Apple iPhone 8 review: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

The smallest member of the 2017 iPhone family is a serious premium contender.

Of all the handsets announced at Apple's launch of its 2017 iPhones, the iPhone 8 model was the one that was met with the most lukewarm response.

That's hardly a shock given that the primary focus of the event was clearly the iPhone X, and even if its full-screen display and FaceID features didn't impress you, there was always the iPhone 8 Plus, with its dual cameras and larger battery capacity.

Against that competition, the iPhone 8 is rather easy to overlook, but the reality is that it fills a niche few handset makers even consider any more. That's the space for a more hand- and pocket-friendly device with plenty of power because most smaller-screened Android handsets tend to be low-power, budget devices.

Design

• Maintains that familiar iPhone look, for better and for worse
• The glass back adds weight and attracts fingerprints like nobody's business

• Read our full review of the iPhone 8's design

  Even more so than the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone 8 suffers from what I’ll call “identical iPhone syndrome” because it utilises the classic iPhone look that’s been in place since the introduction of the iPhone 6 family. There are some small-scale tweaks to the overall look and feel, including the metallic banded sides and glass back, but from a practical viewpoint, if for some reason you wanted to fool onlookers that you didn’t have an iPhone 8, you could pretty easily do so.

  Of course, that’s presuming they’re not familiar with the heft of the iPhone 7 because the one big change in design you’re likely to note if you’re familiar with 2016’s iPhone is that this one is just a little bit heavier.

  The iPhone 8 measures in at 138.4x67.3x7.3mm compared to the iPhone 7 at 138.3x67.1x7.1mm, but it’s in the carrying weight that you’ll feel the difference. The iPhone 7 weighed in at 138 grams, but the iPhone 8 is a bulkier 148 grams, thanks no doubt to that glass back. A case for a phone at this price point is a highly advisable option, but thankfully due to the mass popularity of iPhones, you’re likely to be swamped with choices.

  You’ve got a choice of three finishes to choose from. The space grey variant has black front bezels, while the silver and gold both feature white front facings. I tested the silver version, for whatever that’s worth.

  As with the iPhone 8 Plus, the glass back of the iPhone 8 gives it more weight. The glass back also means you’re going to be faced with it being an utter fingerprint magnet as well as slightly slippery. Apple hasn’t reinvented anything in terms of controls and buttons, so you'll get the familiar TouchID sensor as well as the same power and volume buttons. It still only has a single SIM card tray, so once again you can’t expand the storage capabilities of your iPhone. I guess we should be used to that by now.

  If you want to see where iPhone design is going, the iPhone 8 isn’t it because that particular accolade clearly belongs to the iPhone X. What the iPhone 8 could well be, presuming that Apple carries the X design through to 2018’s crop of A12-based iPhones, is the final hurrah of this particular iPhone design.

  If you're a big fan, it might be wise to invest now, whereas if you’re more fashion-conscious (and there’s no doubting that, amongst other factors, the iPhone is a fashion-brand item), then it might be a somewhat dated visual style. That’s a choice you’ve got to make for yourself.

Camera

• The single lens lacks the versatility of multi-lens arrays in other smartphones
• Still one of the best cameras available in a phone of this size

• See sample photos and read our full review of the iPhone 8's camera

  Apple made the decision with its first Plus-sized camera that one of the clear delineations between iPhone models would be how many lenses you get sticking out of the back. Like the iPhone 7 before it, the iPhone 8 is the sole phone of its particular generation to only sport a single rear lens. Apple's contention is that it's still its "best" single camera ever, but then they would say that, wouldn't they?

  What you're looking at in a specifications sense isn't terribly dissimilar to 2016's iPhone 7 camera, with a 12MP f/1.8 optically stabilised sensor. Apple's camera software is by distinction of that single lens more limited than it is on the iPhone 8 Plus because you don't get the fancy Portrait Lighting effects or indeed Portrait mode features at all, but it's still one of the most pleasant and easy to use photo apps in the smartphone space for its generation.

  The one advantage that the iPhone 8 has is that, in the premium space, it's one of the best cameras on a small device that you'll find. If you're a fan of quick snaps, it's much easier to pull a phone of this size out of your pocket than a larger body phone.

  As with previous iPhone generations, it's possible to get some nice shots directly from the iPhone 8, but if you're keen on precise smartphone photography, the iPhone 8 Plus or a more heavily equipped smartphone camera such as the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the HTC U11 or the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 might be a better bet. For comparative purposes, here's some sample shots taken directly from the iPhone 8:

  

Performance

• Genuinely impressive performance that challenges the value of the iPhone X
• The relatively small screen limits the benefits of all that power

• View test results and read our full review of the iPhone 8's performance

  The iPhone 8 Plus took me quite by surprise when it came to the performance of the underlying A11 Bionic processor. Apple had hyped it heavily at its launch, but then it's unlikely you'd ever see an Apple event where Tim Cook got up on stage and mumbled something about new processors being merely OK.

