Review of the iPhone XR: affordability well done

Apple does not usually make limited-budget devices, but as time goes by, the iPhone XR is approaching enough. Although inexpensive (a budget-limited phone should cost less than $ 500, not $ 1,229), it represents a calculated attempt to create a more affordable and uncompromising device, yet powerful enough to take advantage of the latest technologies. This is extremely serious, especially if spending over $ 1500 on the phone seems too expensive.

If you try to choose between the XR at $ 1,229 and the XS and XS Max, which start at $ 1,629 and $ 1,100 to $ 1,799 respectively, you will find that there are not too many differences in paper. They all use the same face ID we loved from X last year. They all have a large notch and side-to-side displays. They work on the same A12 processor (you can read our point of view here).

But the XR is much cheaper than the XS, and reducing the cost has required a lot of compromise. The sides are made of aluminum instead of steel and are rated IP67 instead of IP68 – that is, they allow immersion up to 30 minutes in 1 meter of water instead of 2 meters. It is also oddly sized, lying between the XS and the XS Max instead of being bigger or smaller than both. Yet the two biggest differences are the display and the cameras. The XR uses a cheaper LCD instead of the vibrant OLED found in the XS and has only one camera in the back instead of two.

These include important cost-saving measures for a $ 1,229 phone. Consider that if you're ready to drop Apple, some of the phones you charge are much cheaper: OnePlus is a great $ 550 phone with two rear cameras, an OLED display and a current generation chipset! (But this is not available in Australia)

But Apple has always made "inexpensive" devices differently from others. In some cases, cheaper devices mean older models, such as the iPhone 7 or MacBook Air, which remain in circulation well past their peak. In others, they are new devices malnourished, such as the iPhone SE or 5c, with horribly obsolete hardware. In both cases, the compromises were painful enough to make the devices at least somewhat unpleasant. With the iPhone XR, Apple has an affordable device.

The heart of the device

The first thing you will notice about most iPhone XR is color. The XR is the first phone made by Apple in a fun color palette for a long time. Besides the traditional white and black, there is also a nice red, coral, yellow and blue. The colors are eye-catching, although the aluminum sides do not match the glbad backs. Therefore, the phone may seem a bit cheap, especially next to the stainless steel sides of the XS. But if you are like me, you will find yourself in a case to protect as quickly as possible while glbad and aluminum easily scratch. And that means your eyes will be immediately attracted to the display.

Like the XS and the Max, the XR has a notch and, as with these phones, it gives it an impression of ostentatious luxury. At a glance, this phone looks expensive. The integrated True Depth camera in the notch gives the phone the ability to use the face identifier, which is a hair faster than the face identifier introduced in the iPhone. X from last year. If you have hesitated to upgrade because you prefer the Touch ID, you're not sure. You will have to fend for yourself. Touch ID is gone. This phone, and probably all future iPhones, will rely on your face to unlock it, and I totally agree with that. (You can use an authentication code if you do not like your phone looking at you.)

I've been using a 5.8-inch iPhone X for a year and I've never thought this screen was too small, but next to the XR, it looks tiny. The 6.1-inch screen built into the XR's chbadis makes the difference between the huge 6.5-inch screen of the Max and the 5.8-inch XS and X.

The 5.5-inch screen of the 8 Plus is also overshadowed by the XR's, although it has a larger body. Anyway, it will be difficult to watch an iPhone 8 Plus or older and not to think that it looks depressed next to the expansive screen of the XR.

Now about this compromise. The XR display is not as good as that of the XS or the Max. These devices use an OLED screen with rich blacks and enviable contrast. The XR uses an LCD screen, which can not be so black. Thus, the images are a little faded in comparison and when you look at the content with black bars on the side, the notch goes beyond. In a sense, it is not compatible with iPhones with an OLED display.

