Updated at: 01-06-2023 - By: Gemaga

Don’t be fooled by the marketing; the iPhone 8 is essentially the iPhone 7S, a minor update to last year’s 4.7-inch iPhone 7 with a few new features but nothing that will make you rethink your smartphone preferences in 2018.

Specs

iPhone 8 iOS Device: iPhone 8 Plus
Price $699, $849 $799, $949
CPU Bionic A11 Bionic A11
Capacity 64, 256 GB 64, 256 GB
Camera in Back 12-MP With two separate 12-megapixel sensors (f/1.8 and f/2.8),
Premises Camera Position: In Front 7-Megapixel High-Definition FaceTime 7-Megapixel High-Definition FaceTime
Key-Deriving Procedure Touch ID Touch ID
Colors Color Scheme: Silver/Gray/Gold Black, White, and Gold in Space
Pixels per inch (Resolution) 1334 x 750 pixels, or 4.7 inches 5.50″ (1920 x 1080)
Size dimensions of 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.29% Dimensions of 3.2 by 1.2 by 0.7 centimeters
Weight 5,22 ounces It weighs 7.13 ounces.

FOR

  • The convenience of wireless charging.
  • The glass back feels great in your hand.
  • Excellent point-and-shoot camera

AGAINST

  • Upgrade over the iPhone 7 is minimal.
  • Outdated bezel-heavy design
  • Battery life is barely a day.

Even though it wasn’t Apple’s flagship iOS device when it came out, the iPhone 8 is still an excellent choice in terms of performance and features. Its familiar home button also houses the company’s convenient Touch ID fingerprint sensor. When compared to the iPhone X, it offers comparable performance at a significantly lower price, which is impressive even now, years after the release of both devices.

iPhone 8 Plus review: still massive – but not in a good way | iPhone 8 | The Guardian

The newest iPhones from Apple, the iPhone 12 series, are some of the best currently available.four phones. They’re three years more recent than the iPhone 8, but also quite a bit more expensive. The launch price of the iPhone 8 has thankfully dropped.

The iPhone 8 has avoided the usual culling of older models that occurs when Apple introduces new iPhones, and it can now take advantage of the newest features in iOS 14. Although it now more closely resembles the new mid-range iPhone SE 2020, Apple continues to market it as a “budget” entry to the iPhone series for those who desire Apple’s technology but cannot afford a high-end phone. That means you can still find many places to buy an iPhone 8 for significantly less than its retail price.

If you’ve owned an iPhone at any point starting with the iPhone 6, you’ll be familiar with the 8’s design and features because they’re all carried over from previous models. For some, the lack of significant improvements over earlier models is an advantage.

Apple naysayers and Android enthusiasts (who are often one and the same) will be quick to point out the iPhone 8’s lackluster improvements over the iPhone 7, but those upgrading from an older iPhone model will likely not notice a difference, especially given the 8’s more robust chipset.

There may not be many new features in the iPhone 8, but for those with older iPhones, it will be a welcome upgrade. To ensure you get the most out of your iPhone, it supports all the new features introduced in iOS 14, including widgets, Dark Mode, and various app speed boosts.

iPhone 8 vs iPhone XS

Apple hasn’t made any groundbreaking changes here; for more cutting-edge technology (within the iPhone ecosystem, at least), check out the iPhone XS, which has replaced the iPhone X.

You probably already know this, but there is a significant price difference between these two phones. The 64GB version of the iPhone XS started at $999/£999/AU$1,579 at launch, while the base model of the iPhone 8 is now just $599/£549/AU$979.

Prices have dropped since then, though the iPhone 8 is no longer sold directly by Apple (it was succeeded by the iPhone SE 2020), so final costs will depend on where you buy it.

What exactly are you getting for the additional cost, and should you consider making the purchase? A bezel-less 5.8-inch display with 1,125 x 2,436 resolution and OLED display technology is the first noticeable improvement over the iPhone 8’s 4.7-inch screen with 750 x 1,334. In this case, ahugein contrast to one another.

Another major distinction is the method used to unlock the iPhone 8: fingerprint scanning with Touch ID, as it has been for years. The iPhone XS features a facial recognition system called Face ID, hence the name.

While Touch ID is quick and easy to use, Face ID is futuristic in that it uses facial recognition.tolerably quickNonetheless, not everyone will benefit; some people have trouble adjusting to change. The iPhone 8 will be a much better option for them.

The TrueDepth front camera found in the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR enables Animoji and MeMoji, which turn your face into an animated emoji. This feature is exclusive to the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR.

