Colored steel edges feel cheap except the red one. Phone is too thick, bezels are too thick. Just feels like a less premium, more bloated Chinese copy of the iPhone X. Plus, didn't Apple already learn with the 5C that colored and watered down iPhones are not appealing? I mean how many more times do they have to make the same mistake?
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iPhone XR So I’ve only gone and traded my iPhone X for an XR...
- Thread starter Stuey3D
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Ahh yes I wondered how long it would be before a spec nerd came and had a dig.
Simple fact is the OLED hurt my eyes the LCD doesn’t. The LCD is actually very good with its sub 1080p resolution and the battery life is proving that it was the right choice.
Also I can get more on my screen at once than you can on your X even with all of its extra pixels meaning I can get more done on mine take a look at my Twitch example above.
Also pixels doesn’t maketh the screen a whole lot of other factors come into play to make the screen good or bad.
I would rather a high quality 1080p TV over a lower quality 4K set any day.
Colour/motion handling/ghosting/lag are all more noticeable before pixels to a certain degree obviously a 480x320 screen won’t compare but you get what I mean.
That being said the screen isn’t perfect as I’ve highlighted above but an high resolution OLED is not worth the price/battery life compromise to me.
Yes this screen is sub 1080p but it’s a very good screen and I am very pleased with it.
Also to put a 1080p screen in the XR Apple would’ve had to do all sorts of weird scaling to get it to 1080p or they would’ve had to add yet another layout for developers to optimise to. Either way the battery life and performance hit wouldn’t be worth it for such a small gain. Plus they wouldn’t bump the resolution up to the XS Max resolution because it would actually be sharper than the XS Max because the OLED would have fewer sub pixels.
I understand that OLED hurts you eyes and that's a fair point, but you re trying too hard to make excuses for Apple as to why they would not use a 1080p screen. Here is the reason buddy: COST cutting. Apple is cynical enough to cut costs on arguably the most used component on their phones, the screen, but still be even more cynical and charge $750 for the phone.
Its not about the specs, its about how they are continually sticking it to the customer and nickle and diming them. You pay iPhone 8+ money but you get an iPhone 8 screen. How does that add up?
The OP has already decided and has bought the Xr so he is obviously happy with that the Xr offers. This thread isn’t an Xr vs Xs/Xs max thread.
I’m not making excuses for Apple, pretty much every Apple product is overpriced just some more than others.
The screen on the plus models was actually a compromise in the first place, it’s not a native 1080p I believe the assets are rendered at 3X retina and then down scaled, which caused very minor but noticeable artifacts on the screen. I believe if you pulled down notification centre when watching a 1080p video was blurry for a second or so before the interface caught up, I never noticed it myself but others did.
I personally like the approach Apple took this time around by treating the XR as a plus model just with the assets scaled up 2x rather than 3X as in the Max.
Personally I believe the only way to make this screen better would be some kind of full array local dimming, or at least some form of frame dimming. My TV is edge lit but has frame dimming so the black bars on movies are almost completely black, however this technology would probably not fit in such a small chassis.
And that comment makes you just as bad. He’s looking down his nose at the XR, you’re looking down your nose at the XS.
Great review. I'm on the brink of getting a XR myself (coming from an iPhone 7). I had some doubts between the XS and the XR, but the X was never in the running. In my eyes the XR is the best value phone. Besides the screen (I didn't see a big difference between OLED and LCD on the iPhones, but that's personal) the XR is just better in every possible way imo (compared to X). I was thinking about the XS, because I read so many stories about the XS having the better screen, but again...I didn't see a difference that would justify 300-400 extra dollars. But that's personal. The LCD screen is also better for my eyes. Way better than my iPhone 7 too.
Your observations fairly well summarize why I upgraded my 6s to the XR in October. I saved a lot of cash in choosing the XR over the XS and Max, and I didn't give up anything of substance per my usage. Plus, I really like the size of the XR.
Given the XR outsells the Xs, I'm glad Apple isn't taking any lessons from you.
