Over the past few years, specifically since the release of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple has been releasing its flagship smartphones in pairs. Most recently, the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus marked the entry of two relatively different phones with the main point of difference being the larger size and the dual camera that was added to the iPhone 7 Plus. In 2017, Apple decided to take this legacy of launching two similar yet distinctively different phones forward with the release of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus.
Despite the release of newer models like the iPhone XR, XS, 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, many people are turning to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus because of the fall in pricing that these models have seen after the release of the newer ones. If you are considering this option, here are the major points of difference between the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Design Differences
If you were expecting a full overhaul of the iPhone range as was the case with the iPhone X, there is some disappointment coming your way. With the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple has stuck to the regular format that was adopted for all phones since 2014. The big difference is that the company has switched out the aluminum backs of the phones to glass, which used to be the norm up until the iPhone 4S. This has led to the phones becoming heaving at 148 grams for the iPhone 8 and 202 grams for the iPhone 8 Plus.
In terms of dimensions, the iPhone 8 is 138.4 mm or 5.45 inches in height, 67.3 mm or 2.65 mm in width and 7,3 mm or 0.29 inches in depth. The iPhone 8 Plus is larger, coming up to 158.4 mm or 6.28 inches in height, 78.1 mm or 3.07 inches in width and 7.5 mm or 0.32 inches in depth. These dimensions are almost exactly the same as the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus that were released before these smartphones.
Display – iPhone 8 vs. 8 Plus
The newer iPhones, like the iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone 11 and so on, saw the smartphone manufacturer turning to OLED displays. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, however, come with a display that is very similar to the models launched before it.
The iPhone 8 comes with a 4.7-inch widescreen LCD Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology. The pixel resolution stands at 1334 x 750 pixels at 326 pixels per inch. The screen to body ratio of the iPhone 8 stands at 65.6%, which is lower than most of the newer models developed by Apple but impressive for the time when the phone was launched. The iPhone 8 has a 1400:1 contrast ratio (typical).
The iPhone 8 Plus has a 5.5-inch widescreen LCD Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology. The pixel resolution for this phone is higher at 1920 x 1080 pixels at 401 pixels per inch and the screen-to-body ratio also goes up to 67.7%. The contrast ratio stands at 1300:1 (typical).
The company has also utilized the True Tone technology for this phone, which allows for better color accuracy.
How Do the Cameras Compare?
Moving on to the camera quality offered by the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, it is important to note that despite the advances made by other Android competitors in this realm, Apple has chosen to retain much of the hardware specifications that could be found in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
The iPhone 8 comes with a single 12-megapixel camera with a wide-angle sensor, f/1.8 aperture, and optical image stabilization. The digital zoom goes up to 5x and the camera comes with True Tone flash with slow sync.
The iPhone 8 Plus offers the same hardware as the iPhone 7 Plus when it comes to the camera with dual 12-megapixel Wide and Telephoto cameras. The Wide offers f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization, while the telephoto camera comes with a lower f/2.8 aperture and no optical image stabilization. The low light performance of the camera can be affected by this. The iPhone 8 Plus offers 2x optical zoom and digital zoom up to 10x, as well as True Tone flash with slow sync.
The front camera of both the models is practically the same at 7-megapixels with f/2.2 aperture, Retina flash and auto HDR for photos.
Performance: iPhone 8 vs. iPhone 8 Plus
When Apple launched the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, these smartphones were touted as the fastest ones in the market at that time. While the newer models like the iPhone XS and iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max have taken this lead forward, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus offered a significant improvement to an already good smartphone.
Both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus come with the Apple A11 “Bionic” chipset, which was a gamechanger when it first released with the models. With a six-core CPU, six-core GPU and an M11 motion coprocessor, both the models show improved speed when it comes to performance. The iPhone 8 comes with a 2 GB RAM, while the iPhone 8 Plus comes with 3 GB RAM. While this may seem like a significant difference, you must remember that the iPhone 8 Plus also has to power a display with higher resolution as well as dual cameras.
If you were wondering why “Bionic” had to be added to the A11, it is from the integrated dual-core Neural engine that is responsible for the image processing required for Face ID, a facial recognition system that maps your face in 3D and notices any changes like haircuts or facial hair. Both these phones, however, cannot access it as FaceID.
Battery Life and Charging
One aspect where Apple has not shown great improvement with the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus is the battery life. In terms of performance, the iPhone 8 lasts just about as long as an iPhone 7, while the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus are also very similar in terms of battery performance.
The iPhone 8 gives you talk time of up to 14 hours, while the iPhone 8 Plus offers 21 hours. The battery performance is fairly similar when it comes to internet usage — 12 hours for the iPhone 8 and 13 hours for the bigger model. The models offer video playback of 13 hours and 14 hours respectively, and audio playback of 40 hours and 60 hours.
The main areas of difference come in terms of charging, where Apple has worked hard to meet the fast charging and wireless charging standards that have been set up by most of the newer Android phones in the market. With the wired fast charging, you can expect your phones to charge up to 50% with just 30 minutes of charging, which is a significant improvement when you compare it to the older models.
The company has also adopted wireless charging in line with the Qi standard with the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. The glass back of both these phones enables wireless charging when placed against a charging plate, but you must remember that the wireless charger will not be provided to you when you purchase the phone.
Storage
Apple has recognized that users need at least a certain amount of storage with their phones and keeping that in mind, it has also gotten rid of the 32 GB base model that had become the standard after getting rid of the painful 16 GB model. For the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, you have the option of choosing between the 64 GB base model or the 256 GB top model. Offering only two storage variants instead of the three that are usually the norm with the iPhones could be considered a little convenient but if you are going to hold onto the phone for a bit, the larger memory size may be the way to go.
Is the iPhone 8 or 8 Plus a Better Value?
In terms of pricing, Apple has made the base models a little more expensive than the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus when they released, but the 256 GB model remains unchanged. The main reason why many people could consider upgrading to the iPhone 8 or the iPhone 8 Plus is that these smartphones are significantly cheaper than the iPhone X or the ones that were released after it. As more and more models are released by Apple, the price of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus is expected to drop as well.
With the iPhone X, XS and the variants of 11 crossings into the four-figure category in terms of pricing, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus seem like the more affordable options in front of buyers right now. Both these phones work along with the similar design parameters as the 7 and 7 Plus, which has led to many people arguing that they should have been named 7S and 7S Plus instead, but there have been newer additions that make the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus good smartphones. You can choose the iPhone 8 if you prefer small form phones and want to save some money, but the iPhone 8 Plus is the superior phone in terms of camera quality, battery life, and performance.
