I decided to split this off from my current Razer Review thread so to not clutter the other pure Razer review thread.
Background: due to personal issues (iOS problems) I switched from an iPhone 7+ to a Razer Android device. Since that time, I have also been given an iPhone X 256GB and an iPhone 8 Plus 256GB for testing. Below is my review of each device. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to check them out. I will have these for another couple of weeks.
Results testing iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 Plus Red vs. Razer
Couple of items to level set:
· All devices were set up as new
· All device password is eight character with TouchID, FaceID or Fingerprint Sensor active
· No customization has been performed and each has been left as close to default as possible while allowing the functionality I want. For work AirWatch certs are added.
· Will be using for a week each minimum in both a home and work environment.
iPhone X – iOS 11.3
Impression
First thing that jumps out at you is the size and weight. Smaller and heavy for the size. Took quite a while to fully set up. Downloading all the apps I will need, installing the AirWatch certs, and going through the settings. I have my backup iPhone 7+ as a guide. Fits in the hand well, however many functions are two handed – and I have larger sized hands (ex: double click the power button to confirm). It is smooth and fast. I will be using this for the next week.
Use Summary
Good, fast, solid device. It pretty much could handle everything I threw at it. The removal of the Home Button (HB) and expanded use of gestures required a bit of a change in my daily use. Screenshots, shutting down, the use of the status bar required a change. I could find a new way of doing things. Battery life would easily last a whole day. Days of heavy use required a bit of a topping off at my desk. Easily accomplished. FaceID was a bit of a disappointment. I found myself, especially in low light situations, either inputting my password or hitting cancel and redoing the FaceID process. Then there were occasions when it would unlock when I had no intention of using it (setting down on desk or putting in pocket). I am sure part of this is familiarity. Still, I was surprised at the number of unlock failures. The use as a speakerphone was outstanding. The sound and mic worked great. The notch did detract from the daily use and made some apps, videos, and web pages a pain. The heavily rounded corners made this even worse for some. This should change as time moves forward. A setting to black out the notches would be a plus for some. I used an Anker charging stand for wireless charging. Worked very well. Overall, I found fast charging to be more of a myth – wired to a 12W or 7.5W wireless.
Pro
Impression
Looks and feels almost like my legacy 7 Plus. The red color is very nice. Took quite a while to fully set up. Downloading all the apps I will need, installing the AirWatch certs, and going through the settings. I have my backup iPhone 7+ as a guide. It is smooth and fast. I did run into a couple of issues while setting up and installing the basic apps that required me to execute a reset via iTunes (would not store and hold wifi passwords, App Store was indicating no app updates for anything). I will be using this for the week after the X.
Use Summary
Good fast, solid device. Outside of some issues when initially setting up, have not had many issue with this smartphone. It feels like a slightly beefier version of my legacy 7 Plus. Used an Anker wireless charging dock from which it performed flawlessly. I found fast charging to be more of a myth – wired to a 12W or 7.5W wireless. Daily use as a speakerphone was great. Mic and speakers were more than up to the task. Having been familiar with TouchID, this feature on the 8 Plus worked well. Only time I had any issue was when my fingertips were damp or dirty. Battery use was outstanding and could go most days without having to top off unless my use was very heavy. During those times setting it on the stand made this an easy option. Camera use was very good and almost the same as the X. I thought they were the same but found that the 8 Plus was missing a bit that was included in the X. More than enough for almost all normal use.
The 8 Plus performed excellently during my daily use. I ran into no real issues outside of the occasional app failure or app reload and a couple of instances where the device just locked up. Had to hard reset for one of those occasions while the other took about 20 seconds before the device started responding. Both cases occurred while in Safari.
Pro
Con
Razer – Android 8.1
Impression
Have a solid feel to it. The squared edges give a firm grip. Was extremely easy to set up. Thee ability to scale down or turn off animations made this device feel extremely fast. Setup took far less time than either the iPhone X or 8 Plus. For a default text, I used Google Messenger and Outlook for email / calendar. The fingerprint sensor located on the side works as well as TouchID. The center side placement of the buttons on the sides feels a bit strange – too low. I used this for a week plus as my main work / home use device. Will move on to the iPhone X next.
