The iPhone X came out last month with a tremendous amount of fanfare and hype, as was expected. However, I decided to keep my opinions about the phone to myself before I had thoroughly lived with it. So here goes the one month later review of the iPhone X.

What I Love

That Screen

The best part of the phone for me is that gorgeous OLED screen, or as Apple calls it – the Super Retina Display. Not only is it bright at 600 nits, the colour reproduction is brilliant and the wide colour gamut makes it feel crisper than other phones on the market.

The form factor

As the screen to body ratio is so high, iPhone X has a much smaller form factor and is for me the ideal size to have. With the plus range of iPhones (6, 6s, 7, 7s and 8) it was always more difficult to carry and hold and with jeans getting slimmer by the day, the form factor really helps.

New gestures

There is no denying that this has been the biggest departure for iPhone design since the 6 and 6 plus came out. In fact, I would go to the extent of saying that the gestures have not changed as far as the first iPhone came out. Hence the gestures seem very different and hard to understand at first.  The control centre from the top right, the notification from the top left, unlocking, screenshots etc.  – there is much to be learnt. However, after the initial few days, it begins to feel far more intuitive and one. In fact, after 4 weeks, the gestures seem so natural that you want them to be on other phones.

The camera

With the OIS available on the telephoto lens as well, iPhone X becomes slightly better than the 8 plus camera, which was brilliant anyway. It even has better low light performance and only the Pixel 2XL can take better photos at night. The photo quality is brilliant with better dynamic range providing clearer, crisper pictures.

What I don’t love

The notch

Although I like the overall design of the phone, the notch somewhat bothers me, as it takes away from the classic, elegant Apple design that it always has with its products. Plus, it really hinders video watching as it cuts a part of it and though you can watch videos in a smaller format but then what is the use of that gorgeous screen!

The price

Priced at 89,000 for the 64 GB version, it is mind-bogglingly expensive to buy the phone in India and though it as an extremely premium phone but is it worth the extra 10-20k over other rivals? maybe not. Ultimately, you will buy the iPhone because of the ecosystem and that is where Apple tends to exploit its users. Anyway, with Apple providing worldwide warranty, it makes sense to call friends and cousins abroad and save some money.

Overall, the iPhone X is a gorgeous combination of hardware/software that is a solid premium smartphone. If you are willing to pay that price and are ok with the notch, there are umpteen things you will love.