I think audiophile is a term used for people into seriously high end equipment for music.

A phone would be to an audiophile what a phone is to a pro studio photographer. Yes, it works, but no it wouldn't be what they are going to choose if given the option.

"S8's face unlock can be fooled with a photo"

Most phones have a variety of unlock options with varying levels of convenience and security. It is up to you to choose the one you want, depending on your level of paranoia.

If you drop/leave your phone somewhere, the person who finds it won't have your photo. The average thief won't have your photo, unless they are the James Bond of phone theft and are secretly snapping your facial portrait. In reality, this degree of security is sufficient for most people. The people most likely to have your photo would be family/friends, so you probably shouldn't use that feature if you don't trust them.

It's really not much different from a PIN, which is not foolproof either. The average person/thief doesn't have your PIN, but the James Bond of phone theft could easily observe/record you unlocking your phone and note the sequence... But again, probably enough security for most people.

nice post... "james bond of phone theft "

lol

There are many situations where a thief is not a random stranger you just bumped into.

cheetah43, I actually like the iPhone X design. By many accounts, it is even better in real life than in the pictures.

Maybe I am one of those brainwashed you mention. I am brainwashed to like it and you are brainwashed to write hate on "the bitten fruit logo" as you call it?

apple iPhone X premier . face unlock - FAIL.

Nothing failed. FaceID security works like TouchID so this is what happened. Your fingerprint/face data is store in a secure "chip" which can't be accessed if it is not unlocked. When you restart the phone that "chip" requires a passcode unlock before the data can be accessed. The demo phone had been restarted which is why it requried a passcode unlock.

Tell the stock brokers that. . . ha.
p.s. - Maybe an ENORMOUS tech company, in planning for a world-wide product debut, someone could possibly think about this? For gods sake why didn't he just do it once or twice before going out? ill never understand.
R.I.P. Steve Jobs (you were amazing, and Apple left with you.)

Jobs had issues during demos as well, it happens. But like I said, FaceID didn't actually fail.

"If you say a negative word about Apple or its i-products, a whole army of i-Sheep will rain their arrows over your head.
Discussions used to be civilized, with much higher level of respect and politeness."

Fantastic irony in this post.

the thing to remember in all this is there is always more than one right characterization to a user of an apple phone or an android phone

i use the cheapest well-built phone [android for the audio port & sd support]
that has the memory, processor,& feature i want.for me, this product cycle, it the axon 7,and I'm mostly satisfied.. the issues i have are android in nature... last time it was the htc one max...next time who knows?

as for apple, well there's lots of artists creative types scientist engineers and just plain intelligent folks who use iPhones for their good design-build qual. & smooth highly mature os..they buy what they want & need in a device.
simples..

otoh there are the apple fanatics who like android fanatics attack frothingly any comment that dares question apple ..a removed port .a haptic switch.. usb ..they scream they yell..they even gang up

they, like their foolish android brothers, are whats wrong with this forum and by extension, society itself

in other words not every apple user is an isheep

and not every android user is a broke a## dude who cant afford an iphone

By "i-Sheep" I meant the fanatic fan-boys, and I thought it did not need an explanation because the term is widely used on the Internet.
Apparently it ruffled some feathers, unintentionally.

@cosinaphile, I wouldn't consider the top end Android phones cheap either.

@sh10453, I am not sure you can walk back a comment where you use i-Sheep and say it was selective. The term is meant to be inclusive. That is why it is used as an insult. But I do find your inference that these sheep have feathers to ruffle as amusing.

sh10453, I wouldn't call them anything. It is their business, isn't it? They could be doing a lot worse. It's none of my business.

Why is it so necessary to some people that they dictate how others spend their time or spend their money? Live and let live and worry about the important things that actually affect you.

Thanks. I may have been a bit harsh on it. Brings back memories, though it was played to death on the radio many years ago when I used to listen to radio to hear favourite songs.

Having tens of millions of songs at the tap of a finger would have seemed unbelievably futuristic to me back then, as I attempted to record favourite songs on blank cassettes without the annoying DJ waffling over it. :D

oh the memories ....

indeed ,,,,,, cheers

Saiko, what exactly looks half-baked or unresolved on the iPhone X besides the notch on the front? Possibly the camera hump, but since that's been around since the 6 I would say that design, regardless of whether you like it, is resolved by now.

while past apple designs deserve to be in museum design collections
i cant say im loving the x either

the trapezoidal cut out to hold the front-facing camera and various sensors is awkward and ugly ... not the work of an artist or industrial designer, but a corporate comitee[i don't know ... but I'm guessing]

the better solution would have been an unobtrusive area of non screen across the top with an aesthetically meaningful form to compliment the total design [ %of screen height and so forth]

the top now is the weakest design point ... the cutout is a glaring--- cant look away from, shape hurting design IMHO

and since apple will probably never bring back the audio port ,....
i also feel that Apple should incorporate 2 of their propriety ports 3\4 of an inch apart ... because users,

The cut out at the top wouldn't bother me at all and I would consider myself very particular about design.

