Petr Škuta After thorough testing, we bring you a review of the iPhone 11. Is it worth buying and who is it for?
The box itself suggests that something will be different this time. The phone is shown from the back. Apple knows very well why it does this. They try to draw all your attention to the cameras. After all, this is the biggest visible change that happened this year. Of course, others are hidden under the hood. But more on that later.
We unpack
The white version arrived at our office. It has silver aluminum side frames and is thus reminiscent of the design already known from today's older iPhone 7. After opening the box, the phone really sets your back and you are immediately greeted with the camera lens. The back doesn't even cover the foil this time. It remained only on the front side of the display, which will seem very familiar to you. Especially to owners of the previous generation XR.
The rest of the pack is pretty much a song already. Instructions, Apple stickers, wired EarPods with Lightning connector and 5W charger with USB-A to Lightning cable. Apple has stubbornly refused to switch to USB-C, even though we've had MacBooks with the port for over three years, and last year's iPad Pros also have it. It also contradicts what you will find in the iPhone 11 Pro packaging, where Apple had no problem packing an 18 W USB-C adapter. Holt had to save money somewhere.
A familiar face
As soon as you hold the phone in your hands, you can feel its size and weight. However, those who have owned an iPhone XR will not be surprised. However, for my hand, a 6,1" smartphone with the appropriate weight is already on the edge of usability. I often find myself using the phone "two-handed".
It should be noted here that I own an iPhone XS. It was therefore interesting for me to see how I would get used to the phone and experiment on myself.
The front side therefore remains unchanged with the familiar cut-out, which is slightly more noticeable in the case of the iPhone 11 than in the Pro colleagues. The back has a glossy finish, to which fingerprints stick uncomfortably. On the other hand, the protrusion with the cameras has a matte finish. It's the exact opposite of the iPhone 11 Pro.
I have to admit that in reality the phone does not look as ugly as it may appear in the photos. On the contrary, you can get used to the design of the cameras very quickly and you can even like it.
Ready for every day
The phone responded really briskly after turning it on. I didn't restore it from a backup, but only installed the necessary apps. Less is sometimes more. Even so, I was constantly surprised by the quick reactions and launching of applications. I'm not a fan of app launch benchmarks, but I feel like the iPhone 11 is faster with iOS 13 than my iPhone XS.
Even after more than a week of use, I don't experience any problems. And I didn't spare the phone. It received a good portion of communication, phone calls, work with office applications or I used it in hot-spot mode for MacBook.
The battery life really varied, but I usually managed an hour or three more than with my iPhone XS. At the same time, I have a black wallpaper and an active dark mode. The optimization of the A13 processor together with the much lower screen resolution of the iPhone 11 is probably to blame.
I was worried about this at first, but after a week I quickly got used to it. There are of course differences here and they are most noticeable in a direct comparison. Otherwise, it doesn't really matter.
On the contrary, I can't really recognize the sound quality of the iPhone 11 and its Dolby Atmos. I find the quality to be comparable to the XS. A musician or music expert would hear the nuances better, but I can't hear the difference.
However, Dolby Atmos, faster Wi-Fi or the powerful Apple A13 processor are not the main draw. This is a new camera and this time with two cameras.
iPhone 11 is mainly about the camera
Apple used a pair of lenses with the same resolution of 11 Mpix for the iPhone 12. The first is a wide-angle lens and the second is an ultra-wide-angle lens. In practice, this will be reflected in particular by the new option in the camera application.
While you can choose up to 2x zoom for models with a telephoto lens, here, on the other hand, you can zoom out the entire scene by half, i.e. you press the zoom button and the option switches to 0,5x zoom.
By zooming out, you get a much wider scene and of course you can fit more of the image into the frame. Apple says even 4x more.
I'll admit that I only shot the wide-angle mode for a review, but for the rest of my time using the phone, I completely forgot that the mode was available to me.
Gallery
Captive of night mode
What I was excited about, on the other hand, is the night mode. The competition has been offering it for some time now, and now we finally have it on iPhones as well. I must admit that the results are perfect and completely exceed my expectations.
