2 Most Common iPhone X Issues Reported by Reviewers

Since reports of its existence began circulating earlier this year, all eyes have been focused on Apple’s high-end iPhone X. Whether it was one of the near-weekly leaks, analyst predictions, or updates on the latest production delays, there’s little doubt that Apple’s iPhone X is among its most highly-publicized and highly-anticipated devices on record.

Of course, now that it’s just days away from launching, some of the web’s most prominent reviewers have gotten a chance to spend some hands-on time with the radically-redesigned handset — and while the majority of first impressions are saturated with praise for the expectedly awesome iPhone X, we couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything at all that they didn’t like about it.

1 Gestures Learning Curve

Perhaps the most poignant of early iPhone X reviews was published earlier this week by Slate, whose bold title “The iPhone X Takes Hand Gestures Too Far” fittingly sums up the scope of how they feel about it. While correspondent Christina Bonnington expressed how she believes that iPhone X is “a big step in the evolution of the product,” she also pointed to annoyances such as Apple’s apparent over-implementation of hand gesture-based navigation controls, citing how it’s an issue which “could be one of the rare instances that Apple eventually backpedals on a major feature.”

Bonnington notes specifically that even some of the iPhone X’s more basic hand gestures can be “difficult to learn,” while CNN correspondent Heather Kelly echoed those sentiments, indicating in a separate report how she thought the hand gesture-based method of accessing Control Center on iPhone X, particularly, is “its biggest inconvenience.”

In all fairness, we knew iPhone X was going to lack a hardware Home button from the get-go. And while its omission obviously entails that users will have to learn and adjust, it’s more likely that your experience “getting acquainted” with the device will vary based on several factors — ultimately how patient and understanding you are.

2 Face ID Isn’t Perfect

In another early review of the high-end handset, CNET’s tech correspondent, Scott Stein, offers a wealth of praise for the iPhone X, lauding its most notable new features like Face ID and Animoji, its gorgeous edge-to-edge AMOLED display, and superior camera quality through both the front- and rear-facing lenses.

However while Stein notes that “Face ID works pretty well,” ultimately, in his testing, “it’s far from perfect.” He mentions while the biometric facial recognition feature “worked well in early tests” and was quick to set-up, adding that it worked perfectly in “an almost completely dark room,” to boot, Stein asserts that certain elements of the iPhone X UI make Face ID slightly less intuitive.

“By design, the iPhone X doesn’t unlock with just a glance,” Stein says, noting “once you’ve identified yourself with your face, you need to swipe up with your finger to get to your apps.” Not only does this “remove the immediacy of Face ID,” but “it means you need your hand” to do just about anything on the device. “Quick access to the phone wasn’t quite as quick as I expected.”