Background: I had the attitude of keeping my 6S Plus with a headphone jack forever. Then I started thinking, when do I actually use a headphone jack? The answer is rarely. My car has a Bluetooth audio connection, same with my stereo at home. I know the quality is technically less with Bluetooth vs Wired but I can’t tell the difference at all. So I decided to get an iPhone 8 Plus. Worst case I return it within 14 days.
Build: The build is better. When you hold the phone, it feels like a $1000 phone. The glass back has a nice touch to it. The comparison I would make is that it feels like a modern iPhone 4 compared to the original iPhone. The original iPhone had a nice finish but the metal back didn’t feel nearly as good as the iPhone 4’s glass. The iPhone 4’s glass finish was miles ahead of anything else at the time and really made the device feel premium. I thought I would find the fake home button annoying, but I actually love it. The actual button that I’ve used for years has a tendency to collect crud and dirt over time, making it not click as well. This is just always perfect.
Performance: is way improved. My 6S Plus has been hiccuping a great deal on iOS 11. I’m actually going to downgrading to 10.3.3 it’s so bad. The 8 Plus is buttery smooth all the time with no lag whatsoever. The extra 1GB of RAM helps too. I notice that some apps are no longer reloading when I switch to them, they’re available right away. The 6S Plus is no performance slouch and I’m sure the hiccuping will be improved in future iOS 11 builds, but the 8 is just a powerhouse.
Camera: is a huge improvement and I know it sounds cliche but it’s true. The dual cameras means you can have a 2x optical zoom without losing quality. Slow mo video is now supported up to 1080p 240fps which is incredible for sports and 4K video shooting is now supported at 60 FPS. I just want to take a minute to say just how impressive this is. 4K 60fps is something that’s currently only on the best cameras and it has a great benefit. 60fps 4K, like 1080p, produces superior video when downsampled to 30fps because of the fact that there are more half-frames which removes motion-blur issues. I will say good luck finding something to edit 4K 60fps with. Your best bet would be to create a proxy at 720p 60fps or so for editing and then bulk replace when you go to render.
But that said, I'm not a fan of the image style of the iPhone for still images. It's quite soft and "smudgy", lacking sharpness. I did a comparison of images between my 6S+, the 8+, and my Sony A6300. Obviously the A6300 blows the iPhone out of the water, but I feel like it could be closer if Apple didn't have that "smudgy" style.
In these 2 images taken in the same lighting of a cute kitty, the A6300 has superb sharpness, colors, and clarity, but the iPhone is still pretty good. I feel like the colors are where I want it to be, but it lacks sharpness due to that dumb "smudgy" effect. Are there any 3rd party camera apps that can take actual clear photos without the smudgy effect?
Compared to the 6S+, the iPhone 8 clearly takes better pictures. But I feel like it's held back by the smudgy thing.
Misc: I would say to definitely get the 256Gb if you plan on shooting video just so you can have peace of mind and not worry about storage space.
True-tone display feels like a gimmick. I don’t really know what this does. I usually keep “Night Shift” on 24/7 because the yellows are easier on the eyes.
Both the 6S Plus and the 8 Plus have “second generation Touch ID” but the 8 Plus’s feels superior. It’s not as temperamental with finger oils and is faster. As far as face id, it’s not something that’s important to me. I have a CS degree with experience in penetration testing and it’s a hackers wet dream. I’d be willing to bet it could be fooled by a picture of the person. Plus you have the issue of someone picking up your phone while you’re talking to someone else, unlocking it by pointing it at you, and then going through your stuff. Touch ID has issues too, but it’s far less than face id.
Battery: is kinda meh, about on par with my 6S Plus when I got it (its currently needing a battery replacement because it only lasted a few hours). I’ll probably end up getting a battery case, so if anyone has any recommendations, let me know.
Haven’t tested fast charging or wireless charging yet but that would be convenient. My only concern would be the long-term health of the battery. If it’s charged multiple times throughout the day, isn’t that really bad for it?
Ultimately: is it worth the upgrade? I would say yes. Though it’s not an upgrade out of necessity, it’s more of a luxury upgrade, I would compare it to going from an Intel i7-4790K to a threadripper. You’re going from great to best, from a top 10% CPU to top CPU. This specific example comes to mind because it’s something I’m considering. It’s faster, smoother, the camera is better, the build quality feels superior, and it’s just the best.