The iPhone XS’s two cameras are an improvement over the iPhone 8’s single sensor, allowing for background de-focus and a more complete photographic experience (although the iPhone 8 Plus can also do this).

To sum up, the iPhone 8 is the financially prudent choice. It’s an iPhone, so it does iPhone things, and it’s a solid package you’ll recognize from the iPhone 6 and earlier.

iPhone 8 price and availability

  • The 64GB version of the iPhone 8 costs $449 (£479, AU$779)
  • Apple charges $499 (£529, AU$859) for a 128GB iPhone 8.
  • Cost at release: $699 (£699, AU$1,079 for the 64GB model)
  • The starting price for the 256GB model is $849 (£849.
  • On September 22, 2017, Apple will debut the iPhone 8.

The iPhone 8’s increased starting price once again established a new benchmark for Apple’s most popular smartphone.

When it was first released, the 64GB iPhone 8 cost $699 (£699, AU$1,079), while the 256GB model cost $849 (£849, AU$1,329).

Apple has dropped the maximum storage capacity of the iPhone 8 from 256GB to 128GB, so the 64GB model now costs $449 (£479, AU$779) and the 128GB model costs $499 (£529, $829). The best iPhone 8 contracts in the UK can be found on our UK deals page.

The iPhone 8 is still widely available from Apple and other major phone retailers, despite the fact that Apple has released three new generations of iPhones since its debut.

Design

  •  Wireless charging is possible and the glass back looks and feels great.
  •  The front is still very bezel-heavy and largely unchanged from the previous three generations.

The iPhone 8’s design was the most significant update in three years, but that’s no reason to celebrate just yet.

One of the most noticeable changes to the new iPhone is the glass back, which replaces the aluminum body used in previous models and makes wireless charging possible for the first time.

From the front, it is nearly impossible to tell the iPhone 8 apart from the iPhone 7, 6S, or 6. This is because all four generations share the same form factor.

You probably won’t even notice that the iPhone 8 is a hair thicker (7.3mm vs. 7.1mm), wider (67.3mm vs. 67.1mm), or taller (138.4mm vs. 138.3mm) than the iPhone 7. Our main point is that there are striking similarities between the two.

Even though the extra 10 grams compared to the iPhone 7 might be more noticeable, we still found the phone to fit nicely in our palms.

While Apple has had no trouble moving large quantities of its smartphone in recent years, the iPhone 8 fails to impress in a year when Samsung and LG dramatically reduced the size of their phones’ bezels to create striking, futuristic designs.

This isn’t a trend that Apple has missed, as evidenced by the bezel-less iPhone X, but it does make the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus look increasingly out of date in comparison to the competition, which now includes a rival from within their own camp.

There’s still a camera bump, which can be covered up by a case if you like, but which raises the risk of scratching the new glossy back of the phone if you set it down on a flat surface.

Aside from the streamlined home button with Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the bezel below the 4.7-inch display, the power/lock key is still conveniently located on the right side of the handset. The mute button and volume controls, both conveniently located on the left side of the handset, make using the phone a breeze.

Everything functions as intended, the layout is practical, and the phone itself is not ugly, but after seeing the price tag, it’s hard to not feel a little cheated.

The glass back is more attractive and more comfortable to hold than the metal backs of the iPhone 7 and competitors, but it is also more slippery.

The iPhone 8 has a lot of glass on both sides, so if you’re the type to drop your phone often, you should probably buy a bumper.

Apple claims the glass is extremely durable, but we were able to scratch it, and if you go with the Space Grey model, you’ll find that it attracts fingerprints like crazy. We spent less time wiping down the silver model we tested because it was more forgiving. If you can’t wait for the limited edition color, Apple also offers the striking gold iPhone 8 and now the Product Red iPhone 8.

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 Display

  •  Identical to the iPhone 7 in size, with a 4.7-inch Retina HD screen
  •  True Tone is Apple’s technology that enhances color and contrast.

 On paper, there appears to be no difference between the iPhone 8’s screen and the one it replaces. It, like the iPhone 7, has a 4.7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 750 by 1334, for a pixel density of 326ppi.

In fact, its size and resolution are identical to those of the iPhone 6, which didn’t appear until 2014.

True Tone display technology has been added to the panel, so it’s not like Apple has completely ignored the display despite the fact that on paper it looks like the same old story of Apple refusing to be pushed on upping specification.

The feature analyzes the lighting conditions around the phone and adjusts the display accordingly. As a result, the display looks better than previous iPhone screens in terms of brightness, color accuracy, and contrast.

