➤ Apple iPhone Xr, the review 🎮

IPhone Xr is definitely the most interesting iPhone of 2018. Sure, Xs e Xs Max they are smartphones of the highest level, but follow a rather predictable development path by improving the characteristics of the most innovative iPhone X released last year. Premium terminals therefore, also in terms of cost, which has now become prohibitive for many if not through the installment formulas of the various operators or retailers. The rumors that have been chasing each other throughout the year regarding a third cheaper model have therefore been followed with great interest by enthusiasts, in the hope of discovering a more accessible road in the world of iOS without making too many compromises and the not very positive memory of the previous occasion in which Apple tried something similar, with that plasticky iPhone 5C that was definitely not able to hit the target. Fortunately, the Cupertino house seems to have learned from mistakes, to the point that iPhone Xr has all the credentials to establish itself as the smartphone with the bitten apple preferable for most users.

A design that is appreciated

Let's get rid of the tooth immediately: no, iPhone Xr is not a cheap iPhone, because the starting price in Spain for the 64GB model - a bit scarce, better to choose the 128 one - is 889 €. Many without a doubt, and it is annoying to compare them with the 749 $ + taxes of the United States, but in any case we are talking about € 300 less than the Xs, practically 25%. Anyone who had imagined being able to buy a new iPhone at a much lower figure than this obviously does not know Apple's policy, research in design, in the quality of materials and in the development of hardware and software, as well as very specific marketing choices in the will. to still maintain a certain status. Translated: the iPhone from 400-500 € will never be there. We will talk later in detail about the differences between Xs and Xr and the advantages of the former, but what is important to emphasize right away is how iPhone Xr does not convey the feeling of being a second-class iPhone at all: the aluminum frame it is perfectly assembled with a glass body for both sides, thus ensuring compatibility for wireless charging. Compared to the seriousness of the top models, iPhone Xr brings with it a slightly fresher and more youthful look, which is expressed through the 6 colors in which it is available: white, black, blue, yellow, coral and red. The terminal at our disposal for the test is the one in black, elegant and sober; but it is probably with the brightest colors that the design of the product is best enhanced, which is appreciated in the presence of soft, rounded lines that guarantee a continuity of the shapes from every side you look at it. The dimensions are slightly smaller than those of an iPhone 8 Plus: 150,9mm x 75,7mm with a thickness of 8,3mm for a weight not exactly featherweight of 194 grams, even if perfectly balanced along the body of the device. Apple was good at being able to then give a clear distinctive profile to the iPhone Xr while keeping the bezel-less display and the famous (or infamous) notch, the notch that "steals" a portion of the upper part of the screen to house various elements, including the ear capsule and the complex system of cameras delegated to Face ID, also present here in its advanced version, even faster in face recognition. During our experience it took us very little time to appreciate the reliability and naturalness in the use of this technology, which in most cases makes the use more fluid and enjoyable than Touch ID.

Size and screen

Undoubtedly one of the substantial differences compared to the superior model is the choice of a display LCD Liquid Retina instead of OLED: given that the latter is obviously better with a difference noticeable even to an inexperienced eye, the LCD of the iPhone Xr is at the top of the category thanks to a very bright panel, with a contrast of 1400: 1 and capable to reproduce a very wide color spectrum, in the order of 123.4% of the sRGB Color Gamut. Numbers and terms that in practice translate into a more than satisfactory user experience in every situation, including gaming and video playback on Youtube o film su Netflix. The dimensions of 6.1 inches then place the iPhone Xr in an interesting position, between the 5.8 of the Xs and the 6.5 of the Xs Max: a middle ground that could represent for many the "sweet spot", the ideal compromise. Moot point is the resolution, which stops at 1792 x 828, so technically not Full HD, and guarantees 326 ppi, the same as the iPhone 8: a value rather far from the 458 ppi of the iPhone Xs, but still more than enough to allow a largely satisfactory rendering without visible pixels. If on the one hand there is therefore the disappointment for a device worth almost 900 € that in 2018 cannot even reach Full HD, on the other hand it is legitimate to ask how much the public would have been able to notice the difference if this value had been obtained. IPhone Xr is also the only 2018 model in which the 3D Touch technology is absent, i.e. the ability to record different degrees of finger pressure on the screen to call up menus and secondary functions of the various applications. A lack that, however, few will be able to say to suffer, given that the 3D Touch has never really made its way into the hearts of Apple users, finding themselves being used by a small minority of them to the point of seriously doubting the very future of this. characteristic. Among other things, some functions of the 3D Touch have been reproduced via software by a system called Haptic Touch, which in a nutshell is based on the prolonged pressure of specific areas or virtual keys. It should also be noted that the bezels around the display are slightly wider and more visible on Xr than on Xs, with a screen-to-body ratio of 79.0% against 82.9%. A choice linked to the less flexibility on the edges of the LCD panel compared to the OLED.

Hardware and Performance

The other main difference compared to the iPhone Xs lies in the presence of one camera single instead of double. The main sensor is the same, from 12 Megapixel with optical stabilization and aperture ƒ / 1.8, so in fact the actual limits are due to the absence of the 2x optical zoom and to the management of the portrait mode with bokeh effect. However, the latter is not absent: if on the Xs it is managed directly by the lenses, on the iPhone Xr everything happens via software. And the results are not bad, confirming how the number of lenses mounted is a superfluous element for most users, and for manufacturers it represents above all a marketing element. More generally, however, the iPhone Xr camera seemed more than adequate to return shots of excellent quality, fully in line with the needs of most "normal" users. Videos can be recorded at 4k and 60fps, while the 7 Megapixel front Truedepth camera is amply adequate for its intended use, with full support for Animoji and Memoji. Moving on to the processor, this is the same A12 Bionic mounted on Xs and Xs Max, the ultimate in mobile SoC technology, with 7-nanometer technology, 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU: an engineering marvel capable of improving the performance of its predecessor and reducing power consumption, so as to optimize efficiency. The presence of the A12 on the iPhone Xr was a pleasant surprise during the presentation, because it guarantees even the "lower" model the same performance as the Xs, a factor on paper that is not exactly obvious. The only distinction from this point of view lies in the presence of 3GB RAM instead of 4: but in practice, thanks to the extreme optimization of iOS, it is practically impossible to find differences. In the field of video games, similar hardware ensures easy handling of even the heaviest graphically heavy titles: Asphalt 9 for example runs without the slightest hesitation with a constant frame rate. Excellent autonomy, which thanks to a battery of 2,942 mAh capacity (against 2,658 of Xs) and for the lower energy cost of the LCD screen it guarantees a really satisfying duration, superior to other iPhones this year. The full day of intense use is guaranteed, while you can even go up to two days in the case of lighter use.

Comment

Price 889 €

Resources4Gaming.com

8.9

Many analysts have predicted that iPhone Xr may be the best-selling model among Apple's new smartphones. We do not know if this will actually be the case, but what we can say is that iPhone Xr is undoubtedly the most balanced iPhone of the lot, which while giving up the OLED screen and dual cameras brings with it a top-of-the-range hardware equipment accompanied by a design very pleasant inside in optimal size. All at a price certainly not cheap, but more accessible than the Xs and Xs Max. For most users interested in a new iPhone, the Xr is probably the best choice.