IPhone XR info. iPhone XR: Everything you need to know

Updated: Apple iPhone XR Camera test

This device has been tested in 2018. Please note that the score and contents below refer to an older Camera test protocol.

Please note: In September 2019, we updated the DXOMARK Mobile test protocol to cover ultra-wide-angle performance and renamed the protocol DXOMARK Camera. We also expanded our low-light testing and created the new Night sub-score, which incorporates the previous Flash score. We have retested this device using the new Wide and Night test protocols and updated the scores in this review, but we have not changed the text from the original review. For more information, please see the articles about our new Wide and Night test protocols.

Apple iPhone XR camera review (originally published December 6, 2018)

2018 was a big year for the iPhone, as Apple launched not one, but three new devices. The iPhone XR is perhaps the most interesting of the three, as it’s available at the lowest cost, without sacrificing too many features. There’s a large 6.1-inch,1792 x 828 pixel resolution LCD display, instead of the super high-resolution and higher-contrast OLED display of the XS models, but the XR features the same A12 Bionic chip and iOS 12 operating system as its more expensive cousins.

For photography, the iPhone XR offers a single-cam solution, as opposed to the dual-cam setup of the XS models. In terms of specs, the iPhone XR’s camera is broadly what you expect from a high-end single-cam device, featuring a 12Mp 1/2.55″ sensor with 1.4µm pixel pitch, a 26mm f/1.8 aperture lens with optical image stabilization, phase-detection autofocus, and a dual-tone LED flash.

Despite the different camera hardware, on the software and image processing side of things, the XR comes with the same innovative feature as the XS models — for example, when shooting stills, the camera continuously captures a multi-frame buffer at different exposures, allowing for simultaneous zero shutter lag and HDR processing. Thanks to this technology, the latest iPhones can display HDR images in real time, making for a true “what you see is what you get” preview image.

So how does the quality of the iPhone XR’s images stack up against the competition’s? Read our full review to find out.

Key camera specifications:

• 12Mp 1/2.55″ sensor (1.4µm pixels)
• f/1.8-aperture lens
• 26mm equivalent focal length
• Optical image stabilization
• Phase-detection autofocus (PDAF)
• Quad-LED dual-tone flash
• 4K video at 24/30/60 fps (1080p at 30 fps at default settings)

About DxOMark Mobile tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone camera reviews, DxOMark engineers capture and evaluate over 1500 test images and more than 2 hours of video both in controlled lab environments and in natural indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera’s default settings. This article is designed to highlight the most important results of our testing. For more information about the DxOMark Mobile test protocol, click here. details on how we score smartphone cameras are available here.

Test summary

The Apple iPhone XR’s automatically-activated HDR mode ensures good highlight and shadow detail in high-contrast scenes.

Achieving an overall DxOMark Mobile score of 101 points, the iPhone XR becomes the top ranked single-cam device we’ve tested to date. It just surpasses the Google Pixel 2 for still photos, with marginally better noise-versus-texture results, and significantly fewer artifacts. Both devices achieve the same overall score for video.

The iPhone XR’s Photo score of 103 points is excellent, and for the key photo attributes of exposure, color, detail, noise, and artifacts, the cheaper Apple device offers a very similar proposition for image quality as the flagship iPhone XS Max. Equipped with just a single lens, however, both zoom and bokeh shots aren’t as strong on the XR compared to the XS Max, but Apple has managed to improve the flash on the XR a little, which we identified as a weak point for the XS Max during our testing.

Target exposures are very good in both indoor and outdoor conditions, and the automatic HDR mode ensures that the smartphone captures wide dynamic range in tricky high-contrast scenes. The noise-versus-texture compromise is similar to that of the XS Max, ensuring good fine detail and edge preservation in both indoor and outdoor shots; and although very fine details do get lost in low-light shots, it has acceptable exposure even in the most extreme low-light situations, making the images very usable.

Details are well-preserved in most test conditions, with only slight luminance noise visible in flat areas.

Colors are also vivid and pleasant in most test conditions; and although the iPhone XR tends to veer towards a slightly cool white balance in outdoor pictures, with warmer tones recorded indoors, it certainly avoids any nasty or offensive color casts. Autofocus is excellent, with fast response times ensuring that you can capture an image almost instantaneously; further, there are no FOCUS stability issues, so pictures are always in FOCUS.

For video, the iPhone XR achieves a very good 96 points. Target exposure is mostly very good, with a very wide dynamic range, and colors are generally bold and vivid under indoor and outdoor lighting. The video stabilization system is also among the better ones we’ve tested, ensuring smooth video playback with only limited motion in walking and panning videos. As for stills, the autofocus is fast and accurate, with good tracking capabilities when capturing moving images.

