Since iPhone 6, there have been almost identically designed iPhones with just little difference to tell them apart each year as Apple roll out another.
The iPhone 8 Plus isn’t an exception. Thought to be the iPhone 7S Plus since it inherited almost all the designs from the previous one last year.
Glass coating at the back makes it a bit different from the older aluminium back which Apple released last year.
But though, the iPhone is still a very great phone with some feature increments which are absent on the iPhone 8 the smaller variant of the 2017 iPhone lines.
The iPhone X is thought to be a big problem because of its futuristic designs and more advances which sets it way more apart from the “Old” looking iPhone 8 Plus.
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Big enough this time with a big 5.5 inch screen and a dual camera sensor with support for OIS.
It also supports both Wireless and Fast Charging even though you might have to pay for it despite the huge price tag slapped on the iPhone 8 Plus.
Many a times I wonder what Apple meant by just giving us nearly the same piece of device every new year. Most times I usually deduce that maybe Apple counts itself as so big that no matter what they give, people would buy.
But well that might not be case as that of the iPhone X is really an upgrade. While that is a very good move by the company in curbing doubts about their loyalty and credibility, we would have also loved to see a way better designs and improvements on the iPhone 8 Plus.
Although this is probably the default design option for those that would probably chose the iPhone (Defaults) on the long run while those that chose the special-editions would have better options like those seen on the iPhone X.
With its price tag, it would have been really useful if we have seen something from the looks. We don’t necessarily need to start digging for features before we know that the iPhone 8 Plus is a premium flagship smartphone. At least it’s supposed to be different in many forms from the previous version.
I mean what would be essence of holding an iPhone 8 Plus when people can’t even tell the difference between it and iPhone 7 Plus because they looked almost alike.
Do I have to explain to everyone everytime that “Hey, I’m holding an iPhone 8 Plus. The glass at the back is the proof of that” that would be silly. Apple should adhere to this and make us a better looking phone next time.
We all saw what Samsung did with its Galaxy S8 Plus. We all love it and it’s beautiful.
Just as I’ve said earlier, the iPhone 8 Plus is feature rich. And since it’s an upgrade, it features lots of upgrades of technologies which already exist on the iPhone 7 Plus.
Now the camera has been enhanced, it’s A11 CPU is very fast and hardly hiccup in any circumstance. Better screen although still NO OLED yet (watch out for IPhone X), the screen offers a clear screen display which is consistent in every lighting environment.
Although battery might not be a great trade here but it’s still way superior to that on the iPhone 8.
The iPhone 8 Plus is very expensive. It comes in two version though with each having its price tag.
1.) The 64GB version is $799 / AU$1,229 / £799
2.) The 256GB Version is $949 / AU$1,479 / £949
The two variants are meant for those who’d want it. Well, Apple doesn’t include memory card slots in iPhones so you will have to always pay more for memory something which isn’t there on other smartphone competitors.
Anyway, not everyone needs a huge memory space though and using the 64GB variant might be a good choice.
But since the phone can record 4K videos of 60FPS. 3 b minutes of recording such high quality of video will cost you about 2.16GB in memory so assuming you’re using your phone for such functions, the bigger memory variant might be your best bet although it comes in its own price.
Portrait lighting mode
This feature doesn’t exist in the iPhone 8 but well, we have it on the iPhone 8 Plus thanks to its Dual amazing 12MP camera sensors which works hand in hand with the device’s processor making portrait lighting exactly a beautifier you’d ever want. Beautiful couture makes your pictures very amazing.
This near-live capabilities can be done on pictures while being taken or right afterwards which usually is via the gallery. It’s great. I like it. But doesn’t mean it’s a really big deal.
Although the portrait mode is a beautifier but it needs some settings so it’s difference might not be felt immediately assuming you don’t even know how to set this up.
But let’s face it because this is actually an addition and upgrade which is parts of the visible upgrades that differentiates the iPhone 8 Plus from its predecessor.
