iPhone 8 vs iPhone 8 Plus: What's the difference?

Should I buy the Apple iPhone 8?

Our Verdict

This one really does come down to a personal decision over whether you want a small or large phone. If you can stretch to the extra £100 the iPhone 8 Plus is technically the better of the two, with a larger, higher-resolution screen, dual-cameras and longer battery life. But if you'd rather a more compact device then the iPhone 8 also offers better value.

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Apple iPhone 8 full review

On 12 September Apple announced an update to its iPhone line in the form of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and both phones are now officially on sale. We explain the differences between the two so you can decide which is best for you.

We’ll explain this in more detail below, but the key differences between iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus can be summarised as follows:

• Price

• Screen size and resolution

• Cameras

• Overall dimensions and weight

• Battery capacity

Price

Both iPhone 8 models are available to buy from Apple and major mobile operators - see our guide to iPhone 8 deals to find the best price today on either model.

The iPhone 8 is the cheaper option, starting at £699, while the iPhone 8 Plus starts at £799.

That’s for the 64GB model; you can also buy either phone with 256GB storage at £849 and £949 respectively.

So whichever way you look at it the iPhone 8 Plus costs £100 more than the iPhone 8. Now let’s see what you get for that additional expense.

Screen Size & Resolution

The iPhone 8 Plus is bigger than the iPhone 8 which allows for a larger display. The iPhone 8 has a 4.7in screen (measured across the diagonal), while the Plus is 5.5in.

That’s not the only difference in the screen department though, because the iPhone 8 Plus also packs in more pixels. Both are termed ‘Retina HD’ displays by Apple, but the Plus’ 1920x1080-pixel resolution has a density of 401ppi, while the iPhone 8’s 1334x750-pixel resolution has a density of 326ppi.

In truth it’s unlikely you’ll be able to see a clear difference between the clarity of these displays, but there is a difference.

Cameras

The camera is one of the key reasons you’ll buy the iPhone 8 Plus over the iPhone 8. Whereas the iPhone 8 is fitted with a single 12Mp camera with f/1.8 aperture and OIS, the Plus additionally has a 12Mp telephoto lens with f/2.8 aperture and OIS that supports 10x optical zoom.

This extra lens will enable you to mess around with the focus on your photos, perhaps blurring the background in a portrait - an effect known as ‘bokeh’ that is becoming increasingly popular with consumers.

Only the iPhone 8 Plus has the new Portrait Lighting feature, an in-beta shooting mode that lets you create dramatic lighting effects.

Dimensions & Weight

Given the larger screen size the fact the iPhone 8 Plus is larger and heavier than the iPhone 8 will come as no surprise.

Though it’s only a fraction thicker, the iPhone 8 Plus is a good centimetre wider and two centimetres taller. It also weighs an additional 54g.

Battery Capacity

Apple has not confirmed the battery capacities for its iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but it has said battery life will be about the same as for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. This leads us to believe they probably use the same batteries, which are 1960mAh and 2900mAh respectively.

The Plus therefore runs significantly longer than the iPhone 8: an extra 8 hours talk time, 20 hours audio playback or an extra hour internet use or video playback.

Despite their differences in capacity, both batteries can reach 50 percent charge in 30 minutes, and they support Qi wireless charging.

Specs Comparison

Specification	iPhone 8	iPhone 8 Plus
Operating system	iOS 11	iOS 11
Available colours	Gold, Silver, Space Grey, Red	Gold, Silver, Space Grey, Red
Display	4.7in Retina HD (1334x750, 326ppi) IPS	5.5in Retina HD (1920x1080, 401ppi) IPS
Processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor	Apple A11 Bionic, M11 co-processor
Storage	64GB/256GB	64GB/256GB
Primary camera	12Mp, f/1.8, 5x digital zoom, quad-LED flash	12Mp wide-angle, f/1.8 + 12Mp telephoto, f/2.8, optical zoom, 10x digital zoom, Portrait Lighting, quad-LED flash
Front camera	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video	7Mp FaceTime HD, f/2.2, 1080p video
Video recording	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps	4K at 24/30/60fps, 1080p slo-mo at 240fps
Fingerprint scanner	TouchID built into Home button	TouchID built into Home button
Waterproof	IP67	IP67
Dimensions	67.3x138.4x7.3mm	78.1x158.4x7.5mm
Weight	148g	202g

Specs

Apple iPhone 8: Specs

iOS 11
4.7in, 1334x750, 326ppi, IPS True Tone display
A11 Bionic six-core CPU
64/256GB storage
Main camera: 12Mp, f/1.8 with OIS
Selfie camera: 7Mp, f/2.2
Touch ID
3D Touch
802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.0
4G LTE
Nano-SIM
GPS
NFC (for Apple Pay)
Lightning port
Wireless charging (works with Qi chargers)
67x138x7.3mm
148g
IP67 water resistance

Author: Marie Black, Editor In Chief

Marie has been writing about tech for 15 years. Our resident Xiaomi expert and a follower of all upcoming phones, she is also the go-to for charging tech.