The night mode is turned on completely automatically. The system itself decides when to use it and when not to. It's often a shame, as it would be useful in the dark, but iOS decides it doesn't need it. But that's the philosophy of the operating system.
I tend to take snapshots, so I'm not the best at dissecting the quality. Anyway, I was impressed by the level of detail and the sensitive breakdown of light and shadows. The camera is apparently trying to recognize objects and, accordingly, illuminates some more, while others are hidden by a veil of darkness.
However, I got some very strange results when there was a street lamp behind me. The whole photo then got a strange yellow tint. Obviously, I was standing in the wrong place when taking the photo.
Apple promises even better quality photos with with the arrival of Deep Fusion mode. We'll have to wait a while for that one before iOS 13.2 beta testing ends. Although I will no longer have the phone at my disposal, I beg Apple to take their time.
Camcorder in your pocket
Video is also great, where you make much more use of the wide-angle camera. While Apple has been lagging behind in the photography category lately, it has unwaveringly ruled the video charts. This year it is consolidating this position again.
You can record up to 4K at sixty frames per second. Absolutely smooth, no hassle. In addition, with iOS 13 you can afford to shoot from both cameras at the same time and continue to work with the footage. With all this, you will quickly find out how small 64 GB can be at once. The phone directly invites you to take pictures and record videos, while the memory disappears by the hundreds of megabytes.
So we should answer the most important question we asked ourselves at the beginning of the review. The new iPhone 11 is an excellent phone in terms of performance and price. It offers incredible performance, good durability and great cameras. However, the compromises from the previous generation remained. The display has an increasingly lower resolution and its frames are large. The phone is also big and quite heavy. Actually, in terms of design, not much has changed. Yes, we have new colors. But they are every year.
Verdict in three categories
If you use your smartphone primarily for smart features and don't take photos, shoot videos, or play a lot of games, the iPhone 11 won't offer you much. So many iPhone XR owners don't have much reason to upgrade, but neither do iPhone X or XS owners. However, iPhone 8 and older owners might want to consider it.
This brings us to the second category of people who buy a device for a longer period of time and do not change it every year or two. In terms of outlook, the iPhone 11 will definitely last you at least 3, but probably 5 years. It has power to spare, the battery lasts more than two days with light use. I would also direct iPhone 6, 6S or iPhone 11 owners to buy the iPhone XNUMX model.
In the third category, which I will also recommend the iPhone 11, there are people who want to take a lot of photos and videos. Here lies the main strength. In addition, I dare to say that even if you are deprived of a telephoto lens, you still have a very high-quality camera at hand, with which you can conjure up excellent shots. In addition, you save almost ten thousand for a higher model.
Of course, if you want the best that Apple has to offer, the iPhone 11 probably won't interest you. But he doesn't even try too hard. It is there for the others and will serve them very well.
iPhone 11 was lent to us for testing by Mobil Emergency. The smartphone was protected by a case throughout the review PanzerGlass ClearCase and tempered glass PanzerGlass Premium.
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Amaya Toman 
Hello, I need some advice. I have a 7, I'm considering buying an XS or 11. I take photos occasionally, I don't use videos much either :-). I rather want to restore the phone, but I don't know which one to choose. Thank you Eli
If you don't care what screen the phone has, I recommend the 11 (LCD + wider frames). If you want OLED then Xs. If you don't know the difference between LCD and OLED, I recommend watching some videos on YouTube. OLED is completely different in terms of technology and properties. Both phones are noticeably heavier and larger than the 7. In terms of performance, the difference between them (Xs vs 11) is minimal. The battery is larger in the 11 (approx. 2600 mAh vs 3000 mAh). Both phones look really luxurious. Another, and for me, major difference is 3D Touch, which has given way to a larger battery in the 11. If you are used to it and use it, then Xs is a clear choice. I personally wanted to upgrade to 11 Pro, but this was an absolute dealbreaker for me. I chose Xs and I have absolutely no regrets. This phone is and will be top for quite a few more years.