iPhone 8

The iPhone 8 is worth it if you prefer a compact more smartphone.It offers incredible performance, an excellent camera and more and more augmented reality applications.

iPhone 8 Plus

The iPhone 8 Plus offers not only very high power and a wide screen, but also an improved double photo sensor and long autonomy.We will therefore prefer it to the classic iPhone 8.

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They must be a little jealous.The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus stand in the shadow of the next iPhone X, which incorporates a futuristic edge -to -edge screen and a new front camera and face ID technology which allows (among others) to unlock the device with itsface.

However, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are more than a consolation price, facing the new high -end of Apple.They incorporate a lot of improvements, the fastest processor of which never seen on a smartphone (it exceeds those of many current laptops), better cameras, especially on the 8 plus, and a wireless recharge, which happens, itis true with a little delay compared to competition.

Sold respectively from 809 and 919 euros, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are also more "affordable" than the 1159 euros of the iPhone X.If you are ready to go upmarket, our choice remains the more version for its larger screen, its more autonomous battery and above all its double photo sensor more versatile.The surplus of € 110 is largely offset here.

Design: more solid and smoother, but with edges

The design of new iPhone shared opinions in our editorial staff.On the one hand, the new glass back is elegant, while being more slippery than the one, of the iPhone 7 Plus.The new Apple devices are also stronger, the firm announcing that iPhones 8 and 8 more include the strongest glass ever seen on a smartphone.Robustness due in part to a thicker reinforcement layer.However, we could not do a solidity test on our test copy, but, it is promised, we will buy at least one iPhone 8 to torture it.

On the other side, see so large edges on a smartphone released in late 2017 below and above the screen, brings us back to the other time.A difficult comparison not only with the iPhone X, but also with the Galaxy S8 and other Android devices that have adopted a design edge to edge.The concern does not only come from design: having smaller edges greatly simplifies the support with one hand and allows the smartphone to hold in a pocket.

On the design side again, we appreciate how the 7000 series aluminum aluminum band spring on the front.On the golden pink version of the iPhone 8 that we were able to test, the rear and the color seem to us more elegant than the previous version.We have also tested the iPhone 8 in silver version, but this color is more any.The new iPhones are also available in sidereal gray, but we were unable to get our hands on this color which is nevertheless already known to brand lovers.

People loving minimalism will appreciate that no typography comes to announce where the smartphone has been assembled, or the number of the model below the name "iPhone".Now it is just written "iPhone".It is a minor change but it is appreciable.

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Measuring 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm, and weighing 148 grams, the iPhone 8 is a little heavier and thicker than the iPhone 7 (138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm,138g), but the difference is barely feeling.The additional weight and thickness undoubtedly come from the addition of the wireless charging capacity and the glass back.The iPhone 8 Plus (202 grams, 7.5 mm thick) is also larger than the iPhone 7 Plus (188 grams, 7.3 mm).

If the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus again abandon the jack for headphones, music lovers will appreciate a better sound, even without headphones, thanks to stereo speakers with a 25 % more powerful volume.By listening to "An Honest Mistake" by The Bravery, we could hear deeper bass and more natural voices on the iPhone 8 than on the iPhone 7 Plus.

The characteristics of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

Performances: the A11 Bionic processor crushes everything in its path (including laptops)

It will be difficult to find more suitable for a processor than the A11 Bionic.The ridicules chip of all Android smartphones.The A11 Bionic is a six-core processor, with two performance cores that promise a 25 % increase compared to the A10, and four high-performance cores which allow an increase up to 70 %.Finally, the graphic chip, designed by Apple, is supposed to be 30% faster than that of the A10.

On Geekbench 4, which measures overall performance, the iPhone 8 was in another world, with a multicore score of 10,170.The iPhone 8 Plus is a little faster with 10,472.By way of comparison, the Galaxy S8, with the Exynos 8895 chip in France and 6 GB of RAM, displays a score of 6588.This means that the iPhone 8 is 38% faster than the fastest of high -end Android devices.

To put these figures in perspective, the iPhone 8 is also narrowly beats the seventh generation of Core i5 of the MacBook, which displays a score of 9213 on Geekbench 4.Dell XPS 13, our favorite laptop under Windows, displays a note of 7159.

The performance gap is even more important on 3dmark Ice Storm Unlimited, which measures graphic performance.The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus respectively display a score of 62 352 and 64 412, to be compared with the 39,834 of the note 8.Apple devices are about 63 % more powerful graphically than the Samsung phablet.

What about performance in use?We edited and exported the same two -minute video in 4K on the iPhone 8, the Galaxy Note 8 and the Galaxy S8 using the Adobe Premiere Clip application, and the results are final.The iPhone 8 finished export in 42 seconds, against more than 3 minutes for the Galaxy Note 8 and more than 4 minutes for the Galaxy S8 Plus.

The iPhone 8 also opens big applications faster than its two predecessors and the best current Android smartphones.It took 11 seconds to the device to fully load the game injustice 2, against 14.53 seconds for the iPhone 7 Plus and 19 seconds for note 8.

