iPhone X, 8 Plus, and the Note 8

I recently purchased both an iPhone X and an 8 Plus - the X and Note 8 for myself and the 8 Plus went to my son.  Let me say that ALL of these devices are great pieces of technology, and any user would be happy with any of them.  After using all three (before handing the 8 Plus off to Curtis), I have chosen to make the iPhone X my daily phone and sell the Note 8 -- this is not intended as any kind of knock on the Samsung device, but is at lease in part tied to my use of a Mac and my strong preference for an Apple Watch over any Android/Tizen watch.

Having said all of this, I will say that the Note 8 came close to winning me over from my Apple dominated universe, and I am very impressed with the screen and usability of the Note 8 over any other Android phone I have used (and that is a lot).  However, the iPhone X is a recreation of the original iPhone in 2007 - the first iPhone to really make a usability difference in the iOS platform.  It took me about an hour to get used to the swiping motions on the X vs using the Home Button, they just came easy and are intuitive after you use them for a little while.  The screen is incredible even in comparison to the Note 8 (which is very similar in technology), and the device is blazing fast and extremely smooth.  The Note 8, while an excellent device as I have stated, is simply an iteration of the Android/Samsung environment - the iPhone X is a major leap in many respects for iOS.

There are still changes I would like to see come to iOS - an optional information page as the opening homepage, simple widgets or complications on the lock screen, and some continued improvements to the notification area and widget setup before I would call this a complete overhaul, but Apple has made a major step with this combination of hardware and software.

A note on Face ID -- it works smoothly (sometimes too smoothly - it unlocks when I really don't need it to) for me.  Perhaps one time in 10 or 20 tries it fails because of a strange angle, but overall this process works as promised and I am extremely impressed.  I did not expect it to work this well, but it does.  My experience with this type of security on Samsung phones has not been that great, but Apple has come close to nailing it.

With that, I can recommend any of these devices to someone looking for a new smart phone, and I would not hesitate in supporting any friend who wished to buy any of these phones.  I am happy, and I believe any other user will be happy with any of these devices.