My bad, you know i mean aluminum. The steel in the X is jewelery grade. The colored aluminum in the XR feels toygrade
[doublepost=1547871285][/doublepost]
Given how poor everything has been selling this year, maybe they should. Bring back Scott Forestall
When I broke my iPhone 6S+ thankfully my carrier offered to pay off the last 3 months of my contract and upgrade, I was all set to get an 8+ for me and an 8 for the wife as we were both due to upgrade together. However the wife said "I want the X, I know its more expensive but if i'm getting a new phone I want it to feel like a new phone, the 8 looks just the same as I have now" she had a 6S.
So we both ended up with an iPhone X. Now I really liked the X (PWM aside) however I also felt very stupid owning it because of the sheer cost of it. I always said to people "yeah its a nice phone but not worth £1150" we both had 256GB models.
In the year I owned the X I quickly grew accustomed to the gestures and Face ID and they were awesome, but again still not worth the kind of money they were asking.
The contract I was on allowed to me trade in the X after just a year to upgrade (bit like the Apple upgrade program) but when this years keynote came around nothing really took my fancy the XS and Max are far too expensive, however the XR the more I thought about it the more it seemed to be a really good deal compared to my X. It offered noticeable upgrades for me battery/screen size/plus features/No PWM/Low light camera performance without too many losses OLED/2nd camera (however loosing the OLED for me was an upgrade anyway) all whilst being cheaper to boot so thats why I upgraded to an XR as soon as I could.
Younger more tech nerd me would have jumped at the Max as its Apple's latest and greatest, however older wiser me sees the XR as having 95% of what the Max does for 70% of the cost.
For me I got the 128GB XR on an 18 month contract with 15GB of data and unlimited texts/minutes for £76 a month, the 256GB XS Max on the same tariff for the same amount of time is £104 a month and I cant justify that kind of extra cost per month just for an OLED and 2nd camera.
With the XR I am saving per month over what my X was costing me and I've effectively only extended my existing contract by only 6 months.
TL : DR
I felt stupid owning the iPhone X as although its a nice phone I was paying far too much for it.
The XR I don't feel stupid in owning as for the price its a very good phone and it isn't any more expensive than flagships of other top brands.
[doublepost=1547881669][/doublepost]In the real world to make these phones competitive they should have been priced as follows
XR - Starting £600
XS - Starting £800
XS Max - Starting £900
But we all know Tim Cook and co don't live on the real world and I think this is partially why iPhones have suffered a bit of a sales decline.
At £750 for the XR its expensive but its bearable as its a very good phone for the money with all its performance even compared to some of the Android models.
At £1000/1100 for the Xs/Max they are just far too expensive for what they offer compared to the competition.
Agreed about everything, including the prices. They're too high. 600/800/900 would be better, yes.
What I don't agree with (and I read this more often) is that it's the reason why phones are not selling as well as they used to. Sure, the higher prices play a role, but phones are getting better and better. Most people I know used to switch phones every year, or every other year.....but the last few years? It's no longer necessary, especially with iPhones.
What I don't agree with (and I read this more often) is that it's the reason why phones are not selling as well as they used to. Sure, the higher prices play a role, but phones are getting better and better. Most people I know used to switch phones every year, or every other year.....but the last few years? It's no longer necessary, especially with iPhones.
It’s the same aluminum as the one in the iPhone 8. What was the issue with the 8?
That’s why I said prices were partially to blame.
I agree that smartphones have hit a plateau with regards to speed and features and that is contributing to the decline in sales.
Although these prices aren’t doing anything to help things in the long run because what a lot of people are doing now is taking a device over a 3 year contract just to make them affordable, and because of that you are pushing lots of customers into longer plans rather than getting them to upgrade every couple of years.
For those who are interested you can see PWM clear as day in this side by side comparison of the XS Max and the XR. It is at 2:32 in this video.
It looks rather extreme when you see it through a camera and you can see why it can give people eye strains.
thats because its cheaper.. price the X series more reasonably and it will sell more.
