Looks
Looks wise, the Apple iPhone 11 doesn't bring many surprises. It's quite similar in appearance to last year's iPhones. The phone is made of ion-strengthened glass on the front and back, with a brushed aluminum frame instead of stainless steel found in the more premium 11 Pro models. The iPhone 11 comes in a set of new colors, and the glossy finish of the purple model gives it a snazzy and fresh look.
Design and Build
- Ion-strengthened glass on the front and back
- Brushed aluminum frame
- New color options
Water Resistance
The water resistance has been upgraded from IP67 to IP68, allowing the iPhone 11 to survive under two meters of water for half an hour, a notable improvement from its predecessor.
Screen
The iPhone 11 features a 6.1-inch IPS LCD screen with a sizable notch cutout and a pixel density of 326 PPI. While the bezels are thicker compared to iPhones with OLED screens, the display offers good contrast and accurate colors. The True Tone feature automatically adjusts the white balance based on ambient light, providing an enhanced viewing experience.
Display Quality
- 6.1-inch IPS LCD screen
- Good contrast and accurate colors
- True Tone feature for automatic white balance adjustment
Refresh Rate and Brightness
The iPhone 11's screen offers a maximum brightness of up to 640 nits, ensuring clear visibility outdoors. However, the absence of HDR10 support or Dolby Vision may be a drawback for users seeking advanced display features.
Audio
The iPhone 11 Pro is equipped with stereo loudspeakers, delivering a rich sound with very good measured loudness and support for spatial audio. The absence of a headphone jack is consistent with Apple's recent designs, and the phone's security features include Apple's Face ID, offering fast and secure unlocking.
Stereo Loudspeakers
- Rich sound quality
- Support for spatial audio
Security Features
Apple's Face ID provides fast and secure unlocking, enhancing the overall user experience.
Haptics
The iPhone 11 introduces a new haptic touch feature, replacing the previous 3D touch functionality. This allows users to trigger actions with a long press, providing a different but equally efficient way to interact with the device. Additionally, the system-wide dark mode feature enhances the visual experience, although it does not offer power-saving benefits on the LCD screen like it would on an OLED display.
Photo and Video Editing
- Upgraded photo editor with new options and filters
- Intensity sliders for customized image adjustments
- Customization options for videos
The iPhone 11's photo editor comes with a variety of new options and filters, along with intensity sliders to fine-tune your pictures. The device also offers ample customization features for editing videos, providing users with versatile creative tools for their multimedia content.
A13 Bionic
Powering the iPhone 11 is Apple's latest A13 Bionic chipset, delivering exceptional performance and efficiency. With four gigs of RAM, the A13 Bionic chipset ensures brilliant performance, surpassing anything in the Android world. This chipset offers 20% better CPU performance compared to its predecessor, and its heat-dispersing graphene layers contribute to sustained performance, making it ideal for intensive tasks such as gaming.
Battery
- 3100 mAh battery capacity
- Outstanding endurance rating of 94 hours
- Support for 18W fast charging and Qi wireless charging
The iPhone 11 is equipped with a 3100 mAh battery, delivering significantly improved battery life with a remarkable endurance rating of 94 hours. It also supports 18W fast charging and Qi wireless charging, providing convenient options for keeping the device powered up.
Cameras
Unlike the iPhone 10R, the Apple iPhone 11 comes with two rear cameras. The main 12-megapixel camera captures photos with rich detail, low noise, and excellent dynamic range in daylight. However, the colors may appear accurate but slightly bland, and there is some over-sharpening. One interesting feature is "capture outside the frame," where the phone takes a photo with the ultra-wide camera alongside the main camera to ensure no one is accidentally cropped out of the frame. The ultra-wide camera, while lacking optical image stabilization and autofocus, delivers decent photos with matching colors, contrast, and dynamic range, but with some visible noise and limited detail.
Ultrawide
The Apple iPhone 11 introduces a new 12-megapixel ultra-wide shooter alongside its main camera. The ultra-wide camera offers the ability to capture wider angles, ensuring that no one is accidentally cropped out of the frame. However, it lacks optical image stabilization and autofocus, resulting in decent but not outstanding photo quality with visible noise and limited detail. This camera is a valuable addition for capturing expansive landscapes and group shots, providing versatility in photography.
