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iPhone XR Retrospective: The iPhone XR was a great phone to buy.
- Thread starter Mr. Awesome
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Still using my Product Red XR. Of course new phones are tempting but the price? ….ouch!
I still use my XR, bought it two years ago. It's still running fine on iOS 16, the pictures in hdr mode are excellent and everything else is just working like expected. Even the battery at 89% health is not that bad, i get over the day easily.
I am at the point that i use my iPhones minimum 4 years, because i really see no improvement in buying a new generation for what i use it.
Web browsing, streaming, some photos or videos- no problem for the XR. I really like the call quality and the good microphone when talking handsfree.
It fell down a few times, but thanks to the rubber case and the glass screen protector it still looks like new. Almost like one if these old Nokias.
I am at the point that i use my iPhones minimum 4 years, because i really see no improvement in buying a new generation for what i use it.
Web browsing, streaming, some photos or videos- no problem for the XR. I really like the call quality and the good microphone when talking handsfree.
It fell down a few times, but thanks to the rubber case and the glass screen protector it still looks like new. Almost like one if these old Nokias.
iPhone XR still very capable phones, my family had it for 4yrs till i traded them all for iPhone 14 PM, iPhone Pro, iPhone 14 plus, due to battery capacity went downhill under 80%, Tmobile trade in valued $479 24months bill credits with my grandfather simple choice plan , i didn't mind at all, I've been always a Tmobile, if still works well for what you need, enjoy it.
At the time of release, the XR was far better compared to the XS it was released alongside, than the iPhone 11 was when compared to the Pros when it was released a year later.
But sure, I wouldn’t choose an XR over an 11. same phone, but worse
Main camera upgrades on the 11 were incredible. Not everyone has the same priorities, but that alone made all the difference for me.
I went from rotten indoor pics of kids and pets to reasonable quality for a modern phone when I moved from a XS to my 11 Pro.
The base 11 was definitely the better value, with several quality upgrades as others have detailed already in this thread.
I went from rotten indoor pics of kids and pets to reasonable quality for a modern phone when I moved from a XS to my 11 Pro.
The base 11 was definitely the better value, with several quality upgrades as others have detailed already in this thread.
I disagree. The XR had notable deficiencies compared to the XS, features that regular people could point out. Apple made it obvious you were buying the cheaper iPhone because of the single rear camera. (Hardly any other smartphone in 2018 had a single rear lens.) XR was less water resistant, lacked 3D Touch, Gigabit LTE, and had less RAM. To top it off, the XS was only $250 more, making the decision more difficult.
iPhone 11 really closed that feature gap. You no longer felt like a peasant because the 11 had two rear cameras. It had the same Night Mode, ultrawide, 4GB RAM, Gigabit LTE, U1, and water resistance as the 11 Pro. To top it off, Apple dropped the price by $50.
People at the time were all asking, what makes the 11 Pro, a Pro? Why spend $300 more?
I think the proof of that is how many XR’s are still seen in use yet the XS seems to be quite a rare device these days.
The XS had the shortest battery life in any modern iPhone, perhaps bar the 12 Mini. The XR had the longest at the time, even surpassing the XS Max in reviews.
Two lenses vs one for the XR, sure. Waterproofing was, in practice, around the same.
The XR had the bigger display 6.1” vs 5.8”. Heck, due to how iOS implemented pixel scaling at the time for those particular phones’ PPI, the XR’s 325ppi LCD screen actually fit the same amount of content as the XS Max (6.5”, ~450ppi). You could get “Max” amount of content on a 6.1” XR!
The XR did have an LCD screen rather than OLED, but I never noticed much difference anyway at the time. Also, LCD is still better in some ways. LCD with LED backlighting consumes less power at full brightness than OLED, and you don’t NEED to use Dark Mode to get great battery life. Great battery, even with everything light and bright!!!
The XS with its OLED screen was dreadful. 👎
I went from an iPhone XR to a 13 Pro and was quite aggrieved when I realised I’d lost the nice two-column landscape mode most of the apps like Mail and Messages etc offered on the XR, despite the screen being basically the same size.
Completely agree that between that and the vastly better battery life, the XR was a much better phone for most people than the XS, and sold like it too.
Agreed, battery life alone makes the Xʀ better than the Xs in my opinion, the Xs’ battery life was rather underwhelming, even on iOS 12. That huge advantage coupled with the price difference made it a great choice.
I loved everything about my XR other than the size due to its shape. It was big and slippery. The squared 12 series and up seem much easier to hold with the same screen size.
Exactly!
I went from a 6.1” XR to the 6.1” 13 Pro as well, and was also surprised by how much I missed the extra content the XR fit on screen, especially landscape mode.
I returned it and bought a 13 Mini instead. Very good phone, and really not much smaller than the 13/13 Pro in practice.
I have the Xʀ as my main iPhone, I love it, but whilst I disagree with “the Xʀ had notable deficiencies when compared to the Xs” (I think they were more negligible than people’s initial reaction contended), I think that your second point is the key to everything: the iPhone 11 is infinitely better. Camera-wise, it has a lot more longevity, and frankly, that makes it not have any drawbacks, even now. The iPhone Xʀ‘s camera configuration was abhorrent by 2019, and it’s even more abhorrent now. If it had the iPhone 11’s cameras it would be a lot better.
I think the XR really introduced a phone that still felt premium but didn't have the hefty price tag. Sure, you missed out on a few features, but overall it was still a really quality device overall. I upgraded from a 6s that was on its last legs(faulty touchscreen and battery) to an XR in 2019 and the difference was night and day. In hindsight I should've upgraded to the brand new 11 that had just come out and was only $100 more but I didn't feel like I needed the upgraded features at the time. Once my eyes adjusted to the new and bigger screen(I had some MAJOR eye strain the first few weeks using it) I was in love. I got AirPod Pro's not long after to go along with it and was loving my new devices.
Might sound a little silly, but man, I really miss Apple devices around 2018/2019. I am OLED/PWM sensitive so having quality IPS screen device options really made me feel like I could still get a modern device with a good sized screen and not miss out. Fast forward to now and all we have as a newer device with an IPS screen is the SE3. The size is just way too small and sadly I'm noticing my current daily driver (iPhone 11) starting to show it's age. I've tried out the 13/14's and the speed and camera differences are pretty noticeable but I could just not adjust to any OLED screen despite trying a bunch of different display settings. But I digress...
Might sound a little silly, but man, I really miss Apple devices around 2018/2019. I am OLED/PWM sensitive so having quality IPS screen device options really made me feel like I could still get a modern device with a good sized screen and not miss out. Fast forward to now and all we have as a newer device with an IPS screen is the SE3. The size is just way too small and sadly I'm noticing my current daily driver (iPhone 11) starting to show it's age. I've tried out the 13/14's and the speed and camera differences are pretty noticeable but I could just not adjust to any OLED screen despite trying a bunch of different display settings. But I digress...
Wow, the 6s is truly the best iPhone ever. Its longevity is outstanding, the absolutely massive amount of people that have upgraded from the 6s to the Xʀ is impressive, I’ve read of way too many cases. I wish I had the data for it, because my numbers are anecdotal, but I would think the number is quite high. I upgraded from a 6s on iOS 9 to the Xʀ on iOS 12 back in 2019, like you. My main phone still is the Xʀ running iOS 12.
