Apple iPhone XR Review & Evaluation

The iPhone XR, the "economical" phone from Apple, offers you a stunning modern iPhone with a super fast processor at $ 749. But there is a big disadvantage: it just does not connect to wireless networks such as the iPhone XS or XS Max, or even to Android competitors such as Google Pixel 3. The quality of the connection is absolutely essential to our vision of the mobile phone experience. XR brings to an iPhone many features of last generation costing 250 to 350 dollars less than the leaders. We think the XS Max is the iPhone you should get if you want to keep your phone for three years or more.

Beautiful design

The iPhone XR is the most beautiful iPhone of all time. I am ready to make this bold statement because the shimmering colors are simply superb and the rounded corners give it the impression of "river stone" that manufacturers have been trying to reach with mobile phones for years. The color is anodized aluminum under glass, but it looks like a ceramic automotive paint.

Do not get a black XR. As you can see here, it's a little boring. Get blue, coral, red, white or yellow, then place a transparent case on the back to flatten the camera hump (it's pretty visible), but still show the color. It's a phone that everyone wants to see.

In terms of size, the XR is just a little smaller than the XS Max, which is in turn the same size as the iPhone 6/7/8 Plus. In other words, it is a little smaller than older Plus-size phones. With a width of 2.98 inches, it will be too wide for a lot of smaller and older iPhone users; it's frustrating that Apple does not have a smaller phone with the latest technology, and you'll have to fall back on an iPhone 8 or access a Google Pixel 3 if you want something from really apart.

The 6.1-inch screen displays the latest 19.5: 9 aspect ratio, which gives you 14.16 square inches of screen compared to the 12.92-inch square of the older Plus and 16 models, 08 of the XS Max. The "liquid retina" LCD screen of the XR is really very good. Place it next to an iPhone XS Max, as I currently do, and it's impossible to tell the difference between the XR's LCD and the OLED's XS depending on the colors and blacks. At 326 pixels per inch, it has the same pixel density as the iPhone 4 to 8; it is less dense than the iPhone XS, but it is very difficult to notice if you are not very fussy and you have very sharp eyes. There is a little more border around the edges than on the XS and XS Max (because the LCD needs a backlight), but again, it's not so disturbing.

Like all recent iPhones, the XR is IP67 water resistant and supports wireless charging. It has a single Lightning port and no traditional headphone jack, but comes with Lightning headphones and works perfectly with a Bluetooth headset.

From left to right: iPhone XR, iPhone XS Max

The XR lacks 3D Touch, the Apple's screen pressure sensor, which allows you to view shortcut actions from your home screen's apps. This suits me, and Apple sends via software updates to allow some 3D Touch features, such as developing notifications with the help of long presses on the XR screen. I had loved the idea of ​​3D Touch during its first announcement, but it has become an orphaned and little used feature, and I think few people will notice the loss. The XR of course has a haptic feedback. When you tap the icons, you feel a small vibration, and that's enough.

Wireless capabilities

The iPhone XR, like the XS and the XS Max, features Apple's innovative dual SIM card system, which uses a physical SIM card and a virtual SIM card. The phone supports all potential US carriers on the main slot of the SIM card, including the new T-Mobile Band 71. At the moment, secondary housing is mainly for roaming: companies like Truphone and GigSky offer global data packages, which are often more numerous. affordable that roaming with your main operator.

In terms of call quality, the last big leap forward has been between the iPhone 7 and the 8 generations. The 8, X, XR, XS, and XS Max models all support EVS, a new voice-quality codec implemented by Verizon and T-Mobile that optimizes the quality of HD voice over previous generations. This means that calls from these operators sounds better and more clearly than those from an iPhone 6 or 7. But the quality of the voice of the XR is not better than that of the 8 or the X (check our function on voice calls to learn more about EVS).

Alas, that's where the good news ends on RF. Because the XR does not have the capacity of the XS MIMO 4×4 antenna, its LTE speeds and the quality of reception is clearly behind the XS at almost every level. We have a detailed lab report with some interesting graphs about it. It's really inexcusable for Apple not to use MIMO 4×4 technology in a $ 750 phone in 2018, but it's all about differentiating and going upmarket. The XR also lacks LAA, a system that operators use to speed up networks in crowded city centers (and that XS at).

The iPhone XR is at the top, the XS above low. These two missing holes on the right side of the XS are the extra antenna that the XR needs.

Wi-Fi performance is also significantly lower than the XS or Google Pixel 3. Tested against a Netgear R7000 5GHz router, the XR achieved 3 to 11 Mbps in low signal conditions, while the others phones reached 40 to 70 Mbps. Further away from the router, we get 12 Mbps on the XS, 31 Mbps on the Pixel 3 and nothing on the XR, which reported that it had a signal but that it just could not not connect. It's pretty disappointing.

Now, I want to put this in context, because when our LTE tests were released, one speaker said, "In this case, I will stay with my iPhone 6 because it's awful!" Do not do that. The XR tests look like those of an iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 connects much better than an iPhone 6. It includes full frequency bands that older phones do not have access; you'll find huge amounts of open T-Mobile coverage and AT & T congestion elevator with any phone of this generation. The XR is not great compared to other phones over $ 750 marketed in 2018, but it's way better than a phone in 2016.

Performance, storage and battery life

The Apple A12 processor is the most powerful mobile chip available to date, and one of the big advantages of the XR is that it gives you access to all that A12 juice. On Geekbench, it is between 10 and 15% higher than the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X in terms of processor performance, and 40% higher in terms of computational performance on GPUs. On GFXBench, a graphical benchmark, it is 40 to 45% higher than that of the iPhone 8 in off-screen testing, which does not take into account the screen resolution.

