Are you having difficulty deciding whether or not to buy the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus? You are not alone apparently, as first weekend sales of the latest Apple devices showed that people aren’t exactly lining up in stores just to get their hands on the successor of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
According to ZDNet, the first weekend sales of the iPhone 8 decreased over last year, only managing to take 0.3 percent of the market share compared to the one percent iPhone 7 took in 2016.
However, the iPhone 8 Plus did better than the iPhone 7 Plus, taking 0.4 percent of the market share over the 0.2 percent of the latter.
Also, there have been negative reports about the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus circulating the internet including problems with the speaker, failed drop test results and repairability issues.
8 Plus owners experience issues with the speaker during calls
A few of the iPhone 8 Plus owners are complaining about problems with their iPhone 8 Plus devices, particularly its speakers, according to a report by WCCFTech. Apparently, owners occasionally hear some sort of crackling noise during cellular calls as well as FaceTime calls.
One user described the noise, “It is a high-pitched crackle like an audio pop that happens in the earpiece top speaker intermittently during calls.” He added, “The caller on the other end doesn’t hear it.”
It’s not yet known if the problem has something to do with the hardware or if it’s a software issue. As of this writing, Apple has not yet addressed the complaints.
The 8 Plus loses to Note 8 during a drop test
When the latest high-end smartphones were unveiled by Apple, the company claimed that it has the strongest glass ever on a device. However, a recent drop test proved otherwise as the iPhone 8 Plus cracked its glass after the very first drop.
BGR reported that a YouTube channel called PhoneBuff demonstrated a drop test using a professional drop test machine.
The iPhone 8 Plus was pitted against the Galaxy Note 8 and the latter won by just a small margin.
By the end of the video, both phones were tested if they could take a total of 10 drops. The Note 8 completed all 10 drops, but the 8 Plus only managed to finish 8 drops before its screen becomes virtually unusable.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will be very difficult to repair
Speaking of cracked glass, technicians will have great difficulty repairing the devices if that would happen. So much so that they estimated the cost to replace the glass back will be a lot more expensive than replacing the screen itself.
iFixit, a private company that sells repair parts and offers tutorials on repairing consumer devices, revealed that the back of the smartphone has a metal sheet that is bonded to the glass so strong, that repairability would be very difficult and expensive.