Photo scores explained

The Apple iPhone XR Photo score of 103 points is calculated from sub-scores in tests that examine different aspects of its performance under different lighting conditions. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at these image quality sub-scores.

Exposure and Contrast

A good score for exposure, thanks to accurate target exposures and wide dynamic range in both outdoor and indoor conditions. In very bright high-contrast scenes, HDR kicks in automatically in default mode to capture good detail in both the brightest and darkest regions. HDR results are very comparable to the iPhone XS Max’s, and although the difference is slight, the iPhone XR preserves fractionally more highlight detail compared to the Google Pixel 2.

The iPhone XR’s exposure of faces in back-lit scenes is excellent, showing that its face detection algorithms are working well. Again, results are very comparable to those for the iPhone XS Max, and both devices display improved dynamic range in such conditions over the original iPhone X, with more bright highlight detail preserved in the background outside. Target exposures are generally accurate in indoor lighting conditions, with good contrast and good detail preservation in the highlight and shadow regions.

Target exposures are excellent on the iPhone XR down to very low light at 20 lux. In extreme low-light conditions of 1 and 5 lux, target exposure is slightly lower than ideal, but images remain very usable. You can see that the iPhone XS Max at 1 lux provides a slightly brighter target exposure than its sibling, giving the bigger and more expensive iPhone the edge in the exposure category. Otherwise, there’s very little difference between the two models.

Color

Generally speaking, the iPhone XR renders bold and well-saturated colors, particularly in bright outdoor conditions, where the hues really pop. In low-contrast conditions, colors are more subtle, but they remain pleasant.

White balance is mainly accurate in all lighting conditions, with no heavy or offensive color casts evident when shooting under artificial light sources or with flash. The Apple devices tend to tilt slightly towards a colder blue color cast in outdoor images, with warmer tones captured on indoor images, but in both cases the white balance remains very acceptable.

Color saturation in low-light shots down to 20 lux remains very good, although perhaps just fractionally behind both the XS Max and the Pixel 2. Under fluorescent lighting, the Pixel 2’s white balance is a little greener, which makes the whites slightly cleaner, but the warmer tones from the iPhones often look more natural and attractive in indoor images.

Autofocus

As we’ve come to expect on high-end devices featuring phase-detection autofocus (PDAF), the autofocus on the iPhone XR is excellent. In our series of benchmark tests under controlled lab conditions, the iPhone XR was consistently fast and accurate in finding FOCUS. Defocusing the device between each shot and then waiting either a short (500ms) or long (2000 ms) delay before requesting FOCUS, the XR snapped sharp images almost instantaneously and never failed to capture an in-FOCUS shot. We repeated this procedure under a range of lighting conditions, and the results were consistently good.

Thanks to zero shutter lag technology, which continuously buffers a number of frames while the camera app is active, the iPhone XR is also able to capture the image in exactly the moment the shutter button is pressed. In the graph below, you can see that the image is actually captured a tiny bit before (~130ms) the button is pressed. This is to avoid camera shake from the button press and the potentially resultant image blur. It’s a very clever feature and especially useful in low light.

Even in very low light (20 lux), the Apple iPhone XR’s PDAF autofocus system is excellent, always delivering an in-FOCUS image with fast response times.

Noise

The iPhone XR offers the same texture-versus-noise compromise as the iPhone XS Max. Detail in static scenes is excellent, particularly when shooting bright or outdoor images, with recorded acutance of over 80%, and good edge definition. In low-light conditions, detail remains very good. Even in extreme low-light, the iPhone XR recorded acutance of around 60% in static scenes. Using shutter speeds slower than 1/40 second in very low-light conditions of 20 lux and below, both handheld and on a tripod, reduces detail somewhat in scenes with some subject movement, with low acutance at 1 lux for such images, but this isn’t unexpected; overall, the iPhone XR does an excellent job of recording detail.

The iPhone XR captures excellent detail in static scenes in all lighting conditions, and in scenes with subject motion in bright-light conditions between 100 and 1000 lux.

All three devices capture excellent fine detail and sharp edges in the static areas of this bright outdoor scene. Very slight luminance noise is visible in the flat areas in the iPhone XR outdoor images, such as in the gray cladding panels of the building, but it’s noticeable only at very close inspection and is far from problematic.

Both sharpness and edge preservation hold up extremely well in indoor static scenes and texture is very well-rendered. The luminance noise in flat areas is a little more pronounced, as you might expect for such conditions, but it is not as coarse as on the Pixel. The iPhone images are slightly brighter as well.

The same analysis holds true in very low light (5 lux), where the iPhone XR squeezes out just a touch more detail than the iPhone XS and also the Pixel 2. This is a very good result for such low-light conditions, with good texture rendering and noise kept under control.

