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iPhone 11 review: A great iPhone for less money

Our Verdict

The iPhone xi delivers superb cameras, fast performance and fantabulous battery life, making it the iPhone to buy for many people, especially after Apple cut the price once over again.

For

  • Compelling ultra-wide camera
  • New Night fashion is first-class
  • Long battery lifE
  • Fast A13 Bionic processor

Against

  • Fast charger not included
  • Just 64GB of storage
  • LTE slightly slower than iPhone 11 Pro

Tom's Guide Verdict

The iPhone 11 delivers superb cameras, fast performance and excellent bombardment life, making it the iPhone to purchase for many people, especially later Apple cut the toll one time again.

Pros

  • +

    Compelling ultra-wide camera

  • +

    New Nighttime mode is fantabulous

  • +

    Long battery lifE

  • +

    Fast A13 Bionic processor

Cons

  • -

    Fast charger non included

  • -

    But 64GB of storage

  • -

    LTE slightly slower than iPhone xi Pro

Thanks to its reduced price, the iPhone xi remains one of the best phones for the coin. Now at $499 post-obit the iPhone 13 launch, the new iPhone costs $200 less than the iPhone 13 mini and $300 less than the iPhone thirteen. Nevertheless, if yous don't heed the two-year-old hardware, the iPhone still provides pretty much everything you need in a smartphone. The cameras are very skillful, thank you to an ultra-broad lens and a Night mode for improve low-light functioning.

As you'll see in our full iPhone eleven review, Apple upped the ante with greater video-recording quality while also delivering superb battery life. At $799, the iPhone 12 is a great option with its 5G back up and an fifty-fifty faster A14. Only if you're on a budget, the iPhone 11 is the best telephone for you, and it'south one of the all-time unlocked iPhones if yous don't want to commit to a carrier.

Editor's notation: If yous're having trouble deciding which telephone to buy, check out our comparison of the iPhone 13 vs. the iPhone 11, as well equally our iPhone thirteen review.

iPhone xi review cheat sheet

  • The dual cameras on the iPhone xi are a huge upgrade over previous iPhones with a bang-up Nighttime mode.
  • An ultra-broad camera gives you more shooting flexibility and the app gives yous a preview if yous want to pop into that way.
  • Apple's A13 Bionic processor makes the iPhone 11 the fastest telephone you can buy.
  • The 6.ane-inch LCD screen is bright and colorful, though the OLED displays on the iPhone 11 Pro models are brighter.
  • You lot tin can pick from six fun color options, including green, purple and yellow.
  • We saw over 11 hours of bombardment life on our web surfing test, which is well above boilerplate for smartphones.
  • Fast charging costs extra for the iPhone xi, which is a bummer.

iPhone 11 review: Cost and release date

The iPhone eleven went on auction Sept. 20, 2019 at a starting price of $699 for 64GB of storage, or $29.12 per calendar month. That was $50 less than the iPhone XR's debut price. Apple has since cut the toll the iPhone eleven and dropped the iPhone XR from its lineup now that we're living in an iPhone 13 world. Y'all tin can go an iPhone xi for $499 these days, and if you trade in an iPhone at Apple, you tin lower the cost even further.

The new iPhones heave starting storage to 128GB, but the iPhone 11 is a relic of the days when Apple idea 64GB of storage was good enough. You can upgrade to the 128GB iPhone 11 model for $50 extra.

For the UK, you tin purchase the iPhone eleven from Apple's website, where it debuted at £729, £779, £879 for the 64GB, 128GB and 256GB storage versions respectively. In comparison, this was nigh £20 less than the entry level iPhone XR'south launch price, which is unarguably a disbelieve, just a paltry one. These days, UK shoppers pay £489 for the iPhone eleven.

