Apparently, it’s a great iPhone to buy sub USD $1,000 …
Apple hasn’t shied away from selling cheaper smartphones: There was the 5c some years ago, and the SE after that. And let’s not forget that Apple always sells the prior year’s models for less once the shiny new stuff comes out. The iPhone XR is a step in a different direction. Instead of just repackaging old components, Apple took a lot of what makes the XS and XS Max great and built a brand new, more affordable frame around it. It’s all about accessibility. A process like this is rife with compromises and, to be clear, Apple made quite a few of them in building the XR. To Apple’s credit, though, the iPhone XR never really feels compromised. Sure, it’s less flashy than its premium cousins — even so, the XR delivers everywhere it counts.
I alluded to this earlier, but building a device like the iPhone XR is an exercise in thoughtful compromise. How do you give people as good an iOS experience as possible for $750? Apple’s answer — by folding top-tier performance, valuable software and a solid camera into a cheaper, well-made body — seems like a winner. That’s not to say the XR is perfect: People concerned about the display’s resolution have a point, and the camera just isn’t as flexible as other ones Apple has produced.
While these are definitely factors to keep in mind, I don’t think they’re deal breakers for the audience Apple is trying to reach. For those people, who haven’t upgraded their iPhones in a while or who want a taste of what Apple is capable of without spending $1,000, the XR isn’t just a great, cheaper iPhone. It’s a great iPhone, period, and, for that matter, it’s the iPhone most people should buy.
Pros
- A12 chipset means excellent performance
- The best battery of any iPhone we’ve tested this year
- Typically great build quality
- 6.1-inch screen hits the sweet spot
- Colors!
Cons
- A higher-res display would’ve been nice
- The camera lacks some flexibility
- More expensive than comparable Android phones
Summary
These days, lots of smartphone makers are trying to offer more for less, and Apple is no exception. Its new iPhone XR features a lot of what makes the more premium XS and XS Max special, squeezed into a glass-and-metal package that costs significantly less. This is, as you would expect, an exercise in compromise: the XR retains the high-performance A12 chipset and delivers the best battery life we’ve ever seen in an iPhone in some time. But the Liquid Retina display and single camera might not be up to snuff for everyone. That said, everything Apple offers here is much, much better than just “good enough.” The XR is the iPhone we’d recommend to most people.
Source: Engadget