Artifacts

We deduct points for artifacts — obvious optical deficiencies and image quality flaws. The main areas of concern on the iPhone XR are ringing (very noticeable along high-contrast edges), flare in backlit shots, the moiré effect on high-frequency patterns, and some minor color quantization. Ringing is often visible along high-contrast edges in HDR shots, such as the railing against the bright blue sky in the image below, but unless you’re printing or viewing images at large scale, it’s usually not too detrimental to overall image quality.

The same assessment applies to the moiré effect, which occurs as a sort of rainbow color banding in high-frequency areas of the shot where the device’s resolution isn’t sufficient for capturing very fine details. You can see it on the Windows in the shot below. Color quantization is again a color shift or banding around high-contrast edges, such as on the ceiling around the lights in the indoor test scene below.

Flash

Flash performance on the XR improves over the iPhone XS Max, with better target exposure on faces, as well as in the center of the frame generally. It’s not perfect, with some underexposure of flash-only shots still evident, but Apple clearly tweaked the algorithms for better results compared to its bigger sibling. Some vignetting (corner shading) remains visible, and although the level of detail is good, there are some residual noise artifacts and color quantization in both flash-only and mixed-lighting shots. So a definite improvement, but still not as good as the Pixel 2, which is a top performer for flash.

Zoom

So far so good, with image quality on the iPhone XR broadly the same as the bigger and more expensive XS Max. The XR’s single-cam setup falls down slightly, however, for zoom and bokeh shots, where the additional hardware of dual-cam devices such as the XS Max maintain an advantage. Using the XR’s digital zoom up to around 2x magnification (short range) produces results that remain very acceptable, particularly in outdoor and indoor shots, with some fine details preserved.

Although in low light things generally get a little softer, the pictures remain usable. Results are far from comparable to a dual-cam device that utilizes a tele-lens to achieve an optical zoom shot at 2x magnification, however. The difference becomes more visible as you increase the zoom range. In the 4x samples below, you can see that the iPhone XS Max preserves noticeably more fine detail in intricate areas, such as the railings on the bridge. There’s perhaps fractionally more detail in the XR image compared to the Pixel 2 image.

Noise, as well as some artifacts such as aliasing, become prevalent at medium and long range (4x and 8x magnification, respectively), and fine details are noticeably lost. In bright outdoor conditions, and to some degree even in indoor shots, detail is still acceptable at medium-range zoom (4x magnification), but don’t expect to be able to distinguish very fine details such as brickwork or text on signs when extending the zoom to long range.

In the samples below, you can also see that the XR’s zoom range is more limited than on the XS and Pixel 2. We zoomed to the maximum setting on the XR, but still could not achieve the same magnification as on the other two cameras. Nevertheless, the XR turned in a decent performance overall for a single-cam device that’s roughly on par with the Pixel 2, but it simply can’t compete with the tele-lens zoom of dual-cam devices such as the XS Max.

Bokeh

The lack of a tele-lens on the iPhone XR also has implications for the quality of images in Portrait mode. First of all, the wide field of view captured by its 26mm lens isn’t ideally suited for portraits, and although you can fill the frame by getting close to your subject, some distortion of facial features, and anamorphosis, particularly on elements close to the edge of the frame, is evident.

Portrait mode on the XR does do a nice job on people photographed in low-light environments, with better detail on the face than the iPhone XS, as long as the pictures are taken at close distance. Facial detail is probably its best attribute; and although its bokeh simulation effect helps isolate your subject from the background, it’s far from perfect. Depth estimation is relatively poor, especially compared to the best dual-cam devices, with some subject masking artifacts often visible, making the overall effect look a bit “photoshopped,” as though the subject was cut out and stuck on a blurred background. The XR doesn’t usually render spotlights or spectral highlights naturally either, resulting in both a bad shape and low contrast.

It is worth mentioning that our Bokeh test is for both human subjects and objects. As described above, the iPhone XR’s Portrait mode works well with portrait subjects. The feature uses face detection, however, which means that when using it with objects, the computational bokeh effect does not trigger and you get only the optical bokeh of the lens, which is much less pronounced. This is why the iPhone XR is losing some points against competition that can also apply a bokeh effect to objects. If the XR doesn’t detect a face in a Portrait mode image, the camera app will warn you with a “no face detected” error message.

Video scores explained

The Apple iPhone XR achieves an excellent Video score of 96 points, thanks to an outstanding performance in bright light conditions. The overall score is derived from a number of sub-scores in the same way as the Photo score: Exposure (88), Color (88), Autofocus (92), Texture (57), Noise (77), Artifacts (84), and Stabilization (94).