Check out our iPhone xi deals page for the latest sales and discounts.

iPhone xi review: Specs

iPhone 11
Starting Price $699
CPU A13 Bionic
RAM Unknown
Storage 64GB, 256GB, 512GB
MicroSD? No
Rear Cameras 12-MP wide (f/ane.8) and 12-MP ultra broad (f/2.4)
Front end Cameras 12-MP (f/2.2)
Water Resistance Up to 2 meters for xxx minutes
Battery Size Unknown
Battery Life (Hrs:Mins) eleven:16
Size five.94 10 2.98 x 0.33 inches
Weight six.84 ounces
Colors Black, Green, Yellow, Royal, White, Production Cherry-red

iPhone 11 review: Design

The iPhone eleven's pattern is a mix of familiar and fresh. The front and sides are pretty much samesies with the iPhone XR, consummate with the notch at the top, aluminum band and somewhat chunky bezels (at least compared to the iPhone 11 Pro and the best Android phones).

iPhone 11 review

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The telltale sign that you have the new iPhone is the oversized dual cameras on the back, housed in a matte glass square. The lenses kind of remind me of robot optics. The rest of the glass has a glossy finish, so this camera patch provides an interesting bit of contrast. (The iPhone 11 Pro is all matte drinking glass on the back.)

iPhone 11 review: cameras

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

I like the colors for the iPhone 11, which have a more restrained vibe than the Technicolor rainbow that made up the iPhone XR lineup. The more than muted hues include a mint green, a pale yellow and a lite lavender majestic. You lot can likewise pick from back, white and Product Cherry-red.

iPhone 11 side buttons

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The biggest design change on the iPhone 11 is what you don't see. Apple claims that this phone has the toughest glass — front and back — of any smartphone, cheers to a dual-ion exchange process. Some iPhone 11 owners take complained about easily scratched displays, although nosotros have not noticed any scratches on our review unit of measurement. Still, you may want to invest in an iPhone 11 screen protector or iPhone xi case.

This device also has IP68-rated water resistance, which means that it tin can withstand 2 meters of water for 30 minutes, and is one of the best waterproof phones out there. The iPhone XR could do only ane meter. The iPhone xi Pro ups that to four meters, just that'due south hardly a reason to spend extra dough.

iPhone 11 water resistance

(Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

At 5.94 x two.98 x 0.33 inches and six.84 ounces, the iPhone 11 is identical to the iPhone XR in size and weight. This puts the phone in between the 5.eight-inch iPhone xi Pro and the 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max, which I discover to exist a happy medium in terms of immersive viewing and beingness able to use the phone with one paw.

iPhone 11 review: Brandish and audio

The iPhone xi's Liquid Retina Hd brandish is notwithstanding 6.i inches similar the iPhone XR with the same 1792 ten 828 resolution. And our opinion of this panel remains unchanged. It's fantastic for an LCD, with vibrant colors and first-class brightness, but information technology'due south non OLED-groovy.

iPhone 11 display

(Prototype credit: Tom'southward Guide)

When watching a scene from Stranger Things, both the iPhone xi'southward LCD and iPhone 11 Pro OLED screen delivered rich colors and fine detail but the viewing angles were narrower on the iPhone eleven. The Pro's OLED console also delivered blacker blacks, which makes for ameliorate contrast.

In our lab tests, the new iPhone turned in solid results. The brandish registered 652 nits of brightness, which is meliorate than the iPhone XR'due south 589 nits. This console also registered 113% of the sRGB colour gamut. That pales in comparison to some phones with OLED displays; for example, the Galaxy S10 got 208.2%, the OnePlus seven Pro 180%. It'southward of import to note, though, that Apple purposely tunes its displays to not offer oversaturated hues.

And this is besides one accurate screen. The iPhone xi's LCD turned in a Delta-E rating of 0.22 (0 is perfect). The Galaxy S10 was slightly worse with 0.38.

When it comes to sound, the iPhone xi's new spatial audio provides a wider soundstage, complete with Dolby Atmos support. And for a moment I thought I was in a moving-picture show theater as I watched the Trailer for John Wick iii. I could clearly hear drinking glass breaking to the left and right of me equally information technology smashed on screen, and every gunshot echoed through my encephalon (for better or worse).

The new iPhone also provided more than robust audio equally I listened to Weezer's "Take On Me" next with the Milky way Note x. Samsung's handset sounded tinnier by comparison.

iPhone 11 camera app

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

iPhone 11 review: Cameras

Apple's iPhone cameras have recently taken a back seat to the likes of the Google Pixel iii, Huawei P30 Pro and Milky way S10. The iPhone XR literally couldn't hold a candle to the Pixel iii in low light in our photographic camera face up-off. What a difference the iPhone 11 makes.

