**Hold the Power Button to Trigger Siri and Take a Screenshot**

One of the biggest trade-offs with the iPhone X is that there's no longer Touch ID. Instead, the phone introduces Face ID, which is essentially a miniaturized Kinect that scans your face to unlock the device. I had my doubts about Face ID before trying it out, but it actually works as advertised.

After a quick setup, Face ID scans your face in the time it takes for you to swipe up to unlock the phone. It's not perfect; you do need to be looking at the phone for it to work, but I was impressed with how versatile it is. Your results may vary, but I basically have no major complaints with Face ID.

It feels like I don't even have a passcode anymore. This also makes Animoji possible, which are just fun, okay? It's an iMessage app that scans your face and translates it into a talking emoji. It does a really good job of capturing small facial motions and lets you do karaoke.

**Performance and Cameras**

One area where the iPhone X is the same as the iPhone 8 is performance. Both phones give you the Apple A11 Bionic chip, which is hands-down the fastest chip you can get in a phone today. This translates into a phone that feels like you just can't trip it up. Animations stay locked at 60 frames per second, and because you have those new gestures, it feels lightning fast to move between apps.

The iPhone X brings a pair of 12 megapixel cameras: one wide-angle and one telephoto. This is the same basic setup as on the 8 Plus, and it works well here. Apple has cranked up saturation in this generation, making images look a lot more punchy. While maybe not technically accurate, this makes for a better-looking photo.

There's a good amount of detail, but what's really impressive is the dynamic range. HDR is on by default, and there have been a few shots where I genuinely couldn't believe how much range the X was able to keep in one picture. The telephoto camera on the 7 Plus came in handy for me a fair bit, but it's a lot better on the X.

**Video Recording**

As a guy who shoots a bit of video, I have to say that the iPhone X is about as good as a smartphone gets right now. It shoots 4K at 24, 30, or 60 frames per second, and I have absolutely no complaints about the quality. Stabilization is terrific, color is nicely saturated, dynamic range is good, and auto-focus and exposure generally do a great job.

You also get solid 1080p 240 frames per second slow-motion options as well as the still-impressive built-in time-lapse mode. Put it all together, and it's hard to be disappointed with the iPhone X camera.

**Battery Life**

While battery life isn't quite as good as on the 8 Plus, it's still significantly better than previous iPhones, and for me, it was really no problem to make it through a full day of use. When Apple announced a $1,000 price tag for the iPhone X, they pretty much threw down the gauntlet.