Overall, the XR has a very similar video performance to the XS Max, with great dynamic range in outdoor videos, very good color rendering and white balance, as well as excellent stabilization with low residual motion. Some slight instabilities are noticeable in exposure and white balance under changing lighting conditions. In very low light, the level of detail is slightly lower on the XR compared to the XS Max, but noise is less visible, too, so Apple seems to have tweaked the compromise between noise and sharpness a little bit on the cheaper device.

Target exposure shooting video on the XR is excellent in all lighting conditions down to 20 lux, and although videos are slightly dark in extreme low light between 1 to 10 lux, they remain very usable. Exposure convergence under changing lighting conditions is also very good, with quick transition times, as well as no steps in exposure, oscillations, or overshoots evident.

Color rendering and white balance are very good on both outdoor and indoor videos, and although saturation drops a little in very low light, it remains more than acceptable for such conditions. You can see from the Patch chart analysis below that reds, yellows, greens, and blues are rendered very accurately between 300 to 1000 lux, with the reds, greens, and blues showing a tendency to be slightly undersaturated in lower light conditions.

The iPhone XR maintains accurate color, especially in bright light conditions between 300 and 1000 lux; there is some modest but not overly problematic undersaturation in lower light conditions.

Texture preservation is good in outdoor and indoor videos, and although it suffers a little in low-light videos, the noise-versus-detail compromise is well-managed overall. Both texture and edge preservation are high in indoor videos (100 lux) and very good outdoors or in bright light (300 to 1000 lux), with recorded acutance of over 70% for texture.

The iPhone XR displays excellent texture preservation of over 70% acutance in outdoor and bright-light videos, with good results in lower light, too.

As with stills, the iPhone XR’s autofocus is excellent when shooting video, thanks to fast response times, and to the fact that it has none of the problematic instabilities, overshoots, and jerkiness that can disrupt the viewing experience. In outdoor and bright-light videos, both the tracking and smoothness of the autofocus are also excellent; and although the performance isn’t quite as robust in low-light situations, it remains very good. Stabilization is also very effective in all lighting conditions — frame sharpness is consistent, videos remain stable during lighting changes, and walking and panning motions are nicely controlled.

Conclusion: Top-ranked single-lens phone

With the sky-high of the latest XS line of iPhones, the less-expensive XR will be desirable to many Apple enthusiasts looking to upgrade their smartphone. Implementing a single-cam solution makes the XR more affordable, but it also means you’ll have to accept some compromises when using the zoom function or bokeh mode.

Apple chose to include much of the same advanced software and image processing algorithms as in their flagship devices, and in many ways the photographic capabilities of the iPhone XR are broadly similar to those of the XS/XS Max — excellent exposure in all lighting conditions, wide dynamic range, and an excellent noise-versus-detail trade-off. The autofocus system is also excellent in all conditions.

Where the XR falls down compared to its more expensive siblings is when the addition of a second sensor coupled to a tele-lens comes into play. So don’t expect the same quality for zoom shots. Bokeh simulation in the XR’s Portrait mode isn’t brilliant either, with the pictures having something of an artificial feel; moreover, the 26mm lens’s wider field of view isn’t generally ideal for portraits, and bokeh mode doesn’t work with objects.

Compared to the Google Pixel 2, which is the best single-cam smartphone we’d tested up until now, the results are very comparable in many areas, but thanks to improved results for noise and particularly for artifacts, the iPhone XR just nudges it out of first place to become our top-ranked single-cam smartphone.

Pros

• Very good exposure and dynamic range in bright light and indoor conditions
• Detail is well-preserved in all lighting conditions
• Vivid and pleasant colors in most situations
• Fast and accurate autofocus

iPhone XR: Everything you need to know!

Apple has just announced the iPhone XR, which offers much of the same user experience of the iPhone X, but with some notable departures. The phone is larger than the iPhone X, with a 6.1-inch LCD display. It retains the TrueDepth camera that first launched on the 2017 iPhone X, and says goodbye to the Home button.

Here’s what you need to know about the iPhone XR.

What is the iPhone XR?

The iPhone XR is one of Apple’s new iPhones for late 2018 and into 2019. While the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are certainly the flagship products, the iPhone XR offers a similar user experience with some scaled-down specs. The iPhone XR uses the same processor as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, as well as Face ID and the TrueDepth camera, but uses different display technology and a single rear camera. Its sides are also made out of aluminum, rather than stainless steel.

When will the iPhone XR be available?

The iPhone XR goes up for pre-order on Friday, October 19, and will be available in stores on October 26.

What colors will it come in?

Apple has some new color options for its mainstream iPhone. While past models have been available in up to three colors, this year, Apple is offering the iPhone XR in six: Black, White, Product(Red), Yellow, Coral, and Blue.

What storage capacities will the iPhone XR come in?