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iphone 11 night mode

(Image credit: Future)

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iphone 11 portrait

(Image credit: Future)

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iphone 11 photo cookie

(Image credit: Time to come)

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iphone 11 flower photo

(Image credit: Time to come)

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iphone 11 oyster bar

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iphone 11 statue

(Prototype credit: Future)

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iphone 11 photo street night mode

(Image credit: Future)

Accept a await at this image of a flower and vase shot indoors in well-nigh darkness. The paradigm from last year's iPhone XS is a dim blob of petals, while you tin make out the individual petals and colors in the new iPhone'southward shot (fifty-fifty though there is noticeable racket).

Thanks to a new wide camera sensor with 100 per centum Focus Pixels and smarter software, the iPhone eleven does a much ameliorate job snapping pics in niggling to no low-cal. And the Nighttime Way kicks in automatically, then you lot don't accept to swipe or tap to activate information technology equally yous do with the Android competition. With the iPhone xi, you just have the hold the telephone steady for up to 3 seconds as you shoot.

We didn't need Night mode on the iPhone 11 or Pixel 3 for this shot taken inside a dim bar, simply it nonetheless proved to be a good challenge for both phones. The iPhone 11 triumphed in this example, every bit it delivered a brighter overall image, particularly in the overhead lights. Y'all can likewise make out more detail in the woman'due south hair in the iPhone 11'due south photo, and the Pixel 3 has more trouble with the light shining behind the bottles in the upper left corner.

The other big improvement comes from the iPhone 11's new 12-MP ultra-wide camera, which joins the standard 12-MP photographic camera. This feature lets you fit in upwardly to 4 times more scene without having to back upwardly, thank you to a 120-degree field of view. In a clever motility, the redesigned camera interface gives y'all a sneak preview of what you could squeeze into the frame if you engaged the ultra-wide lens.

In this photo taken in Bryant Park on an overcast day with the iPhone 11 and Galaxy Note ten, the Note ten delivers a brighter shot overall. The grass is definitely a more vibrant greenish. At that place are other aspects that brand the iPhone 11's ulta-broad shot look better, including sharper details and less distortion toward the edges of the frame, just in this case I adopt the Note's pic.

Apple also takes Smart HDR to the next level in the iPhone 11, as the auto learning can sympathise what the subject is and keep the details y'all desire in the face while retaining the shadows.

In this portrait of my colleague Shaun, his face looks warmer and you tin make out the finer lines in his brow more easily. The Note 10's shot looks washed out. Even so, the iPhone 11's image accidentally cut off a slice of Shaun'south caput on the right side.

My only gripe with the iPhone 11 and taking portraits is that information technology puts you lot further abroad from your subject than the iPhone 11 Pro and xi Pro practise, considering the regular iPhone 11 lacks a telephoto lens. And so, y'all'll either have to walk up to your discipline or but take having more of the background in the frame.

The one photo that won me over with the new iPhone'southward photographic camera versus the Note x'southward is this cookie. The iPhone 11's photo captures practically every nook and cranny and the Yard&Ms really pop, while the Galaxy Note 10's pic looks somewhat done out and overly bright.

I'chiliad not including many comparisons here versus Google's Pixel three considering the Pixel 4 is on the way, but I thought this flower shot taken with 2x digital zoom with both phones was interesting. The iPhone 11'due south shot delivers more realistic colors given the lighting atmospheric condition. Still, some may prefer the Pixel iii photo considering of the darker lavender petals and slightly sharper particular.

With iOS 13, the iPhone eleven offered a Deep Fusion feature to perform pixel-past-pixel photograph processing to deliver even more detail and better textures forth with less noise. Once more, you don't need to activate a separate mode; it will just kick in when you're indoors and there's a decent amount of lite.

We put Deep Fusion to the exam using the iPhone 11 Pro with a beta version of iOS 13.2 and establish that in that location was a subtle improvement. (Deep Fusion works the aforementioned on the regular iPhone 11.) Take the above portrait of my colleague, Henry; you can brand out more detail in his eyebrows and hair, only his sweater looks pretty much the same across both shots.

iPhone 11 review: Video recording

More and more smartphone makers are upping their video game, and Apple has come out swinging with 4K back up for both of its cameras at 60 fps. Apple designed the iPhone eleven's cameras to offer extended dynamic range to reach ameliorate highlight details and smoother move via cinematic stabilization.

What Apple prepare out to do was give videographers the ability to shoot the aforementioned quality video using either lens while maintaining the color and exposure even as you walk through pull a fast one on lighting situations.

