The iPhone 11 is an excellent successor to the 2018 iPhone XR and offers many of the features and power of the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, but at a lower price. However, despite its better camera, the XR has a more durable battery.
iPhone 11: The cheapest iPhone of 2019 meets almost all expectations
The good: The iPhone 11 is an excellent successor to the iPhone XR. Although it has the same screen and design as its predecessor, it offers two rear cameras and new features along with a lower entry price.
The bad: It’s not as fancy as the Phone 11 Pro, and it has a less camera and lower-quality screen. In addition, it differs little from the iPhone XR of 2018, and its battery performed below what Apple promised.
Conclusion: If you have an iPhone XR or higher, the iPhone 11 is not for you. But if you have an iPhone 8 or older, you should consider this device with excellent features for a price starting at the US $300 lower than its older brothers, the iPhone 11 Pro. However, the battery performance leaves what you want.
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In every family, there are hierarchies, and when it comes to the 2019 iPhone line, it is clear that the iPhone 11 is the younger brother.
Presented in September along with the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max, the iPhone 11 is made of aluminum (the Pro has a steel frame); It has an LCD screen (in front of OLED in the Pro) and has only two rear cameras (compared to three in the Pro). But you really have to think of the iPhone 11 as the successor of the iPhone XR, which was the lowest-priced model presented in 2018. In that sense, the iPhone 11 is already one step ahead: its starting price is US $699, while that the XR cost US $749 when it hit the market – although now you find the XR from US $599.
However, in my daily use and in my tests, the battery performance of the iPhone 11 left something to be desired, especially compared to my experience with the iPhone XR last year.
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Design
The iPhone 11 is practically identical to the iPhone XR: the same shape, same size, and weight. The biggest difference is in the camera module, which is now square and integrates the two sensors and the True Tone flash. The glass backplate is one piece, including that square with relief. The two cameras protrude slightly in their vertical composition, similar to that of the 2018 XS cameras.
The iPhone 11 comes in six colors: white, black, pastel violet, pastel green, pastel yellow, and Product red (Red). We will miss the vivid tones of the XR, especially coral (burnt orange) and bright blue and yellow. This year we have for this review a red unit Product (Red), whose tone is a little lighter and brighter than the red of the XR. (Personally, I did not like pastel colors and, therefore, I prefer red; I miss those of last year).
The iPhone 11 has a 6.1-inch LCD screen, the same as the XR, and offers IP68 water resistance, which means you can immerse it in up to two meters of water for 30 minutes, an improvement over its predecessor, which it bore only a depth of 1.5 meters.
The iPhone 11 is unlocked with the face ID function, which Apple says has improved software and still works well.
The phone is a bit big for my liking, but the iPhone 11 Pro Max is bigger. Its screen is very sharp and bright (although with less contrast and less defined colors than the OLED screen of the iPhone XS) and its ergonomics and visual quality makes it perfect to test the Apple Arcade video game service, which is free for one year with the purchase of any Apple product, including the iPhone 11, for a saving of US $60 (the service will cost US $ 4.99 per month – here you can see many of the video games available in Apple Arcade ).
In the time I have used it, the iPhone 11 has performed very well to send emails and texts, surf the Internet with Safari, use several apps (Instagram, WhatsApp, Feedly, among others), and make calls. I have also used it a lot to take pictures, which I will tell you next.
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Camera
The iPhone 11, unlike the XR, has two 12-megapixel cameras on the back: a regular (f / 1.8) and a wide-angle (f / 2.4) that has optical image stabilization. As in other iPhone with more than one camera, the Camera app shows you a little circle with which you can move from one lens to another. Something new is that when you make a frame with the regular lens, on the sides, it shows you the whole image that your shot could cover if you switched to the wide-angle lens. The latter is curious, but it doesn’t seem so useful to me since you can see the same thing just by touching the little circle – maybe it’s a matter of getting used to it.
When you use the regular lens in the Camera app on the iPhone 11 you can see on the sides the full image that you could capture if you switch to the wide-angle sensor.
The famous Portrait mode, with which it achieves the blurry bokeh background effect, among others, has also changed thanks to having two sensors, in addition to adding a new style called High Key in B and N in black and white and that cuts to the Subject on a white background. With the rear cameras, you can now use this mode with all kinds of objects, not just humans. And, with the front camera, you can now use all the effects in your selfies. The front camera is up to 12 megapixels in horizontal shots (7MP in vertical captures) and now offers a wide-angle option to take selfies with several people (captured in 12MP).
For the first time, the portrait mode of the iPhone’s rear camera can recognize objects other than people to execute effects such as bokeh (blurred background).