Assuming you’re a photographer and your iPhone 8 Plus is the only tool you’ve got, you might be able get some really fast and clever shots just if you can spend some times setting things up to make it a perfect match with the subject you’re shooting.
The portrait lighting mode is a really fun thing at least that Apple didn’t include in its cheaper variant.
A11 Bionic is a really fast CPU
With an amazing 3GB of RAM tucked together with the A11 Bionic, we saw a lot of upgrades which makes the iPhone 8 Plus a big deal.
The new chipset has 6 cores whereby they’re grouped into two while each groups performing their functions independently.
Like the first group consisting of four cores are working on basic functionalities while the other group consisting of two cores does the heavier jobs all in the name of making the smartphone really fast and easy to use.
Also, Portrait Lighting mode utilises higher power and that’s parts of what the A11 Bionic CPU does.
Other powerful features include getting louder speaker and also the AirPod works like magic.
During my brief tour with the IPhone 8 Plus I did couple of really task full activities with the smartphone and damn, it handled it all well.
The A11 Bionic chip works magic just like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Samsung’s Exynox which is extremely fast and works out of here box with the Android 7.0tgat comes packaged with the phone.
Now for example, I had to do some play around with the AR the phone comes with and thanks to its powerful screen resolution and nice battery with the CPU, I knew there is going to be a smooth play here and then using the amazing camera to navigate the room around and The the Augmented Reality alongside real life objects in such a perfect setting all seems nice to me and that makes the phone extremely beautiful and that alone just made it won another goodie award from me until though the iPhone X is out officially for sale.
Although at some point, battery drain was a serious case but it still wasn’t a serious issue or a lag since you’re going to surely going to need a power deposit sitting next to you whenever you’re trying to use this.
Recording HD videos and saving large or downloading huge files all works smoothly. It’s fast. Closing and opening multiple apps or multitasking all seem fine.
And well, 3GB RAM isn’t too small because IOS doesn’t consume memory spaces. Unlike Android OS, memory management between the two operating systems is quite different and that’s why the 3GB for IOS 11 is a really huge deal.
Longer day usage doesn’t feel bad or have any negative impact in battery life or phone’s physical performance such as unnecessary warmth or so.
All worked well and I think that’s how great the A11 Bionic CPU can go. Just that the using the device in its extremely fullest might have some detriments on battery life etc.
Dual 12MP camera sensor all great
The iPhone 8 Plus has dual camera sensors which all work differently to output beautiful images. Altogether, this makes sense considering the large screen and its high end capabilities.
Just like the older iPhone 7 Plus which also features same dual camera sensors, the newer version brings some really cooler and angular reality into your shots.
It’s shots are just way perfect and
Battery longevity isn’t bad but…
Like I said, my tour wasn’t just to check out the fantastic smartphone or hold a gadget some people probably haven’t seen, but really I was gonna be testing out its battery capabilities too.
The device did lasted quite long when used. But it all depends on the way you use your phone which will determine the overall longevity.
As usual, the iPhone 8 Plus doesn’t have a removable battery which means you’re stuck. With whatever you get from Apple.
So the company is smart enough to know that a better battery that works long enough is a good deal with us the customers. Which is why I would rate the iPhone 8 Plus battery in C.
It’s “C” because it can handle tasks such as making sure you don’t get bored up during the day or assuming you’re at work and then the frequent checking of your smartphone for messages and pop out notifications from social media apps aren’t going to consume your battery and in fact, it’s going to work so smooth.
For the normal phone user that relies on constant usage but not an heavy battery drainer will still have a good view about the battery.
So simple activities such as surfing Web, playing some cool simple graphic games or chat via WhatsApp etc would still keep your company throughout the day without having to tuck in the charger every now and then.
But when it comes to utilising the dual powerful cameras and then maybe you’re in some constant image shooting around, this might have some effect on the battery’s performance.
A good example is while we did our battery test. Some really heavy usage which isn’t common to everyone might see a chunk in battery consumption.
