Now that the iPhone X has been released to the public, it is time to examine its slow-motion quality when shooting at 240fps 1080p mode.  There is a lot of expectation for what this phone can do but in the end you will get a mild bump in camera quality compared to the iPhone 7 and the exact same camera module as the iPhone 8 Plus.

It is of note that the phone is smaller than the 8 Plus and that battery life should be about the same since the screen is not feeding that extra real estate.  We were very excited about having 1080p finally hitting 240fps on a phone but as you will see; it may not be as good as claimed.  Looks pretty close to 720p upscaled and quite soft which means information is being thrown away to have the high frame rates.

iPhone X Slow Motion Samples 240fps:

iPhone X with Maria Sergejeva / shot 4K 60p & 240fps 1080p by Daniel Peters:

iPhone X 1080p 240fps Cat by Zeck:

iPHONE X CAMERA REVIEW – Lok tests all the new features of the Apple iPhone X camera by Photogearnews:

EXPERIMENT iPhone X vs 1000 Firecrackers by Trending News:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6tndDqr57Q

A kitten’s first look at snow in 240fps on an iPhone X by Ryan Pfleger:

iPhone X Slow Motion Video 240 fps by MegaBojan1993:

iPhone X 240fps jump by Zeck:

Apple iPhone X sample 1080 @ 240 fps by SlashGear:

iPhone X Slow Motion video | iPhone X Slow Motion Video Quality Test by Mtrick Z:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSyH3bIAKrg

Note: The Test below shows the improvement in resolution from the iPhone 7 Plus to the X in Slow Motion 240fps.  There is a noticeable gain for sure but a far cry from the sharp 1080p quality of normal video cameras.

iPhone X Camera vs iPhone 7 Plus for Video Tests | Slow Motion | Low Light | 4K by Potato Jet:

More Samples:

Slo-Mo head shot with iPhone X by skottawa:

iPhone X slow motion sample Water by Bill Raroha:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsSJKvCXz2E

iPhone X video sample slow motion FULL HD – camera test – 120 fps by GSMONLINE.PL:

Bonus Footage Just for kicks:

iPhone X vs Galaxy S8 Katana Scratch Test! by GizmoSlip:

Final Notes on iPhone X Video:

The iPhone X is all the rage today with phone enthusiasts of all ages but the final test will always be what you do with it on your own.  The resolution of the 120fps 1080p mode is nearly identical to the 240fps mode so there is no big gain by capturing high speed in that mode other than saving space.

Both the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X use the HEVC codec H.265 which will be unable to be edited or played back in most computers. You will need the latest  Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra in order to view the files or play them back. This makes it hard to adopt until Windows natively supports it or if you have a Mac that is not compatible with the latest OS.  There are converters available but it is an extra step and one that might lower quality depending on your re-encode settings.

The 240fps 1080p quality that is so talked about is more like 720p upscaled.  There is a noticeable improvement from the iPhone 7 Plus in slow motion and other video modes in terms of detail, color accuracy, less noise and fewer compression artifacts. It is a very good improvement for mobile video enthusiasts.

There is, however, another problem which is the focus on most of the samples above seems to hunt while in the slow motion mode. The answer will be to lock the focus prior to shooting if you want to avoid focus hunting back and forth. This is a problem present on all phone devices and not isolated to the iPhone X.

If you are buying an iPhone and you do not care for the X features and increased price then the iPhone 8 Plus will be our choice since it has the exact same camera specs and larger screen. You won’t have Animojis or Face Unlock but other than that you will have the best video on an iPhone yet all the same. -HSC