To put the phone's video capabilities to the test, I walked on a gravel path on a park trail, and institute that at that place's really no contest betwixt the new iPhone and Milky way Note ten. Although Samsung'due south cameras produced more vibrant greens, the colors were not realistic, and y'all get more gradation of colour and contrast in the iPhone 11's footage. You tin can also make out more than detail in the surrounding grass and leaves in the iPhone 11'due south video. The Notation 10 as well had a bit more difficulty with lens flare.

To make shooting video experience more integrated with taking photos, Apple redesigned the iOS 13 camera interface then that you tin can easily capture QuickTake videos. You just hold the shutter button to start shooting video. You then slide your finger to the right to go along shooting that clip. Don't worry, if you printing the shutter so slide to the left you lot can still do outburst captures of still images.

iPhone 11 review: Forepart photographic camera

You could say that the iPhone XR'due south 7-MP front camera was selfie challenged, but the iPhone 11 rectifies that with a sharper 12-MP sensor with a wider field of view. With a tap you can engage the wider angle or y'all can simply rotate the phone to landscape mode and the wide view will turn on automatically, which is a smart implementation.

But the 1 front camera feature everyone is talking well-nigh with the new iPhone is "slofies," which are slo-mo selfie videos shot at 120 fps. I don't know if the name volition take off, just it's a fun feature for those who desire to add together some drama to selfies.

For kicks, I took a slofie while trying to make a basket in the driveway behind my head. Apple makes it like shooting fish in a barrel in the editing software to slow down just the bits you desire. I won't tell you how many takes it took to make the basket, but I like the detail in the shot, especially in the clouds behind me.

For regular selfie videos, yous can shoot in 4K up to 60 fps, though if you want the aforementioned extended dynamic range offered past the iPhone xi'southward rear cameras you'll have to stick with 30 fps.

iPhone 11 review: Functioning

Apple already had the fastest CPU in a telephone at the time of the iPhone 11'south release, and that phone'southward A13 Bionic processor extended the company'due south lead. (The A14 Bionic in the current iPhone 12 lineup is even faster.) Apple claims that the A13 flake offers twenty pct faster performance across the board over its predecessor, including CPU, graphics and machine learning.

The game Grimvalor played silky smooth on the new iPhone every bit I hacked, slashed and double jumped my way through this side-scrolling platformer. I didn't notice any hiccups even with multiple enemies on screen. I also enjoyed playing Angry Birds AR; I could get upwards real close to the pigs earlier I flung my sling shot and didn't notice any stuttering as I walked around the level.

iPhone 11 augmented reality app

(Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

On Geekbench five, a criterion that measures overall operation, the iPhone eleven notched a unmarried-core marker of 1,333 and a multicore score of 3,251, compared with 736 and 2,691, respectively, for the Galaxy Note ten Plus. The OnePlus 7 Pro hit 744 and 2,802 on the same exam.

When it comes to graphics performance, the iPhone eleven fell behind top Android phones on the 3DMark benchmark app. On the Slingshot Extreme Metallic portion of the examination, the iPhone 11 scored five,785 on the Slingshot Extreme Unlimited Exam. By comparison, the Annotation 10 scored 6,295 on and the OnePlus 7 half-dozen,375.

Nosotros also ran GFX Demote, which is another graphics benchmark, and this time the iPhone eleven crushed it. On the Aztech Ruins High Tier offscreen test, the iPhone 11 hit 1481 frames (23 fps), compared with 1,058 frames (16 fps) for the Galaxy Note ten. On the Normal Tier version of the same test, the iPhone eleven hit 4,366/67.9 fps versus the Galaxy Note 10's 1,486/23 fps.

To examination real-world performance, we used the Adobe Rush app to edit a 4K video and so transcoded it to 1080p. The iPhone 11 took just 45 seconds, which is surprisingly but nigh as fast as final year'south iPhone XR outcome. However, this fourth dimension notwithstanding smokes the Android competition, equally the Annotation 10 Plus took one:34.

iPhone 11 review: Battery life

The iPhone 11 offers very skilful endurance. On the Tom'due south Guide Bombardment Examination, which involves continuous web surfing over 4G at 150 nits of screen brightness, the iPhone 11's bombardment lasted an boilerplate of eleven hours and 16 minutes. You tin see how the iPhone lineup fared overall in our iPhone eleven battery life guide.

iPhone 11 charger

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

By comparison, the Galaxy S10 hit 10:35 and the Galaxy S10 Plus lasted 12:35. The OnePlus vii Pro was much further behind with simply nine:31. The iPhone 11 Pro Max lasted a bit longer than the iPhone eleven with an average fourth dimension of eleven:54, only the smaller iPhone 11 Pro lasted an average of 10:24.

