Iphone x vs iphone 8 vs iphone 8 plus

The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X have some very significant differences, but they also have a lot in common. Our comparison review will help you find out which is the best new iPhone for you

Iphone x vs iphone 8 (8plus)

Apple announced three new iPhones at its special event on 12 September 2017: the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X (pronounced iPhone Ten). If you're thinking about upgrading your phone, you're probably wondering which new model will suit you best.

iphone 8(left), iphone X(middle), iphone 8 plus(right)

If you want a bigger screen, forget the 8: you will have to weigh up the high price of the iPhone X against the bigger and heavier handset of the iPhone 8 Plus. If you're not keen on the idea of a large device, on the hand, then you should be choosing between the 8 and the X. These two models are smaller and lighter than the Plus.

Alternatively, you may be excited 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 features you want the most.

You can read our reviews of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X, but in this article we will weigh up the differences between the three handsets to help you decide which one is best for you.

Let's start with a flash comparison of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iphone X. (We'll move on to a more in-depth look at the differences afterwards.)

	iPhone 8	iPhone 8 Plus	iPhone X
iOS	iOS 11	iOS 11	iOS 11
Colours	Gold, Silver, Space Grey, Red	Gold, Silver, Space Grey, Red	Silver, Space Grey
Display	4.7in Retina HD (1334x750, 326ppi) IPS	5.5in Retina HD (1920x1080, 401ppi) IPS	5.8in Super Retina Display (2436x1125, 458ppi) OLED
Processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor
Storage	64GB/256GB	64GB/256GB	64GB/256GB
Rear camera	12Mp, f/1.8, 5x digital zoom, quad-LED flash	12Mp wide-angle, f/1.8, OIS + 12Mp telephoto, f/2,8, optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Portrait Lighting, Portrait Mode, quad-LED flash	12Mp wide-angle, f/1.8, OIS + 12Mp telephoto, f/2.4, OIS, optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Portrait Lighting, Portrait Mode, quad-LED flash
Front camera	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video
Video recording	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps
Biometric security	Touch ID	Touch ID	Face ID
Wireless charging?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Waterproofing	IP67	IP67	IP67
Dimensions	67.3x138.4x7.3mm	78.1x158.4x7.5mm	70.9x143.6x7.7mm
Weight	148g	202g	174g
Price	£699/£849 ($699/$849)	£799/£949 ($799/$949)	£999/£1,149 ($999/$1,149)

Displays

The obvious starting point when comparing the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X is their displays…

iPhone X - 5.8-inch 19.5:9 aspect ratio True Tone OLED, 2436 x 1125 pixels (458 ppi), 82.9% screen-to-body ratio

iPhone 8 - 4.7-inch 16:9 aspect ratio True Tone LCD, 1334 x 750 pixels (326 ppi), 65.6% screen-to-body ratio

iPhone 8 Plus - 5.5-inch 16:9 aspect ratio True Tone LCD, 1920 x 1080 pixels (401 ppi), 67.7% screen-to-body ratio

The big news here is twofold: while the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus retain the same sizes and core screen technology as their predecessors, the iPhone X is Apple’s first smartphone to both use OLED and switch to the longer and narrower 19.5:9 aspect ratio (widely adopted by Android rivals in 2017).

From a visual standpoint, OLED is far superior to LCD. It delivers a much higher contrast ratio (1,000,000:1 vs 1,400:1) and power savings. It also has the highest screen resolution (and therefore pixel density) of any iPhone - though not quite at the 2880 x 1440 of rivals. The flipside is OLED does pose the risk of burn-in over time (something Apple admits) and you’ll see a slight Blue tint if you view the display from an angle (notably on white backgrounds).

And don’t count out LCD entirely. Apple’s LCDs are the best on the market, they don’t suffer from burn-in and their more traditional aspect ratios are better for the wide array of screen-filling 16:9 video content. All three new iPhones also support High Dynamic Range (HDR - Dolby Vision and HDR10) content which is appearing on iTunes, Netflix and Amazon so old dogs do learn new tricks.

