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The most interesting iPhone of 2018 is neither the most expensive nor the biggest of Apple: it is the iPhone XR, the cheapest of the trio of new smartphones. The new entry-level iPhone looks at first glance at the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, but this familiar style masks a device costing $ 749, at least $ 250 cheaper, inherently compromised, but ultimately more compelling.
The iPhone XR is a difficult challenge, probably much more difficult than the face of the iPhone XS or the iPhone XS Max. It must replace not only the iPhone 8, but also the iPhone 8 Plus; try to create two camps the size and the display of a physical phone; and do it while continuing to hit a more affordable price. The sacrifice along the way was inevitable: that's what's fascinating, that's where Apple chose to do it – and what was not done.
iPhone XR Design
Last year, the iPhone X stood out like a sore thumb in the Apple lineup. For 2018, and with the announcement of the new iPad Pro home-free home tablets, the new aesthetic of the company is firmly anchored. Minimal frames, notches for smartphones and clean combinations of metal and glass, it's both a nod to the classic designs of the iPhone and a touch of novelty.
For the iPhone XR, there is another return: the color. The iPhone XS is terribly adult, with its Silver, Space Gray and Gold finishes. However, although you can get a black or silver iPhone XR, you can also get a bright PRODUCT (RED), a beautiful blue, a creamy yellow or an unusual coral.
It's a welcome change, although I think most will stay in the safest colors. Apple's expertise in metal and glass work also has effects: the tinted glass back differs slightly from the aluminum strip that runs around the periphery of the iPhone XR, giving additional depth and clarity. visual interest, while the details, including the metal ring the rear camera – is color-matched too. It is also water resistant, although at IP67 compared to IP68 of the iPhone XS, not as strong as the more expensive phone.
When it comes to size, things get a bit confusing. The iPhone XS, which is more expensive, is also slightly smaller. The iPhone XR sits between the XS and the XS Plus, but perhaps more importantly, it sits between the iPhone 8 and 8 plus sizes (and, in fact, the iPhone 7 and 7 more likely to 39; be the best candidates for the iPhone XR upgrades). It's a much bigger screen (6.1 inches) than any of the classic handsets.
iPhone XR Display
This increase in the size of the screen is due to the new notched display. Unlike the iPhone XS, Apple uses an LCD rather than OLED: it's ultimately cheaper. However, this has also posed significant social challenges for thinning glasses.
OLED is much more forgiving than LCDs for non-traditional forms. For starters, you can cut it and give it rounded corners. In an OLED panel, each pixel is responsible for its own illumination, while the LCD requires a backlight that usually adds volume. Getting the LCD to look like the OLED was undoubtedly a major challenge for the iPhone XR.
Again, a combination of rigorous tolerances and precise engineering came to the rescue. Curved corners, for example, allowed Apple to selectively hide the pixels to get the smooth smoothness of their OLED iPhones. A local backlight component – smaller but brighter than standard – was designed to fit into the lower frame while allowing it to be much narrower than one would expect from a screen LCD.
This bottom frame effectively defined the width around the entire display. It's not quite as thin as that of the iPhone XS, and as a result, the iPhone XR does not have quite the same wow factor: it's a bit below that "all the front is display", which gives the impression that the particular iPhone XS gives you. Nevertheless, there are still light years ahead of the iPhone 8.
Apple, with its love of the brand, calls the screen "Liquid Retina" and promises that it has the best color accuracy in the industry. You also get some new subtleties such as True Tone, which adjusts the color temperature according to the ambient lighting. This is one of those features that you will not really notice until you have to do without it.
The most controversial, however, will be the resolution. With 1792 x 828, the iPhone XR is actually in 720p: on the other hand, the iPhone XS of 5.8 inches measures 2436 x 1125 and the iPhone XS Max of 6.5 inches measures 2688 x 1242. You can only sync it if you hold the iPhone XR next to a denser panel in pixels, mind.
Try not to tilt the iPhone XR from side to side. The off-angle brightness is significantly lower than with an iPhone XS, which was predictable. What is potentially more annoying is that its brightness angle is also significantly lower than one of Apple's old LCD screens, like the iPhone 8. I guess it's a side effect of the need to reduce the backlight system.
The last compromise is the one that will force you either to raise your fist in the sky or to shrug your shoulders, not worried. The iPhone XR lacks 3D Touch, Apple's system to recognize the pressure exerted on the touch screen. Instead, you get Haptic Touch, a more sophisticated brand for long press and buzz from Apple's Taptic Engine.
