Although the iPhone X is sold for a price of 1000 USD and is sought after by many people because of the special features of Face ID, the sturdy steel border material, and the OLED screen on the iPhone X is very beautiful. The price of $ 1000 is still high and makes quite many people, including me, unable to spend that money to own an iPhone X in the early days. Apple sees it too: That’s why the iPhone XR was born.
Apple hasn’t shied away from releasing cheaper iPhones in the past to make iPhones more accessible to the majority: A few years ago, there was the Apple iPhone 5c and the Apple iPhone SE later. Besides the newest devices, Apple also has older models from prior years, like right now with the Apple iPhone XS, Apple iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR trio. The iPhone X is no longer in rotation, but the Apple iPhone 8 , the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and also the Apple iPhone 7, and the Apple iPhone 7 Plus are still out there on display, at a cheaper price point.
The iPhone XR is a completely different thing; this is not the iPhone XR. Apple no longer uses the old “configuration parts” on the iPhone XR but designs and attaches the most advanced configurations and brings the iPhone XR to a more affordable price that Apple users often see with an innovative design over the years.
Last year, Apple was surprised with the iPhone X and raised the price of the iPhone to a completely high level with a starting $ 1000; this year, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max continue that momentum with the price of the iPhone XS Max even higher starting at $1100. The iPhone XR is not a cheap iPhone, but Apple’s best iPhone is dedicated to the majority.
Advantages:
– The performance of the A12 Bionic processor is excellent
– The iPhone with the best battery life.
– Good finishing quality
– The 6.1-inch screen is bigger than the XS and just beautiful enough
– Colorful
Defect:
– The screen is beautiful, but a higher resolution will still look better
– A camera will have some disadvantages
First impressions
$250 is basically the price gap between the iPhone XR and the flagship high end thing Apple just put out. That gap comes from the 6.1 inch “Liquid Retina” LCD panel in the XR and the 5.8 inch “Super Retina” OLED display on the XS. Beyond that though, the iPhone XR and the iPhone XS don’t really feel that different, both use the A12 Bionic processor, both get a main camera with Smart HDR, iOS 12 is on both, they both do wireless charging, and yeah even dual‑Sim support is there.
Still, there are some extra quirks. Like, the XR has just one rear camera, the XS has an additional telephoto camera. Also the XR is a little more bulky, larger overall than the XS, and the last point is materials, the XR uses an aluminum frame, not stainless steel. Because of that familiar aluminum frame (which is kind of the big clue here), the XR comes with more colors, white, black, blue, coral, yellow, and red.
When you zoom into the details, those are almost the only real differences, but look, the iPhone XR keeps the same overall vibe as the iPhone XS and costs $250 less, even if the screen is “worse” compared to the iPhone XS. And honestly, that part is pretty much a certainty.
But the iPhone XR screen is not bad, still good, and maybe even better than smartphones with FullHD screens on the market.
New face
When the iPhone X was released last year, what was special and made the iPhone X even more special was when Apple “recklessly” ditched Touch ID and was equipped with Face ID to unlock the iPhone. You have seen how successful the results of this recklessness are, even most recently when the newly launched Huawei Mate 20 Pro partly followed Apple’s new Face ID technology but still Comes with an under-display fingerprint sensor.
iPhone XR is the sweetest thing when the size of the iPhone XR is between the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. A moderate 6.1-inch size if you find the iPhone XS Max big and the iPhone XS to be a bit “small.” The front glass of the iPhone XR is also less scratched after a few days of use compared to the Pixel 3 XL.
The hard thing to talk about on the iPhone XR is the color selection; Apple this year is quite generous when giving you six color options. That’s all you need to consider choosing the color you like; if you already have your favorite color, then it’s easy.
This 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display is almost the perfect size for most people. The problem is that it seems unreasonable with the 6.1-inch screen but the resolution of 1792 x 828 in the high-end iPhone that Apple has launched. However, Apple representative Phil Schiller confirmed that the iPhone XR screen is still very good, and if you can’t see the pixels when using it, the resolution doesn’t mean much.
Experience with the iPhone XR, and really if you use the iPhone XR, you won’t care about the resolution anymore because everything is still good. If you deliberately put your eyes close to the screen, you can see every pixel, or take a macro close-up like the picture above; you will see each pixel. Or you’ll see a difference when you put the XR next to the XS, but it’s all insignificant. The color on the LCD panel is still as good and beautiful as the previous generations.
Choosing the iPhone XR will also accept with the screen border will be thicker than the iPhone XS, and you will certainly feel this. The reason is that the structure of the LCD panel will respond differently to OLED due to always having to light, as the LCD panel is not flexible to bend the bottom edge of the connection port. Hence, the thicker border on the iPhone XR is inevitable.
A camera and multiple processing tricks are included.
Nowadays, you are no stranger to smartphones with more than one camera; even in 2019, many companies plan to develop up to 4-5 different cameras to create different focal lengths and effects when shooting photos on smartphones.
One camera, but iPhone XR is not inferior in any feature compared to iPhone XS, iPhone XR still has full Smart HDR due to the same new camera sensor, portrait capture, and aperture adjustment after capturing. Even under low light conditions, the iPhone XR does some more impressive portrait shots than the iPhone XS does, because those portraits are made using the main camera with a larger f/1.8 aperture instead of the iPhone XS, which relies on the telephoto camera with the smaller aperture, f/2.4 . In practice it looks like that the XR just handles it a bit better, even if you’re shooting in dimmer environments, and yeah the setup is basically the reason.
The camera is only disappointing if you often have to use the telephoto camera to take photos because the iPhone XR does not have a telephoto camera. So it will digitally zoom, so the quality will not be good enough in many cases for the iPhone camera. XR still responds well.
The portrait feature with one camera, Apple, has worked very well already; with the iPhone XR, you will give a good enough portrait photo and customize the aperture like the iPhone XS. The only thing the iPhone XR does is not have a telephoto focal length effect.
iPhone XR is great with so many features added with just one camera. However, it’s still the same Apple-style; these features are only available in the latest generation. The previous generation of iPhone with one camera will not benefit, and the reason is that it needs an A12 Bionic processor to do it. If you keep the old iOS versions and have a jailbreak, sometimes there will be tweaks to exploit all the features on Apple’s original camera application. Your old iPhones will enjoy this advantage, but today’s jailbreak is not much. Another attraction is because the hole to jailbreak is getting more difficult, so hackers don’t want to do this for free anymore.
A configuration similar to iPhone XS
The configuration has been mentioned in many articles; I will also talk about the details of the A12 Bionic or Neural Engine processors on the new generation of iPhones. The latest iPhone XR and XS with A12 Bionic processor gives not much higher performance but will save significantly more battery, which users care about. GPU improvements will also provide a better graphical gaming experience. With iPhone XR, unlike iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which is an “old” design after four years, iPhone XR is still a new, powerful design, the battery life.
Another attraction is because the hole to jailbreak is getting more difficult, so hackers don’t want to do this for free anymore. Let’s talk about performance with the most concern about battery life; Apple has “boasted” that the iPhone XR has extremely good battery life, and this is true.
(Refurbished) Apple iPhone XR, US Version, 64GB, Black – Unlocked: Buy it now
Apple iPhone XR, 64GB, White – For AT&T (Renewed): Buy it now
(Refurbished) Apple iPhone XR, 64GB, Red for T-Mobile: Buy it now
Apple iPhone XR, Boost Mobile, 64GB – Coral (Renewed): Buy it now
Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.
