IPhone XR test: test of the new Apple iPhone

If you prefer symmetry, you'll notice that the Lightning port on the bottom edge is slightly off-center, probably because of the technical tips that Apple performs on the screen to standardize the glasses. And the glasses there is. If we face the design of the iPhone XR is that the glasses are too thick, to the point of giving the impression of a cheap imitation of the iPhone XS.

This is certainly a compromise for some, but it is a reason quite valid for screens as thick: the iPhone XR uses an LCD screen; it must be constantly backlit. Thus, the extra millimeter guarantees the absence of light leaks and bright spots. This is a good compromise if you consider that the alternative would have been a chin and a deeper forehead. In addition, glasses are anyway a superficial problem and they will disappear quickly as you use them.

The next best thing at OLED

Although the screen of the iPhone XR looks like the XS, do not be fooled: it's basically a larger iPhone 8 Plus with rounded corners. This means that its 720p HD LCD screen is lower than the iPhone 8's Full HD screen and away from the almost 2K OLED of the XS.

Christopher Hebert / IDG

But the iPhone XR is still in the retina area, which is all that really matters. When Apple coined the term Retina Back in 2010 with the iPhone 4 3.5 inch, its 326 dpi was exactly the same as for the iPhone XR. That's when display technologies have improved dramatically in the last eight years. Even giant phones have incredibly high pixel densities, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (516) and Google Pixel 3 XL (523). Even if you compare apples to apples with another 6.1-inch LCD phone such as the LG G7, the XR is criticized (563 dpi at 326 dpi).

This is a bigger problem than in practice. Anything that exceeds 300 dpi is fundamentally impossible to distinguish by the human eye. Therefore, based solely on the resolution, the iPhone XR will look the same as the iPhone XS or the Galaxy Note 9. Even when playing reduced HD content on Netflix or YouTube, it's difficult to discern a big difference in image quality between this screen and a screen with a higher resolution.

However, screens represent more than the sum of their pixels, and the accuracy and color saturation of the iPhone XR's LCD are much better than those of a high quality OLED HDR certified. It's not as visible in everyday use as when compared side-by-side with the XS or Pixel 3, but the iPhone's LCD is clearly a downgrade from the high-end OLED phones .

But in its own context, the LCD of the XR is quite remarkable, with excellent white balance and outstanding brightness. It may not have the deep blacks of the OLED, but like the iPad Pro, the XR still looks like a modern smartphone screen, especially when True Tone is turned on.

Apple 120Hz sampling speeds up the appearance of items when you tap them, and while animations are not as fast as they are on the ProMotion screen of the iPad Pro, they allow at the XR to feel faster than it should. And the rounded corners and balanced full-screen design belies its price. You lose 3D Touch, but you can later add icon shortcuts to help with haptics.

When using the iPhone XR, my OLED phones did not miss me much. The only criticism I can make is the viewing angle, which is significantly narrower than older LCD iPhones. What I missed from these OLED Android was a mood screen. Despite the introduction of OLED screens, Apple stubbornly refused to put up a permanent display on one of its phones. As such, the screen turns on whenever a notification comes in and the lock screen must be fully lit to check the time. I'd like to see an ambiance screen added to the iPhone XR in iOS 12.3 as part of the usual supplement of Apple's mid-cycle features.

Incredible speed, incredible autonomy

With fewer pixels to push, the iPhone XR is able to beat the iPhone XS and XS Max in a key category: battery life. Even with a battery capacity of less than 3,000 mAh, the iPhone XR is one of the most durable phones in this price range, regardless of its price range. He also toured the Pixel 3 XL and Galaxy S9.

The Galaxy Note 9 and its 4000 mAh battery have been rewarded. I had constantly between 7 and 8 hours of screen extremely pushed (games, movies, streaming, etc.) and almost 10 days less tiring. I have never had to load the iPhone XR before the end of my day, including a particularly long pass when playing Apple Music continuously and using detailed navigation.

Christopher Hebert / IDG

Apple also has not reduced its performance to increase the battery life of the iPhone XR. The XR has the same A12 Bionic chip as the XS, and it's a direct screamer. Applications and animations scroll across the screen with the combination of CPU speed and the usual iOS optimization. Anyone upgrading from an iPhone 6 or earlier (which I suspect will be a significant part of the sales) will benefit from a dramatic acceleration in speed. Even going from an iPhone 7 will be a profound improvement.

In our tests with Geekbench 4, we found that the speed of the iPhone XR was identical to that of phones Phone XS and XS Plus. Compared to the iPhone X, the XR is 13% faster in mono-core performance and about 10% faster in multi-core. You can get the full story of our benchmark results (which include several other tests) in our reference article on the iPhone XR.

IDG

And that's little, but I also appreciate the storage levels of the XR. While it offers the same basic level of 64GB as the high-end phones, Apple is forcing its customers to spend an additional $ 150 for 256GB of storage on the XS, artificially inflating the storage price higher than most users. On the XR, you can double the storage capacity to 128 GB for only $ 50, which is much more acceptable.