Comparing an iPhone 8 with and without True Tone reveals some progress, but the screen still lacks the vibrant colors and crystal clear resolution of the Galaxy S8’s QHD AMOLED display.

Apple has improved the color reproduction as well, paying more attention to what makes the screen look good than simply increasing the number of pixels for the sake of the spec sheet, but a full HD upgrade would have made a noticeable difference in picture quality.

Games and videos still look sharp and colorful, and the responsive screen makes for a satisfying experience overall. It’s difficult to criticize the screen on its own, as it’s only when compared to competitors that its lack of clarity becomes apparent.

The smaller screen size makes it more manageable to use with one hand, and unlike the larger iPhone 8 Plus, we found that we could comfortably reach most of the screen with our thumb.

Durability

The iPhone 8’s durability was put to the test by being dropped on its face onto wood from 4 and 6 feet in height, then being dropped on its edge and face onto concrete from the same heights.

The iPhone 8 was unharmed after being dropped from 4 and 6 feet onto wooden surfaces. The minor crack and scratching along the bottom from an edge drop of 4 feet onto concrete grew larger after a face drop of 4 feet onto concrete.

Apple’s iPhone survived a 6-foot drop onto concrete before its display stopped responding. The iPhone 8 fared reasonably well in durability tests, earning a 4.9 out of 10. Check out our smartphone drop tests to see the outcomes of other devices, as well as our full scoring methodology.

Performance

The A11 Bionic processor has the best name ever. The performance of this chip far exceeds that of any Android device. The A11 Bionic is Apple’s latest six-core central processing unit, with two performance cores promising a 25% performance boost over the A10 and four high-efficiency cores promising up to a 70% improvement in efficiency. Finally, there’s a graphics processing unit (GPU) developed by Apple that’s rumored to be 30% quicker.

The iPhone 8’s multicore score of 10,170 on the all-encompassing performance measuring tool Geekbench 4 put it in a league of its own. At 10,472, the iPhone 8 Plus was slightly quicker. The Galaxy Note 8 received a score of 6,564 thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and 6GB of RAM. The fastest Android flagship is 54 percent slower than the iPhone 8.

To put that in perspective, the 7th-generation Core i5 MacBook only scored 9,213 on Geekbench 4, so the iPhone 8 easily outperforms it. Our favorite Windows laptop, the Dell XPS 13, scored a 7,159. To learn more about the significance of these ratings, check out our comprehensive review of the iPhone 8’s capabilities.

On the graphics benchmarking tool 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, the performance gap was even more pronounced. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus scored 62,352 and 64,412, respectively, while the Note 8 only managed to score 39,834. Therefore, Apple’s phones have roughly 63% more graphical power.

How well does it function in the real world? We used the Adobe Premiere Clip app to edit and export the same 2-minute 4K video clip on the iPhone 8, Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy S8, and there was no comparison. The iPhone 8 completed the task in 42 seconds, while the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 both took over 3 minutes.

When launching larger apps, the iPhone 8 was also noticeably quicker than its predecessor and the current top Android phone. Comparatively, the iPhone 7 Plus took 14.53 seconds and the Note 8 took 19 seconds to fully load the Injustice 2 game.

Cameras

The 12-megapixel camera on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, thanks to a larger and faster sensor, captures some of the highest-quality smartphone images I’ve ever seen. Some of the pictures I took were even better than those taken by our previous best camera phone, the Galaxy Note 8. Now that the iPhone 8 Plus has taken the crown, you can see for yourself how it compares to the Note 8 in our head-to-head camera comparison.

Snap a picture of these vibrant blooms on your way to or from Madison Square Park. The iPhone 8 photo is more defined and clear, with a hint of orange toward the leaf’s tip, while the Note 8 photo is less sharp and lacks some of the subtle color transitions.

Both the iPhone 8 and the Note 8 performed similarly in terms of detail in dim lighting, but the iPhone 8’s colors were more accurate. The pink on Furby is just right, and the blur on the Tygra figure in the iPhone 8 photo has been reduced.

This challenging shot of the Flatiron Building was handled better by the iPhone, which captured sharper details in the foreground flower and more natural looking skies and clouds. The Note 8’s increased brightness has blown out the sky, but the building itself stands out more clearly.

Another shot of a fountain showed that the Note 8 could hold its own; while the iPhone 8’s zoomed-in image showed more detail, the Note 8’s image made the leaves in the surrounding trees look brighter.