See how we test phones

The XR of course uses some of this extra power to drive a larger screen than the iPhone 8. With a resolution of 1,792 pixels on 828 pixels against 1,334 pixels on 750, the actual frame rate at screen is 12% higher than that of the iPhone 8. But since the XR has a lower resolution screen than the XS and XS Max, the frame rate on the screen on the XR are also better than his more expensive cousins–you can say that for games, it is the best possible iPhone.

With the A12 and Apple's Face ID camera, the XR handles everything that iOS 12 has to offer, and iOS 12 has a lot to offer in terms of smartphone operating system. It's better if you have a Mac, and even better if you have an Apple Watch. Even without these synergies, iOS remains the most secure and elegant mobile operating system with the most elegant design and the best games.

In general, Apple fully supports iPhone processors in the new versions of iOS for about four years after their release. Your XR should therefore be able to be used at least until 2022. That said, if you plan to upgrade to an iPhone for the new 5G networks by 2021, the iPhone 8 and X, old one year, will also be fully supported until then.

The phone is available in 64GB ($ 749), 128GB ($ 799) and 256GB ($ 899) models. If you want to keep many pictures and videos on your phone, go for the 128GB model. It's important to note here that Apple only offers the smallest iPhone 8 64GB and 256GB. If you want an iPhone of 128 GB, you can not get anything smaller or cheaper than an iPhone XR.

We are still running battery tests, but we have no reason to deny Apple's claim that it will be the iPhone the most durable of the three current models. Apple claims 15 hours of Internet use, which in our experience is halved when screen brightness is increased. max, compared to 12 hours (read 6) on the XS and at 1 pm (read 6.5) on the XS Max. This extra hour of use could make all the difference, but I want to emphasize that the 12 hours and more of the actual use of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 are far from it.

Camera

The iPhone XR is equipped with only one main camera, f / 1.8, 12 megapixel camera, which records 4K videos at 60 frames per second. This is the same main camera as on the iPhone XS and XS Max. He took identical pictures during the tests, even in low light. This is very good–good enough so that any debate between it and other high-end mobile cameras is really at the level of bragging rights.

Having a single camera means that the portrait mode is not as developed as on the XS. Taking portraits with both cameras (alas, people too shy to have their pictures in a review), I found a big and a small difference. The big difference is that the XS uses the 2x camera to take these portraits, which gives a tighter picture, similar to a photo in the head, at arm's length, which is much more flattering. The minor difference is that the XR's software has problems with the blurry strands of hair that hide behind other locks of hair. Therefore, when you zoom in, the blur training is just not perfect.

In addition, on the XR, portrait really means portrait: it will only fire when it detects a human face, because he uses machine learning to understand this silhouette. With the XS, you can use it on anything: a flower, a tree, your cat.

From left to right: iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone XS

The XS and XS Max's secondary camera offers these phones a 2x zoom option, which is missing at the XR. I will not anchor the XR too much for that: at $ 749, whether or not the phones have a second camera is everywhere on the map. The Google Pixel 3 and the Samsung Galaxy S9 do not, unlike the LG G7 ThinQ.

It's all with the main camera. Since the XS and XR have the same front-facing camera, with its 3D infrared sensor, the front-facing photos (and the front-facing bokeh) are identical on both platforms. The facial identity is fast and accurate, and you can do some nonsense like using Snapchat 3D masks and Animoji animations from Apple. Memoji, which require a face tracking camera and are therefore not available on the iPhone 8. With the A12 processor, they are as fast and smooth on the XR as on the XS.

Comparisons and conclusions

The best argument for the iPhone XR is its appearance. From the front, it's almost impossible to distinguish iPhones that cost from 250 to 350 dollars more. At the back, the colorful patterns are simply gorgeous. The XR just gives you a fashionable look, and I do not think we should neglect the power of fashion. Moreover, the performances are not mediocre, the arguments mode and price will thus conquer many people. It is worth mentioning that it is also the only new iPhone model available at under $ 1,000.

The XR has a fast processor. He can make a portrait fashion, if a little mischief. Most importantly for the fashion world, he can make portrait selfies and weird 3D Snapchat masks that only work with the Face ID camera. It runs on T-Mobile in parts of Kansas where phones other than those in band 71 can not be reached and you can charge a roaming virtual SIM card for use abroad in seconds. And of course, unlike all Android phones, it uses iMessage, so you no longer have to worry about displaying your messages in a green box.

But I can not ignore the fact that its wireless performance is much worse than the others iPhones, or competing Android phones at the same price. It is also on the big size, and if you want to get a big iPhone, you should get the iPhone XS Max, with its best Wi-Fi, cellular, LAA, two cameras and a higher resolution screen about the same body . And subscribe to a three-year contract so you do not feel brutalized by the price.

Or, here's a tip: get an iPhone 8. Listen to me. Either way, you're thinking of getting an iPhone with a single camera, and the performance delta between the 8 and the XR is not that huge. Apple will release an iPhone 5G in 2020 or 2021 at the latest. If you buy an iPhone 8 at $ 599 with a two year payment plan rather than an iPhone XR at $ 749, you will be in a prime position to take that iPhone 5G when it will be available. In addition, the iPhone 8 has a better size for one-handed use.

If you decide to buy the iPhone XR because it's gorgeous and you're doing it with your eyes open, it's quite fine. But I think the iPhone 8 and the XS Max are the ones to buy this year.