Build: The build is better. When you hold the phone, it feels like a $1000 phone. The glass back has a nice touch to it. The comparison I would make is that it feels like a modern iPhone 4 compared to the original iPhone. The original iPhone had a nice finish but the metal back didn’t feel nearly as good as the iPhone 4’s glass. The iPhone 4’s glass finish was miles ahead of anything else at the time and really made the device feel premium. I thought I would find the fake home button annoying, but I actually love it. The actual button that I’ve used for years has a tendency to collect crud and dirt over time, making it not click as well. This is just always perfect.
Performance: is way improved. My 6S Plus has been hiccuping a great deal on iOS 11. I’m actually going to downgrading to 10.3.3 it’s so bad. The 8 Plus is buttery smooth all the time with no lag whatsoever. The extra 1GB of RAM helps too. I notice that some apps are no longer reloading when I switch to them, they’re available right away. The 6S Plus is no performance slouch and I’m sure the hiccuping will be improved in future iOS 11 builds, but the 8 is just a powerhouse.
Camera: is a huge improvement and I know it sounds cliche but it’s true. The dual cameras means you can have a 2x optical zoom without losing quality. Slow mo video is now supported up to 1080p 240fps which is incredible for sports and 4K video shooting is now supported at 60 FPS. I just want to take a minute to say just how impressive this is. 4K 60fps is something that’s currently only on the best cameras and it has a great benefit. 60fps 4K, like 1080p, produces superior video when downsampled to 30fps because of the fact that there are more half-frames which removes motion-blur issues. I will say good luck finding something to edit 4K 60fps with. Your best bet would be to create a proxy at 720p 60fps or so for editing and then bulk replace when you go to render.
But that said, I'm not a fan of the image style of the iPhone for still images. It's quite soft and "smudgy", lacking sharpness. I did a comparison of images between my 6S+, the 8+, and my Sony A6300. Obviously the A6300 blows the iPhone out of the water, but I feel like it could be closer if Apple didn't have that "smudgy" style.
In these 2 images taken in the same lighting of a cute kitty, the A6300 has superb sharpness, colors, and clarity, but the iPhone is still pretty good. I feel like the colors are where I want it to be, but it lacks sharpness due to that dumb "smudgy" effect. Are there any 3rd party camera apps that can take actual clear photos without the smudgy effect?
Compared to the 6S+, the iPhone 8 clearly takes better pictures. But I feel like it's held back by the smudgy thing.
Misc: I would say to definitely get the 256Gb if you plan on shooting video just so you can have peace of mind and not worry about storage space.
True-tone display feels like a gimmick. I don’t really know what this does. I usually keep “Night Shift” on 24/7 because the yellows are easier on the eyes.
Both the 6S Plus and the 8 Plus have “second generation Touch ID” but the 8 Plus’s feels superior. It’s not as temperamental with finger oils and is faster. As far as face id, it’s not something that’s important to me. I have a CS degree with experience in penetration testing and it’s a hackers wet dream. I’d be willing to bet it could be fooled by a picture of the person. Plus you have the issue of someone picking up your phone while you’re talking to someone else, unlocking it by pointing it at you, and then going through your stuff. Touch ID has issues too, but it’s far less than face id.
Battery: is kinda meh, about on par with my 6S Plus when I got it (its currently needing a battery replacement because it only lasted a few hours). I’ll probably end up getting a battery case, so if anyone has any recommendations, let me know.
Haven’t tested fast charging or wireless charging yet but that would be convenient. My only concern would be the long-term health of the battery. If it’s charged multiple times throughout the day, isn’t that really bad for it?
Ultimately: is it worth the upgrade? I would say yes. Though it’s not an upgrade out of necessity, it’s more of a luxury upgrade, I would compare it to going from an Intel i7-4790K to a threadripper. You’re going from great to best, from a top 10% CPU to top CPU. This specific example comes to mind because it’s something I’m considering. It’s faster, smoother, the camera is better, the build quality feels superior, and it’s just the best.
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