But the most important thing – and that gives good results as you can see yourself in the gallery below – is the Night mode, which is automatically activated when the shot is very dark (in that case a moon icon appears on the upper left corner of the screen, from where you can deactivate it if you want). In my tests, the Night mode lets in much more light to each photo, even capturing my son in a totally dark environment (the XR photo is almost black with a few other elements – you can see it in the gallery below). I think this improvement is important and could help you decide between iPhone 11 and iPhone XR (the function also comes in Pro models).
However, it seems to me that the colors of the night mode are very saturated and do not look natural. The night mode only works with the regular sensor (it does not work with the wide-angle lens, nor with the front camera).
The company says the iPhone 11 has an enhanced Smart HDR format – the function that makes a compilation of several exposures to create the best possible image. The flash is True Tone, which Apple also says has improved, although I generally try to avoid using the phone’s flash.
As for the video, it offers interesting things too, including improvements in video capture stabilization (Apple calls it cinematic stabilization ), a function that eliminates a lot of movement in your videos. A video that I recorded walking looks totally stable and without the typical wobble of when I recorded things while walking on previous phones of the company. The iPhone 11 records video at up to 4K at 60cps, and Apple says the phone uses its neural motor to add detail and eliminate noise in the shots.
As for the sound, the iPhone 11 has spatial audio ( spatial audio ) with Dolby Atmos support that makes the phone vibrate with the sound (excellent when you watch movies) or that the dialogue, music, or noise is heard stereo as if it were traveling the screen.
Also, you can now record video from the regular photo capture function by simply pressing the button hard, and you can record video in slow motion from the front camera, something Apple calls slofies. I became a couple, and I have to say that I felt – and saw myself – a little ridiculous. Like animojis and memojis, these are functions that attract attention but are rarely used.
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Performance and connectivity
First, let’s talk about the battery. On my first day of full use (after making the settings the day before), a day of extremely intense use because I used the camera for more than five hours without stopping to take video and photo, the battery of the iPhone 11 lasted just under 12 hours. That use started at 7:30 am and included taking lots of photos and videos, using apps like Instagram, Feedly, Yahoo! Mail, and answer emails and text messages throughout the day. At 7 pm, the phone had less than the remaining 10 percent of the battery. That was my experience for at least the first two days of full use.
On days of more normal use, I arrived with about 20 percent at the end of the day, which seems little to me – and dangerous if you have plans to go out at night and have no place to charge it. It is very important to mention that all that use was with iOS 13. Apple updated the operating system to 13.1 not even after launching the iPhone 11, and the update included improvements in battery performance – which we saw reflected in our tests.
In our intensive use tests, which include playing a video from the gallery app with headphones connected to the Lightning, with 50 percent screen brightness (auto-brightness off) and 50 percent volume, in Airplane mode and With the notifications turned off, the iPhone 11 averaged only 15 hours with 18 minutes, much less than the 18 hours and 51 minutes that the iPhone XR gave us on average in the same tests. According to Apple, the battery of the iPhone 11 should last an hour longer than that of the XR, but in our tests, the best we saw in terms of battery performance of the iPhone 11 were 16 hours of constant video playback. (We did these tests with iOS 13.1.1, which supposedly improves battery performance).
Due to these discrepancies, we designed a new test to compare the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR. The second test involves continuously playing a video on YouTube from Chrome with the screen brightness at 50 percent, and the audio at 50 percent, with the cellular connection, turned off and the Wi-Fi on. We also did the same test with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The results of these tests were:
Battery test results with video ‘streaming.’
- iPhone XR 12hr 7m
- iPhone 11 13hr 52m
- iPhone 11 Pro Max 19hr 31m
These results align more with Apple’s promises (according to the company, the iPhone 11’s battery lasts an hour longer than the XR’s), but the difference in duration compared to the iPhone Pro Max’s battery (in this test) is significant. However, seeing all the results and adding my personal experience, my conclusion is that the iPhone XR has a better battery than the iPhone 11, at least for common use on a normal day.
The iPhone 11 has the new A13 Bionic processor. Apple says the Aion Bionic offers up to 20 percent better performance than what the A12 Bionic offered with 30 percent better energy use. The GPU, meanwhile, is 20 percent faster and 40 percent more efficient than in the XR, according to the company. So far, the iPhone 11 has executed all its functions quickly and effectively, but we will continue to do more tests because, so far, I have not noticed differences in daily performance.
In terms of connectivity, the iPhone 11 can be used with dual SIM (one nano-SIM and another eSIM) to have two phone numbers and connects to LTE and WiFi 6. It has wireless charging and, although it does not include the fast charger 18 Watts like the Pro, you can charge quickly if you have that plug.
The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro also feature the U1 chip for the first time, designed so that two devices can be located between them precisely. AirDrop, the function to share files between Apple devices, also receives an improvement.
