iPhone X gets rave reviews in first hands-on look

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hands on iPhone X
Out with the old, in with the new?
Photo: The Verge

The tech journalists lucky enough to get invited to Apple’s iPhone event Tuesday seemed to purr when given the chance to put the iPhone X in their hands.

Some quibbled over the $999 price tag, but most came away impressed with their first hands-on experience with Apple’s new flagship device.

Apple showed off the new Steve Jobs theater and launched a couple of other exciting devices, like a new Apple Watch with cellular and a 4K HDR Apple TV. But all anyone wanted to talk about was the product that was ushered in at the end of the fall reveal with “There’s one more thing.”

That thing, the iPhone X, is a completely new design. It has no Home button. It has a host of features, like facial recognition to unlock the phone, super retina display and camera improvements sure to excite the mobile photography community.

Here’s the first impressions from some tech journalists.

“An extremely beautiful device”

“The thing that a lot of people want to talk about with the iPhone X is its $999 starting price, but when you have the phone in your hand, it feels… worth it. The X is an extremely beautiful device, with a stainless steel band and glass back curving into a 5.8-inch OLED display that stretches all the way across the front of the phone. The iPhone X doesn’t arrive until November, and based on what we’ve seen in our brief impressions, it’s going to be quite popular when it does. Even if it does start at a thousand dollars” — Nilay Patel, The Verge

“The most radical redesign of an iPhone yet.”

“The iPhone X is one of the most exciting phones released this decade – but not because it offers anything particularly innovative or new. It’s exciting because it’s the most radical redesign of an iPhone yet, tying together a number of key trends in the industry and adding in a level of polish that will attract legions of Apple fans to upgrade, and spend another couple of years in the iCycle.” — Gareth Beavis, TechRadar

“Incredibly natural”

“After years of mashing the home button, using the iPhone X was… very strange for the first few minutes. Once everything clicked, I was shocked that Apple hadn’t tried to do this sooner. It feels incredibly natural, to the point where after a few minutes of playtime, I really don’t want to go back to the 7 Plus.” — Chris Velazco, Engadget

“Could kick-start wireless charging”

“Now, 10 years after the very first iPhone, Apple one-ups last year’s crop across the board with a major feature that Apple’s been dragging on for years. The iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X all support Qi wireless charging, a Samsung staple that works with both Qi and PMA standards. Qi (pronounced ‘chee’) is a key addition that could kick-start wireless charging in a way that Samsung and Nokia and Microsoft hadn’t been able to accomplish before.” — Jessica Dolcourt, c/net.

“Feels like something very new”

hands on iPhone X
The iPhone X’s new look with a familiar feel.
Photo: Slash Gear

“Familiar, and yet so very different. It’s a fitting name for what Apple is describing as the device it sees it building the next decade of mobile technology on. To achieve that, they’ve left few stones unturned, and while this certainly feels like an iPhone, it also feels like something very new.” — Chris Davies, Slash Gear.

“It’s a showstopper”

“The top-of-the-line among the three new iPhones Apple introduced Tuesday, it certainly looks intriguing shown off from the stage of the new glass topped Steve Jobs Theater. There’s little doubt the legions of iPhone fans, many of whom have held off purchasing while waiting for this one, will want it.

“It’s a showstopper, the first iPhone with what appears to be the beautiful edge-to-edge 5.8-inch OLED display, with either 64GB or 256GB storage, starting at $999 or $1,149 for the higher capacity.” — Edward C Baig, USA Today.

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