The second telephoto lens on the iPhone 8 Plus provides true 2x optical zoom, the same as on the iPhone 7 Plus. However, taking portraits is now a whole new ballgame. Portrait Mode still skillfully blurs the background with the so-called bokeh effect, but it now appears more natural, and a new (beta) feature called Portrait Lighting allows you to adjust the lighting of your shots before and after the fact with a number of different effects.

When I used Portrait Lighting on some photos I took of my coworker Caitlin, I was blown away by the dramatic differences it made in the final product. Caitlin’s face looked better lit when I switched from natural to studio light. The Contour mode added some “makeup” in the form of darker shadows and brighter highlights.

The Studio Light option is the most daring effect because it completely blacks out the background. If you’re looking for added drama, Stage Light Mono offers a black and white option.

However, the Stage Light effect isn’t always effective; you have to get close to the subject’s face to see the full effect, and shortening and dying long hair black can make it look artificial. Also, I found that this effect took the longest to register compared to the others. It’s important to note that Portrait Lighting is still in beta and could get better with future updates.

No, the iPhone 8 Plus isn’t getting all the good jokes. iOS 11 includes new Live Photo effects that are compatible with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. This jump by my coworker Kenneth is a perfect example of the difference between using Loop to replay the action and the even cooler Bounce to play the motion backward and forward.

The Note 8 still has a significant advantage over the iPhone 8 Plus in comparison to its predecessor, the iPhone 7 Plus, because both of its dual lenses feature optical image stabilization, allowing for improved low-light performance when zooming and steadier footage when recording video. OIS will be standard on both lenses of the iPhone X.

Video

The video capabilities of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are greatly improved, with the ability to record 4K resolution video at up to 60 frames per second (up from 30 fps previously) and to record slo-motion footage at a super-slow 240 fps in 1080p. Phones like the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 can only produce video in 720p. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium only manages 960 frames per second when filming, but its resolution is only 720p.

I took some test shots at New York City’s Bryant Park to gauge the 4K’s capabilities, and I was able to make out every nook and cranny, right down to the angry stone faces spitting out the water. The iPhone 8 had no trouble accurately depicting a flock of birds in flight. As I panned to the right toward the sun, I could make out the fine mist from the fountain.

I couldn’t resist testing out the iPhone 8 Plus’s slow-motion capabilities by filming my golden retriever bringing home a tennis ball. It was pretty neat to see his fur sway and jowls bounce as he ran toward me, even if the grass could use a little crisping up.

Augmented reality

With iOS 11, any device with an A9 processor or later can run augmented reality apps developed with Apple’s ARKit technology. A growing number of truly immersive apps are being developed that use the camera’s live view and overlay anything on top, from games and home furnishings to educational content, making them accessible even on the iPhone SE and older iPhone 6s.

However, the A11 Bionic chip, calibrated cameras, and new gyroscope and accelerometer in the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (and the forthcoming iPhone X) make them particularly well-suited for augmented reality. I’ve experimented with a few apps and found them to be useful, but I’m still left wanting more because there aren’t that many to choose from.

What is currently available demonstrates ARKit’s capabilities. For instance, the InsightHeart app depicts a human’s skeleton and heart in three dimensions. Then, you can study this vital organ from every angle to find out everything there is to know about it.

There are probably a lot of people who use the Ikea app to visualize furniture in their homes before making purchases. I put in a white Micke desk from the same line and a Soderhamn chaise for my home office. Even without much illumination, the iPhone 8 did a good job scanning the room, though the furniture looked more like animations than real life.

When my kids were younger, I would have loved to have had access to the Thomas & Friends Minis app. Those train tracks you see before you can be constructed on the tabletop. When the train flipped right in front of me after jumping off one of the ramps, I felt like a kid again. To get a better feel for the layout, you can even take a stroll around the virtual course. This is truly incredible.

An MLB app is in the works, and it will provide a live view of who is on which base at any given time, in addition to key player stats, just as with any other ARKit app. And the upcoming robot-fighting video game Warhammer 40K Freeblade has my full attention. The Machines is a real-time multiplayer strategy game that I tried out, and I was very impressed with both the visuals and the sound as I got closer to the action.

I hope that the App Store will soon have a section devoted to augmented reality experiences, as iOS 11 has introduced a number of changes to the App Store.

Apple iPhone 8 Review - PhoneArena

Displays

Compared to the stunning 5.8-inch OLED display with 2436 x 1125 pixels on the iPhone X and the 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch quad OLED screens on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, the LCDs on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are clearly inferior. They can’t compete with the OLEDs in terms of sharpness, viewing angle, or perfect blacks.

