Early third-party benchmark tests of the iPhone X have been unanimously positive. In fact, Displaymate, which runs exhaustive tests on phone displays, says the iPhone X has the best display it has ever tested.

Our own tests echo Displaymate’s findings. The iPhone X’s 2,046 x 1,125 OLED screen is sharp, it’s incredibly colour accurate and it’s bright, too. In fact, we'd say the OLED screen is near perfect. Plus, there are no problems with viewing angles and odd-looking colours (Google Pixel 2 XL, we’re looking at you).  

As for speed and responsiveness, well that’s unimpeachable as well. The iPhone X uses the new Apple A11 Bionic chip to power it along and this, coupled with 3GB of RAM, produces very similar benchmark results to the iPhone 8 Plus. Basically, alongside its more humdrum siblings, the iPhone X is the fastest phone on the market.

The speakers on the iPhone X continue Apple's trend of high-quality audio tech in its phones and iPads. They're louder than previous models and less tinny, meaning music from the phone is more comfortable to listen to without headphones. There's still no headphone jack, and there’s still no official hi-res support within iTunes though, even if Apple claims it supports FLAC on its website through the My Files app. 

Bass on the speakers is detailed and treble is rich and the iPhone X plays song with various instruments and levels better than any other smartphone we've used. There have been reports of some users experiencing a crackling and squeaky sound on the iPhone X and Apple is said to be looking into the issues.

I personally love the Samsung S8 Edge but I wouldn’t buy it purely because of the software. I’m an iOS fangirl; I find it easier to use and less cluttered than Android plus, for better or worse, I’m thoroughly entrenched in Apple’s ecosystem. These little changes to the iPhone X introduce the parts of Android I like without removing what I like about iOS reducing the temptation to make the jump.

Some of the physical design changes that move it closer to Samsung, for example, don’t excite me as much. After just two days I was feeling nostalgic for my iPhone 8 Plus with its familiar white front and larger keyboard.

That said, there are enough innovations and differences here to make a buyer seriously consider upgrading from the iPhone 7, or there would be if it weren’t for that sky high price; because it’s the sheer cost of the thing that puts me off.

With prices starting at £999 for the 64GB version and £1,149 for the top-spec 256GB model this is a phone that’s almost as expensive as a MacBook and that’s a laptop that some people say is overpriced. Samsung’s Galaxy S8, by comparison, is currently half the price, while larger Galaxy Note 8 (which was criticised for its high price when it first launched) costs around £870.

Tim Cook recently said that this high price was justified given just how much tech is inside the device (a claim that doesn’t punch quite as hard when reports suggest the phone itself costs £280 to build, even if that is the highest manufacturing costs of any iPhone) but it’s still hard to stomach. In short, while the performance, display and the camera combine to make this Apple’s best ever phone, it is isn’t significantly better than its rivals to warrant the huge jump in price.

If you’re desperate to buy a new iPhone, do yourself a favour and buy an iPhone 8 Plus instead. You might not be getting the latest and greatest Apple has to offer, but you’ll be saving plenty of cash, getting a phone that’s nearly as good, and one that – according to SquareTrade – is a lot less breakable, too.