Consumer Reports ranks iPhone X behind Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 series in testing

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in iPhone
Consumer Reports has performed a bevy of tests on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X in conjunction with an assortment of other smartphones, and found the iPhone 8 series very slightly lagging behind the Samsung Galaxy S8 -- with the iPhone X close behind the iPhone 8.




Consumer Reports published an evaluation of the best smartphones on Tuesday. Among other determinations, the iPhone X was found to have a 19.5-hour life, beating out the iPhone 8, but falling short of the 26 hour life of the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the 21 hours of the Galaxy S8 Plus.

The iPhone X has a 2716 mAh battery. The Galaxy S8 has a 3000 mAh battery, with the Galaxy S8 Plus having a 3500 mAh unit.

The Galaxy S8 series came in first out of 10 phones on the Consumer Reports list, with the S8 Plus coming in second. Apple's iPhone 8 Plus held the third spot, with the iPhone 8 holding fourth.

The iPhone X came in ninth -- with only the damage from a prolonged tumble test pushing it down below the iPhone 8 series. One out of three of the iPhone X that the group had on staff had major back-glass damage after 100 unprotected tumbles in its testing apparatus, with the other two having screen damage after 50.

Tumbling apparatus used for the drop-testing
Tumbling apparatus used for the drop-testing


Consumer Reports "highly recommends" a protective case for the iPhone X to consumers to protect from the damage that a drop can induce.

The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera.

Notably, Consumer Reports botched the battery testing on the then-new 2016 MacBook Pro, fiddling with developer settings in Safari. After Apple publicly disclosed the publication's settings issue, the re-test showed a much longer battery life more in line with Apple's claims.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    indieshackindieshack Posts: 333member
    These results are in line with others for the 'X'. It's a really nice phone, but yes, it's fragile.
    jbdragonwelshdogairnerd
  • Reply 2 of 33
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    CR is out of touch...always have been. I remember back in the day, they would rate various Windows laptops as better 'value' than Apple laptops.

    That's when I cancelled my subscription.

    CR is for the Costco crowd who buy Samsung TV's, Android cellphones and HP computers where if it's cheap, its has to be good value.

    It's written by unimaginative former IT 'engineers' weened on Windows! Left up to them we'd still be using Motorola Razors, working on Windows Desktops. Ugh!  :)
    edited December 2017 patchythepirateBluntYoSamCapsFand_2jahblademacseekerben20rob53StrangeDaysanton zuykov
  • Reply 3 of 33
    BebeBebe Posts: 145member
    For those who want the iPhone X, they don't care about this CR report.  IMO.
    jahblademacseekerrob53anton zuykovdoozydozenjony0baconstangmacky the mackywatto_cobraSydN
  • Reply 4 of 33
    aenghusaenghus Posts: 14member
    "The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera."

    That's odd. I was under the impression that the iPhone 8 Plus camera was identical to the iPhone X camera.
    mwhiteScot1[Deleted User]
  • Reply 5 of 33
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,226member
    Seeing how slowly the robot swipes the iPhone X raises the question of how much UI animations ("motion") on the iPhone X impact battery life in CR's test. Would like to know how battery life fares if motion is disabled.
    patchythepiratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 33
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,226member
    CR seems to rate biometrics on the various devices as simply +/- (has or hasn't a feature), regardless of how well they work. Sad.
    patchythepiratewatto_cobraSydN
  • Reply 7 of 33
    ben20ben20 Posts: 126member
    LOL, Consumer Reports also smashed the MacBook Pro. Until they revised it.  They are the New York Times of the computer world. Just for the software and the virus risk etc. alone, no android phone can ever win against Apple.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 33
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 3,033member
    So... isn't this the same company that purposely ran a Safari script in such a way as to prematurely drain the MacBook Pro's battery life (having enabled a developer feature to do so)?

    Battery life is amazing. Not the longest, but amazing. And the torture test was a win also.

    Seems like CR has gone out of its way to grade the iPhone X in such a way as to value it's major features very little while valuing basic features of competitors very high - which is strange still - since the X beats those too.

    Go use a Note for three days. then use an X for three days. 

    It will boggle the mind how much better executed of a device it is. EVERYTHING is better.

    The user experience used to factor. What happened to that? Doesn't fit the narrative?


    shark5150aegeanpscooter63radarthekatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 33
    LukeCageLukeCage Posts: 166member
    aenghus said:
    "The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera."