If this phone wasn't incredible, there was no way that it would be worth it. But it kind of is.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- The iPhone X is the mostexpensive iPhone ever.It has the biggestscreen, smallest bezels,and it is the first iPhoneto drop the home button.But the question is, is it worth it?It all starts with the design.From the rear it looks verysimilar to the iPhone 8.You're getting an all-glassback for the first timesince the iPhone 4 days.The X comes in two colors,silver and space gray.The silver is basically justwhite with a silver chassiswhere the space grayswaps out the rear glassfor a very dark gray colorand a dark metal band.It really does look and feel premium.There's a solidness and heft to the designthat just wasn't thereon the iPhone 6 and 7.However, there's a price to pay for that.Unlike a metal back whichmight just get scratchedor dented, no matter how strongApple claims this glass is,it can absolutely becracked if you drop it.One of the upsides to switchingto glass for the rear panelis the addition of wireless charging.In a very un-Apple-like move,this supports the Qi standardthat has been around onandroid phones for years,meaning that you shouldjust be able to drop the Xon a cheap wireless chargingpad and it'll work no problem.You also get the smalladded benefit of being ableto fast charge the X via aUSB-C to Lightning cable too.Now, the silver phone isespecially prone to scratchingas they moved from aluminumto stainless steel.This is a harder materialthat gives the phoneits expensive feel,but like the old iPods,expect it to scuff easily.Thankfully, like the iPhone 7,you've got IP67 water resistance.Now, this isn't full waterproofing,but your shiny new $1,000iPhone should have no problemgetting a little wet or eventotally submerged for a minute.Like always, the design looks greatbut you should probably get a case.Flip the phone over though,and you'll see the biggestchange this year: the display.Put the X side by side withthe 8+ and the lack of bezelsreally does make the phone looklike a much more modern flagship.It looks similar to the Galaxy Note 8.It lacks the curved edges buthas nearly no bezels otherwiseexcept for the notch.After using the phone for a few days,it doesn't really bother me.When you're using thephone in portrait mode,it basically just meansthat you get a little bitof extra vertical screenreal estate with stuff likebattery and time on the edges.When watching video, youhave a couple options.For standard 16:9 content, thetrue blacks of the OLED panelmake things look a lotlike a normal iPhone.But for example, on YouTubeyou can pinch to zoom itto full screen.You crop a little of theframe and sometimes the notchlooks a bit off, but it's a good wayof taking full advantage of the display.Now, not all apps support the X yet.A lot will display withblack bars on top and bottom.Thanks to OLED, theblacks are properly blackso that mostly means itjust looks like you're usingan iPhone 7.That display though really is something.The change from IPS to OLEDmeans that you're gettingfar better contrast.That black is actually black here.I know I keep saying it,but it really does make a huge difference.The screen looks so much more contrasty.The color is pleasant as well.It's nicely calibratedand the screen gets impressively bright.My only real issue is thatthere is a bit of color shiftingwhen you look at it offaxis, but it's fairly minorand the rest of the advantagesof OLED definitely outweigh it.The iPhone X also gives you supportfor HDR 10 and Dolby Vision.Watching Stranger Things: Twoon the X looks phenomenal.The brightness and contrastreally does make content pop.In fact, we're shooting this video in HDR.If you're watching onan HDR TV with somethinglike a Chromecast Ultraor even some smartphoneslike the Galaxy S8,you should be able to see the difference.Audio is also impressive on the X.It has a pair of speakers,one front-firing that doublesas the speakerphone,and the other on bottom.It's not quite as loud and crispas dedicated stereospeakers on the Pixel 2,but it blows away basicallyany other flagshipout there right now.Combine that with the greatscreen and you have one ofthe best mobile video experiences, period.Something interesting isthat the iPhone X touch layerrefreshes at 120 Hertz.The screen itself is still60 Hertz, which can't matchthe level of smoothness ofsomething like the Razer Phoneor iPad Pro, but that fastertouch layer does make the phonefeel a lot more responsive.With the new screen comesarguably the biggest changeto the iPhone in the last 10 years.No more home button.One on hand, it's what gives the iPhoneit's most recognizable shape,but in 2017 it's lookingawfully out of date.Instead of the home button,the X relies on a seriesof gestures to navigate the phone.Swiping up has replaced thehome button and the gesture areadoubles as a quick swipeto move between apps.After a couple of days,to me this feels like avery natural evolution.iOS already uses so manygestures to navigatethat once you drop thebutton and totally commit,it speeds up moving aroundthe entire interface.There are some trade offs though.Some button combos have changed.For example, you now hold thepower button to trigger Siriand you can screenshot byholding power and volume up.The biggest trade off is thatthere's no longer touch ID.Instead, the iPhone X introduces Face ID.This is a big reason why thenotch is as big as it is.You're essentially getting a Kinectthat has been miniaturizedinto the top of a phone.I will absolutely admitthat before I tried the X,I had my doubts about Face ID.But it actually works.After a quick set-up, itworks basically as advertised.Tap the screen and inthe time it takes for youto swipe up to unlock,Face ID scans your faceand unlocks the phone.It's not perfect.You do need to be lookingat the phone for it to work,but I was impressed withjust how versatile it is.Your results might vary,but I basically have no majorcomplaints with Face ID.It feels like I justdon't have a passcode.This take also makes Animoji possible.Look, these are just fun, okay?This works as an iMessageapp that scans your faceand translates it into a talking emoji.It does a really goodjob of even capturingsmall facial motionsand lets you do karaoke.So, you know.One area that's basically the samebetween the iPhone 8 and X is performance.Both phones give you the Apple A11 Bionic,which is hands-down the fastest chipyou can get in a phone today.This translates into a phone that feelslike you just can't trip it up.Not matter how much I multitask,it just doesn't break a sweat.Animations stay lockedat 60 frames per second,and because you have those new gestures,it feels lightning fastto move between apps.While this isn't exclusive to the X,this power does come in handy for games.Of course, standard titleslike Minecraft run hereno problem, but you also havesome pretty fun AR games.The iPhone X brings a pairof 12 megapixel cameras,one wide angle and one telephoto.This is the same basic setup as on the 8 Plusand it works well here.Apple has cranked upsaturation in this generationand it makes imageslook a lot more punchy,which while maybe notquite technically accuratedoes make for a better looking photo.There's a good amount of detailbut what's really impressiveis the dynamic range.HDR is on by default andthere have been a few shotswhere I legitimately couldn'tbelieve how much rangethe X was able to keep in one picture.The telephoto camera onthe 7 Plus came in handy for mea fair bit, but it'sa lot better on the X.It still isn't quite assharp as the main shooter,but it now has image stabilizationwhich makes a big difference,especially in low light.The A11 chip inside does quitea bit to analyze each shotand make adjustments based on that.Now, while the days of theiPhone having far and awaythe best camera on a smartphone are over,you really won't bedisappointed with what you getout of the X.Portrait mode makes areturn here and it's solid.If you look closely, youcan see where the cameradoesn't perfectly cut you outof the background sometimesbut for the most part it does a good job.You can now also take portrait selfies.These rely on good light withpretty optimal conditions,but when done right they canreally make the front-facingcamera look a lot more expensive.The problem is thatwhile decent in a vacuum,I really prefer the way thatthe Pixel 2 handles these,which you guys can checkout in my full comparison.Portrait mode is handledwell on the iPhone X,but there's room for improvement.As a guy who shoots a bitof video, I have to say,the iPhone X is about as goodas a smartphone gets right now.It shoots 4K at 24, 30,or 60 frames per secondand I have absolutely nocomplaints about the quality.Stabilization is terrific,color is nicely saturated,dynamic range is good, andthe auto-focus and exposuregenerally do a great job.You also get solid 1080p240 frames per secondslow motion options as wellas the still impressivebuilt-in time lapse mode.Put it all together and itis hard to be disappointedwith the iPhone X camera.And that really is thestory of this phone.While battery life isn'tquite as good as on the 8 Plus,it's still significantlybetter than previous iPhonesand for me it was really noproblem to make it througha full day of use.When Apple announced a $1,000price tag for the iPhone X,they pretty much threw down the gauntlet.If this phone wasn't incredible,there was no way thatit would be worth it.But it kind of is.(light upbeat electronic music)