The iPhone XR will have three storage options: 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.

What will the iPhone XR cost?

iPhone XR pricing breaks down like so:

Will the iPhone XR run iOS 12?

Indeed it will. iOS 12 will launch to the public before the iPhone XR reaches customers, so there might even be a small update ready by the time you get yours.

So is there no Home button on the iPhone XR?

The iPhone XR has ditched the Home button and Touch ID in favor of Face ID and the TrueDepth camera.

Does the iPhone XR have a new display?

Yes and no. It’s still an LCD panel, unlike the iPhone XS, which uses and OLED screen. LCD is still the standard display technology in the mainstream iPhone lineup. But for the first time, Apple has made an LCD display that covers the entire front of the device, and Apple calls it the Liquid Retina display. That means saying goodbye to the iPhone’s chin and forehead look that had become associated with it.

It’s also the second-largest iPhone that Apple has produced by screen size. Sitting in between the iPhone XS (5.8 inches) and iPhone XS Max (6.5 inches), the iPhone XR features a 6.1-inch display with a resolution of 1792×828, with a pixel density of 326ppi.

So there’s no more Home button?

Apple has ditched the Home button in favor of Face ID. And just like on the iPhone X last year, you’ll now swipe up from the bottom of the display in order to return to your Home screen.

Is there anything new with Face ID or the TrueDepth camera?

The iPhone XR uses the same TrueDepth camera as the iPhone XS.

What should I know about the new A12 Bionic processor?

The A12 Bionic is Apple’s latest and greatest in-house system-on-a-chip (SoC). Like its predecessor, it uses a combination of multiple high-energy processing cores for more intensive tasks, as well as multiple high-efficiency cores for light work like checking email and browsing the web. It’s a six-core CPU, and uses a new, eight-core Neural Engine to power the machine learning systems on the iPhone XR that can process up to five trillion (yep) operations per second.

The processor allows for more powerful graphics performance, better photo processing, and real-time machine learning.

What’s new with the camera?

If you were hoping the dual-camera system on the iPhone X would make its way over the the iPhone XR, I’ve got some bad news: the iPhone XR only uses a single rear camera like the iPhone 8. That being said, it still shoots up to 4K at 60 frames per second and is optically stabilized.

The camera also benefits from the new power of the A12 Bionic processor, improved sensors, and improved image signal processor. The camera is able to capture even more detail, despite keeping the 12 megapixels that have been present in the iPhone cameras for years now. It features Smart HDR, which automatically makes improvements to photos using machine learning.

The iPhone XR is also able to take Portrait Mode photos, despite the fact that it has only a single camera.

What about battery life?

Apple’s official battery specs for the iPhone XR read as follows:

• Talk time (wireless): Up to 25 hours
• Internet use: Up to 15 hours
• Video playback (wireless): Up to 16 hours
• Audio playback (wireless): Up to 65 hours

You should see around 90 minutes of additional battery life compared to the iPhone 8 Plus.

Does it still have wireless charging?

The iPhone XR does indeed support wireless charging.

iPhone XR Review: Is the iPhone XR a Good iPhone?

The iPhone XR is the best iPhone for the money for most buyers. You get nearly identical performance, excellent software, most of the iPhone XS features, wireless charging, Face ID and a good camera for 250 less than the cheapest iPhone XS. You can score deals as low as 449 when you trade in an iPhone as part of your upgrade. You have to give up on the beautiful OLED display that the iPhone XS has, but the iPhone XR display is good enough for most people. One feature I miss is the second camera on the back of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max that allows for an optical zoom and better portrait mode, but ultimately it isn’t a deal breaker. The iPhone XR is made of aluminum that can scratch a little easier, but you get more color choices and with a case on it’s a non-issue.

Is the iPhone XR a Good iPhone?

Is the iPhone XR a good iPhone?

The iPhone XR is the best iPhone for the price, and for many users it is going to be more than enough iPhone. Ultimately it does feel like Apple overpriced the iPhone XR by 50. This feels like a better value for 699, and thankfully you can still find some deals out there that drop the price with and without a trade. I’ve tested the iPhone XR for a month on Verizon. I’ve put this phone through the paces at home and on the road. When I went to CES and the Detroit Auto Show, the iPhone XR was my primary video camera for the trip. Almost all the footage was shot on the iPhone XR with a DJI Osmo gimbal and a Rode microphone. Perhaps the best example is the Brydge iPad Pro keyboard hands on, which I shot on the iPhone XR, Airdropped to the iPad Pro, edited with LumaFusion and then uploaded to YouTube with my iPhone as a hotspot.