Software can blank out a bar across the top for uses where that option may be desirable to some users. I have seen product shots of the iPhone X without the cutout showing, as the content is framed within the rest of the screen. Definitely not something that worries me.

Cameracist. What nonsensical politics. Choose whatever one you like. You clearly don't know much about them. But you don't have to, just get the one that makes you happy. We'll do the same.

This is true. Apple doesn't make anything, they are only a design and marketing company. They rely on Samsung, LG & Sony then Foxconn assembles the devices and ships them. iPhone X is made in part by Samsung. I think both cameras are made by Sony.

@Maverick, It is clear you are not an engineer if you think the engineering design done by Apple means so little compared to the manufacture of the bits and pieces. All phone companies have parts manufactured by other companies. Samsung happen to be an umbrella group for many things, including the manufacture of tanks. What matters is the experience at the end in terms of hardware and software.

Its true. Apple designs its A# series of CPUs, for example, and then has someone else manufacture them. The fact that someone else manufactures the chip shouldn't take away all the hard work Apple puts into designing it.

The design of the chip is the difficult part. After that, the manufacture is about tooling up to produce it. The new A11 Bionic processor has more Apple in-house developed solutions built into it than previous versions. That should enable them to work with new innovations, as they can plan ahead for them in design. The guys in the factory don't have to know how it is designed, just how to run the tests to verify them.

The A11 bionic is no less important than the screen because it has a discrete GPU to drive the pixels not to mention dedicated AR-optimized circuitry. But I get that you want to make a point about the iPhone being just a rebranded Samsung, despite it being incorrect, so just prioritize that one piece of hardware you need to make your point.

But let me sum things up for you. Samsung makes a great screen; iOS and true-tone make that great screen even better.

Interesting to read Apple fanboy comments. Most of you are just venting since Apple hasn't been a leader in 10 years. Manufacturing is everything, engineering is just what should happen. You "engineer" a car on your computer and give it to 4 manufacturers in India, China, Japan and Germany and you'll get 4 totally different cars with different performances, final design, look, quality of paint, color, fit and finish and longevity. Anyone who thinks you just put some stuff on paper and it gets made, has never actually made anything. Samsung did Apple a favor to give them OLED after all these years of LCD screens. Just get over yourselves! :)

"You "engineer" a car on your computer and give it to 4 manufacturers in India, China, Japan and Germany and you'll get 4 totally different cars with different performances, final design, look, quality of paint, color, fit and finish and longevity."

That's only true if the designers, engineers, and QA departments don't tightly control the manufacturing phase. I suppose you would get four different final designs if you just told them to "make a car" as opposed to "make this exact car".

Samsung's component division, which is separate from its handset division, will sell to whoever is willing to pay; they're not doing Apple a favor they are conducting business.

DarnGoodPhotos, my post wasn't directed at you. It was a general reply to the whole thread that my comment is included. However, sounds like you've never manufactured anything. There is no such a thing as an exact vs non-exact engineering. All engineering must be exact if you want it made. And engineering is just a "what should be," manufacturing is "all." That's why a Tata motors car will be dirt cheap and Merc will be very expensive, given the same exact engineering request. Apple deigns and so called engineering means nothing without top level manufacturing and experts at these plants that know how to adapt the "should be" into actual top level products. Manufacturing is everything!

It's not easy to see what point you are trying to make, Maverick. When you throw in the "Apple fanboy" insult, you don't help your case at all. People making a good argument for the design and engineering contribution to a product are not fanboys. They happen to know what they are talking about.

@montypieman. I noticed that too.

just give us s series without deliberate bloatware, which is not just samsung politics, if it is at all..

munro harrap, FM radio recording? Which century are you from?

Bet there are people in Texas and Florida, who wish they had non-data FM radio while their power is still out.

DarnGoodPhotos, I doubt that a basic FM radio costs that much in Texas or Florida that a household wouldn't have one.

@DarnGoodPhotos. You make a good point. I'd hope that people living in areas vulnerable to natural disasters; hurricanes/flooding/earthquakes would have the reliable backups on hand as a precaution. That includes radios to receive news and weather alerts, or communicate with others.

But, you have hit on an interesting topic. The latest and greatest tech can become indispensable to us, but the old analog tech can be a life saver in some situations where the modern tech is knocked out.

There are different qualities of LCD screens and there are different qualities of AMOLED screens. As soon as the X is out in the wild there will be comparisons to see if iOS' color calibration and true tone make the X's screen better.

