Apple iPhone 8 Plus review blog: For now, this is the fastest iPhone ever

Apple iPhone 8 Plus review: Here’s how Apple’s latest and fastest iPhone (for now till the iPhone X comes) fares in our daily usage from camera to performance to battery life.

As journalists from across the world trouped out of the Steve Jobs Theatre in the demo zone just outside as the Apple keynote ended, there was one clear trend: the lines were visibly longer for a hands-on with the Apple iPhone X in comparison to the iPhone 8 series.  The bezel-less, home button-less, fingerprint scanner-less version of the iPhone was garnering much more attention that the Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus which enjoyed just about 15 minutes of fame.

But the Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is what the world will get to experience and buy first as the iPhone X will not hit stores before November first week. But that in no way means the iPhone 8 is a pushover. Over the next few days I will chronicle my life with the Apple iPhone 8 Plus as my primary phone, looking at various aspects of the phone.

Day 2: Performance and something else you would like to hear

Every year, when an new iPhone is launched it is touted as the fastest iPhone ever. This year the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 is powered by Apple’s new A11 Bionic chip, again the fastest Apple has ever produced. The initial benchmark scores from across the world, rank the new iPhones well head of competition.

I am not a big fan of benchmarks, as at the end of the day it is just a number you can’t really infer much from. But what I am a fan of is the actual experience while using a phone. Moving from an iPhone 7 Plus, which had started becoming a bit lethargic thanks to the need to update to iOS 11, this phone felt like a horse that had just been unfettered. The iPhone 8 Plus is clearly the fastest, smoothest phone experience I have had ever — the caveat here being that I have not used the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which I am sure will be similar.

Apple iPhone 8 Plus vs Apple iPhone 7 Plus: In performance there is a noticeable difference, especially if one considers the A11 Bionic chip.

The thing about the performance of the iPhone 8 is its ability to move from one app to the other without so much as the semblance of a pause. Also, from the iPhone 7 Plus to the iPhone 8 Plus, the experience around the dual camera has also improved drastically, because now there is not delay between the click as the time taken for the image is saved. The A11 Bionic chip is definitely at work when you shoot 4K video as this phone manages to stay cool even after a few minutes of rolling.

The A11 chips help the iPhone 8 Plus make the best out of the AR Kit. With the AR Kit apps you can add more than a virtual layer on top of your real world — like bring a tiger or a dancing girl inside your room, or use an imaginative tape measure to map the height of the chair in your room. Frankly, none of these technologies are new, it is just that using an AR app has now become much more smoother and natural because of the processing power. In fact, you get a better feel of this in the portrait mode of the camera app, where the phone is able to understand the edges of a subject and blur out the rest of the image.

The A11 chips help the iPhone 8 Plus make the best out of the AR Kit.

PS: With the iPad Pro last year, Apple created the best audio experience in a mobile device. Now, the iPhone 8 Plus is in my books the best sounding smartphone you can buy. I am a bit surprised that Apple did not tout this feature enough at keynote or after that. The audio is loud, sharp and spatial making the entire experience very good.

Tomorrow: The camera

Day 1: Design and everything related

Over the past week or so I have been carrying the iPhone 8 Plus with me. No one has really noticed, except for those with a keen (tech) eye and those who knew I already had this phone. This is because the iPhone 8 Plus, and its smaller version, look identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 7 series. But it is not that same and that is because instead of a metal back this one sports a glass rear. This design change is why Apple decided to called it iPhone 8 and not iPhone 7S. Also, the glass back is what lets this phone charge without wires.

Apple iPhone 8 Plus review blog: The iPhone 8 Plus, and its smaller version, look identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 7 series. But it is not that same and that is because instead of a metal back this one sports a glass rear.

The review unit we have is a Gold version, which has a more than regular dose of copper in it. A fan of anything black or dark, I was not very sure about carrying this around. But then you get used to it as it is a subtle sort of bling. I do wish Apple has a Jet Black of this phone too. Even with a cover on, the phone shows of some of its pinkish colours. So there is no hiding this one. With the gold, the rim around the dual camera feels a bit more prominent too.

The other noticeable difference is the weight of the phone. Though it is just 14 grams heavier at 202 grams, almost everyone who held the phone felt the change in weight. But I like heavy phones as they give you a sort of assurance that this will work… blame me for having started my cellular journey with an Ericsson brick phone 15 years ago.

Apple iPhone 8 Plus review blog: The other noticeable difference is the weight of the phone. Though it is just 14 grams heavier at 202 grams, almost everyone who held the phone felt the change in weight.

As I said, the one significant change here is the glass back. And this is needed to ensure the phone can make the best of wireless charging which Apple is ushering in with the iPhone 8 series. While Apple does not have a wireless charger of its own yet, I got to use the Belkin Boost Up wireless charging pad. Yes, it is quite convenient as you just need to place the phone on top for it to start charging — you need to be careful and keep it back in the middle for this to work. However, I found that wirelessly it takes a bit more time to charge that via the regular mode. Also, I am pretty sure you wont be carrying the wireless charger around in your office bag. This is meant to kept in one place: on your office table or chest of drawers and doesn’t really have mobile intentions.

Have questions about the Apple iPhone 8 Plus? Tweet out to @nandu79