While I missed being able to zoom in at times, the XR does a great job of recording 4K video and taking photos. It also handled all my gaming, social media and communication needs easily. My personal phone is the iPhone XS Max, and I never noticed any slowdown in performance when switching to the iPhone XR. The size is still very nice and it is still manageable to hold. I’m still glad I went with the iPhone XS Max for the OLED display and the optical zoom, but for most users the iPhone XR is going to do more than enough. Ultimately most people will want to go with the 799 version to get 128GB of storage. That does push the price up well above budget levels. I recommend looking for a deal on the iPhone XR or trading in your old phone to your carrier or to Gazelle to help cut into that price. Verizon, who lent us the iPhone XR for testing, offers a Buy One Get 750 off another when you buy the new iPhone or 100 with select trade ins. One of those needs to be a new smartphone line to get the savings. [letsreview]

iPhone XR Camera

The iPhone XR camera is excellent.

The camera is the most used app on my smartphone. I love using it to take pictures of our two Toy poodles and of all my little cousins. I also use it to take photos for gadget and car reviews. Apple uses the same sensor in the iPhone XR and iPhone XS camera, which means the iPhone XR takes great looking photos even in low light and in areas where there is some bright light shining in that could otherwise ruin a shot. You still get portrait mode on the iPhone XR, which is one of my favorite modes to shoot in when taking pictures of family and pets. It makes the photos pop and with the editing options really makes the photos stand out on social media or when printed. The big catch is that the iPhone XR uses software to do the portrait mode photos. This means you cannot do portrait mode photos of objects or pets — just people. It also means a different look than the iPhone XS portrait mode where you are farther from your subject. It still works and produces nice photos, but it’s not as good as the iPhone XS or Pixel 3 XL, and it’s not great for pet photos. You get portrait mode on the front facing camera as well.

The only other real difference between the iPhone XS and XR cameras is the lack of an optical zoom. The iPhone XS and XS Max let you zoom in with the second lens without losing any quality. The iPhone XR does not have a second lens, so the only way to get closer without losing quality is to physically move closer. You can digitally zoom, but then you start to lose some of the overall quality of the photo. At the end of the day, the iPhone XR camera can do 90% of what I need to use it for work and almost everything I need in a smartphone camera. Don’t worry about missing out in this area if you opt for the iPhone XR, unless you know that you need optical zoom or love taking portrait mode photos of pets and objects.

iPhone XR Screen

Even though it is LCD, the iPhone XR display is very nice.

The iPhone XR features a 6.1 inch LCD screen. This isn’t as good as the OLED display on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and it’s missing out on the 3D Touch feature that you may or may not be used to using. While I like the OLED display on the iPhone XS Max, and appreciate the added size it offers, the iPhone XR display is still very good. Most users looking at the devices side by side are not going to notice a major difference and if you are looking at the iPhone XR on its own, you will be hard pressed to feel like you chose a major downgrade.

Photos, videos and games still look great on the iPhone XR and the 6.1-inch display is noticeably larger than the iPhone XS display. That makes it a nice choice for users that want to bump up the font size on iOS to make text easier to read. I do miss 3D Touch, as I use this daily for shortcuts and for previewing links and photos. Apple does support haptic touch, which slightly vibrates the iPhone XR when you do a firm press. That is a nice option, but I still miss 3D Touch. It’s not clear what Apple plans to do with 3D touch and not a lot of users know 3D Touch is even an option, so decide if it is important to you, and if it is 250 important.

iPhone XR Design

I’m a big fan of the larger iPhone models, but they are too big for many users. If you’re looking for the Goldilocks of iPhones, the iPhone XR may be just right for you. It’s definitely bigger than the iPhone XS and it has a bigger screen than the iPhone 8 Plus, but it’s actually smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone XS Max. For many users it’s just right and the size works out even better when you don’t need to touch a home button.

The iPhone XR design is similar to the iPhone XS and XS Max, but with aluminum sides.

Apple sticks Face ID in the iPhone XR so you unlock with a look and not a fingerprint. With no home button the phone is easier to hold and use even with a big screen. Instead of pressing a button, you swipe and use gestures to control the phone. This takes a week or so to adapt to if you’ve been using an iPhone with a home button for years and then it becomes second nature. You get way more color options than on any current iPhone with Red, Yellow, White, Coral, Blue and Black options. The back is made of glass like the iPhone XS. The overall style is very similar, to the iPhone XS and XS Max. Instead of a steel Band running around the edges, the XR uses aluminum that matches the color of the phone. Like the other current iPhone models the only port is a lightning jack, so you will need to switch headphones, go wireless or buy a dongle if you prefer to plug-in other headphones.

iPhone XR Battery Life

The iPhone XR battery life is solid. Even with heavy use it often lasted a full day with some room to spare. That’s great news for power users, and many users will get through most normal days without worrying about the battery life. The iPhone XR can fast charge when you use a capable charger and a USB C to Lightning cable, which lets you plug in and get 50% battery power in 30 minutes of charging. It also supports wireless charging, which is my favorite way to do day to day charging on the iPhone.

iPhone XR review

The iPhone XR is still the cheapest full-screen iPhone, but does it deliver value or should you save up for the iPhone 11?

