As excited as I was about the iPhone X heading into the Apple event today, I walked away conflicted. There is no question that the iPhone X is one of the most fascinating phones the company has ever released, but its faults are significant and difficult to ignore. Below, I’ve come up with four compelling arguments for why, if you are dead set on upgrading your phone this year, you should choose the iPhone 8 instead.
1. Avoid the dreaded notch
We talked a lot about the notch atop of the iPhone X display in the lead up to the event, but it didn’t really hit me until they showed a video running on the iPhone X on stage at the event. Every single landscape video you watch on an iPhone X will have a small chunk taken out of the side. Full screen images will also have a dent in them, courtesy of the notch that contains the front-facing camera, speaker, microphone and a variety of other components. That alone might force me to upgrade to the iPhone 8 instead.
2. Keep using Touch ID to unlock your phone
Whether Apple couldn’t get it ready in time for the launch of the iPhone X or simply decided to replace it with Face ID, Touch ID — the popular biometric security method introduced alongside the iPhone 5s — will not carry over to the iPhone X. If you’ve grown used to unlocking your phone with your fingerprint, the only new iPhone that will allow you to continue doing so is the iPhone 8 (and the iPhone 8 Plus, of course).
3. Save $300 for holiday shopping
The holiday season is right around the corner. Is now really the best time to spend $999 on a smartphone? If price matters to you, it might end up being the determining factor in your decision between the iPhone X and iPhone 8 ($699). While the iPhone X is undoubtedly the stronger, faster, more stylish choice, the iPhone 8 features many of the same updates, including wireless charging and the A11 Fusion chip.
4. Wait for Apple to find its footing
This is Apple’s first attempt at a phone with an edge-to-edge display. I have no doubt that the iPhone X line will improve in the years to come. But from my perspective, this isn’t anything like what the best possible version of this phone could have looked like. If you just upgraded your phone last year or are willing to conjure up a little bit of patience, the iPhone X2 might be the phone that Apple wanted to make this year. And maybe it won’t have a notch on the top of the display, which still has me scratching my head.
