IPHONE 11 VS. IPHONE XR: WHICH IS THE BEST IPHONE?

Even though the iPhone 12 is Apple’s most recent iPhone, there are still plenty of reasons to consider Apple’s earlier phones, such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR, especially if pricing is your top priority. To evaluate which phone is the better buy today, we’re comparing the iPhone 11, which starts at $599, with the iPhone XR, which is now available for $499.

SPECIFICATIONS

Apple iPhone 11

The iPhone 11 has additional tricks up its bag for images and movies, with two rear cameras, Night Mode photography, and a 12-megapixel front-facing lens. However, when compared to the iPhone XR, which already captures excellent photos and video, the benefits are minor and not worth the extra money. The iPhone 11 also boasts a new U1 chip, as well as Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit LTE capabilities.

These next-gen technologies will appear in future iPhones and Android smartphones, so the iPhone 11 is your best bet if you want a modern phone for the next few years. However, you won’t experience any instant benefits because Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit LTE aren’t yet completely built-out networks, which is another reason why we still favor the iPhone XR. Read our review of the Apple iPhone 11.

Apple iPhone XR

The iPhone XR may have an older processor and specifications, but we think it’s worth it for the money you’ll save. On its A12 chipset, it runs iOS 14 as smoothly as the iPhone 11, and despite the lack of an ultrawide camera and new camera technology, the iPhone XR is perfectly capable of sharing photographs to Instagram and social media.

In general, the iPhone XR is still a wonderful value if you’re on a limited budget. We recommend either saving that money for anything else or upgrading to the 128GB model with it. Read our review of the Apple iPhone XR.

Design: Nearly identical

The phones have the same 6.1-inch LCD display with the same resolution and pixel density, and they have the same size and weight.

We put the iPhone 11 and XR through a series of drop tests, and both phones passed with flying colors. We dropped the iPhone 11 from 3 feet, 6 feet, and 8 feet, 7 inches on its front and back on solid concrete. The phone’s rear glass and screen did not fracture during any of the drops.

The iPhone 11 and iPhone XR are essentially identical in appearance, with the exception of the iPhone 11’s additional camera and square hump. Apart from the color options (the iPhone 11 is available in lavender, mint green, and a pastel yellow, while the Phone XR is available in canary yellow, coral, and blue), there are no noticeable distinctions.

In 2018, we accidentally dropped the iPhone XR on a concrete sidewalk. The phone’s camera glass fractured around waist height, while the back glass remained intact. The screen was also unharmed. The iPhone XR survived a fall on its back with no new damage, but the display eventually cracked when we dropped it on its screen.

Even while this was regrettable, the iPhone XR’s ability to resist waist-high drops was impressive.

Both phones are water resistant, but the iPhone 11 has a higher IP classification of IP68 and can withstand being submerged for 30 minutes at a depth of 2 meters (6.5 feet). On paper, the iPhone XR is rated IP67 and can survive underwater for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter.

The iPhone XR, on the other hand, maintained ticking even after 19 minutes underwater at a depth of 5 meters when we took it diving. We were unable to drown the iPhone 11 or iPhone 11 Pro in our water testing, with both phones lasting 30 minutes at a depth of 12 meters. The iPhone 11 outperforms both its own promises and the iPhone XR’s toughness when it comes to water resistance.

Camera

The iPhone 11 boasts a second, 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera as well as a new Night Mode for low-light photography. Overall, both smartphones’ outdoor and well-lit photos are equally brilliant, with uniform and bright colors on both cameras.

The iPhone 11, on the other hand, took noticeably crisper photos with finer details, especially when viewed at full resolution. With its new mode, it also did a better job of brightening up nighttime and dull photographs. When you need to cram more content into each frame or shoot more expansive scenes, the second ultra-wide camera comes in handy.

It also has a somewhat brighter flash, though we rarely use it. Finally, we enjoy that the iPhone 11 now allows us to snap portrait shots of our dogs (the iPhone XR does not recognize nonhuman faces for portraits, which is a drag). The iPhone 11 also employs a function known as Deep Fusion, which enhances photo detail and lowers image noise.

In terms of video, the Phone 11’s footage has a little higher dynamic range, making lighting and exposure appear more even and realistic. On the regular 12-megapixel camera, video stabilization is also a little better. However, the wide-angle camera lacks optical image stabilization, and you can only switch between cameras when shooting 4K video at 30 frames per second.

The iPhone 11 boasts a 12-megapixel front-facing camera, whereas the iPhone XR has a 7-megapixel front-facing camera. While we appreciate the iPhone 11’s higher resolution, we’ve never had many complaints with the iPhone XR’s front-facing camera, and if you’re a casual selfie-taker, the iPhone XR is more than adequate.

The front camera on the iPhone 11 can also pull out for a larger field of view, shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second, and take slow-motion recordings. However, because we usually utilize the front-facing camera for selfies, we didn’t use those final two capabilities very often.

iPhone 11 works faster

The iPhone 11 sports Apple’s latest A13 Bionic CPU, while the iPhone XR has the A12 processor from 2018. The iPhone 11 and XR, for the most part, run iOS 13 as smoothly and quickly as each other. We couldn’t tell the difference in speed when doing everyday things like browsing the web, turning on the camera, or opening apps. However, the iPhone 11 is undeniably the quicker phone on paper.

While we’re in the process of upgrading our phone battery testing methodology, we did put the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR through a new streaming video test. Here’s what we said about the iPhone 11 in our review: We found that the iPhone 11’s battery life is nearly the same as the iPhone XR after doing our rigorous battery testing and living with it for over a month.

The iPhone 11 lasted 13 hours and 52 minutes in our streaming video tests, compared to 12 hours and 7 minutes for the iPhone XR in the same test. The iPhone 11 has lasted roughly a day and a half in daily use.

According to Apple, the iPhone 11 contains an U1 processor for “spatial awareness,” which lets iPhones find other iPhones more precisely when they’re close by. Many people believe the U1 chip is laying the framework for Apple’s long-rumored tile tracker.

Gigabit LTE, a more advanced variant of 4G LTE, is available on the iPhone 11. Gigabit LTE is extremely fast, with peak rates of 1 gigabit per second, almost equivalent to a landline internet connection. The iPhone XS and XS Max received Gigabit LTE in 2017, but the iPhone XR was inexplicably left out of the update.

However, the iPhone 11 has it, and while you won’t always hit those speeds, your total speed will be faster than an earlier phone, and you’ll have a lot more room for prospective speed.