When I took out the iPhone 8 Plus in the morning to the large field for testing, it was wallowing in full battery and great deal of memory spaces.
Taking couple of pictures of kids playing around and then switching to and from video recording while also shooting all we’re great and incredible.
Apart from the fact that I felt relaxed because I have a device which is well backed up by a huge 2,961 mAh battery, I felt good at least.
But believe me, the number might sound too small when we call such huge numbers in the Zenfone Max like 5,000 mAh or let’s even close in on rival Samsung Galaxy Note 8’s 3300 mAh battery, well you might wonder what apple was thinking about.
But well, all I did weren’t huge battery drainer since it’s sort of normal activity.
I took couple of pictures, also some really short videos and then took lots of landscapes all around.
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The Lighting Portrait Mode was amazing and near-real vibrance I got from those shots I took made me feel like I was a photographer… Well I’m not.
Apart pictures, I listened to songs and considering the noisy environment, I still heard what I was listening to. Thanks to the better audio system which all work amazingly better than those in the older version of the iPhone Plus league.
I eventually switched onto the AirPod like trying to make life at least easier for myself and the phone I was holding and seriously all these were just well incorporated into the device’s system.
By mid day, I was still huge in battery at least, 76% is way past half. But I’ve searched Google front and back looking for how to grow my hair longer and then watched tutorials on YouTube then got bored eventually when I put on some games which I was switching from one to the other.
Fast, balanced and efficient… Those were all the advantages I had and it felt convenient though and this is an iPhone 8 Plus excuse me (Eye rolls backwards).
By 6 :12 pm, I was gonna give this a real credibility since I was still holding a nice 20% battery with me. I knew immediately that this phone would be a real companion in many aspects ad the battery really proved that.
But mind you, I never really did some extremely rigorous testing with the battery that day though we did lots of those at the office which indicates that rigorous usages might have some impact on the battery life.
Well then, fast charging becomes a really useful thing here. Few minutes and then battery jumps to high percentage which is good enough.
But it’s just disappointing that Apple didn’t put in cables that would make this a possibility along with the device. It’s really frustrating and that’s not funny.
Wireless charging goes very well too but it’s still same old story with the fast charging being absent as a pack. You’ve gotta spend another chunk of amount to get your hands on one.
As part of intensive battery life test, I did some full HD video streaming with full brightness and then the result for 1hour 30 minutes of those streams meant a 23% of battery result.
Well it is not really fantastic but most phones wallow in this range too. I mean it was in full HD performance after all.
Although I won’t conclude yet that Apple have improved on their batteries since the iPhone 6S Plus considering its still almost alike ever since.
And the fact that the new iPhone uses a better processor and a good Operating System was supposed to mean something better but well, we didn’t get that.
Well, at least it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get your hands on some backup powerbanks which saves you on the brink of dying phone. The iPhone 8 Plus battery isn’t great and that’s why I scored it “C”.
Even mid-range Android powered smartphones all boasts of way powerful batteries that lasts as if forever. And that’s a great advantage to those that go for LG, Huawei, Tecno, Infinix, Gionee and other Mid to High end smartphone makers.
Specifications
| Weight | 202g |
| Dimensions | 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5 mm |
| OS | iOS 11 |
| Screen size | 5.5inch |
| Resolution | 1080 x 1920 |
| CPU | Apple A11 Bionic |
| RAM | 3GB |
| torage | 64GB/128GB |
| Waterproof | Yes |
| Removable SIM | Yes |
| Battery | 2961 mAh |
| Rear camera | 12 MP Dual Camera |
| Front camera | 7 MP |
The new iOS did a great job
We’ve got the new Android Oreo although no rival of the iPhone 8 Plus ever run on it yet but as of yet, the greatest contender is the Android Nougat 7.1. 1 which runs the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
But as awesome as it was, the iOS 11 is another huge rival in the OS war. As usual, it comes prebuilt with the iPhone 8 Plus which means it’s hardware and software are well blended in most cases unlike the Android whereby many makers have to install as a third party firmware.
