iPhone X review after one week: fast and powerful, both front and back cameras are great, Face ID works effectively but can't distinguish between some twins
The iPhone X changes everything. But the future is in good hands. — Apple's iPhone X is the beginning of something new.
Context & Ripple Effects
The one-week verdicts close out an unusually dense review arc: The Verge's September hands-on found Face ID quicker than rival face-unlock systems, Wired's first look flagged it as unreliable, and the 24-hour review called it spotty in some lighting. A week later, Mashable and BuzzFeed converge on a more settled picture — Face ID is fast and effective, the new gestures are easy to learn, and the notch fades from view.
First-order effects
- Apple's bet that Face ID could replace Touch ID on a home-button-less phone survives sustained use, with the documented failure mode narrowed to a specific edge case: identical twins.
Second-order effects
- Rival phone makers' face-unlock implementations now get measured against Face ID's speed rather than dismissed as gimmicks, raising the bar for what counts as credible biometric authentication on a flagship.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, face recognition becomes the default unlock method on premium phones, and biometric vendors inherit a known accuracy trade-off — convenience at scale versus edge cases like twins — that buyers will weigh against the all-screen designs it enables.
The trend: Smartphone authentication is shifting from fingerprints to face recognition, with the iPhone X's review cycle establishing the speed-and-reliability bar competitors must now meet.