Use Summary
After a week, I am happy with how this device works. Smooth and fast. Rarely see any kind of an issue. I had no issues that detracted in its use and nothing that interfered with my normal activities. The notification system (having come from iOS) is well done. Especially find useful is the way notifications are handled on the lockscreen. Long battery life (10-12 hours). Battery lasted all day even on days were use was a bit heavy. Button placement, at first a concern, proved to be a plus and facilitated ease of use especially when holding one handed. The large screen really helped in my daily use. The ability to define default apps, especially if I found that I needed to change them, worked well. Being able to link to just about any app I needed from email, an attachment, or from the cloud, improved my work process. Work, music, game play (more on that in a bit), it all worked and worked well. Even the camera, which was suspect, worked very nicely. Not quite on par with the iPhone cameras, but it took great photos. HDR, especially in lower light, took a bit of time from press to click.
Games … wow! If you have a game that has been tweaked for the Razer, nothing is better. Not any smartphone out there. Even if it hasn’t been, the games generally play better and smoother. Then add in the stereo sound system and you have a great little gaming system. Not to mention this also does very well with videos and movies. Yes, as you can tell, this device made me a fan of what it can do. Most excellent.
Pro
Con
Conclusion
Any of these devices will work fine as your day to day smartphone. Each has hits and misses. Looking at the strength and weakness of each I would recommend either the iPhone 8 Plus or Razer as the top choices.
Some pictures that show different examples of functions or issues...
Cropping of app on iPhone X (X | 8 | Rzr
Display quality using an HD Wallpaper (from Pinterest) - Brightness is set to 50% on all devices
X | 8P | Rzr - the Razer and 8 Plus were takem with the X; the X was taken with the 8 Plus - same lighting.
Update 04 May 2018
iPhone X
Final Wrap Up
iPhone X
Overall I was pretty much satisfied with this device. It did not meet my expectations based on advertising and what I had read, seen, and listened to in reviews. It is a solid device and performs fairly well. I had no hardware failures and iOS 11.3.x worked well in most cases. Yes, the OS needs some help. Apple has a winner here if they up their game.
This was my favorite device from a hardware perspective. It was the best ergonomically. I expected a step up from the iPhone 7 Plus and was not disappointed. It met the expectations and while advertised as a step down from the iPhone X, I did not find that to be the case.
When I first bought this device (it is my current main driver) I was hopeful yet fearful. When Razer rolled out Android 8.1, I not had an Android phone that met my needs and performed as I expected. Dual front stereo speakers, a high quality LCD screen massive amounts of RAM, and a 120hz screen made for a device that was smooth, fast, accurate, and looked good. While many out there speak to the quality of Samsung Galaxy, LG, and other brands, this shows that there are a lot of good choices in the Android world.
Overall I came away liking the Razer best and it will continue to be my daily driver. The iPhone 8 Plus was next. As I review this, it isn’t so much the hardware, rather the software that really sets these devices apart. iOS 11 (up to 11.3.1) continues to have issues that detract from the smooth daily use we have come to expect from our devices. They all have their quirks and standouts. It is the OS that currently sets them apart for me.
It has been fun, and annoying using them.
Background: due to personal issues (iOS problems) I switched from an iPhone 7+ to a Razer Android device. Since that time, I have also been given an iPhone X 256GB and an iPhone 8 Plus 256GB for testing. Below is my review of each device. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to check them out. I will have these for another couple of weeks.
Results testing iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 Plus Red vs. Razer
Couple of items to level set:
· All devices were set up as new
· All device password is eight character with TouchID, FaceID or Fingerprint Sensor active
· No customization has been performed and each has been left as close to default as possible while allowing the functionality I want. For work AirWatch certs are added.
· Will be using for a week each minimum in both a home and work environment.
iPhone X – iOS 11.3
Impression
First thing that jumps out at you is the size and weight. Smaller and heavy for the size. Took quite a while to fully set up. Downloading all the apps I will need, installing the AirWatch certs, and going through the settings. I have my backup iPhone 7+ as a guide. Fits in the hand well, however many functions are two handed – and I have larger sized hands (ex: double click the power button to confirm). It is smooth and fast. I will be using this for the next week.