  However, while Apple has nicely kept pace with the mobile market in recent years, the A11 Bionic's performance in the iPhone 8 Plus was exceptional. It is well ahead of anything being done by contemporary Android devices. Or in other words, the gauntlet has well and truly been thrown down, and it has dented more than a few phone screens on the way.

  However, the iPhone 8 is the lesser member of the family, and it's the sole entrant at this stage with only 2GB of RAM on board. The flip side there is that with a smaller, lower resolution screen, there's less of a performance impact shoving pixels around, so I was very curious to see how the iPhone 8 compared not only against other premium handsets, but also against the performance I'd seen out of the iPhone 8 Plus itself.

  Here's how the iPhone 8 compared using the Geekbench 4 CPU test against premium 2017 smartphones in that particular benchmark:

  Handset	Geekbench 4 CPU Single Core (higher is better)	Geekbench 4 CPU Multi Core (higher is better)
  Apple iPhone 8	4270	10272
  Apple iPhone 8 Plus	4113	10221
  Samsung Galaxy S8+	2020	6690
  Samsung Galaxy S8	1989	6628
  Huawei P10 Plus	1863	6544
  Nokia 8	1932	6529
  OnePlus 5	1976	6506
  Samsung Galaxy Note 8	2024	6490
  HTC U11	1919	6362

  And here's its comparative performance using 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited test:

  Handset	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Result
  Apple iPhone 8	64461
  Apple iPhone 8 Plus	59205
  HTC U11	40239
  Sony Xperia XZ Premium	40086
  OnePlus 5	39497
  Apple iPhone 7 Plus	37956
  Apple iPhone 7	37717
  Samsung Galaxy Note 8	32277
  HTC U Ultra	29968

  These results (along with my own less formal testing of app performance on the iPhone 8) need some context.

  Just as there is with the large number of Snapdragon 835-based Android handsets, the differences between the scores of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus aren't that significant in themselves because most benchmarks will return slightly different scores each time you run them.

  However, they're still both obviously pushing state of the art in mobile CPUs and the iPhone 8 is clearly benefiting from that smaller screen, given it has overcome its RAM disparity along the way. It's also another challenge posed against the value proposition of the iPhone X because this is very good performance at nearly half the iPhone X's top asking price.

  Against other premium Android handsets of its age, the iPhone 8 is genuinely impressive, especially if you've been a phone user who doesn't like larger phone displays because your choices here are relatively limited.

  That does have to be put into the context of the display on the iPhone 8, which at 4.7 inches and 1134x750 pixels, is still quite small by modern standards.

  Apple has integrated its automatic white balancing "true tone" technology, first seen on the iPad Pro, into the iPhone 8, and that does make for a pleasant viewing experience for such a relatively low-resolution screen. Still, there's no getting around the fact that this is a small display and small phone. If you've grown used to larger devices, switching down to a smaller phone can be quite a shock.

Battery life

• Finally delivers all-day performance from an iPhone
• Wireless charging is a big plus

• View test results and read our full review of the iPhone 8's battery life

  The history of iPhone battery life is one that is writ large with disappointment, especially for the smaller regular iPhone models. Apple's never released a phone that I'd be happy to say had all-day battery life, and that should be an absolute standard for any premium phone or even for a mid-range model in 2017.

  The fact that Apple only pitched the iPhone 8 with battery life that (to quote Apple's own specifications) "lasts about the same as iPhone 7" did not fill me with anticipation. The teardown of the iPhone 8 (because Apple never officially announces the capacity of its batteries) revealed an 1821 mAh battery, which is even smaller than the 1960mAh power pack in the iPhone 7. This had me even further concerned.

  However, like the iPhone 8 Plus, Apple has rather underestimated the capacity of the iPhone 8's battery and the battery-saving measures of the A11 Bionic. The iPhone 8's battery performance isn't category-besting in the way the iPhone 8 Plus is, but it does bring it into the realm of "all-day" battery life for the first time ever.

  I hit some issues using Geekbench 3's battery test because while it would run on the iPhone 8, it consistently drained the battery flat but delivered timing and scores based on the first couple of percentage points of the battery. It's a unique bug I've not encountered before (and not one that would replicate on the iPhone 8 Plus), so in order to get a relative battery life test, I ran it again, noting down the full battery time at the conclusion of the test. That gives us a comparable battery time, if not actual battery score.

