Got the Xs this last Friday and there are a couple of things that surprised me.

  • One is the speed. Coming from a piano-black 7 Plus, a phone I didn’t find particularly slow, it is almost jarring how much faster the Xs is. This new phone screams!
  • The other surprise was, finally, getting to spend some significant time with the X’s new UI/UX. I am always quick to adapt to new design paradigms but I confess, transitioning to the home buttonless existence of the “X” era has been a wee bit sticky. I’ve sometimes found myself pausing thinking “what do I do now”. All will be fine of course, but it was interesting to notice.
  • Face ID so far is flawless. It’s amazing how well it works in any situation I’ve encountered.
  • I’m officially saying goodbye to the large screen sizes of the Plus (and now Max) models. Having a much smaller phone - without sacrificing much, if any, screen real estate - in my hand/pocket is just a better fit for me. I don’t miss the larger phone size one bit.
  • Speaking of the screen. Man are these OLED screens worthy of the hype being shoveled on top of them! Just gorgeous!
  • The sound coming out of the Xs’ speakers is a drastic improvement (to my ears anyways). Hearing distinct stereo separation was a surprise as well.

When you invest this much in a device you use everyday, it’s been great to have it genuinely surprise me (again). 😊