The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus look pretty much the same as their predecessors, but they have a new back cover that’s coated in glass and gives them a somewhat fresher look. They have a sort of subtle opalescent effect too, so it’s not just a glossy, shiny, ultra-reflective look. The glass blends into the sides of the phone incredibly well, better than we’ve seen on other phones. There’s a subtle density to the glass, too, and overall it looks a lot better than the back of the 7.
That glass back allows for wireless charging, which is one of the big new features here. Wireless charging works with the Qi standard — we set it on a charging pad and it starting charging. You know, like it should.
The big change to the front this time around is the addition of True Tone feature to the phones’ screens, which lets them adjust to the color tone of the room. The 8’s display isn’t noticeably better than 7’s — at least not in the perfect lighting of the Apple hands-on area.
What really does stand out is the new camera features. The portrait lighting features on the 8 Plus, in particular, were impressive. While you can still tell that the artificial lighting effects aren’t perfectly realistic, they’re miles ahead of any other camera gimmick we’ve seen.
