iPhone X Spotlight

Another fall, another product rollout from Apple. This year brought the release of the iPhone X, Apple’s newest and most advanced iPhone yet. The phone has a completely different look and technology than previous phones, getting early adopters extremely excited. We sat down with University of Texas at Austin student Sheridan Scholtz, who got the iPhone X the day it came out, November 3, to learn more about the new phone’s pros and cons.

What’s different about the iPhone X?

One of the new features on iPhone X is Face ID, which allows you to unlock your phone by simply holding the phone up to your face. You don’t have to pause at all, the Face ID works instantaneously.

What is your favorite thing about the iPhone X?

One of the best new features about the iPhone X is the long battery life and the new wireless charging pad, which makes it really easy to charge my phone at night. It takes longer than the lightning plugin, but that usually doesn’t matter since I use the wireless charging pad overnight. The iPhone X takes much better photos than the 7 or 8 and you can also use portrait mode on selfies and use different light settings on both sides of the camera. Animojis are another extremely popular feature that is available exclusively on the iPhone X, which allows you to use Face ID to create an emoji that mimics your facial motions. Although only iPhone X users can create Animojis, non-iPhone X users can still enjoy Animojis because they are sent as video files that can be accessed from most devices.

Sheridan demonstrating the Unicorn Animoji feature.

What is your least favorite thing about the iPhone X?

My biggest problem with the new iPhone X is that, because of Face ID, I can no longer discretely use my phone. I have to hold it up to my face to unlock it, meaning I can’t unlock my phone and use it under the table, for example. You can still put a passcode in case of Face ID not working though.

Another thing I’m not that fond of is the notch on the top of the screen. The iPhone X is designed to be used in portrait mode more than landscape, so when you do rotate it to landscape, the notch takes up part of the screen, which can be annoying when you’re watching videos. Additionally, because of the new interface, where the whole front of the phone is a screen, screenshots on apps that haven’t updated for the new interface look weird. Many of the major apps like Facebook and Instagram have updated to the new iPhone X interface, but most of the smaller apps won’t update for awhile.

A small issue that I and other users have had is the new way to access the control center being difficult. You pull down from the top right corner to get to the control center, and it’s kind of hard to reach. It’s a small issue, but there have been user complaints about it already.

Overall, what do you think of the iPhone X?

I think this is the best iPhone Apple has come out with to date, although it does have its flaws. This iPhone was definitely created with loyal Apple users in mind, people who will tolerate the learning curve and take the time to learn the new gestures that come with iPhone X. The screen is noticeably improved and the vibrant colors are impressive. Overall, the new design and shape of the screen create a learning curve for users but I would recommend the iPhone X. If you have the money to spend and love Apple, the iPhone X is definitely a worthy investment.