Review of iPhone 11 - the most affordable smartphone from Apple's new products

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Successor to iPhone XR with ultra wide-angle camera, A13 Bionic processor and new colors.

Table of contents

• Positioning
• Specifications
• Equipment
• Design and ergonomics
• Screen
• Sound
• Camera
• Performance
• Autonomy
• How the iPhone 11 differs from the iPhone 11 Pro
• How the iPhone 11 differs from the iPhone XR
• Outcomes

Positioning

The iPhone 11 is the direct successor to the iPhone XR and the most affordable Apple smartphone introduced in September. It is inferior to the iPhone 11 Pro in a number of characteristics (we will talk about them later), but it costs 30 thousand less.

Specifications

Colors	Black, White, Green, Yellow, Purple, Product Red
Display	6.1 inches, HD + (828 x 1 792 pixels), Liquid Retina IPS LCD
CPU	Seminanometer Apple A13 Bionic (2 × 2, 65 GHz Lightning + 4 × 1, 8 GHz Thunder, according to GSM Arena)
RAM	4 GB
Built-in memory	64/128/256 GB
Cameras	Rear - 12 MP (main) + 12 MP (ultra wide-angle). Front - 12 MP
SIM card	One slot for nanoSIM
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC
Connectors	Lightning
Unlocking	Face ID, PIN
Operating system	iOS 13
Battery	3046 mAh (according to GSM Arena), wireless and fast charging supported (18 W, USB Power Delivery 2.0)
Protection	IP68
Dimensions (edit)	150, 9 × 75, 7 × 8, 3 mm
The weight	194 g

Equipment

iPhone 11 ships with the classic kit: documentation, stickers, EarPods, cable and 5V and 1A charging adapter.

Design and ergonomics

The smartphone retained the body of the iPhone XR, but received new, more delicate colors: purple, green and yellow.

The glass back panels remain glossy, the metal frames are matte.

A purple smartphone came to our editorial office.

The square with lenses in the upper left corner of the panel is made of transparent frosted glass.

The new camera block does not look as defiant as the iPhone 11 Pro. These are just two lenses in a slightly unusual module. When the screen is oriented horizontally, your fingers do not touch the lenses (this is a problem with the iPhone 11 Pro).

If you're used to the size of the iPhone XR or most of the flagships on the market, then the size of the iPhone 11 won't bother you. It is a weighty, wide and tall smartphone.

iPhone 11 loses bezel-less to Pro models. The indents from the edge of the case to the display are noticeable here.

Apple launches hard plastic clear cases for iPhone 11. This model has a case that goes longer than the iPhone 11 Pro, although it makes the smartphone even thicker.

Screen

An IPS ‑ screen called Liquid Retina is installed here. In theory, it is inferior to OLED displays in the iPhone X, iPhone XS and iPhone 11 Pro, but in reality it is almost not felt. Peak brightness of 625 nits is enough for use in bright sunlight, and the lack of Full HD resolution does not affect the work with the smartphone in standard scenarios.

The diagonal of the screen was 6.1 inches. That's more than the iPhone 11 Pro, but less than the 11 Pro Max.

Apple software chips in place: iPhone 11 supports Night Shift, which brings the picture into warm tones for the user to go to sleep, and True Tone, which adjusts colors to the environment.

Sound

It has stereo speakers for loud and clear sound. Feels like the smartphone is not inferior in this regard to the Pro version: with the iPhone 11 you can listen to music and watch a movie.

Camera

IPhone 11 has two 12-megapixel lenses: main wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle. Both can shoot video in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.

The ultra wide-angle camera allows you to capture more space in the frame or find an unusual angle. The telephoto lens found in the iPhone 11 Pro isn't here, so don't believe it if you see something about optical zoom in the specs. It means "zoom out", that is, shooting with an ultra wide-angle lens. And a fivefold increase is achieved programmatically.

Here are some examples of photos taken with the new ultra wide-angle camera.

Improvements have also been made to the main camera. For example, the Smart HDR mode has been slightly improved, which helps to work out the dark areas of the frame and not overexpose the light ones at the same time. Such frames are obtained when shooting in automatic mode without switching the lens.

Now, to take portraits, the camera does not need to search for a face. This means that you can take photos of any object with bokeh - something that the iPhone XR lacked.

The 12-megapixel front camera, as in the older models, was taught to shoot videos in 4K and at 60 FPS. There are no complaints about the quality of selfies - examples below.