Portrait Mode
In good lighting conditions, the Apple iPhone 11's portrait mode utilizes the main camera to produce images with nice detail and accurate colors. However, unlike the iPhone 11 Pro, it does not utilize a second camera for depth. While the portrait mode on the iPhone 11 may not offer the same level of depth as the Pro version, it still delivers pleasing results for capturing portraits with a blurred background, adding a professional touch to your photos.
Night Mode
When shooting in low light conditions, the Apple iPhone 11 automatically switches to night mode, capturing pseudo long exposure shots with superb quality. The resulting photos exhibit plenty of detail, excellent balance, sharpening, colors, contrast, and exposure. Notably, there are no blurry photos when using night mode. However, even when night mode is turned off, the iPhone 11 still produces good results with ample detail and low noise, although the exposure tends to be darker. It's important to note that the ultra-wide camera does not support night mode, and attempting to shoot in low light with this camera may yield unsatisfactory results.
Selfie Camera
The iPhone 11 boasts an upgraded 12-megapixel selfie camera with a wider 23mm lens. Depending on the phone's orientation, the selfie camera automatically switches between a wider field of view and a cropped one, similar to the previous model, or it can be toggled manually. The selfies captured with the smart HDR feature exhibit top-notch quality, with abundant detail and excellent balance.
HDR
When capturing photos, the iPhone 11 utilizes smart HDR technology to ensure optimal exposure and image quality. The smart HDR feature enhances the dynamic range and overall quality of the images, resulting in well-balanced, detailed, and vibrant photos across various lighting conditions.
SloMo
Apple iPhone 11 allows users to capture slow-motion selfie videos, known as "SloMo," in 1080p at 120fps. While this feature may be seen as gimmicky, it provides an opportunity for users to have some fun with their videos, adding a unique touch to their content creation.
Rear cameras
Videos from the rear cameras of the Apple iPhone 11 can be recorded in up to 4k at 60fps. These videos are enhanced with electronic image stabilization (EIS), smart HDR, and wide stereo sound recording. The 4k videos from the main camera exhibit exceptional quality, featuring abundant detail, low noise, impressive sharpness, and true-to-life colors. Additionally, they boast impressive dynamic range, making them visually appealing. However, 4k footage from the ultrawide snapper, while serviceable, is average in quality, displaying a lack of detail and soft corners.
Video quality
The 4k videos captured by the main rear camera of the Apple iPhone 11 showcase outstanding quality, with remarkable detail, minimal noise, and accurate colors. The videos also demonstrate spot-on sharpness and impressive dynamic range, providing users with visually stunning content. On the other hand, 4k footage from the ultrawide camera, while functional, falls short in terms of detail and sharpness, resulting in average video quality.
Conclusion
The Apple iPhone 11, despite being the budget option, offers top-notch features such as water resistance, a vibrant LCD screen, impressive stereo speakers, exceptional performance, outstanding photo quality (especially at night), and remarkable battery life. However, it lacks the brilliant OLED screen and telephoto camera found in the pro versions. Additionally, the absence of a proper charger in the box may be seen as disappointing. Nevertheless, the iPhone 11 delivers a similar experience to the pro versions at a much more competitive price, making it a compelling choice for users. At $700 for a 64GB option, it's not a budget phone, but it's certainly more appealing than its pricier counterparts and deserves a recommendation.
FAQ
Is the iPhone 11 water-resistant?
Yes, the iPhone 11 features a water-resistant design with improved IP68 water resistance, allowing it to survive under two meters of water for half an hour.
Does the iPhone 11 support fast charging?
Yes, the iPhone 11 supports 18W fast charging, providing convenient options for keeping the device powered up.
What are the main differences between the iPhone 11 and the pro versions?
- The iPhone 11 lacks the brilliant OLED screen and telephoto camera found in the pro versions.
- The glass on the back of the iPhone 11 isn't frosted, unlike the pro models.
- The absence of a proper charger in the box may be seen as a drawback for some users.
