 8 Plus a hell of a lot better than what we got on the outgoing iPhone 7 Plus.

For me, battery life – the ability for a phone to go all day long off a single charge – is a huge factor to consider before buying a new phone. The iPhone X has a massive display by comparison and, for the most part, I am not convinced it will have anywhere near the same battery performance as the iPhone 8 Plus.

The iPhone 8 Plus has the same camera as the iPhone X, the same CPU and RAM, the same biometric sensors, and the same front-facing camera. As far as I can tell, the only real, tangible difference between the two handsets is design – and, of course, the fact the iPhone X does not have TouchID.

TouchID versus Face ID


Apple says Face ID on the iPhone X is more secure than TouchID, that no one but you can unlock the phone, as even identical twins have slightly different faces, and the iPhone X, with its fancy sensors, will be able to tell the difference.

This is all well and good, but, call me old fashioned, but I’m not too keen on having to hold my phone up to my face every time I want to unlock it or pay for things.

Like the headphone jack, I happen to like the fingerprint sensor used on most modern phones, especially when it’s on the back, as it works seamlessly in most cases and is super easy to use when taking your phone out of your pocket.

I could be wrong, but I just don’t see how Face ID is more convenient?

But the main thing for is the price; the iPhone X is INSANELY expensive (£1000+), especially when you consider that you can get pretty much all the same specs and features, save for the new design, inside the iPhone 8 Plus (£699).

For this reason, and the fact that iPhone X is a first generation device, I’d probably be more inclined to save some money and get the iPhone 8 Plus over the iPhone X.

What about you?

Best Place To Pre-Order iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus


UK iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus PREORDER 

If you’re in the UK, and you want a MASSIVE selection of options when it comes to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus deals is Carphone Warehouse – this would be my preferred option, as they cover all bases, budgets, and networks.  

Another option for UK punters is MOBILES; you can now pre-register for the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. 

These are two of the best options for the UK and a sure fire way to ensure you get an iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus as soon as they're available. 

VERIZON 

Verizon has A TON of deals for the iPhone 8 - check them out right here if you're after unlimited data.

T-MOBILE

T-Mobile has an array of deals in the pipeline as well, you can now PRE-REGISTER and they'll update you as soon as the deals go live