Also, the front camera is now able to shoot slow-motion videos. Apple calls them Slowfie. Below is a slow motion video from our host Irina.

All 2019 iPhones now have support for night shooting. Now the camera understands when there is not enough light in the frame and increases the shutter speed. Everything happens automatically, no inappropriate triggering of functions occurs. The user does not need to interfere with the algorithms and can make night landscapes as usual.

Apple has significantly redesigned the camera interface. Some of the functions disappeared under the arrow at the top of the application, and a zoom slider appeared at the bottom, which automatically switches lenses if necessary. In the settings, you can activate simultaneous shooting with both lenses. Then the portion of the image captured with the ultra wide-angle lens can be added to the frame using Edit mode.

The script for the main button has also changed. A long press automatically turns on video recording, and in order to take a series of frames, you need to move the button a little to the left without lifting your finger from the screen.

Performance

iPhone 11 received the new A13 Bionic chip, made according to the seven-nanometer process and included six cores with a frequency of up to 2.65 GHz. RAM - 4 GB. In AnTuTu, the iPhone 11 scored even more points than the iPhone 11 Pro - 460,777 versus 454,843 - and was second only to the iPad Pro 3.

A little experience with the iPhone 11 confirms: this is a very powerful smartphone. You can easily play games from the Apple Arcade catalog, process portraits and render videos in iMovie, and the system does not hint that something is not working.

Autonomy

According to Apple iPhone 11 - Full phone specifications GSM Arena, the iPhone has a 3,046 mAh battery, which is enough for 17 hours of video viewing and 65 hours of music playback. This suggests that the autonomy of the iPhone 11 slightly bypasses the iPhone XR - the most "long-playing" Apple smartphone in 2018.

We have not yet been able to carry out a full test of autonomy: the iPhone 11 simply did not have time to discharge. But it feels like it really should be enough for a day of active work.

The iPhone 11 now has support for fast charging with an 18-watt adapter, which must be purchased separately. On the Apple website, the device costs 2,939 rubles. Wireless charging is also supported.

How the iPhone 11 differs from the iPhone 11 Pro

Almost everyone. Here's what can affect the choice of a smartphone:

• Colors. The 11 Pro has fewer and stricter ones. For unusual colors - to the iPhone 11.
• Glass on the back. iPhone 11 retained the gloss of its predecessors and received a matte camera block. The iPhone 11 Pro, on the other hand, has a matte panel with a glossy block.
• Screen. The iPhone 11 Pro is slightly newer and more technologically advanced, as well as Full HD. But even this does not affect the experience more, but the diagonal is 6.1 inches on the iPhone 11 versus 5, 8 in the 11 Pro and 6.5 in the 11 Pro Max.
• Telephoto lens. The iPhone 11 did not receive it, which means that the zoom is only digital.
• Memory. With 512GB on board, only the iPhone 11 Pro is on sale.
• Price. 30 thousand rubles difference.

	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB
iPhone 11	59,990 rubles	64 990 rubles	73,990 rubles	-
iPhone 11 Pro	89,990 rubles	-	103,990 rubles	121 990 rubles

How the iPhone 11 differs from the iPhone XR

Here are the key changes:

• Colors. Instead of bright ones, they are now paler. A matter of taste.
• Ultra wide angle lens. The new iPhone 11 got it.
• Shooting portraits. On the new iPhone in this mode, you can take pictures not only of people, but also of any objects.
• Front-camera. I increased the resolution and learned how to shoot video in 4K and at 60 FPS.
• Fast charging. iPhone 11 can recover 50% charge in half an hour, but you have to buy an 18-watt adapter.
• Price. Last year's iPhone is cheaper by about 10 thousand rubles.

	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB
iPhone 11	59,990 rubles	64 990 rubles	73,990 rubles
iPhone XR	49,990 rubles	54,990 rubles	60,990 rubles

The iPhone XR with 256GB of storage is not officially sold by Apple, the table shows the approximate price in stores.

Outcomes

The iPhone 11 feels like a trade-off in terms of bezel and size. If you have used an iPhone X or iPhone XS, you will physically feel its increased dimensions and thickened side edges. The rest of the differences from the top models seem to be much easier to forgive.

If you haven't updated your Apple smartphone for a long time or are choosing the first one, iPhone 11 is a great option. This year, it is not as expensive to become the owner of the new Apple product as it was in the past: the iPhone 11 in the minimum configuration will cost 59,990 rubles. But there is little point in upgrading from the iPhone XR.