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 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.
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.
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.