Its resolution of 1792 x 828 is much lower than the XS and 8 Plus of last year, but you probably will not notice it. You will notice the pixel density. The iPhone XR reaches 326 dpi, the same as the iPhone 8. In comparison, the XS has a pixel density of 458ppi, while the iPhone 8 Plus has a density of 401ppi. This means that you can see the pixels of the The LCD screen of XR more easily than other phones. Pixels are obvious if you're looking for them – you'll need a macro lens, magnifying glbad or excellent near-field vision, but they're here!

Surprisingly less obvious is the size of the damn thing. At 5.94 inches by 2.98 inches by 0.33 inches, the XR lies squarely between the XS (5.64 inches by 2.79 inches by 0.30 inches) and the XS Max (6.24 inches by 3 inches) , 07 inches by 0.30 inches). It is smaller than the Max and the iPhone 8 Plus of identical size. Meanwhile, it is a little bigger than the XS.

To be more precise, it measures about a third of an inch more than the XS and one-third of an inch less than the XS Max. It is also 0.19 inches wider than the XS and 0.07 inches narrower than the Max. These differences seem small, but they are surprisingly crucial for many potential buyers. You will certainly notice the size if you are accustomed to smaller phones like the XS, the SE or even the standard 8.

Personally, the size of the XR immediately frightened me, but after a long weekend with the camera, I found myself much less upset. Would I want a low budget phone that does not compromise speed or display quality? Absolutely! Do I find the XR unusable in my small hands? Nope! As with the Max, Apple has included a feature, deep in the accessibility settings, that allows you to drag the top of the phone to the middle of the screen to allow you to access the drop-down list of absolutely vital systems. It takes a little time to get used to it, and you'll have to activate it the first time, but at the end of the weekend, I ended up as a pro with this feature.

If size is a major consideration for you, I encourage you to go to a store and hold the XR in your hand. This is the only way to know if it is too big for you and your back pocket.

You must have courage

The last time Apple seriously tried to offer a low-budget phone, it was the iPhone SE – a device with exceptional design, but with a processor older than other Apple phones. This time, Apple does not ask users to compromise their speed in terms of price, and the XR has the same zippy A12 processor as the XS and XS Max.

When using apps on a daily basis, such as browsing the web and checking your email, you will not notice any difference between what it can do and what it can do compared to more expensive phones, compared to the A11 of iPhones last year. An exception is the life of the battery. The A12 has done wonders on the battery life of phones that contain it. We saw that with the XS, which lasted about an hour and ten minutes longer than the X in our tests, and we still see it with the XR that lasted a little longer than the 8 Plus, despite the fact that the 8 Plus has a bigger battery. .

During our test, in which we set the brightness to 200 nits, turn off all radios except the wifi and broadcast a video on YouTube until the phone turns off, that the iPhone 8 lasts 9 hours and 10 minutes and the iPhone XR lasted 11 hours and 59 minutes. For comparison, the iPhone XS Max (3174 mAh) lasted 13 hours and 7 minutes and the XS (2658 mAh), 11 hours and 11 minutes.

The other notable change in the A12 is in-camera performance. It allows XRs to shoot with only one goal, unlike last year's iPhone 8 (Apple's only single-purpose phone in 2017). This processor allows the XR to compete properly with the 8 Plus, a phone with double the number of cameras at the back.

Can you get away with one camera?

And yes, one of the most important aspects of the phone is the camera. From messaging to social media, it's at the heart of most of our activities with our phones. The XR uses software and the A12 processor to offer, in most cases, photo performance comparable to that of the 8 Plus. It has a larger lens (26mm vs. 28mm), which captures more people at a glance, but the images are crisp and vivid (although, as with the XS, the Smart HDR feature can sometimes being too aggressive and producing smoothing effects the critics made fun of the unnatural embellishment).