Our Verdict

The iPhone XR has lost its lustre a little since the iPhone 11 came out, but this is still a fantastic phone that delivers solid specs and features at a price that still makes it the cheapest full-screen iPhone you can buy right now.

Like me, the vast majority of people coming to the iPhone XR will be leaving the Home button behind. Not so long ago I didn’t feel ready to go full-screen at the expense of trusty Touch ID, despite the promise of Animoji, face recognition and selfie portraits. It seemed like giving up the Home button would be too big a change, requiring me to learn new gestures and place my trust in a new security system.

So what has changed this time round? Well, for one, Apple has all-but taken the choice away. If you want a new iPhone then you have to accept either Face ID or much lower specs on the 2020 iPhone SE.

Design build

Like the more recent iPhone 11, the XR gives you a huge choice in terms of colour. You can choose from red, yellow, white, coral, black and blue.

If you love the metallic look of the older iPhones then maybe you will feel that the bold colours of the iPhone XR look less professional and a little cheaper. But you might equally feel that they let you express yourself.

Like most modern iPhone models, the iPhone XR has a screen that covers the front of the device, with a notch at the top that reveals the Face ID camera and its associated tech. When the iPhone X launched in 2017 the initial reaction was disappointment at the presence of the notch, but as other phone manufactures followed suit, the notch has become a common occurrence, with the alternative being a bigger screen-less area at the top of the phone.

If you are really anti-notch then perhaps eventually the Face ID tech will take up less space and the notch will get smaller, but for now it’s a price you have to pay to get a bigger screen in your hand. As for how the iPhone XR feels in your hand, it’s smaller and lighter than an iPhone 8 Plus, despite having a larger screen, and is the exact same size and weight as the iPhone 11.

Display

Move to the front and you’re confronted by the 6.1in display and little else. It’s the same size as the display on the iPhone 11, and larger than that on the 11 Pro (though not the 11 Pro Max of course). If you’re more used to the older Plus models, it’s a similar size overall, but is longer and thinner.

The XR has an LCD screen, much like the 11, but unlike the OLED panels found in the 11 Pro and XS phones. OLED offers deeper blacks, more accurate colours, and better contrast ratio. This all sounds very impressive, but Apple has done such a good job with the LCD on the iPhone XR that it really isn’t such a big sacrifice.

In some ways, the XR’s LCD is more innovative than the OLED on the iPhone XS. An LCD requires a back light, which is why the bezels are bigger on the iPhone XR, but accommodating a backlight normally requires a chin, so this is a huge achievement. There’s also the fact that this LCD can be tapped to wake. Tap to Wake was an innovation introduced with the iPhone X in 2017 and is missing from the iPhone 8 and below (although those devices can be woken via the Home button).

While the display on the iPhone XR isn’t as pixel-dense as the displays on the XS and XS Max (326 pixels per inch [ppi] compared to 458ppi) there is an advantage here because, although OLEDs can be more power efficient than LCDs, in this case there are fewer pixels to light up, so the iPhone XR should prove less power hungry (we’ll talk more about battery life below).

As for whether it really makes a big difference in terms of all those extra pixels, remember that when Apple introduced the concept of a Retina display with the iPhone 4 back in 2011 it named it ‘Retina’ because 326ppi was how many pixels were discernible by the human eye. So, on that basis, your shouldn’t be able to see more pixels than this anyway.

In terms of waterproofing, this is a little worse than that on the other new iPhones – IP67 instead of IP68. This means the XR is water-resistant up to one metre for up to 30 minutes, while the XS can do the same in two metres of water. Not that I recommend taking either iPhone swimming, because even though they would survive a drop in the water (or the toilet) it may still void your warranty if later on you have a problem and Apple is able to identify that it’s had a bath.

Cameras Face ID

Returning to the notch and what lies beneath, Apple’s made a few improvements to Face ID. As a result Face ID authentication works faster (you might notice if you were using it previously). The TrueDepth camera isn’t just for Face ID though. It’s also your route to the Animoji and Memoji that were previously exclusive to the iPhone X. I quickly bored of these novelty features, but they demonstrate the impressive AI capabilities of the device.

The 7Mp TrueDepth camera can be used to take portrait mode selfies, which might appeal. This mode means that you can take a picture of yourself with the background blurred, for a more natural looking shot that makes you stand out. A new feature in the XR and later models is the ability to adjust the amount of background blur. You don’t have to be an obsessive Instagrammer to benefit from an improved selfie camera.