Meanwhile, the iPhone X display has its infamous ‘notch’. More of which in the next section…

Design

If you noticed the screen-to-body ratios in the previous section, the following specifications won’t be a surprise:

iPhone X - 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm (5.65 x 2.79 x 0.30 in) and 174g (6.14 oz)

iPhone 8 - 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29 in) and 148g (5.22 oz)

iPhone 8 Plus - 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5 mm (6.28 x 3.07 x 0.32 in) and 202g (7.13 oz)

Yes, the iPhone X manages to fit a 5.8-inch display into a chassis closer in size to the iPhone 8 than the iPhone 8 Plus. But it’s not all good news.

In jamming such a big display into the iPhone X, Apple was unable to fit its exciting Face ID technology (more in the Performance section) into the top bezel resulting in a large cut out ‘notch’. This compromises viewing media on the iPhone X (videos and photos either shrink out of its way or lose a section behind the notch) while web browsing is pushed off center.

Whether you think this compromise in substance is worth the futuristic design (a bigger top bezel would have avoided it), likely vary from person to person.

Displays aside, there are significant similarities across all three new iPhones. All now have glass backs to enable wireless charging (more in the Battery Life section) which look great but add fragility and cost a fortune to repair. At least the IP67 water and dust resistance (full submersion in up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes) and rigid Series 7000 Aluminium in their chassis is maintained.

All three also retain the Lightning port (Apple is highly unlikely to ever adopt USB-C) and stereo speakers which are roughly 25% louder than the iPhone 7 - though I’ve found the iPhone X to be slightly louder than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

As for colors, the iPhone X comes in just Silver and Space Grey, while the iPhone 8 adds Gold as a third option. I suspect (Product) Red limited editions of all three models will appear at some stage.

Performance

Despite their external differences, internally the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X are almost identical:

iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus - Apple A11 ‘Bionic’ chipset: Six-Core CPU, Six Core GPU, M11 motion coprocessor, 3GB RAM (iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus), 2GB RAM (iPhone 8)

Why is the iPhone 8 still receiving less RAM? It comes down to two factors: driving its lower resolution display is less demanding and so is operating its single rear camera (more in the Camera section). As such for all intents and purposes, real world performance of the three iPhones is identical.

But how much faster are these iPhones than what went before? Apple boasts the A11 chipset has a 25% faster CPU and 30% faster GPU (graphics) than the A10 in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. But the big news is the A11 is also 70% faster when multitasking - and given we spend all our time jumping between apps, that’s big news. In synthetic benchmarking terms, no Android smartphone can get close to the A11, though the real world performance of the Google Pixel 2 and OnePlus 5T runs them close.

But where the real difference between the iPhone X and the more traditional iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus stands out is a new performance part: Face ID facial recognition.

Technologically, Face ID is somewhat akin to a cutdown Microsoft Kinect as it uses an infrared sensor to map and track a subject (in this case their face, rather than a whole body). The result is facial identification which is leaps and bounds ahead of what has come before and even works in the dark (infrared, remember). A photo won’t fool it since the mapping is three dimensional and the data is kept securely on your phone, not shared with Apple.

But it isn’t all good news. At times Face ID simply isn’t as convenient as Touch ID (which the iPhone X lacks completely) since you have to look at your phone every time to unlock it. It’s also slower to unlock than Touch ID and I’ve found it to be less reliable (Touch ID and Google’s Pixel Imprint fingerprint reader remain in a class of their own).

It also means you’ll need to learn gestures to navigate your iPhone X (for example, swiping up on a virtual ‘home bar’ takes you to the home screen). Some users will adapt while others will find the transition a deal breaker. As clever as Face ID is, the obvious solution was to include Touch ID on the back as well.

Cameras - Dual Vs Single

While it is arguable whether the iPhone X’s Face ID is better than Touch ID on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, there is a clear hierarchy in photography: iPhone X > iPhone 8 Plus > iPhone 8.

The trio are identical in their front and (primary) rear cameras. The former is a 7-megapixel module with f/2.2 aperture and no optical image stabilization (OIS), while the latter is 12 megapixels, has an f/1.8 aperture and OIS.