If you notice that I constantly compare the XR to the 8 Plus and not to the XS or XS Max, it is that there is a price difference of 50 USD between the X7 USD and 750 USD (1229 USD in Australia ). This sounds like a phone more apt to make comparisons, especially when we talk about cameras. Because the XR actually uses the same wide-angle lens and the same sensor as the XS and the XS Max. The only difference between the XR and Apple's flagship phones is that it lacks a telephoto lens.

So when I went for a long walk in Red Hook this weekend, I left the XS and Max at home and I only wore the XR and the 8 Plus. I found myself not to miss the telephoto (equivalent to 56 mm) of the XS. Granted, it would have been more convenient to take a picture of a panel out of reach, but when taking pictures of a flower, my macro shooting attempts with the XR were sharper and more clear that the 8 Plus despite the distance traveled 64 km. hour wind badping my hand and the flowers all around.

The XR has also captured more details on the waves in this photo of the upper bay. And note the clouds, where you can again see more details thanks to the XR's superior dynamic range. He simply captured a larger part of the real world on a photo and translated it to the screen.

The enhanced dynamic range has also helped this photo of a night road sign. The red hand on the picture below is just a big orange spot when shooting with the 8 Plus, but you can see each bulb with the XR.

However, although the quality of the camera is impressive, there is a major disadvantage: the XR has all the Portrait mode on the front cameras, but not on the back. Portrait mode allows the phone's cameras to mimic the creamy bokeh found in larger stand-alone cameras, giving you a nice, blurred background that enhances your subject. On smartphones, this usually requires two cameras placed one by the other. Any iPhone with Face ID can do it on the front, facing attractive selfies. As two cameras are needed, phones such as 7 and 8 could not do it. Only 7 Plus, 8 Plus, X, XS and XS Max are capable of portraits with a dual rear camera.

But despite the fact that there is only one rear camera, the XR uses software and the processor power of the A12 processor to achieve a similar effect, with two big caveats. The first is that it will only do three of the portrait lighting modes: Natural, Studio and Contour. The Stage Light and Stage Light Mono modes will not work, which means no black background is created for portraits made with the rear camera. But the second caveat is potentially the most important: Back portrait mode only works with faces. Teddy Ruxpin, Funko dolls and my roommate's cat do not count. A pop-up window appears stating that a human face must appear in the frame for Portrait mode to work.

At first, it was as if it could be a problem, but I always found that using Portrait mode with the rear camera was a challenge. You must have the right amount of light and distance, so it is out of the question to take a quick picture of your cat. Do not have the pressure to make a clutch portrait is rather pleasant, although I miss the flexibility I lack.

Less is not a bad thing

As we have said many times in this review, compared to the iPhone XS, the iPhone XR is full of compromise. If you want a brand new iPhone under $ 1,300, you will have to sacrifice some of your portraits back. And you have to sacrifice the most beautiful screen. Yet for most people, I think the sacrifices are acceptable. If you are a nerdy gadget lover, these limitations will seem disappointing. I badure you that in practice they are not.

The iPhone XR is really good, just like the XS, XS Max, X, 8, 8 Plus and even the 7 and 7 Plus. The improvements we're seeing from year to year are good, but it's rarely the kind of improvements that would motivate a person to spend $ 1,200 or more over the phone.

In this regard, the iPhone XR is not a required upgrade for users of the 8 or 8 Plus. This is not even necessary if you have 7 or 7 Plus. But the upgrades are very, very good, and you'll find yourself smiling, enjoying the pictures you take, or enjoy the fact that your phone can last not only a cross-country flight, but also the terrible delays of the flight too.

The XR is good enough that I do not miss the XS. Apple has cut itself, and we are all better off for that.

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• It's bigger than previous budget phones – small phone enthusiasts should try before buying.

• The battery life is exceptional.

• The display is significantly lower than the OLED screens on the most expensive iPhones, but it's not terrible.

• The camera can not do as much as dual lens cameras, but it does enough.

• The dynamic range of the camera is a treat.

• At $ 1,229, this is the newest and cheapest iPhone you can buy.