Use Summary
Good, fast, solid device. It pretty much could handle everything I threw at it. The removal of the Home Button (HB) and expanded use of gestures required a bit of a change in my daily use. Screenshots, shutting down, the use of the status bar required a change. I could find a new way of doing things. Battery life would easily last a whole day. Days of heavy use required a bit of a topping off at my desk. Easily accomplished. FaceID was a bit of a disappointment. I found myself, especially in low light situations, either inputting my password or hitting cancel and redoing the FaceID process. Then there were occasions when it would unlock when I had no intention of using it (setting down on desk or putting in pocket). I am sure part of this is familiarity. Still, I was surprised at the number of unlock failures. The use as a speakerphone was outstanding. The sound and mic worked great. The notch did detract from the daily use and made some apps, videos, and web pages a pain. The heavily rounded corners made this even worse for some. This should change as time moves forward. A setting to black out the notches would be a plus for some. I used an Anker charging stand for wireless charging. Worked very well. Overall, I found fast charging to be more of a myth – wired to a 12W or 7.5W wireless.
Pro
- OLED, while not the best I have seen on a smartphone, it is an improvement over LCD especially outdoors.
- The camera was the best of the bunch in all lighting
- It all runs smooth. Even app crashes are smooth
- The screen is too tall / narrow for many apps.
- Many apps have the left/right side cropped when compared to the same app on the 8 Plus
- Far too many reloads for apps / Safari tabs when the system shows adequate RAM available
- Nagging issues with default apps
- FaceID has a high failure rate when lying in bed in low light / dark – also failed when wearing my favorite Oakleys
- Face ID will not work properly unless your phone and face are predominately in the normal Portrait position. Face ID will not support lanscape.
- Fast charging is faster than normal but not fast. Using a 12W it takes 2 hours + from 10%
- Notch – in the sense that the top status bar has been limited and condensed
- The bluing effect when viewing the screen from an angle. Compared to a Galaxy S9, the iPhone X was far worse
- Siri would suddenly launch in the middle of doing another task Never could identify why.
Impression
Looks and feels almost like my legacy 7 Plus. The red color is very nice. Took quite a while to fully set up. Downloading all the apps I will need, installing the AirWatch certs, and going through the settings. I have my backup iPhone 7+ as a guide. It is smooth and fast. I did run into a couple of issues while setting up and installing the basic apps that required me to execute a reset via iTunes (would not store and hold wifi passwords, App Store was indicating no app updates for anything). I will be using this for the week after the X.
Use Summary
Good fast, solid device. Outside of some issues when initially setting up, have not had many issue with this smartphone. It feels like a slightly beefier version of my legacy 7 Plus. Used an Anker wireless charging dock from which it performed flawlessly. I found fast charging to be more of a myth – wired to a 12W or 7.5W wireless. Daily use as a speakerphone was great. Mic and speakers were more than up to the task. Having been familiar with TouchID, this feature on the 8 Plus worked well. Only time I had any issue was when my fingertips were damp or dirty. Battery use was outstanding and could go most days without having to top off unless my use was very heavy. During those times setting it on the stand made this an easy option. Camera use was very good and almost the same as the X. I thought they were the same but found that the 8 Plus was missing a bit that was included in the X. More than enough for almost all normal use.
The 8 Plus performed excellently during my daily use. I ran into no real issues outside of the occasional app failure or app reload and a couple of instances where the device just locked up. Had to hard reset for one of those occasions while the other took about 20 seconds before the device started responding. Both cases occurred while in Safari.
