Last year, I reviewed the iPhone 7+ right after it was released, and I was genuinely impressed on how the design and the specs got updated. The phone got faster and a lot sleeker, comparative to the iPhone 7 and 6+. The iPhone 6 to the 7 had a major design change, it went from a lighter “Space Grey” to a more “Matte Black” look. On top of that, the iPhone 6+ to there 7+ had an advance from the A9 chip clocked at 1.9 Gigahertz to the impressive A10 fusion chip clocked at 2.3 Gigahertz. For those who don’t know what it means, in short, it just made the iPhone 7+ compared to the 6+ faster, much, much faster than its predecessor. Later this year on November 3rd the tenth iteration of the iPhone will be released and we will try and get a review of the new iPhone X.

This September, Apple released the iPhone 8 plus, forgoing their usual pattern of iPhone s’ (i.e. iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, etc.). The iPhone 8+ did not disappoint this year around, with an astronomically new design with a through back to the original iPhone 4 and 4s for having a glass back. While being a nice call back to the iPhone 4 and 4s it has some skeptical that the back glass will be able to withstand day to day life. The iPhone 4 and 4s suffered having two glass backs, having to constantly worry about not breaking your front facing plate but as well as your back plate. Apple decided to switch the back glass to one of “the most durable glass ever in a smartphone”, the problem is that the glass back on the new iPhone’s cost more to replace than the front-facing screen. The reason for the switch back to glass was to enable the iPhone’s ability to wirelessly charge. Speaking of wirelessly charging, the iPhone 8+ accepts all Qi wireless charging stations. The rate of charge wirelessly is not as fast as a wired charge but if you are done for the night and want to charge your phone it is a good call for extended hours of non-use. The iPhone 8+ has had a major spec upgrade from the previous iPhone, the single core and multicore scores were drastically different and the scores showed that the iPhone 8+ was the superior phone comparative to any iPhone before and even rivals the iPad Pros.

As a pure consumer the iPhone 8+ is definitely one of the best, cleanest looking and feeling iPhones every created. The retro glass back makes the iPhone feel premium, they already are a premium phone but with the addition of a glass back it just expands on the luxury feel of the iPhone. Speaking of luxury the iPhone X has an even better screen, the screen is an OLED screen on it. OLED to people that don’t know what it means is Organic Light Emitting Diodes. You may be asking yourself, “whats the difference between OLED and an LCD screen?” Well a major difference is that the color saturation and pallet is much more expanded, that the sharpness of the images is also greatly enhanced, as well as the image having a higher contrast between colors and hues.

The iPhone 8+ spec sheet has had some massive improvements for example, the single core results show that it is clocking in at 4255 while the iPhone 7+ scored a 3306. The jump is really noticeable when we look at the multi core scores, the iPhone 8+ had a multicore of 10030 and the iPhone 7+ had a multicore score of 5411. The purpose of cores is seeing how fast the device can do certain functions. The iPhone 8+ has a massive advantage and the processing power is off the charts and is unrivaled by any other apple product right now and even the top end android devices.

In the sound department there is one error and that a small amount of iPhone users are experiencing a “crackling” or “popping” sound during a phone call. But, there are only a small reported instances stated by business insider. But, besides that the audio sounds good, it is clear and crisp and loud in close environments and a good way to jam out with your friends in your room or on a walk. If you are thinking of using this in anything more try a bluetooth speaker.

Having the iPhone 8+ as my daily driver has been a nice change of pace compared to the iPhone 7+. Wireless charging has made life so nice, having the ability to charge without plugging in my iPhone has been a weird change and honestly something that you will have to get used to. I am still getting used to dropping my phone onto a charge plate and just going to bed. The first worry going through your mind is” is my phone charging?” and all you have to know is that it should start to charge but wait for the charge icon to appear. The one thing I noticed is that some of the thicker iPhone cases for example, the OtterBox defender, Morphie battery cases, thicker cases have a harder time wirelessly charging. But, with enough jiggling around and fines you can get It to charge correctly. Be prepared that your screen will never be finger print free, from and back. The screen is finger print prone and that is a big problem for any neat freak out there.

The iPhone carry over, the IP67 is water resistant and dust resistant. This does not mean water proof, it means that if you drop it in a puddle or spill water on your phone it will be okay, but if you drop your phone in a lake or pool you will have thirty minutes at a depth of 7 feet before your phone may receive water damage. If you are worried about water damage or need a case to protect from the elements, OtterBox and Life proof are always fan favorites and are recommended to protect your device.

In short the iPhone 8+ has left me waiting for the iPhone X, to see how the 10th anniversary iPhone is going to preform because the iPhone 8+ is just a spectacular phone. The performance and the look of the phone sold me immediately and when I saw the spec sheet it made me even more impressed with it. The iPhone 8+ is a superb upgrade to any iPhone user even a iPhone 7+ user. I give the design an easy 9.5/10 just due to a retro throw back and a fresh new look to the iPhone even though it got a revamp already. Over all I give the phone a 9/10, it looses points for the battery life not being as “superior” as many wanted it to be. I think that the iPhone 8+ is a great phone and is worth picking up.