Photos: almost equal game with Samsung

With a larger and faster sensor, the 12 megapixel camera from the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus takes among the best photos observed on a smartphone.In fact, some pictures surpass the very efficient Galaxy Note 8, which is currently the best smartphone for the photo.

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Take this photo of colorful flowers, taken near Madison Square Park, in New York.The edges of the leaves on the photo of the iPhone 8 have a little orange on the tip and more dive overall, while the photo of note 8 is not as detailed and lacks a few graduations of colors.

In low light, the iPhone 8 and the Galaxy Note 8 are equal in terms of details, but the iPhone 8 produces more natural colors with all toys.Furby, in particular, has the right shade of rose, and the tygram figurine on the cliché of the iPhone 8 is less blurred.

Overall, the iPhone is doing better with this complex cliché of Flatiron Building in New York, since the flower in the foreground is clearer and that the blue sky and the clouds seem realistic.Note 8 Erases the sky, but the building itself comes better due to its clarity.

However, the Galaxy Note 8 counterattacks on a photo of fountain.While the iPhone offers more details by zooming in, the snapshot of note 8 makes the leaves brighter on the surrounding trees.

As on the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone 8 Plus offers a real X2 optical zoom thanks to a second optics telephoto.This time, it also allows you to have much more fun with the portraits.The portrait mode still blurred the background with a nickname Bokeh effect, which looks more natural, while the portrait lighting functionality allows you to adjust the brightness of your shots before and after the shooting thanks toseveral effects.

We have taken several portraits of our colleague Caitlin and the changes, subtle but efficient, brought by the portrait lighting mode are impressive.By going from a natural light to a studio light, Caitlin's face becomes more lit without removing the shadows.The parameter of the contours allows more contrasts and shadows, as if we had added makeup.

The studio lighting function is the most delicate effect, since it removes the existing background to make it completely dark.If you want something even more dramatic, it is possible to switch to black and white with the Light Mono internship effect.

However, the Light Stage effect is leaving or double.You need to get close to the subject considerably to get the best results, and long hair may seem unnatural when cut and covered with a black background.Furthermore, this effect is longer to export than the others.However, studio lighting mode is still in beta and can be improved with future updates.

The iPhone 8 does not take over all the new features.There are new live photo effects in iOS 11 that work with the two new Apple smartphones.Loop allows you to pass a loop action, while the bounce effect passes a sequence forward and then back, as we can see with our colleague Kenneth.

Note 8 still has a key advantage compared to the iPhone 8 Plus, since its two sensors are stabilized optically.Concretely, this means that he will get better shots in low light by zooming and more stable sequences in video.We will have to wait for the iPhone X to have optical stabilization for both lenses on an Apple smartphone.

Video: 4K at 60 images per second and a super slowdown

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus have both improved their video mode, since they now allow you to record in 4K up to 60 frames per second, against 30 images per second previously.It is also possible to capture slowdown sequences at 240 images per second without sacrificing sharpness, since it is Full HD.Other smartphones, such as Note 8 and the Galaxy S8, are stuck in 720p for slow motion.The Sony Xperia XZ Premium allows to capture impressive sequences at 960 images per second, but there too, only in 720p.

To assess 4K performance, we have shot a few sequences in Bryan Park, New York, and were able to view almost all the cracks in a fountain, including on angry faces that spit water.The iPhone 8 had no problem capturing the different birds flying, without any distortion.We can even see the slight mist from the fountain while we were approaching the sun.

We decided to test the slower mode of the iPhone 8 more by filming a dog, to see how it would catch a tennis ball.The grass could be better defined, but we still appreciate seeing his fur wavy as he runs.

A promising augmented reality

Thanks to iOS 11, you can take advantage of augmented reality applications using Apple Arkit technology on any device with an A9 or more recent processor.This means that even the iPhone SE or the oldest 6S can use more and more immersive applications that use the camera shooting and add anything to it, that it isact of games, furniture or educational content.

However, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, just like the future iPhone X, have been specially optimized for augmented reality thanks to the A11 Bionic chip, calibrated cameras and new accelerometers and gyroscopes.We have tried some applications and came out impressed, but also frustrated not to have more, since the options are still limited.

Available applications already allow you to get an idea of Arkit potential.The Insight Heart application, for example, displays the silhouette of a person in front of you, just like their heart.You can then learn more about this organ by approaching and looking at it from several angles.

The IKEA application has great potential thanks to the rendering of furniture in an apartment even before being bought.We were able to replace our office with a Swedish piece of furniture and add a chair from the same store.The iPhone 8 does a good job to scan a room, even when the brightness is low, although the furniture in themselves looks more of animations than real objects.

L’application Thomas & Friends Minis est idéale pour les jeunes enfants.You can build your own rails directly on a table in front of you.We then feel like a child when the train takes off on one of the ramps and lands right in front of you.It is even possible to walk around the virtual track to see it from different points of view, it is quite impressive.

Other ARKIT applications are under development, such as an MLB (baseball) application that allows you to know which player is what basis when you attend a match, as well as players of players.Another application is particularly expected: Warhammer 40k Freeblade, a robot fighting game.