Pro
- Solid battery life
- Very good camera
- Ergonomically the best of the three
- TouchID was faster and more accurate than FaceID
Con
- Far too many reloads for apps / Safari tabs when the system shows adequate RAM available
- Nagging issues with default apps
- Device locked up 2x in the week of use – both in Safari
- Found that OIS is present for wide angle only
- Fast charging is faster than normal but not fast. Using a 12W it takes 2 hours + from 10%
- Touch ID at times will trigger Siri instead of unlocking - touchy
Razer – Android 8.1
Impression
Have a solid feel to it. The squared edges give a firm grip. Was extremely easy to set up. Thee ability to scale down or turn off animations made this device feel extremely fast. Setup took far less time than either the iPhone X or 8 Plus. For a default text, I used Google Messenger and Outlook for email / calendar. The fingerprint sensor located on the side works as well as TouchID. The center side placement of the buttons on the sides feels a bit strange – too low. I used this for a week plus as my main work / home use device. Will move on to the iPhone X next.
Use Summary
After a week, I am happy with how this device works. Smooth and fast. Rarely see any kind of an issue. I had no issues that detracted in its use and nothing that interfered with my normal activities. The notification system (having come from iOS) is well done. Especially find useful is the way notifications are handled on the lockscreen. Long battery life (10-12 hours). Battery lasted all day even on days were use was a bit heavy. Button placement, at first a concern, proved to be a plus and facilitated ease of use especially when holding one handed. The large screen really helped in my daily use. The ability to define default apps, especially if I found that I needed to change them, worked well. Being able to link to just about any app I needed from email, an attachment, or from the cloud, improved my work process. Work, music, game play (more on that in a bit), it all worked and worked well. Even the camera, which was suspect, worked very nicely. Not quite on par with the iPhone cameras, but it took great photos. HDR, especially in lower light, took a bit of time from press to click.
Games … wow! If you have a game that has been tweaked for the Razer, nothing is better. Not any smartphone out there. Even if it hasn’t been, the games generally play better and smoother. Then add in the stereo sound system and you have a great little gaming system. Not to mention this also does very well with videos and movies. Yes, as you can tell, this device made me a fan of what it can do. Most excellent.
Pro
- Fast charging is fast – less than hour from <10% to full
- Stereo speakers are great for movies and when using as a speakerphone
- Ability to turn off animations
- You can set the default apps to what you want
- Can plug into my laptop and load just about anything to the msd card. Or pull stuff off
- Games and videos rock on this screen. Sound isn’t bad either
Con
- Some functions will not allow shutting off vibration
- In use as a speakerphone, the microphone is picky. You need to make sure of direction if the device is stationary and you move around.
- The pointed corners could use some rounding
- Not waterproof nor water resistant
- Fingerprint Sensor can get finicky if your tip is wet.
Conclusion
Any of these devices will work fine as your day to day smartphone. Each has hits and misses. Looking at the strength and weakness of each I would recommend either the iPhone 8 Plus or Razer as the top choices.
- iPhone X – iOS 11 needs work, the notch / rounded corners limit apps, and gestures need some evolution. Great Gen 1 device and many will like it.
- iPhone 8 Plus – iOS 11 needs work but outside of that it works and works well. Great all round device and my top hardware pick.
- Razer – the recent update to Android 8.1 was a serious benefit. It takes my top pick for software / OS. The hardware is great for Gen 1 but could benefit from waterproofing and a slight rounding of the corners (ergonomic)
- All the cameras took great pictures however in low-light, the Razer would seriously lag in comparison though the resulting photo was good.
- During the daily use I have been using both Siri and Google Assistant. While Siri has been good for thing like a quick timer I am finding that Google Assistant is understanding me far better. Siri has been far less accurate in comparison. Must be the software. Siri needs help.
- These devices were tested using the AT&T network. I found that both the i{hone X and iPhone 8 Plus performed subpar in comparison to the Razer especially in low signal areas. After contacting our AT&T rep, it was indicated to me it is the OS software that is currently the issue and will be addressed in a future update.
Some pictures that show different examples of functions or issues...
Cropping of app on iPhone X (X | 8 | Rzr
Display quality using an HD Wallpaper (from Pinterest) - Brightness is set to 50% on all devices
X | 8P | Rzr - the Razer and 8 Plus were takem with the X; the X was taken with the 8 Plus - same lighting.
Update 04 May 2018
iPhone X
- Continued use of FaceID has demonstrated no improvement or the ability for FaceID to learn and improve over time. In low light it continues to perform poorly with frequent failures.
