iPhone XR - a month later

So, having used the iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus and more recently the iPhone Xs Max, I bought the Xr during the 11.11 sale and have been using it for a month now while I've passed my XS Max to my wife. I've read all the unfavourable reviews of the Xr, watched all the YouTube videos condemning its "low resolution" LCD screen and single camera lens for a phone that cost an upward of RM3k, and almost everyone asked why would I bother to "downgrade" from the Xs Max to the Xr but I decided to go ahead and buy the Xr anyway. That, and also the fact that there was another round of Qoo10 discount during that time, hahaha.

Anyway, a month later, I can tell you guys without a shadow of doubt that I'm glad I bought the Xr and have no regrets whatsoever.

So here's what I liked: -

- Design wise, the Xr is a great balance between screen size and physical dimensions. Some have found the X to be a little too small and the Xs Max to be a little too big and bulky, and the Xr is a great fit in between. That said, it isn't single-handed-operation friendly as the iPhone X but it's not terribly clumsy like the Xs Max. I found it to be the right size and weight. Oh, and you get to choose some real funky colours like Coral, Blue or Yellow which is a nice alternative in the world of Space Grey, Gold and Silver that we were all used to. I chose the Red one coz I thought it looked striking and sexy - and also I asked my wife to pick in case she wanted to inherit it when I'm done with it, as it is with most of my iPhones

- The battery life is fantastic. Based on my usage patterns, it easily tops my experience with the X, Xs Max and even the 8 Plus. Whether it's because of the "low res" LCD screen or whatever other compromises Apple made in the Xr, they more than made up for it by giving it the best battery life in an iPhone so far (well, for me, at least). In a 24 hour period, I can easily achieve more than 4 hours of screen time with still more than 50% battery capacity remaining.

- The Xr's 128GB storage configuration is also the ideal storage size in my opinion. 64GB may be cutting it a little close if you intend to use the phone for more than 2 years and 256GB can seem like overkill. 512GB? Let's not go there.

- I think I don't have to go into the part about performance, as it is essentially using the same A12 Bionic chip on the Xs Max. That 1GB less in RAM vs the Xs Max is also insignificant to be honest, I've not experienced any lags and what not thus far.

- It has the same great speakers as the Xs Max, which I really dig

The none issues for me (but could be important for some people): -

- The screen. I think we've discussed this ad nauseam so I won't dwell too long into it but for me personally, I can't notice any difference between this and the X or Xs Max even when I place them side by side playing the same content. Some people have eagle eyes and can spot 1080p vs 720p but I can't. Maybe I'm old, hahaha. I also cannot appreciate having an OLED screen vs an LCD screen on my iPhones and that's simply because Apple makes one of the best LCDs in town. Colour reproduction is accurate and life-like.

- There were some comments about the ugly and thick bezels around the LCD of the Xr. Bezels? Seriously? If you've used any iPhone prior to the X then you would know what bezels really are. The ones on the Xr are nothing

- 1m of water resistance vs 2m of water resistance. Really?

Where I do think the iPhone Xr loses out: -

- The camera. Don't get me wrong though, the iPhone Xr still has a great camera and takes excellent photos. You can search in /K for the shots taken by our bro Benefon when he was on vacation in Japan. Those were some really, really excellent photos and the Xr is capable of all that! And I don't miss the telephoto lens as well. But where I do find the Xr's camera lacking vs the Xs Max or even the X for that matter is the Portrait mode. That's to be expected as that's the other function of the dual cameras which the Xr is lacking and instead it relies on software for the portrait mode which is still fine and usable in most cases, but if you're really into portrait shots, you'll notice it instantly. Also, because it relies heavily on software, you won't be able to use portrait mode on none-human subjects on the Xr. That's something to take note of if you're into that.

- When Apple first introduced 3D Touch on the 6S, I thought it was a useless feature and wouldn't use it that much and when I moved the the Xr, I thought I wouldn't miss it. But lo and behold, I do sometimes try 3D touching my Xr and then go "Aww, shucks - it doesn't have that!". So human of us to only appreciate something once it's no longer there

So all in all, I'm very happy with the Xr and I agree with most reviewers - it's the best value to performance for an iPhone in the market right now (note that I said iPhone and not phone).

And terima kasih if you took the time to read this whole post!