Unfortunately, while you lot tin fast charge the iPhone 11, you don't get a fast charger in the box like y'all now do with the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone xi Pro Max. Those higher-end phones come with an 18-watt charger. So if you want to juice up to 50% in about 30 minutes, you'll have to pay $25 for a 18-watt charger plus another $nineteen for a USB-C to Lightning cable. Boo.

iPhone 11 review: Wireless

Apple tree is skipping 5G networking altogether for the iPhone 11, which is a bummer because y'all'll miss out on the blazing speeds offered by phones like the Milky way S10 5G, which can go as high as a gigabit per second. 5G networks are notwithstanding being built out, and the modems that support multiple 5G bands are just at present hitting the marketplace. Withal, if you lot desire a true future-proof iPhone, you lot may want to wait for the iPhone 12.

The iPhone 11 supports 4G LTE, which offers decent performance just not the same speeds as the iPhone 11 Pro and eleven Pro Max. Why? Because while the new iPhone has 2x two MIMO antennas, the iPhone 11 Pro models offer 4x4 MIMO for ameliorate performance.

iPhone 11 4g speeds

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

On the Speedtest.net app, the iPhone eleven delivered an boilerplate download speed of xiii Mbps over T-Mobile'due south network in the same location in New Jersey, compared with xv Mbps for the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Uploads speeds were a similar story, with the iPhone 11 averaging 5.4 Mbps to the iPhone eleven Pro Max's half-dozen.ane Mbps. That's not much of a speed difference.

One unique wireless feature on the iPhone eleven is a new U1 chip for spatial awareness that uses Ultra Wideband technology. With this chip, the iPhone can accurately pinpoint the location of other U1-enabled devices; for at present, that just means other iPhone 11 handsets, and the U1 bit initially benefits just AirDrop at this betoken. Point in the direction of another iPhone 11, you tin can then share the files more efficiently than you could before.

Rumor has it that Apple has an AirTags object tracker in the works to amend take advantage of the U1 bit. This would straight challenge the all-time cardinal finders made by Tile and others.

iPhone 11 vs. iPhone 11 Pro vs. iPhone 11 Pro Max

If you're on the fence nigh which iPhone to buy, these are some notable differences betwixt Apple's different models. The biggest? The  iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro cost more than than the iPhone eleven, even with those models bachelor for less where they're all the same on sale. (Neither Pro model is featured at Apple any more than.) And for that premium, you get a tertiary rear camera for telephoto zoom, higher quality OLED displays, a fast charger in the box, slightly ameliorate water resistance and zippier LTE.

Is all of that worth the premium? It is for me, just I doubt information technology will exist for most. Check out our iPhone 11 vs. iPhone xi Pro vs. 11 Pro Max face-off for more more than info.

iPhone 11 review: Verdict

The iPhone 12 packs even better cameras, an OLED display and 5G speeds and remains on sale at a reduced cost. The iPhone 13 specs are even more impressive. But the iPhone xi remains a skilful phone for those looking to spend less.

With the iPhone 11, you all the same get a bright and colorful screen, practiced performance, splendid image quality and long battery life. The only strikes against the iPhone 11 other than the newer phones in Apple tree's lineup are its skimpy 64GB of storage in the base of operations model and that the fast charger costs extra.

  • iPhone 13 vs. iPhone 11: Biggest changes to look

Marking Spoonauer is the global editor in chief of Tom's Guide and has covered technology for nearly 20 years. In improver to overseeing the direction of Tom's Guide, Mark specializes in covering all things mobile, having reviewed dozens of smartphones and other gadgets. He has spoken at key industry events and appears regularly on TV to discuss the latest trends. Mark was previously editor in chief of Laptop Mag, and his piece of work has appeared in Wired, Pop Science and Inc. Follow him on Twitter at @mspoonauer.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/iphone-11

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