Apple Watch Series 3 Impressions

The Good The iPhone 8 offers wireless charging, lightning-fast performance and small but solid upgrades to its camera, screen and speakers. Its starting storage size is a roomy 64GB, double that of the iPhone 7.

The Bad This phone has the same pedestrian design, missing headphone jack and battery life as the iPhone 7 -- and no dual camera either. The iPhone 8 costs a bit more than baseline new iPhones in years past, and comes only in black, silver and a new shade of gold.

The Bottom Line The sensible, speedy iPhone 8 makes a nice upgrade to the iPhone 6S and earlier siblings, but we won't know until November how it compares to the much pricier iPhone X.

On Nov. 3,  Apple will roll out its seductive sports car of a phone: the all-new, totally redesigned, edgy, giant-screened iPhone X.

So why buy an iPhone 8 when that sexy iPhone X is just around the corner? The 8 is last year's design with this year's technology. It feels familiar. It's a safe pick. It's a "let's not spend a thousand dollars on an iPhone" iPhone. It's a "Touch ID and a home button matter more to me than a leap of faith into the world of Face ID" iPhone.