- A new issue has come to light – Without the phone being unlocked, as long as the lockscreen is lit, touching any call displayed in lockscreen notifications dials that number. Butt dial is back baby.
- Update – with help from @C DM , the issue was a setting in FaceID & Passcode. Even though I had “Return Missed Calls” off, it was behaving as if it was on. Cycled the setting and rebooted. That fixed the issue.
- Nothing new
- Nothing new
Final Wrap Up
iPhone X
Overall I was pretty much satisfied with this device. It did not meet my expectations based on advertising and what I had read, seen, and listened to in reviews. It is a solid device and performs fairly well. I had no hardware failures and iOS 11.3.x worked well in most cases. Yes, the OS needs some help. Apple has a winner here if they up their game.
- Over time, I did not find that Face ID improved very little if at all. The inability to accurately use Face ID beyond about 30 degrees from vertical and the frequent failure in low light tells me this has some serious improvement room.
- Many concerns exist about the notch and I found it to affect predominately my use with the status bar information. More of an annoyance than a hindrance.
- The OLED screen was good but not great. Saw many other OEM screens (LG, Samsung, etc) where they looked better.
- The camera was good and is the best of all three I tested.
- Call quality was great including speakerphone however there were times when I had difficulty connecting in low signal areas. The X was the worst of the three.
- iOS 11 continues to be my biggest issue with this device.
This was my favorite device from a hardware perspective. It was the best ergonomically. I expected a step up from the iPhone 7 Plus and was not disappointed. It met the expectations and while advertised as a step down from the iPhone X, I did not find that to be the case.
- I found Touch ID to be both faster and more accurate that Face ID. The only issue I ran into with Touch ID, were the occasions when Siri would launch when I was in the process of unlocking my phone.
- I did add a leather back to the device (used the one from my iPhone 7+ from Vaja) as I found the glass to be a bit slippery in hand.
- The LCD screen was touted as being inferior to the OLED on the X however the difference was not striking. Yes, the OLED was better yet not substantially to my eye.
- The camera was minimally improved over the iPhone 7 Plus and quite close to the iPhone X. Works great for everyday use.
- Call quality was great including speakerphone however there were times when I had difficulty connecting in low signal areas. While better than the X, I wonder what Apple did to cause this issue.
- iOS 11 continues to be my biggest issue with this device.
When I first bought this device (it is my current main driver) I was hopeful yet fearful. When Razer rolled out Android 8.1, I not had an Android phone that met my needs and performed as I expected. Dual front stereo speakers, a high quality LCD screen massive amounts of RAM, and a 120hz screen made for a device that was smooth, fast, accurate, and looked good. While many out there speak to the quality of Samsung Galaxy, LG, and other brands, this shows that there are a lot of good choices in the Android world.
- Touch ID (Razer’s version) on this device worked real close in quality and speed to Touch ID on the iPhone 8 Plus. Located on the side took a bit of getting used to but it worked well.
- A square brick of a device very close in size to the iPhone 8 Plus. It could use some softening of the hard edges and corners from an ergonomic perspective.
- Had the best battery life of the tested devices although the iPhone X and 8 Plus were not far off.
- The LCD display was the best of the 3 devices. Not only in color, but in smoothness and speed.
- The camera needs some work. As Razer continues to push out software updates it does improve but is not close to the iPhone. It is usable.
- Call and connection quality was the best of the devices. It could use a better microphone and I found that it trailed the iPhones.
- It does lack water resistance / proofing which is becoming the norm. In general use I had no issues in this area.
- Android 8.1 married to this device with the default NOVA launcher resulted in the smoothest and least bug issues of the test devices.
Overall I came away liking the Razer best and it will continue to be my daily driver. The iPhone 8 Plus was next. As I review this, it isn’t so much the hardware, rather the software that really sets these devices apart. iOS 11 (up to 11.3.1) continues to have issues that detract from the smooth daily use we have come to expect from our devices. They all have their quirks and standouts. It is the OS that currently sets them apart for me.
It has been fun, and annoying using them.
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