I guess many people do not really know what 3D Touch can do: iOS has never done a very good job of signaling. It will depend on whether you have already discovered its characteristics and degree of rooting in your muscle memory. Personally, I mainly used it to preview notifications from the lock screen – which has since changed in iOS 12 – and to move the cursor by pressing firmly on the keyboard. You can now replicate it by pressing and holding the spacebar.
If you've used 3D Touch to preview links in web pages and emails, Haptic Touch will disappoint you. Apple promises me that new implementations will soon be available, but as always, there is no public calendar for the actual launch.
iPhone XR Performance
The cheapest phones are usually slower phones, but the iPhone XR counteracts this trend. Just like its more expensive siblings, it contains the Apple A12 Bionic, the latest chipset of the company. You only get 3 GB of RAM, compared to the 4 GB of the iPhone XS, but in my experience, it has not been a major obstacle so far.
Part of this is likely to be the display. With a resolution of only 720p, the Liquid Retina display will inevitably be less greedy in system resources than a richer pixel panel. From day to day, the iPhone XR beats just fine. Web pages are fast to load and scroll smoothly; apps and games continue to get the most out of the 6.1-inch games they have to play with.
Apple is pushing heavily towards Augmented Reality (AR), especially with ARKit 2 in iOS 12, which supports elements such as AR sharing experiences. If you've always wanted to place a Virtual Instant Pot Pressure Cooker on your counter, just see if everything is fine – and yes, yes – being able to do it from an iOS app is an unexpected pleasure. I still do not know if AR will reach a critical point before augmented reality smart glasses are commercialized, but the fact that Apple makes it a consistent experience, no matter which iPhone you use, is a good step in this direction.
You are experiencing a compromise in wireless performance. You get the usual 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi technologies, but not the Gigabit LTE that the iPhone XS has. With the right operator and Gigabit LTE coverage areas, download speeds can be considerably faster. Just as importantly, it can mean more usable connections in extreme situations, where other phones might have trouble connecting.
His absence on the iPhone XR is therefore disappointing although understandable. I do not know how many people will miss the extra speed that the Gigabit LTE can offer, but if you stand next to a friend who can connect online on the same network as the one you're trying in vain to connect , could be frustrating.
iPhone XR Camera
The biggest sacrifice that the iPhone XR makes to reach its price is in the back. While the facade receives the same network of TrueDepth cameras as the iPhone XS and XS Max – including the security of faces, which is much more convenient than Touch ID after a few days of use, and photos in Portrait mode – at the rear single camera, unlike the dual matrix on the more expensive handsets.
It's the same 12-megapixel sensor with f / 1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization as the main camera of the iPhone XS. However, rather than the 2x telephoto camera you get on the more expensive phone, the iPhone XR is content with a 5x digital zoom. I use a lot of the iPhone XS zoom, so its absence was sometimes frustrating and that Apple's upward conversion algorithms do not seem as sophisticated as Google, for example, on the Pixel 3.
As you might expect, the photos taken by the iPhone XR are actually the same as those taken by the iPhone XS. Whether you like them or not depends on your satisfaction with Apple's Smart HDR.
Enabled by default, Smart HDR takes multiple images with different exposures and settings, and then creates a single image from all. The promise is more light tones and shade, for a more balanced, unblurred frame caused by moving subjects. We have seen variants of the technique of Google, Huawei, LG, etc., and, since the image that each of them creates depends on how the software is tuned, the reality is that There is no "right answer" to what the "best" photo is. In the photo below, for example, I stood in the shade of the trees, looking through the dark overhang in the foreground until the pond lit up. Smart HDR has brought to the periphery of the scene the same brightness as the distance, which is certainly intelligent, although it flattens the image somewhat: you have less the feeling of looking through the foliage to beyond.
In general, the iPhone XR takes a hard enough approach to contrast. iOS 12.1 helped to reduce a bit the excessive smoothing that complained the first users of the iPhone XS, which could have given the impression that the faces had been passed through a beauty filter, but the still remain inverted. areas. What he's doing you It depends if you personally prefer the vision of Apple's consistency or the tendency of its rivals to an extreme contrast.
Without a second rear camera, the iPhone XR can not use the same Portrait mode as the iPhone XS. Instead, Apple turns to digital photography, like Google's Pixel 3: it determines the contours of your subject, then calculates the artificial background blur from there. In most cases, it works well: stray hair and other fine details can still confuse things, but in general, the effect is solid, especially if you can adjust the degree of blur used.