3 of my Samsung panels have burn in :(

wireless charging is hands down the most wasteful and inefficent energy transfer protocols anywhere in human technology

like the murder of the headphone port and the expected tech junk waste stream it will surge , the advent of the wireless charging mats will waste perhaps as much energy s it transfers

a very bad thing at this juncture in history and of the effects humans have on
the air land and water that we all depend on ... wireless charging has efficancies of 30 to 80 percent ... which is awful

a poor tradeoff when allowing normal ports is unlikely to push this technology

https://www.cultofmac.com/502560/pros-and-cons-of-wireless-charging/

I have a 6s-Plus, and when I'm around the house calling relatives, I used a wired headphone set, because it has superior quality to any wireless set I've used, doesn't need to be charged, etc. When laying around the house on the phone the cord doesn't bother me and the better sound is a plus. There are plenty of times I find myself using this headset WHILE I'm charging my phone at the same time. You can't do this on the 7, 8, or X, regardless of a dongle.

So I'll be keeping my 6s-plus until it dies. At that point, I'll decide if I want to accept an inferior sounding cordless headset, or switch back over to a model with a headphone jack on the Android side.

Here is a collection of dongles/accessories which let you charge while using wired headphones.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3127211/iphone-ipad/7-solutions-for-the-iphone-7s-lack-of-headphone-jack.html

>> Here is a collection of dongles/accessories which let you charge while using wired headphones.

Looking at this ridiculous donglocity you get me ever more convinced that better just have a proper jack on the phone itself.

@miksto, it would appear that Android users are the ones fretting about "choice" in the Apple line up. The iPhone 8 or X will be a perfectly good choice for many. One thing for certain; it is not worth worrying about and none of us will even know which you choose if you don't tell us.

If you get a Samsung phone, beware of the notorious lock screen ads which have been starting to pop up recently:

https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Galaxy-S-Phones/Random-new-lock-screen-when-charging/td-p/83236

They can be removed, but you have to jump through hoops just to figure out which app(s) are throwing them in the first place-- the downside of an "open" ecosystem. They tend to be included with the bloatware that Samsung installs on its phones.

irie mon.. what bloodclot you going down road for !

damn crazy batty boy ..........me say

Ribbit74, the lock screen ads are from downloaded apps and not Samsung lock screen feature.

Better, but what a pain... full def jpeg are quite large, and wireless transfer is slow.

LOL. Apple is going to sell every one they make.

Apple doesn't make cheap equipment, but the iPhone does look dated in my eyes. I expected something really new but it looks just like my 6s+. I bet they'll sell every phone they make as has been the case in the past, they have a very loyal fanboy following.

I keep mine in a Tech21 case so the fact that it looks similar to my current 6, and it does, wouldn't impact my purchasing decisions. That has nothing to do with being a fanboy or not.

The point is that how good a screen looks is not limited to just the screen. The same AMOLED screen on a Samsung would not look the same because Android doesn't have the same level of color management or TrueTone.

besides, we don't know if the iPhone display use only Samsung IP... Made by Samsung does not mean it is a Samsung display.

I agree Apple is a Ponzi Scheme. :)

@pancho_rivera, good. I'll take your place in the line. Easier to get mine sooner now. Thanks.

I wonder how many people who find the iPhone X "under featured" would buy it if they had the money though. :D

Don't drool over the XZ Premium... 1 2\3 sensor is good, but unfortunately Sony is useless at extracting its maximum potential... Image quality is uninspiring... Very very average at best... Video quality is good, but not at Samsung or LG's level... And low light... forget about it altogether... make sure you carry your tripod everywhere and maybe then you'll get some decent images....

You didn't read my comment.

@Sdaniella It doesn't blur, there's no lag that I can see, and colours on IPS display are much more realistic than the overly saturated colours of AMOLED. I could never tolerate looking at images on AMOLED for some reason.

That's a good point, but the public is locked into those two brands. Samsung kicks ass though. Always a generation ahead.

well does it matters anymore?
why would you like to know the physical size of your phone camera sensor?
picture quality numbers you always get from review websites anyways ... if those numbers/ ratings are higher .. then that's all you need .. no?

Sensor size doesn't matter?
Why did I get a full frame camera instead of a 2/3" superzoom then?

It's a phone, not a camera. Yes, it has a camera, but that's not the main reason you buy it. Also, with multiple lenses and sophisticated software algorithms, there are other very significant factors than sensor size.

Same reason camera manufacturers don't specify the CPU speed. Yes, a modern camera is technically a computer, but that's not it's main purpose, unlike a desktop PC where you certainly get the CPU speed in the spec (but no the sensor size of its in-built web cam ;-)

haha, what do you expect from a smartphones? u expect it to be like 1dx ? lol

The problem is that if you publish tech details, then devices will be compared just on those details which is not accurate or realistic. A phone with sensor size A can produce vastly better photos than a phone with sensor size B, even if A < B, if the software and supporting hardware is better.

I actually support Apple here. For once. They say "the battery will last 2 hours longer than on the iPhone 7", and people complain because they won't say how many mAh the battery is. EVEN THOUGH that information is meaningless, and the information Apple provides IS.

How big the sensor is? Why don't you ask "how good are the photos". That's what matters in the end.

Yea but there is no need to keep pushing that wagon creating troll bait simple write two articles and people can ponder