These tri-jets form the flagship duo of Dassault tri-jets, based on the Falcon 900EX. Both keep the general appearance with two engines attached to the rear fuselage and a third engine in the rear fuselage fed by an S-shaped duct, and a cruciform tail with horizontal stabilisers with anhedral. The Falcon 7X and 8X are however bigger, but more important for recognition are the four more streamlined cockpit windows. The “saw tooth” trailing edge of the vertical stabiliser and the main gear doors are also clear features.

The Falcon 7X and Falcon 8X can be distinguished by looking at

• the length of the fuselage
• the number of cabin windows
• the shape of the winglets
• the shape of the sensor on top of the nose
• the shape of the aileron rod fairing
• the shape of the nose gear rims

At first it was not so difficult to recognise a Falcon 7X because of differences with the Falcon 900 gave enough to look for. However with the arrival of the Falcon 8X things changed. The Falcon 7X is a metre shorter than the 8X, so the first reaction would be to count windows: indeed most Falcon 7Xs have five windows between the emergency exit and the engines while the 8X has six. However, this is not definitive as the number of cabin windows depends on the cabin configuration. Luckily there are two more distinctive differences, and three smaller ones. The Falcon 7X has taller winglets than the 8X, which are attached to the wing tips more angular. Additionally, the housing for the optional enhanced vision system's camera (in front of the cockpit windows) is nearly as high as it is wide. More difficult to see is the fairing underneath the ailerons: on the 7X it doesn't extend beyond the trailing edge. The nose gear has flat rims with a single whole. Finally, there are barely noticeable differences in the main gear rims. See close-up photos above and below!

The improved version is the slightly longer Falcon 8X. In most cases it has more cabin win­dows than the 7X, with six windows between the emergency exit and the engine nacelle. However, there may be Falcon 8Xs with less cabin windows. However, the transition between the wing tips and winglets is more curved on the Falcon 8X, and the winglets are less tall than on the 7X. The fairing for the aileron rod under the wings of the 8X is sharply pointed and extended behind the trailing edge of the aileron. Moreover, the opening for the EVS camera on top of the nose is wider than it is tall, another clue to distinguish the Falcon 8X from the Falcon 8X. Finally, the wheel rims are a bit different. Especially on the nose gear you can see there are two whole in the flat rim.