Curious fact: only the iPhone X supports "animojis" (animated emojis) with Apple tying the feature to Face ID. But tests have shown animojis can work with just the front facing camera - not Face ID technology. Yes there are extra accuracies with Face ID, but the feature could’ve worked on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. Don’t worry, though fun for a while, you’ll bore of them quickly. Or at least you should!

As for the differences, while the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus add a second 12-megapixel telephoto lens (for 2x optical zoom and Portrait Mode), the iPhone X telephoto lens has a faster aperture (f/2.4 vs f/2.8) and optical image stabilization (OIS). This makes it better in low light.

With the iPhone X, I’d argue Apple has overtaken Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 to claim the second spot in the smartphone camera leagues. Then again Google has extended the lead it established with the Pixel with the Pixel 2 - particularly in low light and for dynamic range - so that remains the go-to option if camera quality is paramount.

Battery Life And Charging

Perhaps the most infuriating aspect to all three new iPhones is their battery technology.

Note: this doesn’t touch on the throttling controversy currently engulfing all modern iPhones. I discuss this in the conclusion and would advise all concerned potential iPhone upgraders wait for Apple to disclose its future battery plans (above and beyond a limited time discounted battery swap. You deserve better.)

In terms of pure stamina, iPhones continue to stagnant and the iPhone 8 (1821 mAh) and iPhone 8 Plus (2675 mAh) actually have smaller batteries than the iPhone 7 (1960 mAh) and iPhone 7 Plus (2900 mAh). The iPhoneX has a 2716 mAh battery, but its battery life falls closer to the iPhone 8 than iPhone 8 Plus - aka not great.

Countering this all-new iPhone add the aforementioned wireless charging and fast wired charging for the first time. November’s iOS 11.2 update increased wireless charging speed from 5W to 7.5W but the Qi-based technology is disappointingly slow compared to Qi’s 15W top spec. ‘Apple Power’ is promised later in 2018 which may well add 15W, but I suspect it won’t be compatible with existing 15W Qi wireless chargers like 5W and 7.5W charging is.

As for fast wired charging, this is also a double-edged sword. Achieving a 50% charge (from flat) in just 30 minutes competes with rivals’ established fast charging, but remarkably Apple doesn’t include a fast charger in the box. In fact, even the supplied Lighting to USB-A cable is incompatible with the Lighting to USB-C fast charging cable. You’re looking at a minimum outlay of $74 (before tax) for a 29W faster charger and 1 meter cable.

Storage And Price

And the added outlay for a fast charger is going to hurt because these are the most expensive iPhones of all time:

iPhone X - 64GB ($999), 256GB ($1,149)

iPhone 8 - 64GB ($699), 256GB ($849)

iPhone 8 Plus - 64GB ($799), 256GB ($949)

Yes, there are now only two storage options and the iPhone 8 is $50 more expensive than the iPhone 7 when it launched while the iPhone X hits dizzy new heights (all prices are before tax). Meanwhile, the popular midrange 128GB storage option is no more.

But the good news is Apple has at least doubled entry-level storage to 64GB and that may well be enough for many owners. If you’re looking to save on storage then you can put that money towards a wireless charger and/or fast wired charger.

Bottom Line

The temptation for everyone will be to buy the iPhone X. It looks far better than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (whose four generation old designs are quite frankly stale at this point) while it also has a fractionally better camera than the iPhone 8 Plus. Historically 2017 will also be remembered as the year the iPhone X launched, no-one will remember the other two. So if you can afford the iPhone X you’ll enjoy it.

But if money is tight I’d suggest the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are actually more refined phones. iOS is still best suited to navigation with a home button (at least until iOS 12), Touch ID is faster and easier than Face ID (despite being undeniably impressive technology) while the iPhone 8 Plus has a screen that’s a) better for consuming media and web browsing, b) bigger due to the notch, and it has the best battery life as well - all for $200 less.

Personally - unless you are desperate to upgrade - I’d suggest waiting. A second generation iPhone X should have a smaller notch, potentially Touch ID under the display, an iPhone X Plus larger model and the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be discounted. Furthermore, I expect Apple to issue advanced battery technology to reduce annual performance throttling…

But, as always, the decision is yours !!

See Also : iphone X all Features & tips