But this isn’t a comparison anyway, the iOS 11 did well as far as the iPhone 8 Plus is concerned. It’s improved usability of the phone’s Touch and Control Center are parts of the few upgrades it’s enjoyed.
Although there seem to still be some bugs which affects some third party applications even though those bugs had always been reported earlier before the upgrade.
Although the GUI of the iOS 11 is quite minimal, it still enhanced the core functionality of the iPhone 8 Plus system.
Among the changes, the feature that I love most is the 3D Touch.
Also, because of the buggy situations of those third party apps, extensions have been offered whether by long-pressing the app icon or doing it within the app.
But in the all-new Control Center – the pane you drag up from the bottom of the screen – a longer press on any of the widgets offers genuinely useful extras, from the torch having more levels of brightness to the music app becoming fully functional.
Apple did well in the upgrade of the iOS 11.
Although bugs aren’t new to the iOS. And the fact that some third party applications aren’t working well if not optimised.
Android OS is known for its customization.
You can even get huge launcher that turns your Android UI into iPhone or even Windows.
That’s opposite to the iOS. Still the same old bulk of applications on the home screen. Although most Apple users are used to that though but they’re not customised.
There is also an upgrade in the screen grab feature which is nice. If you do a screen capture, it will show as a small preview in the bottom of the screen which is where it will open it for annotation.
Since the iPhone doesn’t have a Stylus pen and your finger tip might be too fat to properly scribble or annotate on them.
Who should buy the iPhone 8 Plus
Anyone can buy the iPhone 8 Plus in as much as you’ve got what it takes. Considering the battery’s durability and its ability. Remembering that power adapter for fast charging and wireless charging would cost extra bucks might put you on the consideration of getting an alternative if you’d like one.
For a corporate person who work 5 days a week might have a good use of the iPhone since you won’t work with it often and it will be plugged in to the electricity often.
But assuming you’re the fun lover who go skiing camping, you might consider carrying along a powerbank which would be a measure to keep the battery up so you don’t suddenly run out of power.
If you have some few bucks to spend, there are nice and beautiful casings you might want to consider buying in order to beautify or protect your phone from getting damaged.
the iPhone 8 Plus versus….
There are always going to be some great contenders who have nearly a better functionalities while offering price cut or higher pricing but they are just a considerable alternatives to the iPhone 8 Plus if you have a second thought.
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This is why you should get an iPhone 8
Not really fancy in terms of design. Though it’s named 8 because it’s an upgrade of the last year’s version.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 proves the bigger the better
The bigger the better as it’s the case with the Galaxy Note 8. The device which is feature-rich gets married up with an amazing design making it exclusive in every ways. Forget about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s flops as this is a way brighter and better upgrade that steps way up higher than it’s predecessor.
LG G6 beats all LG G-Series hands down
The LG G6 appears to be the most relevant LG G Series of all times with the amazing design and it’s huge piles of features. Powered by the latest Android 7 Nougat, the device is the best suitor for those seeking a really feature-rich Android smartphone which isn’t as expensive as the Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone X. Although it might not be able to beat this two competitors, it’s still at it’s best form ever.
Editor’s take
The iPhone 8 Plus is an amazing smartphone which is loaded with features but has its own shortcomings just as no phone is perfect.
So far, the iPhone 8 Plus is the best iPhone this year until we test out the iPhone X to see how amazing it is.
It’s quite expensive and huge.
The screen to body management isn’t that cool and it’s close resemblance to the iPhone 7 Plus might be detrimental to the buyer but this new upgrade has lots of advantages over the older iPhone.
Absence of wireless and fast charging cables and adapter might not be a complete deal breaker but still not a good idea since battery isn’t totally amazing as we’d expected.
Dual camera sensor, AR capabilities and iOS 11 with A11 Bionic makes the phone a speedy one all incorporated together without a single hiccup.
You can expect alot of functionality if you get one of this but if you’d wait then you can get one of the newly designed iPhone X coming this November 3rd.
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