The facial identity paves the way

A rear fingerprint sensor would have been an easy solution for the iPhone XR, offering a familiar biometry while allowing an even smaller notch to the front. Instead, Apple has integrated a new generation True Depth camera at the XR and, like the chip and its design, it places the cheapest Apple phone on the same footing than the most expensive.

Christopher Hebert / IDG

Face ID on the iPhone XR is just as amazing as on the XS, and a little bit faster and more forgiving than the iPhone X. This is not just an improvement over the Touch ID on the iPhone 8, it offers the same amazing simplicity of I had the impression of using for the first time the fingerprint sensor of the iPhone 5 or the sliding bar to unlock the original iPhone. You will not realize how difficult it is to reach a fingerprint sensor before using Face ID for the first time.

On the iPhone XR, the facial identity seems much more advanced than the iPhone X. You can add a second face. Integration with password managers and other applications makes it much more useful than a simple unlocking mechanism. But most people who buy this phone will be more interested in Animoji and Memoji, which work equally well on the iPhone XR. For most people, the True Depth camera is more likely a bonus than a reason to buy the XR, but its presence on the XR is a big help in raising it to the top rank.

This is mainly due to iOS 12. There is nothing here that can not be achieved with the iPhone 7 or 8, but coupled with the A12 Bionic chip, iOS 12 feels like home on the XR. Gesture navigation is smart and fluid, Face ID is incredibly fast and the application change is incredibly fluid. I would still love multitask split-screen and an application drawer, but iOS 12 just shines on the XR.

A camera does the work of two

Other than the display, the other semi-sacrifice of the iPhone XR is with the camera. Instead of a dual network like the iPhone XS, the XR has a lonely lens on the back. Apple has done the same thing to distinguish the iPhone Plus models and, just like these phones, you lose the zoom lens.

Christopher Hebert / IDG

Although the lack of 2X optical zoom can certainly do the trick, I found that the digital zoom of the XR was perfectly suited to most situations. Yes, it's noisier than optical zoom and sometimes the zoom algorithm took a wrong white balance, but the digital results alone are hardly useless. Unless you rely a lot on the zoom, you probably will not miss it.

Michael Simon / IDG

To compensate for the zoom bokeh tasks, Apple has improved its computer photography game to allow the XR to take portraits, a first for an iPhone with a single camera. And they are very good. Compared to the dual camera system of Note 9, the XR was also able to discern the background of the subject (and often better), and was especially able to follow the exceptional capabilities of the Pixel 3 XL.

It's a shame that portrait mode does not work with people, but it will be interesting to see how Apple improves its processing engine, assuming that future iterations of the XR stick have only one goal.

Michael Simon / IDG

When taking regular pictures, the XR is essentially an XS, ie it is one of the best cameras you will get in a smartphone. Even in a season with huge gains of a thousand dollars, the $ 750 iPhone XR gives up nothing to its peers, and I have always taken photos worthy of a gallery. Apple's stated engine has often divided the difference between Samsung's mild overexposure and Google's artistic under-exposure to capture crisp, detailed, hyper-realistic photos that did not require minimal touch-ups. The XR has excelled in all types of light, and although its low-light mode is not as good as the fantastic Pixel 3 XL's Night Sight, I would not hesitate to recommend the XR to anyone arguing with a phone more expensive. .

Michael Simon / IDG

Some other observations:

• I've taken all my photos with Smart HDR enabled, mainly because Apple makes unnecessarily complicated disabling the activation. Instead of a toggle in the application, you need to access the camera settings in the application Settings.
• Apple gives the XR the same ability to adjust portraits as the XS: you can adjust the depth of field before taking a picture (by pressing the "f" button in the upper right corner and then pressing Edit in the menu Photos app).
• You can not use stage lighting on the XR.
• Even without optical zoom, I missed the 2X zoom button above the shutter release. It's much more practical than pinching.
• Apple's camera app stubbornly lacks a true set of manual controls, but many third-party apps offer this feature.

Bottom line

Although the iPhone XR obviously pulls the pin of Apple's flagship phones to a thousand dollars, its price is comparable to that of an iPhone 9. In an alternative reality where the iPhone X has never existed, the XR would be the most exciting iPhone in years and people would line up to buy one.

Christopher Hebert / IDG

As such, the iPhone XR is billed for the second time to the iPhone XS and is considered a less important alternative. This is certainly not the case. It may not be as advanced as the XS, but it's a huge improvement over the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and even with just one camera, the XR is able to take stellar photos, even portraits. The iPhone XR is without a doubt the best entry-level iPhone ever designed by Apple, and it's no exaggeration to say that the iPhone XR is the largest iPhone that Apple has made to date, with a mix perfect of the best.

If you upgrade from an iPhone 7 or earlier and you refuse to spend a thousand dollars for a phone, the iPhone XR is really a no-brainer. This new design represents a significant improvement over the one based on the buttons of the house and the battery life is the best I have ever seen on an iPhone. And iOS 12 brings it all together.

Quite frankly, all users of the iPhone upgrade program should also consider the XR. That includes the users of an iPhone X. I exchanged my iPhone X of 256 GB against a XR of 128 GB and I saved 15 dollars a month, and I did not regret it. You can therefore add higher payments to the list of things not to be missed with the iPhone XR.