Nonetheless, Apple has made enhancements to both the 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 display of the iPhone 8 Plus and the 4.7-inch, 1334 x 750 display of the iPhone 8.

The display’s white balance is now adaptively adjusted to match the surrounding lighting thanks to True Tone, a feature originally introduced on the iPad and now also available on the iPhone. That’s good for your eyes and can help alleviate fatigue. When comparing a photo of a lake on the two LCDs, I noticed that the iPhone 7 Plus’ screen made the gray house look whiter, while the iPhone 8 Plus’ screen made the greens look more vibrant.

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus performed admirably in our lab tests, displaying 122.5 and 119.6 percent of the color gamut, respectively. That’s fantastic for an LCD, but it still lags behind phones with OLED displays like the Note 8 (204 percent) and the Galaxy S8 (183 percent).

However, with Delta-E accuracy ratings of 0.89 and 0.25 (where 0 is perfect), Apple’s phones do provide very accurate hues. Both the Galaxy S8 (0.28) and the Note 8 (0.5) from Samsung’s OLED lineup performed admirably here.

Battery life

Despite the significant increase in speed, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have slightly longer endurance than their predecessors, which is notable given that Apple only promised battery life comparable to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Compared to the median smartphone lifespan of 9 hours and 40 minutes, the iPhone 8 lasted 9 hours and 54 minutes on the Tom’s Guide Battery Test, which involves continuous web browsing over 4G LTE (in this case, T-Mobile). In contrast, the Galaxy S8 posted a significantly longer performance time of 10:39. The iPhone 7 achieved a 9:03 last year.

An even better 11 hours and 16 minutes put the iPhone 8 Plus on par with the Galaxy Note 8 (11:11) and on our list of longest-lasting phones. Comparatively, the Galaxy S8 lasted 11:04 minutes, while the iPhone 7 Plus lasted 10:35.

Wireless charging

The good news is that the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus can be charged wirelessly through a Qi-compatible charging pad. The $59 Belkin Boost Up pad charged my iPhone 8 Plus at the same rate as the included Lightning cable.

Once Apple releases an update later this year, both this Belkin and the similarly priced Mophie Charging Base will support faster wireless charging at 7 watts. Their current output of 5 watts is identical to that of a regular Lightning wired charger.

Over a wired connection, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus can reach 50 percent charge in just 30 minutes, but this requires additional accessories. A USB-C to Lightning cable (around $15–$25) and a 29-watt USB-C power adapter ($49) are required. A fast wired charging adapter and cable are included with phones like the Galaxy S8, so that’s pretty bad.

Software

The new Control Center, the Live Photo effects in the camera, and the more immersive App Store are the iOS 11 features that will have the greatest impact on your day-to-day use of the iPhone 8. Siri’s voice also sounds more human-like.

Because more options are now condensed into less space, using Control Center is simpler. For instance, you can now manage your music and wireless settings from the same interface. Additional settings, like Night Shift and True Tone for brightness, appear when you hold down a button for a few seconds. But I’m still waiting for Apple to make it so that long-pressing the Wi-Fi icon brings up a list of available networks from which to choose.

The new App Store will be a breath of fresh air if you’re tired of scrolling through top lists to find new apps. There are now dedicated spotlight stories for individual apps, and a revamped Games section that makes it simpler to find new games across genres.

iPhone 8 Plus review: still massive – but not in a good way | iPhone 8 | The Guardian

Verdict

Although the $699 iPhone 8 and the $799 iPhone 8 Plus offer significant improvements in performance and camera quality, I wish they were packaged in more “new” ways. That’s why I’m holding out for the $999 iPhone X with its improved OLED display and Face ID. Despite this, both the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have excellent LCD displays, better sound than their predecessors, wireless charging, and long battery lives.

If you’re an Android user, Samsung doesn’t force you to choose between a modern look and spending nearly a thousand dollars. The Galaxy S8 (at $750) and S8 (at $850) are slightly more expensive than the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, but they offer superior cameras and edge-to-edge OLED displays. I don’t think either Galaxy phone will be able to match the efficiency of the iPhone 8, and they’ll also lag behind Apple in terms of augmented reality software. Want two cameras in one? The Note 8 starts at $930, which is almost as much as the iPhone X.

The iPhone 8 Plus is the better of the two new iPhones, in my opinion. For only $100 more than the iPhone 8, you can get a much larger screen, longer battery life, and more versatile dual cameras. The regular iPhone 8 is fine, but the 4.7-inch screen size is too small for me.