According to a report from Informa Tech, the Apple iPhone XR was the most shipped phone in the first half of 2019. So, it was a no brainer for Apple to launch a successor to this model in its 2019 iPhone line-up. Thankfully, it’s been sanely named as iPhone 11 while the other two variants are called iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Let's talk about the iPhone 11 design
The iPhone 11 continues with an identical front design as the iPhone XR. You get a 6.1-inch liquid retina display with a big notch on top that has all the sensors, camera and the speaker in it.
However, when compared side by side with an iPhone XR, we found the screen of the iPhone 11 to be slightly better in terms of brightness level and sunlight legibility. It also has a 120hz touch response, which makes it great for gaming as well as day to day usage. No, you don't get an OLED screen, nor is it full HD resolution, but after a day's usage, a user gets accustomed to it and it works great for consuming multimedia, reading articles on the web as well as gaming.
On paper, Apple's LCD screen just doesn't stand a chance compared to Android smartphones that give you a 2k OLED screen at the same price. But in real life usage, it gives an enjoyable experience and that's what matters to the user.
What about the overall appearance of the iPhone 11?
In terms of overall appearance, the iPhone 11 is identical to the iPhone XR sans the dual camera module. You get an aluminum frame with glass on the rear but the big change is that now you have a number for colour options available — we especially loved the green colour.
The other visible change on the rear is that the Apple logo is now placed at the center of the device. At 194 grams, the phone is on the heavy side but thankfully doesn't feel bulky.
What about the performance of the iPhone 11?
You also get the usual hardware upgrade on the iPhone 11. It is powered by the new Apple A13 Bionic chipset and comes with 4GB RAM (XR has 3GB). The hardware and software go hand in hand and the phone works seamlessly for any task including video editing and graphic-intensive gaming.
One surprising thing on the iPhone 11 is that even though it's the same size as iPhone XR, Apple has managed to give a slightly larger 3,110mAh battery. The battery life is good enough to last a full day with around 15-20% battery life remaining. Apple has even upgraded the phone to support 18W fast charging but a fast charger is not included in the price. Overall, we didn't find anything to complain about in terms of performance.
How good is the iPhone 11 camera?
Cameras are the big upgrades on the iPhone 11 series and while the Pro variant gets triple cameras, the iPhone 11 gets a very capable dual rear camera setup. The primary lens is a 12MP shooter with OIS while the second is a 12MP ultra-wide sensor.
On its own, the primary sensor delivered great results in daylight as well as a lowlight. We noticed excellent details in the photos with rich colours that please the eye. Portrait shots were also fantastic with excellent depth effect and edge detection in daylight.
However, in low light, portrait mode took time to focus and around half the time, the depth effect felt lacking. The ultrawide lens lets you capture more with a 120-degree view and proved to be ideal for shooting landscape and cityscapes.
Another addition is the new night mode which delivers unbelievably stunning low light photos. It takes a few seconds to capture the low light scene at times and you need to hold still for the same but the results are great. You end up with a photo that has good amount of details and is well lit. In our usage, it matched the pixel 3 low light photos every time. Kudos to Apple for delivering an overall impressive rear camera!
Is the iPhone 11 worth the price?
But that's not it for the camera. Apple also upgraded the front selfie camera to a 12MP sensor. The selfie camera also has a larger frame of view compared to the XR which helps get more area in your selfie.
The image quality is as expected — crisp details with natural colours. There is also the new slofie feature which we liked; it shoots a moving selfie at 120 frames per second giving you a fun slow-motion effect.
So is the iPhone 11 worth the price? Well, an iPhone is still an iPhone at least for Indian users. The iPhone 11 is already selling like hotcakes and we feel it would be one of the highest selling devices for the year just like the XR was for last year. It gives performance equal to almost every Android flagship available today and comes with the fantastic camera setup.
Price: Rs 64,900 (64GB)
Specifications: 6.1-inch liquid retina display, 1792 x 828 pixels, Apple A13 Bionic processor, 4GB RAM, 64/128/256GB storage, 12MP f1.8 + 12MP f2.4 ultrawide rear camera, 12MP front camera, stereo speakers, 4G, dual-band WiFi ax, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 3,110mAh battery, wireless charging, 194 grams
Rating: 4.5 stars
Charu Khera is a freelance content creator.
First Published: Oct 17, 2019 2:56 PM IST
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