It has been 10 years since. The introduction of Apple’s revolutionary device, the iPhone. At the 10th anniversary event. Apple unveiled the iPhone 8 along with the 8 Plus that offered a strikingly uniform design. And huge advancements in internal hardware advancements.
In fact, the Apple iPhone 8 has clearly set things up for the company’s upcoming augmented reality vision. That said, the iPhone 8 is a safe option for those looking for a compact iPhone with an authentic feel. All said and done, what does it take to be your next iPhone? To clear the air, we got our hands on the iPhone 8, 256GB variant. Golden color. Scroll through our review to learn more about our take on the iPhone 8.
Design
Not much has changed in terms of the design of the iPhone 8. In fact, you can’t tell the difference between the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 8 at first glance from the front. It is worth mentioning that the iPhone 7 case will fit this device, as the dimensions are more or less the same. But, to differentiate the current generation iPhone from its predecessor. The back of the device has been replaced with glass instead of aluminum. Moving on to the placement, we have the 7MP front camera, earpiece and sensors. Just below the display, we have Apple’s own home button with Touch ID integration.
On the right, we have the power/lock button, a SIM slot and on the opposite side. We have the volume rocker button and ring/silent switch. The bottom side of the device is where it gets busy with the Lightning port. Speaker and microphone, and we have nothing on the top side. This time too, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Flipping it back, we have the 12MP camera. Secondary microphone and a six-element lens quad-LED true tone flash on the top left. And in the middle, we have a mirror-Apple logo as usual. Overall, the iPhone 8 packs a familiar design with a solid build quality in a compact form factor. Among the current generation smartphones. The iPhone 8 takes the cake when it comes to one-handed operation.
Display
The iPhone 8 sports a 4.7-inch (1334 x 750 pixels) IPS display, which translates to 326 ppi. The 8th-gen iPhone takes a cue from its predecessor when it comes to display. But it benefits from True Tone technology, which debuted with the iPad Pro 9.7-inch last year.
What exactly is True Tone technology? The iPhone 8 comes with a set of built-in sensors that measure the color and brightness of ambient light. Then, the device uses this information to calibrate the display based. On your ambient light to ensure the correct tone on your phone’s display. The difference can only be found when you compare it to non-True Tone devices. That said, Apple has mastered this technology in a beautiful way. The display is bright with good color reproduction and viewing angles. It is also comfortable for long-term use. Moreover, sunlight visibility is also good.
Performance
The performance of iPhone 8 is something to mention. Equipped with six-core A11 Bionic processor with three-core GPU and M11 motion co-processor. It is buttery smooth, snappy and truly a treat for users. Multi-tasking is fluid and easier than ever. Be it graphic-intensive games. There are streaming videos on YouTube and Netflix, using Google Maps and more. The iPhone 8 handles it beautifully without leaving any room for lag. Power users will notice this the most, while casual users won’t.
Processing power comes into play, when you use editing apps (it’s Laps, Adobe Photoshop Mix). And of course AR-based apps too. The iPhone 8 comes in two variants – 64GB and 256GB storage options. In our case, we captured the latter. Out of 256GB, you get around 247GB free. It also comes with 2GB LPDDR4 RAM. But it doesn’t affect performance too much since the iPhone 8 passes. Every test you run with flying colors and the way the system handles. Things is different compared to Android smartphones.
Software
iPhone 8 ships with iOS 11 out of the box. Some of the notable features of this iteration of iOS are AR apps. Redesigned Control Center and App Store, improved Siri and more. The notification panel can be accessed by swiping down from the top. And the control center can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the display.
Having said that, you can edit Control Center options for the first time. From the lock screen, you can also access the camera app and the widget screen. You also get a Night Shift option that automatically changes the color of your display to a warmer tone. Cutting out harsh blue lights that can strain your eyes at night.
Even after some fine-tuning, the layout of iOS remains the same as previous iterations. AR a.k.a, Augmented Reality is an integral part of iOS 11 and most of the time, it looks really natural and immersive. For the uninitiated, augmented reality is technology that superimposes digital information with. The user’s environment in real time. In this case, both hardware and software complement each other to get the most out of it.
Camera
iPhone 8 flaunts a 12MP camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS, six-element lens quad-LED true tone flash. 4K video recording at 60 fps and Slo‑mo 1080p at 240 fps. 7MP selfie shooter with retina flash on the front side.
The camera app’s UI is simple with a toggle button for flash. Live photo, timer and filters at the top. While you’ll find a mini gallery, shutter button and camera toggle at the bottom. You also get different modes including time-lapse, slo-mo, video, photo, square and pano. Generally, iPhones take great pictures. The same applies to the iPhone 8. It takes some amazing shots under daylight conditions. Which is on par with high-end point and shoot cameras. We tested it under various conditions and were happy with the results. The output is natural, vivid and true to life, without any more artificial processing. In fact, each iPhone camera is slowly improving over its previous outing.
Battery
This time the iPhone 8 packs a smaller 1821mAh battery, compared to the 1960mAh battery in the iPhone 7. But, it has a support for fast charging that can charge the phone up to 50% in 30 minutes. And also supports Qi wireless charging. The phone comes with only a standard charger in the box Although it packs a small battery. It doesn’t affect real-world usage in my case. With me, the phone lasts all day on a single charge. Having said that, if you are a heavy user, we would suggest you to carry a power bank with you.
Conclusion
Overall, the Apple iPhone 8 has a mix of a powerful processor, classy camera. Smooth operating system packed into a very familiar design. You can consider the iPhone 8 Plus with a bigger screen and bigger battery. Or wait for the iPhone X which marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.
In that case, if you are planning to switch from Android to iOS, we bet, iPhone 8 will not disappoint you. Also, if you are interested in Android, some options to consider are HTC U11. Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus, Sony Xperia XZ1 and more.
Apple iPhone 8 comes in Gold, Silver and Space Gray colors priced at Rs.10. 64,000 for the iPhone 8 64GB variant and Rs. 77,000 for the iPhone 8 256GB variant.
Pros
- Powerful A11 bionic processor
- Brilliant camera
- Good build quality
- Fast charging and wireless charging
Cons
- Design has not changed much
- On the expensive side
