iPhone XR review: Keeping compromises to a minimum

Apple’s slightly cheaper iPhone is the best new iPhone for most people.

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[Ogre_]

...the iPhone XR at least brings all the benefits of the iPhone X-series phones to consumers who aren’t too keen on raising the bar on the cost of a flagship. For that reason, it's the iPhone we'd recommend to most people.

So... Seems like the XR is the iPhone to get, especially if the price gap remains a significant $300-400 for basically an upgraded screen.

For me, it was the 2x Optical zoom on the camera. I use that lens about half the time. The display is nice too though.

 

[Ogre_]

So this has a better contrast ratio than the 7 plus, but worse resolution /ppi? Is that correct?

Correct. iPhone 7 Plus is 1920 x 1080 @ 401ppi. The screen density of the XR is the same as your wife's iPhone 7, 326ppi, but a higher resolution due to the screen being a larger physical size.

Put another way: Based on pixel density alone, the XR should look slightly worse than the 7 Plus, and identical to the 7. Given there are other improvements to the screen (brightness, etc.) the reality is that it's probably a wash. The consensus seems to be that the screen of the XR is "bad" only in comparison to the stellar OLED screens of the XS/XS Max.

And if you are over 40 it’s likely your eyes will prefer a phone with better contrast and a brighter screen over one with higher resolution regardless. Maybe it should be called the Retina OH display.

 

[Ogre_]

It seems like the perennial answer of the best iPhone for most people is last year's model (or even earlier). Same holds true for high-end Android phones (and cars, and a whole lot of other things) as well.

Not that the iPhone XR is necessarily a bad phone (at least if you're already in the Apple camp), but honestly for what most people do with phones they probably won't notice the little bit of extra performance or the slightly improved camera, but they WILL notice the removal of the home button and TouchID, and the extra $200 premium over an iPhone 8.

This year that's less true. If you are Ok with the smaller screen the iPhone 8 is $150 (not $200) less than the XR. If you want the bigger display, the 8 plus is only $50 less than the XR. The only people I'd recommend the 8 plus to are people who really want TouchID.

If you do want the smaller screen, the 8 is already on Apple's refurbished page for $499 which is a great price.

 

[Ogre_]

Regarding the cameras...

This is likely the result of my so-so eyes joining forces with the so-so crappy monitor my work computer has from which I read this article, but I don't see much difference between the photos taken by the XR vs XS vs X vs 8. Slight improvements in contrast and handling spots that get "washed out" such as the sky in the photo taken on the patio or the sky around the sun in the photo taken in front of the house.

Increasingly smartphone cameras are chasing deeper and deeper into edge cases.

Almost all mid-high end phones can take great pictures in places with good lighting. Newer iPhones are getting increasingly better in low light and high contrast lighting with deep shadows. They are also adding new photo modes like portrait photos which simply didn't exist any more. They've also been pushing video quality and resolution a lot.

But... for basic well lit shots? Shots taken with my recently retired iPhone 7 were just fine. The differences in the camera between one generation of iPhone and the next aren't going to be very big at this point. It's a continual evolution with no huge bumper years.

 

[Ogre_]

...
It's a shame because I already use Google services and have absolutely no problem with how they find the platform. I still feel Apple could make a lower end iPhone for people that just want the software optimisation and updates. I can't be the only one that would happily buy an iPhone, but isn't prepared to spend $500 on a phone

Buy an iPhone 7. Completely viable new phone for $450, plus good resale value, so as long as the phone doesn't get lost or broken or stolen, you should be able to sell it after several years for at least $150-$200. In the end, it will likely be cheaper than an Android phone, in terms of TCO...

Refurbished iPhone 8 is a much better deal. It's only $50 more and pretty much better across the board. The fact that it has 64GB storage instead of 32GB is worth it alone. If "refurbished" is unpalatable... I'd still recommend the iPhone 8 for that same reason. Life is too short to deal with 32GB anymore.

 

[Ogre_]

I'll be honest, I'm not an apple phone user. However:

Camera Bump..... why do they even have it? It makes the back of the phone look butt ugly, and you can't put the thing down flat on a surface without a case.

If you made the case that much thicker, you could put a better battery in and even keep the 3.5mm headphone jack!

As well the move to put the finger print sensor under the front middle of the phone seems to be an awkward place to put it for constant use. It seems better to put it on the back middle of the phone where it's reasonably agnostic for left/right index finder use.

Edit.

It's basically false advertising to measure thickness anywhere but the thickest part. I can't drive my car under a bridge that only clears the hood. Same goes for every other phone that has a camera bump.

Also the camera is the part of the phone most affected by scratching, so it should be recessed, not projecting out of the body. Sticking out is bad design. Not that this is particularly an Apple problem; many phones have a camera bump.

The entire industry and the legal system disagrees with you.

 

[Ogre_]

...
It's a shame because I already use Google services and have absolutely no problem with how they find the platform. I still feel Apple could make a lower end iPhone for people that just want the software optimisation and updates. I can't be the only one that would happily buy an iPhone, but isn't prepared to spend $500 on a phone

Buy an iPhone 7. Completely viable new phone for $450, plus good resale value, so as long as the phone doesn't get lost or broken or stolen, you should be able to sell it after several years for at least $150-$200. In the end, it will likely be cheaper than an Android phone, in terms of TCO...