    That's odd. I was under the impression that the iPhone 8 Plus camera was identical to the iPhone X camera.
    They are very close but not the same. Besides the front camera differences in the X and the 8 plus. Both back cameras on the phone have the same wide angle lens of f/1.8 aperture but differ in the telephoto lens. The X has a f/2.4 aperture while the 8 plus has a  f/2.8 aperture. I couldn’t tell you how much of differences a 2.8 aperture to a 2.4 aperture makes but that’s the difference. 
    airnerdwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 33
    gmgravytraingmgravytrain Posts: 883member
    I've always wondered why in most cases, iPhone batteries have less capacity than Android smartphones. Is Apple simply trying to save money on batteries or just trying to keep the iPhone bulk low? Anyway, I just thought it was odd for Apple to give up battery capacity to Android smartphones of similar size.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 33
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    ben20 said:
    LOL, Consumer Reports also smashed the MacBook Pro. Until they revised it.  They are the New York Times of the computer world. Just for the software and the virus risk etc. alone, no android phone can ever win against Apple.
    Agreed, Ben, just on security Android fails.

    CR has no concept of the difference in the Android eco-system (such as it is) and Apple's superior approach to the integration of all it's devices and software. 

    Best
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 33
    GG1GG1 Posts: 483member
    LukeCage said:
    aenghus said:
    "The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera."

    That's odd. I was under the impression that the iPhone 8 Plus camera was identical to the iPhone X camera.
    They are very close but not the same. Besides the front camera differences in the X and the 8 plus. Both back cameras on the phone have the same wide angle lens of f/1.8 aperture but differ in the telephoto lens. The X has a f/2.4 aperture while the 8 plus has a  f/2.8 aperture. I couldn’t tell you how much of differences a 2.8 aperture to a 2.4 aperture makes but that’s the difference. 
    I thought the X had optical stabilization on both cameras, while the 8 Plus didn't have it on the telefoto.
    netmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 33
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,312member
    LukeCage said:
    aenghus said:
    "The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera."

    That's odd. I was under the impression that the iPhone 8 Plus camera was identical to the iPhone X camera.
    They are very close but not the same. Besides the front camera differences in the X and the 8 plus. Both back cameras on the phone have the same wide angle lens of f/1.8 aperture but differ in the telephoto lens. The X has a f/2.4 aperture while the 8 plus has a  f/2.8 aperture. I couldn’t tell you how much of differences a 2.8 aperture to a 2.4 aperture makes but that’s the difference. 
    Well I do know that on the iPhone X, Both back camera's have OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), where on on every other other duel camera iphone, only one of the camera's have OIS.
    netmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 33
    LukeCageLukeCage Posts: 166member
    GG1 said:
    LukeCage said:
    aenghus said:
    "The iPhone X has the best camera of the phones it tested. The iPhone 8 -- not the iPhone 8 Plus -- had the second-best camera."

    That's odd. I was under the impression that the iPhone 8 Plus camera was identical to the iPhone X camera.
    They are very close but not the same. Besides the front camera differences in the X and the 8 plus. Both back cameras on the phone have the same wide angle lens of f/1.8 aperture but differ in the telephoto lens. The X has a f/2.4 aperture while the 8 plus has a  f/2.8 aperture. I couldn’t tell you how much of differences a 2.8 aperture to a 2.4 aperture makes but that’s the difference. 
    I thought the X had optical stabilization on both cameras, while the 8 Plus didn't have it on the telefoto.
    GG1 you are correct but aperture is different than OIS. Aperture in laymans terms deals with how much light the camera captures while OIS counter acts the tiny shakes the camera sensor receives. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 33
    KuyangkohKuyangkoh Posts: 838member
    Hahahahaha, Consumer fake reports
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 33
    lito_lupenalito_lupena Posts: 116member
    of course a bigger battery would result in longer up time. it’s a leading indicator, but not the right indicator. much like revenue versus profit. the better question might be battery efficiency. but consumer reports is not interested in doing right and accurate measures.
    pscooter63radarthekatwatto_cobra[Deleted User]
  • Reply 17 of 33
    cferrycferry Posts: 26member
    CR is like asking your dad whether you should buy a Buick or a Tesla. “Well, son, they both have four wheels and they go... but the Buick is cheaper...”
    iqatedopscooter63radarthekatRayz2016dewmemacky the mackychristopher126watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 33
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    I couldn't be more happier with my iPhone X. Such a beautiful phone and the gestures quickly become second nature. Nothing out there can compare to its ease of use.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 33
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,077member
    I wonder why the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8plus are rated "good" for calling/call quality while the iPhone X is "very good"?
    [Deleted User]
  • Reply 20 of 33
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    indieshack said:
    These results are in line with others for the 'X'. It's a really nice phone, but yes, it's fragile.
    WTF - what? After putting it through dozens of cycles in a tumbling machine???? Yes, that’s something we do everyday! Why not drive over the phones with a car a dozen times? The last group I would count on for testing of my iPhone X would be consumer reports. 
    pscooter63radarthekatwatto_cobra[Deleted User]
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