Notably, since the iPhone XR uses a more light-sensitive sensor than the Portrait mode of the iPhone XS (which uses the telephoto sensor), under certain conditions, the images of the cheapest handset may actually appear a little better. The main camera only offers the Natural, Studio and Contour effects – not Stage or Mono Stage – but as these are the three that usually work best, it's not a big loss.
Unfortunately, this only works on people and, depending on how you use Portrait mode, this can be a major drawback. Point the iPhone XR on something other than a face – your cat, for example, or your dinner – and you will receive a warning stating that he can not see a person in the frame. On the other hand, Google Pixel 3 does not care what it is confronted with: it will remove the blur in the background.
This is all the more frustrating as the limitation is in the software. Third-party applications such as Focos and Halide have already released updates with more flexible options in Portrait Mode than Apple's own camera app, using the depth map created by the iPhone XR for Blur the background, even if it's a ham sandwich not your husband. & # 39; capture. Sometimes they are not as beautiful as what an iPhone XS will capture, a side effect of the fact that the dual camera camera builds a better depth map from which to work, but I'm always happy to To have the option, at least.
iPhone XR dual SIM
With the arrival of iOS 12.1, Apple has enabled dual SIM support on the iPhone XR, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. Each handset can handle both a physical nano-SIM and a virtual eSIM: the latter can be programmed with the identifiers of a different operator, allowing you to have two lines on a single device.
Of course, Apple supports it only represents half of the equation. The operators themselves must activate the eSIM support before it can be activated, which has not been enough in the big names in the US. In theory, you could, for example, link your AT & T line of work and your Verizon personal line to the same phone, or alternatively your normal US number on the eSIM, leaving the empty slot empty for a prepaid SIM card to withdraw traveling abroad.
iOS will let you choose the default values - for example, the line to call or the message you want to call, as well as the individual settings for specific contacts – and you get two network strength meters in the bar of # 39; state. The usefulness of all this will however depend on your choice of carrier. It is up to each company to decide whether you want to use eSIM only, for example, or whether you want your main line to occupy the physical SIM card slot.
IPhone XR battery
The iPhone XR has a 720p screen: the same goes for the battery. Apple charges the smartphone as offering an hour and a half longer than the iPhone 8 Plus, but it buries everything. In fact, during my tests, this new, cheaper iPhone lasted longer than the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
As before, fast cable charging promises up to 50% charge in 30 minutes and, as before, Apple does not include the AC adapter in its box. Wireless charging also uses the Qi standard. Apple's airPower is still not found, so you'll be looking for third-party chargers.
iPhone XR Verdict
In a sense, building a flagship smartphone is simple: combine the best in one device and calculate its price accordingly. Making a handset like the iPhone XR, however, is quite more complex. Try to please everyone and you end up with a phone too expensive to compete. Target primarily a low cost, and your new smartphone will look stuck compared to the competition.
It's a balance that Apple strikes with the iPhone XR. It looks good, has a solid camera, a fantastic battery life, and does not sacrifice the important thing: a processor that allows future iterations of iOS to run smoothly. Certainly, you would not buy it only on screen, but even in this case, Apple has put its best assets.
Indeed, the most troublesome compromises are often shared by the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max as well. Apple's decision to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack still has a lot; the fact that the company no longer offers Lightning Adapter 3.5mm format in the box with any of its new phones seems to be too expensive a measure. The absence of any official case for the iPhone XR is another quirk.
I remember, of course, that the fact that we consider this $ 749 smartphone as an "affordable" option is also Apple's craft. This paved the way for $ 1,000 phones with the iPhone X after all. this "entry-level" device costs $ 50 more than an iPhone 8 would have cost you at launch. You can also, for $ 50 more, find yourself with a Pixel 3 in your pocket. The surprisingly good camera from Google and improvements to Android 9 Pie are worth considering, even if the design of his phone is disappointing compared to that of Apple.
At this point, though, I guess you have an idea of how your operating system inclinations lie. If you're upgrading from an iPhone 7 or iPhone 6S, you'll probably want to stick with iOS too. Yet 1,000 US dollars for an iPhone XS is a huge amount of money, and often more phones than users really need.
$ 250 is a lot of money to save for a minimal compromise, or a small premium to pay for the dual camera, a significantly improved screen and the other benefits of the iPhone XS. It depends on your degree of dependence on your smartphone and the priority you give to advanced technology. Seen through this lens, although the iPhone XR may not be "perfect", it is certainly pretty close for the most part.
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