Switching to the camera on the back of the iPhone, this is probably one of the biggest differentiators from other iPhones. The iPhone XR has just the one 12Mp camera, while the 11 has two 12Mp cameras (a regular and an ultra-wide) and the 11 Pro models throw in a third (telephoto).

While you’re getting a very capable main camera, as you’d expect from an iPhone, you’re missing out on the option to pull out to a wide-angle or punch in with a zoomed shot.

One of the key benefits of the extra lenses is the ability to take Portrait photos, but the XR doesn’t miss out here. Instead of using two lenses, Apple harnesses the power of the processor and other tech to create a Portrait photo without relying on two cameras.

Apple’s done a good job here, although it only works on human faces (so if you want to take a portrait of your cat you are out of luck). It also lacks the stage lighting effects found in the other iPhones, but to be honest I’ve never taken a photo that was improved by them anyway. In fact I always thought that these options only served to show what a bad job Portrait mode does at cutting out curly hair. There’s a reason why Apple’s marketing shots are always of people with their hair scraped back.

Specs performance

Before the XR, the last time Apple launched a ‘cheaper’ iPhone was the iPhone SE and prior to that the iPhone 5C. In both cases the components were from the previous generation. But the iPhone XR has the same A12 Bionic processor and Neural Engine as the XS, and as a result there is very little difference in the three iPhones’ performance, as you can see from the charts below.

What’s really interesting is the fact that the iPhone XR actually outperforms the iPhone XS and Max in some areas, largely because it is powering fewer pixels. Note that this is now an older chip however, and even the £419/399 iPhone SE is powered by the more powerful A13 Bionic.

As for storage, you have the choice between 64GB or 128GB, which we feel is the sweet spot. In fact it’s only £50/50 more than the 64GB version, so I’d urge anyone to go for the 128GB model.

One difference is RAM, with the iPhone XR having 3GB to the 4GB found in the other full-screen iPhones. To be honest it’s unlikely to make any real difference to you in real life usage and helps achieve the lower price point. Because Apple makes the software and the hardware, memory management is less of a problem compared to some of the competition who max out on RAM. I don’t think that the extra memory is a reason to choose the XS over the XR.

Battery life

The battery is where things get really interesting. According to iFixit the iPhone XR has a larger battery than the other new iPhones. That goes someway to help the iPhone XR beat the iPhone XS and XS Max in terms of battery life (the fewer pixels on the LCD screen also helps here). It’s interesting that Apple gave this phone the better battery, it’s not even trying to handicap it.

According to Apple the XR should last 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone 8 Plus and I found this to be accurate. This is the best battery life I’d ever seen on an iPhone before the launch of the 11. Even on days of heavy use I was ending the day on around 30% and that’s having used maps, streamed music and video online, social media, messaging, calls and emails.

Software

Finally a few words on the software. The XR launched with iOS 12, but can now be updated to iOS 13.

If you are using Android or something else, then Apple provides software that will help you move to iOS. We have all the information about moving from Android to iPhone here, and some more details about setting up a new iPhone here.

Price and availability

The good news is that you no longer have to pay £1,000/1,000 to get your hands on an all-screen iPhone, as the iPhone XR starts from £629/599.

That will get you the 64GB model of course, with the extra storage in the 128GB version bumping the price up to £679/649 – though I think it’s worth the upgrade for most.

The challenge for the XR is that while it was great value when it first launched, the newer iPhone 11 challenges that somewhat. £729/699 gets you a second rear camera lens, a faster processor, better water-resistance, a higher resolution selfie camera, better battery, and an extra year of software updates. Unless you really can’t afford the extra £100/100, the iPhone 11 will be a much better buy for most people.

For more on the rest of the range, take a look at our best iPhone chart.

Verdict

Should you still buy an iPhone XR in 2020 or beyond?

The XR is remarkably similar to the later iPhone 11, with the same size, screen quality, and build. At £100/100 cheaper it might thus seem like a no-brainer.

However, software support, battery life, and the second camera lens give the 11 an edge that will make it worth the extra money for most. That means the XR, while still a fantastic phone, is only the best choice if you can find it below the £629/599 recommended price or on a competitive contract.

Specs

Apple iPhone XR: Specs

• iOS 12
• 6.1in LCD, 1792×828, 326ppi
• A12 Bionic processor
• 64/256/256GB storage
• 12MP camera, f/1.8, OIS
• 7MP front-facing camera, f/2.2
• 802.11ac dual-Band Wi-Fi
• Nano SIM with dual eSIM compatibility
• Haptic Touch
• IP67
• GPS
• NFC
• 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm
• 194g