Refurbished iPhone 8 is a much better deal. It's only $50 more and pretty much better across the board. The fact that it has 64GB storage instead of 32GB is worth it alone. If "refurbished" is unpalatable... I'd still recommend the iPhone 8 for that same reason. Life is too short to deal with 32GB anymore.

People say Apple refurb products are arguably better than new. I have nothing against them. I do like the idea of wireless charging. What I don't like with the 8 is the glass back. I'm not too worried about cracking my iPhone's screen because it only costs $129 to replace. But reportedly fixing a broken glass back on an 8 costs several hundred dollars. Not palatable to me.

I get that. I haven't had any trouble with the glass so maybe if I crack a back I'll recant. My big concern with buying older phones is lifespan. I buy phones, hand them down to my daughters and they hand them down to their kids. Buying a 2 year old phone means it's likely to be out-of-date that much faster. Plus... double the storage.

 

[Ogre_]

At the current prices and the current new features, I think I'll stick with the 6S. Hopefully, a cheaper phone does come out next year. With some sort of TouchID, I do recall that Apple won't go back to TouchID since "FaceID is so much better".

Which part of Apple's strategy do you not understand?
The cheaper phone is the iPhone 8. The much cheaper phone is the iPhone7, bought on refurb.

That's not going to change next year, except the cheaper phone becomes iPhone XR, and cheapest phone becomes the 8.

It's not clear at this point if that's how this is going to go anymore. While the iPhone 8 dropped down a level, the iPhone X disappeared and the iPhone XR sort of took it's place in the lineup. Are they going to have an iPhone XR 2 and the iPhone XR in the same lineup?

Over the last couple years they've really broken up their regular cadence.

 

[Ogre_]

At the current prices and the current new features, I think I'll stick with the 6S. Hopefully, a cheaper phone does come out next year. With some sort of TouchID, I do recall that Apple won't go back to TouchID since "FaceID is so much better".

Which part of Apple's strategy do you not understand?
The cheaper phone is the iPhone 8. The much cheaper phone is the iPhone7, bought on refurb.

That's not going to change next year, except the cheaper phone becomes iPhone XR, and cheapest phone becomes the 8.

It's not clear at this point if that's how this is going to go anymore. While the iPhone 8 dropped down a level, the iPhone X disappeared and the iPhone XR sort of took it's place in the lineup. Are they going to have an iPhone XR 2 and the iPhone XR in the same lineup?

Over the last couple years they've really broken up their regular cadence.

Jesus, some people just refuse to understand.
They have NOT broken their cadence.
The old cadence was 6, 6S, 7, 8, XR with three of these available at any given time. This will continue.

What has changed is the addition of a new PREMIUM tier (call it iPhone Edition...) which took the form last year of iPhone X, and this year of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

The fact that they introduced a premium phone is itself breaking their cadence.

(a) iPhone X and iPhone XS aren't for sale simultaneously because people who buy premium don't buy "kinda sorta" premium.

(b) If you can't afford the premium range, you don't buy it. Simple. Just like if you can't afford an aWatch Hermes, or business class airplane tickets, you don't buy them. They are nicer than the standard options (whether iPhone or airline tickets), but the standard options are just fine, and they are what MOST people buy.

Nonsense. There are even people on this thread who would like the iPhone X at $100 less than the iPhone XS.

Apple doesn't want to continue selling the iPhone X because it would cannibalize sales of the iPhone XS and almost certainly has lower margins than the XS. The most expensive components on the X and the XS are the OLED display, the stainless enclosure, and the dual lens camera; all things which both the X and the XS share. They discontinued the iPhone 5 for exactly the same reason.

That's where the iPhone XR comes in. The lower cost case, the single lens camera, and most important the much less expensive display allows them to have a lower end SKU that preserves their margins.

As with many design/ product decisions at Apple, it boils down to margins.

 

[Ogre_]

As with many design/ product decisions at Apple, it boils down to margins.

Even the discounted models have decent margins, but not on the scale of the premium ones.

In previous years margins have been relatively flat due to declining component prices (and likely depreciation on the CPU IP). That's not the case this year. Just the OLED screen itself is a much larger percentage of the total cost of the phone and it's cost is relatively flat Y/Y.

By dropping the iPhone X, they force people to choose between a few phones with good margins: The iPhone XR and the iPhone XS/ XS Max. If they'd kept the iPhone X, they might choose the middle phone with lower margins.

 

[Ogre_]

As with many design/ product decisions at Apple, it boils down to margins.

Even the discounted models have decent margins, but not on the scale of the premium ones.

In previous years margins have been relatively flat due to declining component prices (and likely depreciation on the CPU IP). That's not the case this year. Just the OLED screen itself is a much larger percentage of the total cost of the phone and it's cost is relatively flat Y/Y.

By dropping the iPhone X, they force people to choose between a few phones with good margins: The iPhone XR and the iPhone XS/ XS Max. If they'd kept the iPhone X, they might choose the middle phone with lower margins.

What would be any point in that from Apple's perspective?

Discounted models are always and only below the basic model, so below the iPhone 8 last year and below the iPhone XR this year. And that's it.

There has never been a discounted Plus-Model either, for the exact same reason!

Since they introduced the plus model, they've offered the previous year's plus at $100 off. Right now you can buy the 7 plus and the 8 plus new from Apple's web site for $569 and $699 respectively.

Aside from that, I'm not sure what you are getting at.