Performance tests
The Bionic A13 processor passed the A12 Bionic in the two main performance tests (Geekbench 5 and 3DMark Ice Storm). Here are our results after at least 10 tests with each of the apps on each of the phones:
iPhone 11: Features and specifications
- Display: 6.1 inches (Liquid Retina)
- Resolution: 1,792×828 pixels
- Pixel Density: 326ppp
- Processor: A13 Bionic
- Rear cameras: Double, 12 megapixels (f / 1.8) with OIS + wide-angle 12 megapixels (f / 2.4)
- Front camera: 12 megapixels (7-megapixel photos unless you capture horizontally or extend the capture) – with slow-motion recording
- Battery: Up to 1 hour more than the iPhone XR, according to Apple
- Wireless charging: Yes
- Water resistance: IP68 (Apple says up to 2 meters deep for up to 30 minutes)
- Facial Recognition: Yes (Face ID)
- Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
- Size: 150.9×75.7×8.3mm
- Weight: 194 grams
- Price and availability
The price of the iPhone 11 is the US $ 699 in its initial configuration and is available as of September 20. Its price is from the US $ 300 cheaper than the iPhone 11 Pro in its base configuration, and it costs from the US $ 400 less than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The prices are for the iPhone 11 are:
- US $699 for 64GB
- US $749 for 128GB
- US $849 for 256GB
Who is the iPhone 11 for?
- For people who want to update their iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or earlier
- For someone who wants their first phone and prefers the iOS ecosystem (although the XR is a good option, at its 2019 price)
- For those who don’t mind not having the latest of the latest
- For those who do not want to pay US $1,000 or more for a telephone
- For people looking for a well-built and well-performing phone to perform all the daily and typical tasks of a modern cell phone
- For those who want to get a similar experience (although not equal) to the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max at a lower price
Who is the iPhone 11 for?
- For iPhone XR owners unless they desperately want two cameras and use Night mode
- For those who want the best current cell phone, be it iOS or Android
- For a professional or semi-professional of photography who wants all possible functions
- For those who want the strongest and best-built phone on the market, with materials such as steel (as in the XS and 11 Pro)
iPhone 11 vs. iPhone 11 Pro vs. iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max
screen 6.1 inches (LCD) 5.8 inches (OLED) 6.5 inches (OLED)
Resolution 1,792×828 pixels 2,436×1,125 pixels 2,688×1,242 pixels
Pixel density 326ppp 458ppp 458ppp
Operating system iOS 13 iOS 13 iOS 13
Processor Apple A13 Bionic Apple A13 Bionic Apple A13 Bionic
Storage 64GB, 128GB, 256GB 64GB, 256GB, 512GB 64GB, 256GB, 512GB
Storage expansion Do not Do not Do not
Rear camera Double, 12 megapixels regular (f / 1.8) with optical image stabilization + 12 megapixel telephoto (f / 2.4) Three, 12 megapixels regular (f / 1.8) with optical image stabilization + 12 megapixel telephoto (f / 2.4) + 12 megapixel wide angle (f / 2.0) with optical image stabilization Three, 12 megapixels regular (f / 1.8) with optical image stabilization + 12 megapixel telephoto (f / 2.4) + 12 megapixel wide angle (f / 2.0) with optical image stabilization
Slow motion recording 240fps in Full HD, 60fps in 4K 240fps in Full HD, 60fps in 4K 240fps in Full HD, 60fps in 4K
Frontal camera 12 megapixels (capture in 7 megapixels if you take vertical photos) 12 megapixels (capture in 7 megapixels if you take vertical photos) 12 megapixels (capture in 7 megapixels if you take vertical photos)
RAM 4GB (to be confirmed) 6GB (to be confirmed) 6GB (to be confirmed)
Drums 3,110mAh (to be confirmed) 3,190mAh (to be confirmed) 3,500mAh (to be confirmed)
Connectivity 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6 (2.4, 5GHz) 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6 (2.4, 5GHz) 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 6 (2.4, 5GHz)
NFC Yes Yes Yes
Waterproof Yes, IP68 Yes, IP68 Yes, IP68
Fingerprint reader Do not Do not Do not
Iris reader Do not Do not Do not
Face recognition Yes (Face ID) Yes (Face ID) Yes (Face ID)
Wireless charging Yes Yes Yes
Important features Screen with eyebrow, 3D facial recognition, animojis, slow motion recording with front camera, automatic night mode on the camera, a free year of Apple TV Plus, two cameras with different perspectives. Screen with eyebrow, 3D facial recognition, animojis, slow motion recording with front camera, automatic night mode on the camera, a free year of Apple TV Plus, three cameras with different perspectives. Screen with eyebrow, 3D facial recognition, animojis, slow motion recording with front camera, automatic night mode on the camera, a free year of Apple TV Plus, three cameras with different perspectives.
Size 150.9×75.7×8.3mm 144×71.4×8.1mmm 158×77.8×8.1mm
Weight 194 grams 188 grams 226 grams
Price US $699/ US $999 / US $1,099 /