On one hand every android phone has an oled panel. One of the Samsung galaxy phones that a friend let me use gave me a headache so I do understand. My max doesn’t give me headaches.
The iPhone 7 and 8 are even cheaper. They don’t sell well.
The XR has the right combination of features and price for customers in many parts of the world.
Most of the data seems to show otherwise.
"While Apple is still not giving absolute unit sales figures, the company does occasionally disclose to investors which models are selling the best out of its lineup, which currently includes older models such as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8".
https://money.usnews.com/investing/...is-companys-best-selling-model-executive-says
(Jan 2019)
"In all but 7 of the 36 countries included in our latest data, the iPhone 7 (or 7 Plus) leads the way."
https://deviceatlas.com/blog/most-popular-iphones
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This was prior to the XR launch, but still strong numbers for the iP7:
"iPhone XS sales stronger than last year’s lineup, but iPhone 7 remains #1, suggest analytics"
https://9to5mac.com/2018/10/03/iphone-xs-sales/
I’m glad so many people enjoy the XR, and I had the same issue you did with the PWM to a degree so severe I had to return the X as I couldn’t use it. But to me the XR doesn’t feel like the X.
It has a similar design, and this may just be because the display is the most important aspect of a device to me, but I think it feels like a downgrade from the first-generation X. To me at least the X felt so premium that I found myself being extra selective with when I used it (such as keeping it in my car during workouts), eye strain aside. Not everyone will care or notice but I don’t think the display on the XR compares to the X even though the color and contrast are fantastic for a LCD.
Honestly I’m not sure I can live with the lack of 3D Touch (typing this without 3D Touch is surprisingly irritating) and the lower PPI is noticeable so unfortunately I might just keep the 8+ until they switch to a flicker-free display on the flagship iPhones, hopefully next generation.
Then again, the XR wasn’t designed for somebody who cares about PPI or 3D Touch.
It has a similar design, and this may just be because the display is the most important aspect of a device to me, but I think it feels like a downgrade from the first-generation X. To me at least the X felt so premium that I found myself being extra selective with when I used it (such as keeping it in my car during workouts), eye strain aside. Not everyone will care or notice but I don’t think the display on the XR compares to the X even though the color and contrast are fantastic for a LCD.
Honestly I’m not sure I can live with the lack of 3D Touch (typing this without 3D Touch is surprisingly irritating) and the lower PPI is noticeable so unfortunately I might just keep the 8+ until they switch to a flicker-free display on the flagship iPhones, hopefully next generation.
Then again, the XR wasn’t designed for somebody who cares about PPI or 3D Touch.
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I hear what you're saying, and I think you're really balanced in your posts. It's good we have choices, right? As I've said before, I would gladly buy a XS or Max, but the several hundred dollars difference is too big a hurdle for me to justify for the screen difference (3D Touch hasn't proven that beneficial for me, or maybe I was too lazy to really get into it on my 6s!). Don't get me wrong: I care about such things--a lot. But I also care about justifying a purchase. Were I on my phone more, perhaps I would see things differently, but as it stands, I'm perfectly satisfied with the XR screen.
I'm not putting down those who pony up for the XS or Max. Each has to be convinced that his or her money is well spent.
I thank you for letting me express my opinions in a fair, unbiased manner. The great news here for consumers is that if they haven’t already owned a X or XS, they’ll probably enjoy the XR! There could be people coming from newer Plus phones that see the difference in resolution or even non-Plus phones that miss 3D Touch but the average consumer won’t care. The logical upgrade from a 7 Plus or an 8 Plus is a XS or XS Max but beyond that most people will be just fine with the XR.
I would gladly pay extra for a XS or XS Max because I upgrade annually and iPhones hold their resale value well. Proportionately, the cost to own a XS or XS Max won’t be that much more than a XR. The one advantage the XR has is that 128GB is the perfect size, but I don’t think the difference in price is as drastic as people think if they factor in resale value. Then again I do expect a price drop of ~ $100 for the next generation (not necessary imo, but sales say differently) which may depreciate this generation quicker than usual.