The iPhone 8 may look like its predecessor, but it brings many internal upgrades such as an improved camera, wireless charging, and an A11 Bionic chipset. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus haven’t been a huge success as most buyers are waiting for the revolutionary new iPhone X. The iPhone 8 is in no way a poor smartphone, but Consumer Reports believes that the overall iPhone 8 performance is worse than Samsung’s Galaxy S7, which was released way back in March 2016.
iPhone 8 performance lags behind Galaxy S7, S8, S8 Plus
Apple’s new iPhone is not the only premium device Consumer Reports has expressed concerns about. A couple of months ago, the review publication had retracted their recommendations for Microsoft’s Surface Book laptops over reliability issues. Citing Consumer Reports, the Yonhap News Agency said that the iPhone 8 performance is better than Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note 8. But that’s about it.
At the top of the list are Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, which were launched about six months ago. Surprisingly, the 18-month-old Galaxy S7 still occupies the third spot. It is better than both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. At least that’s what the influential publication thinks. The 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus and 4.7-inch iPhone 8 were ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 phablet was ranked sixth.
In its in-depth review, Consumer Reports had praised the Galaxy Note 8 for its “great camera, display, and battery life.” However, they don’t think the Note 8 is good enough to beat the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. The Note 8’s ranking was affected by its bulky weight and weak durability. The publication said the Note 8’s glass back broke after 50 drops and the display shattered after 100 drops. The Note 8 has an edge-to-edge OLED display and an all-glass back panel.
The Note 8 was supposed to improve upon the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. Interestingly, the top-ranked Galaxy S8 and the sixth-ranked Note 8 are separated by only one point. The S8 received 81 points out of 100 while the Note 8 scored 80 points. The S8 Plus, Galaxy S7, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 8 sit between those two phones. The iPhone 8 was ranked above the Note 8 because it’s slightly more durable.
Consumer Reports yet to test LG V30, iPhone X
Given that there are only minor differences between these premium smartphones, it comes down to which device you want. Consumer Reports is yet to review the LG V30, which comes with military-grade rigidity. The LG V30 hadn’t yet launched in the US when Consumer Reports was testing smartphones. They haven’t yet tested Apple’s revolutionary new iPhone X either.
It would be interesting to see how the 10th-anniversary iPhone would fare in Consumer Reports’ performance and user experience tests. The iPhone X offers many upgrades over the iPhone 8 such as an all-screen OLED display, FaceID technology, Portrait Lighting, animoji, augmented reality, no physical home button, and more. The publication has reviewed Apple products favorably in the past, so the iPhone 8 performance review came as a bit of a surprise. It could affect the already poor iPhone 8 sales.
iPhone 8 performance aside, iPhone 7 is still the king
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus aren’t selling all that well because consumers are more excited about the iPhone X. In fact, a research firm says the last year’s iPhone 7 is selling better than the iPhone 8. The iPhone 8 has a starting price of $699, and offers only small improvements over its predecessor. The iPhone 7 has received a price cut, which means now it’s selling for only $549. Consumers don’t think the iPhone 8 is worth the additional $150.
KeyBanc Capital Markets surveyed carrier stores in the US and UK, and found that the iPhone 7 is selling better than the iPhone 8. Usually, the new models witness a huge demand after launch. But that didn’t happen with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus because of the “lack of significant enhancements in the new phone.” Apple did not reveal the first-weekend sales numbers for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
iPhone 8 battery issue: How severe is it?
The iPhone 8 has recently been in the limelight due to the battery swelling issues. Numerous buyers from around the world claimed that the battery on their new iPhones was swelling out, forcing the display panel to pop out from its place. Apple has been investigating the issue. At this point, it doesn’t appear to be a repeat of the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. It’s worth pointing out that the affected iPhone 8 units did not explode or injure the users. The battery just swelled out.
Meanwhile, Apple has started shipping the iPhone X units to launch markets ahead of its release on November 3. The Cupertino company will start taking pre-orders on October 27, a week before launch. DigiTimes reported that Foxconn has shipped the first batch consisting of merely 46,500 iPhone X units from China to the UAE and the Netherlands. It’s not enough to meet the anticipated demand, but Apple’s partners are expected to ramp up iPhone X production in the coming weeks.