  Using Geekbench 3's linear battery test in that admittedly limited fashion, here's how the iPhone 8 compared:

  Handset	Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration	Geekbench 3 Battery Score
  Apple iPhone 8 Plus	15:27:40	9276
  Galaxy S8+	14:55:30	8955
  Nokia 8	12:22:10	7421
  Sony Xperia XZ Premium	12:06:40	7266
  BlackBerry KEYone	12:05:00	DNF
  Samsung Galaxy Note 8	12:00:50	7208
  Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	11:55:00	7150
  Samsung Galaxy S8	11:47:50	7078
  HTC U11	11:42:40	7026
  Apple iPhone 7 Plus	11:11:20	6713
  Huawei P10 Plus	10:39:50	6218
  Apple iPhone 8	10:30:00	DNF
  OnePlus 5	9:33:30	5735
  Huawei P10	9:31:30	5523
  Google Pixel XL	9:14:20	5543
  LG G6	9:09:30	5495
  Apple iPhone SE	4:27:10	2671

  The iPhone 8 is no battery monster, but it's an important step forwards within the iOS ecosystem, simply because it gives those who want a smaller iPhone an option that they won't have to keep tethered to a power supply most of the day.

  Like the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, the iPhone 8 also includes Qi wireless charging. Sure, it's nothing new in the smartphone world, but of all the new iPhones, the iPhone 8 is the handset most likely to benefit from it.

  Wireless charging is inherently slower than direct cable charging, but the smaller battery on the 8 will top up much more rapidly than its larger compatriots. The smaller size of the iPhone 8 also makes it much easier to drop onto a variety of Qi chargers, hitting the sweet spot for charging to actually commence.

Verdict

• Not a significant upgrade from the iPhone 7
• Improved battery life is welcome, but still not on par with the competition

• Read our full iPhone 8 verdict

  Is the iPhone 8 the least of Apple's 2017 crop of premium iPhones? Yes, it very much is, so if your focus is on having the latest, greatest and best iPhone, either wait for the iPhone X or pick up the iPhone 8 Plus because while the app performance of the iPhone 8 is similar, the iPhone 8 Plus's battery life is simply superb where the iPhone 8's is simply adequate for all-day battery life.

  If you're currently using an iPhone 7, it's perhaps a little early to make full value out of an upgrade, although you really will appreciate that improved battery life on the iPhone 8. If you're looking to upgrade from an older iPhone generation, you'll really feel the difference in power that the iPhone 8 brings.

  If you're happy to look outside the iOS ecosystem, the comparison gets a lot tougher, simply because of the iPhone 8's particular size. If you favour a smaller handset with power, your current choices on the premium Android side are a little limited.

  Huawei's excellent little Huawei P10 is less expensive than the iPhone 8, and features a better camera to boot, so that's worth considering. If you're happy to jump up to a larger handset, the asking price of the iPhone 8 could buy you any number of top-end handsets, including the Samsung Galaxy S8, Sony Xperia XZ Premium, HTC U11 or OnePlus 5 pretty easily.

  

  iPhone 8: What the other reviewers say

  Site	Comment	Score
  TechRadar	"This is the phone you want if you can't afford the iPhone X."	N/A
  Wired	"If you want to be part of the future, save your money for now. Then go get an iPhone X and see what’s really coming next."	N/A
  News.com.au	"The ‘Jan Brady of iPhones’."	4 out of 5
  Sydney Morning Herald	"It's definitely not an afterthought to the iPhone X, but a true upgrade to the current iPhone line."	N/A
  Australian Financial Review	"The iPhone 8 feels like it's all bezel and very little screen."	N/A
  CNET	"The sensible, speedy iPhone 8 makes a nice upgrade to the iPhone 6S and earlier siblings."	8.6 out of 10
  Engadget	"Great choices for people who aren’t ready to forgo the home button."	91 out of 100
  TechCrunch	"Had Apple not announced the X when it did, the iPhone 8 would be an easy choice for upgraders."	N/A
  The Verge	"If the iPhone X is Apple’s bold vision of the future, the iPhone 8 is Apple making sure everyone else at the party has a nice time too."	8 out of 10

  Back to top

Pricing and availability

• Price: From RRP $779
• Where to buy: Apple | Amazon Australia | eBay | Kogan The Good Guys | | JB Hi-Fi

Compare Apple iPhone 8 plans

Apple iPhone 8 specs

Latest iPhone 8 news

How to sell or trade your old iPhone

Find out how much you can get for trading in or selling your old iPhone and what you need to do to clear your phone before you sell it.

Read more…

Apple iPhone 8: Compare prices for the best deal

The iPhone 8 isn't a cheap device, but you can still score a solid deal by checking out our round-up of the latest plans and outright purchase options.

Read more…

Which phones have wireless charging?

Everything you need to know about wireless charging and the phones that support this super-convenient way to keep the power flowing to your handset.

Read more…

Image: Shutterstock