We would especially like to see a dedicated section arriving in the App Store for augmented reality experiences, taking into account the bottomless well that has become the Apple application shop.

Screens: not as good as the OLED, but still good

Given the magnificent 5.8 -inch OLED screen of the iPhone X, displaying 2436 pixels per 1125, and screens 5.8 and 6.2 inches quad oled of the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, it goes without saying that the LCD LCD LCDiPhone 8 and 8 Plus are behind.They have neither sharpness nor the vision angles and the perfect blacks of the competing OLED screens.

However, Apple offers some improvements on the 5.5 inch Full HD screen of the iPhone 8 Plus and on the slab, still behind, of the iPhone 8.

To start, the True Tone functionality has transited from the iPad to the iPhone, which automatically adjusts the whites of the display to match the ambient light.This makes it possible to reduce eye fatigue.The two LCD screens also benefit from a wide range of colors, which is verified by comparing a photo of a lake.The gray house looks more white on the iPhone 7 screen and the Greens are more lively on the iPhone 8 Plus.

During our tests, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus obtained 119.6 and 122.5 % of the color gamma.It's very good for LCD screens, but smartphones with OLED display such as note 8 (204 %) or the Galaxy S8 (183 %) are doing much better.

Apple smartphones offer very fair colors and Delta E precision goes from 0.89 to 0.25 (0 is the best possible score).Samsung's OLED screens are doing well too, since the Galaxy S8 reaches a score of 0.28 when the note 8 displays a precision of 0.5.

Autonomy: the iPhone 8 more lasts longer

Despite the serious power gain, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus offer a slightly greater autonomy than their predecessors.A good surprise, since Apple announced an autonomy similar to that of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

On the Tom’s Guide autonomy test, which involves 4G web navigation, the iPhone 8 held 9 hours and 54 minutes, which places it above 9:40 am smartphones.The Galaxy S8, for comparison, held longer with 10 hours and 49 minutes.Last year, the iPhone 7 only managed to last 9 hours and 03 minutes.

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The iPhone 8 Plus has held even longer with 11 hours and 16 minutes, which places it at the same level as the Galaxy Note 8 (11 hours and 11 minutes).The Galaxy S8 Plus was the same level with 11 hours and 04 minutes, while the old iPhone 7 Plus lasted 10 hours and 35 minutes.

Wireless recharge and fast charge: good and bad news

Good news, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus finally work natively with wireless charging and should be loaded with any base that takes into account the Qi standard.Thus, using a Belkin base, the iPhone 8 was taken at the same rate as with an Apple base connected to a Lightning cable.

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In the case of the Belkin base, or another of morphy, both will bear the fast load at 7 watts when Apple will have deployed an update later in the year.They are currently operating at 5 watts, the same power as the Lightning Standard charger.

The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are able to reach 50% load in just 30 minutes when connected to a cable, but only if you invest in additional equipment.To do this, you will need to buy a USB-C 29 Watts adapter (50 euros) and a USB-C to Lightning cable (15 to 25 euros).It is quite low on Apple, since smartphones like the Galaxy S8 are supplied directly with a fast charging adapter and a cable in the box.

iOS 11: some improvements

In a daily use of the iPhone 8, the main changes to note with iOS 11 are the new control center, the live photo effects of the camera and a more immersive app store.Siri also has a more natural voice.

The control center is now easier to use, since it displays more parameters in a smaller space.For example, wireless controls and music are now displayed in the same place.When you press one of the controls for a long time, you will see more options, such as night and true tone mode for brightness.However, we are still waiting for Apple to decide to allow you to change the Wi-Fi network by pressing the Wi-Fi icon for a long time.

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If you want to discover new applications and are tired of unrolling the list of the best applications, the App Store will bring you some novelty.We can thus see in it specific applications and the Games section has been reviewed, to simplify the discovery of new titles of different genres.

Balance sheet

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus represent a leap forward in terms of quality of photo and performance, but we would have preferred that the whole appeared more new.This is why we prefer to wait for the iPhone X, which also incorporates Face ID and a much more colorful OLED screen.However, the two iPhone 8s offer good LCD screens and better sound than their predecessors, wireless recharge and good autonomy for more accessible prices than the iPhone X.

If you are used to Android, Samsung does not make you choose between a striking design and a price for less than 1000 euros.The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus offer very good cameras and OLED -to -board OLED screens for a barely higher price than that of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.However, none of the Galaxy smartphones is up to the performance of the iPhone 8, or offers augmented reality experience in the same ilk.Do you want a double photo sensor?You will have to pay more than 1000 euros on the side of Samsung with note 8, whose price approaches that of the iPhone X.

Overall, to choose between the two iPhone, it is better to turn to the 8 plus.It offers a much larger screen than that of the iPhone 8, a much better autonomy and a much more versatile photo sensor for only 110 euros more.The iPhone 8 remains very good, but the 4.7 -inch screen remains far too small.

Photo credits: Shaun Lucas/Tom’s Guide