For anyone that knows me knows that I have been a die-hard Android user. They know this because any time I'm faced with an Apple fanatic compelled to tout their supposed smartphone superiority, I've been at the ready with every reason I've felt that Apple pales in comparison to its Google-based adversary.
But here's the thing, my career all but requires me to have an iPhone to officially function in my day to day activities. I've resisted for nearly 7 years, but after a year of career advancements, and a disappointing performance from my current daily driver, the Pixel 3XL, I've been forced to accept my fate. So for the last 2 months, I've been the newest member of Team iPhone, and I have some thoughts.
The Basics
Ok, full disclosure, I'm not a complete noob when it comes to Apple products. In the past, I've used multiple iPods for my music needs, as well as an iPad 2 as an overpriced e-reader for years. And since 2013 my main laptop, the one I'm typing this review on as we speak, has been a maxed out 15 inch MacBook Pro. All of this is to say that I had a pretty good idea of what to expect with my very first iPhone.
As for my model of choice, I decided to go with the iPhone 11. Apple gives you the choice of six different colors including black, white, green, purple, yellow, and my favorite, Product Red. Up until the recent release of the new iPhone SE, many considered the iPhone 11 to be the "budget" model with a starting price of $699 for the base 64 gig storage option. I opted to pay the extra $50 for the 128 gig option, as EVERYONE SHOULD. Seriously, why is 64 gigs of storage still a thing Apple???
Upon receiving my device, I have to admit that, notch and all, this is a handsome phone. With a 6.1-inch display, the iPhone 11 falls right in the middle of its two big brothers, the iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max with 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch displays, respectively.
While both Pro variants boast Super Retina XDR OLED displays, the standard 11 is rocking a Liquid Retina LCD with 326 pixels per inch (PPI). Going in, I knew that this display was controversial, to say the least. But having used it, I have to say that at no point in time do I find myself missing the higher resolution OLED display of my Pixel 3XL. In fact, other than the odd time where I have to manually adjust the resolution of a YouTube video, I can't even tell that the iPhone 11's display isn't high resolution.
Now, my absolute favorite thing about the iPhone 11, and something that no Android phone I've ever used has even come close to, is the battery life. Once again, I knew ahead of time that many big-time tech reviewers like MKBHD and UrAvgConsumer heaped loads of praise on the iPhone 11 for its stellar battery life, much like it's predecessor, the iPhone XR. But I must say that I sincerely was not prepared for how much of a battery beast this thing would be. I end most days around 50% battery life, but that's after around 7 hours of screen on time. That means, if I really wanted to, I could stretch this phone to two full days of battery life on a single charge. For a standard flagship phone, that is INSANE, so feel free to leave your charger at home.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Apple's dedication to software support for its devices well beyond the typical scope of other smartphone manufacturers. Apple has always been best in class when it comes to providing frequent and timely updates to IOS (even if those updates aren't always fully baked). And with iOS 14 on the horizon, the future looks bright for the iPhone family.
And of course, it wouldn't be an iPhone review without mentioning the camera. Or, more accurately, cameras. The iPhone 11 is rocking dual 12 megapixel wide and ultra-wide cameras on the back, as well as a 12MP "TrueDepth" camera on the front for all of your selfie needs. In true iPhone fashion, all three cameras work wonderfully, churning out amazing pictures with a simple point-and-shoot action. And video recording is second to none, with the ability to record up to 4K video up to 60FPS. Even coming from the Pixel, I have to say that the iPhone cameras are almost perfect.
Almost.
The Meh
The one thing holding the iPhone camera back from the top spot is definitely the Night Mode. While I'm happy that Apple included a night mode in its 2019 lineup of phones, I do wish that I could manually activate whenever I want to. In any instance where your phone determines a subject has enough light, the Night Mode icon will vanish. Apple choosing to trust its software over the judgment of its users can definitely lead to some missed opportunities for better shots in certain situations.
The Night Mode icon vanishes when the phone determines a subject has enough light.
Now I know I praised the iPhone 11s screen earlier, but I have to say that one of my biggest gripes about this phone is the set of THICC bezels it's sporting on all sides. When taken as a whole with the notch, you really can see how much potential screen real estate is eaten up, and in 2020, this feels sorely outdated and unnecessary.
The Bad
Now being the "iPhone Hater" I've made myself out to seem, I have to admit that I've struggled to come up with anything substantial to put here in the Bad section. Sure I could mention that the aluminum sides make it feel a bit less premium when compared to it's Pro counterparts. And I could point out that a $700+ smartphone in 2020 DOESN'T include a fast charger in the box, allowing Apple to make another quick grab for cash from accessories (which you should ignore in favor of getting this charger from Amazon). But in all honesty, those are really just little nitpicks I have.
However, the one thing that I have absolutely no issue with listing in this section is probably the main thing that keeps Apple loyalist shelling out for the newest model every year: The Ecosystem.
Apple has built its empire on the basic principle that everything works better together. And it's that principle that keeps Apple users providing a steady stream of cash into Apple's oversized pockets. But after using it for a couple of months, I've found that being one with the ecosystem is a double-edged sword.
Admittedly, I LOVE that I can not only send and receive texts and phone calls from my MacBook Pro. And having native app support work seamlessly from phone to computer is otherworldly. This really is the way that most, if not all, smart devices should work in 2020. But upon further inspection, you start to see that your beloved cross-platform functionality comes at the cross of freedom.
Maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it's also not inaccurate. Unlike Android, where you have the freedom to choose just about any aspect of your phone to customize, Apple literally locks you into using only their selective group of apps as your defaults. Want to use Chrome instead of Safari when opening links from emails or text messages? Too bad. Want Google Maps to provide you with directions after clicking on an address? Sorry (and good luck finding your way out of the woods). How about Gmail, that should be natively supported, right? Nope! And that's not to mention the next to no support for Google Drive, which is EXTREMELY inconvenient for someone like me who has only ever used Google Drive for all of their cloud storage needs.
While Apple isn't stopping you from using any of these apps, they sure do make it damn difficult and inconvenient to access them at will. But what really gets me is that this wouldn't be that big of a deal if the apps and systems Apple is forcing on its users were equivalent to their Google counterparts. Sadly, that just isn't the case, and in my opinion, the seriously diminishes the day to day usage of this phone.
So What Does This All Mean?
I have to say when I finally decided to pick up my very first iPhone I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. And after 2 months of usage, I've found that many of my expectations were well-founded. The iPhone 11 is a great phone. From the great camera, outstanding battery life, to even it's starting price of $699 (when compared to most other flagships that come in right around that $1000 mark). So whether you're a first time user like myself or lifelong, dues-paying member of the church of Apple, the iPhone 11 is one of the best phone experiences you can have in 2020. Just be prepared to praise all things Apple.
You can hop on the bandwagon and join Team Apple by getting your very own iPhone 11 right here.
Story time...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....a bunch of shit happened that has nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you. Starting a story is tough, ok.
This is a story about love. The woman I love is...laying on the other side of the room asking me questions even though she watched me put on a giant pair of headphones when I sat down at the keyboard. Eh, she'll figure it out eventually.
What a perfect snapshot of our relationship. Me, the tortured wannabe writer, sitting at the computer full of whiskey and self-importance. My love, fiddling with some piece of tech I gave her that she never really took the time to figure out how to use. I'm sure she'll soon throw a pillow at me to get my attention, I'll act annoyed and then do whatever is she asks. Love.
This has been our story for over 4 years now. How did it all begin you ask? Well even if you didn't I'm going to tell you because this is my blogpost and I can do what I want. Anyway, what was I saying? oh yes that's right. In the beginning, the Big Bang created the universe as we know. There were explosions, collisions, giant reptiles, a few bad winters, the Beatles, and eventually, Sean Rad and a few others created the location based dating app known as Tinder. And in 2015, after moving to a brand new city he had never been in and lacking the necessary social skills to properly make friends, a 26-year-old boy downloaded the app to his phone. Ya know, to look for friends.
Well it just so happened that a girl from Dallas Texas just so happened to also be using the app that's infamous for bringing people together to touch butts and such. As fate would have it, she would swipe right on the young fella, as he did her, at which point he took her breath away by crafting the perfectly poetic greeting message; Hey. Yup, it was all over for her from there.
Well maybe not from right there, but she thought he was cute, or at least cute enough (I take what I can get) and decided to test his cultural aptitude by inviting him out to see an apparently famous fall symphony. He agreed, while simultaneously trying to figure out ways to stay awake during the performance, at which point she revealed that what she actually wanted to do was go get burgers, beer, and watch football. He couldn't get out the door fast enough.
Fast forward 2 years, and holy shit neither of them can believe it's been 2 years. The boy is packing up his beloved apartment and hauling everything over the 1.8 miles to the girls house where they now both will be residing. Now it was serious. I mean it had already been pretty serious, but now it was really really serious. For realsky.
The first year was good. The boy was still working in television, and thus, not contributing to society in any meaningful way. The girl had recently transitioned into teaching, which was great because that meant there would always be alcohol in the house. And it was at some times around here that the boy got the bright idea to ask the girl to marry him.
Now neither he nor I can remember the first time he/I got this idea but he/I knew it was exactly what he/I/we wanted more than anything in the world. So now all he/we/me had to do was find a ring. Sounds like a plan.
(Record scratch)
Let me tell you something about plans. If you ever want to hear the universe laugh, you should tell them to her. The bitch will be hunched over and out of breath by the time you finish talking. Seriously, she's rude like that. But, I believe that everything happens exactly how it's supposed to happen, even if it's annoying some of the time (read: all of the time). And not long after their 3rd year of being together, the boy got a ring that was made just for the girl. Now he just had to figure out how to give it to her.
Now this brings me to our main point. The reason I've gathered you all here today. But before I go any further I just want to say to each and every one of you to gather up your hopes and dreams and ambitions, wrap them in bubblewrap, slap a tracking number on them and send them out into the universe. Seriously, because you never really know when She might be listening.
Now I'm not sure how much you all know about Mardi Gras parades, but here's the TL;DR for those you unfamiliar. In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, New Orleans is host to a plethora of parades put on by the handful of Mardi Gras Krewes. Now everyone knows that people on the floats through out beads as they roll by, but what you may not know is that the bigger Krewes have signature throws. For instance, the Krewe of Nyx throws out hand decorated purses, Zulu throws out painted coconuts, and Tux throws out plungers...for some reason. But the most coveted throw is a hand decorated high-heel shoe through out by the very elite and exclusive Krewe of Muses. Getting your hands on one of those ever elusive throws was a sure way to note that your Mardi Gras season had been a successful one. Through some sort of black magic that I didn't even know I was capable of, I managed to snag a shoe during my very first Mardi Gras. Once it dropped into my hands, I ran as fast as I could back to my then girlfriend of only 3 months and presented it to her. Throughout the entire season the girl had been telling the boy all about how much she's always wanted a Muses shoe. At that moment, while handing his newly acquired shoe to his girlfriend perched at the top of her ladder, he knew this would be the perfect proposal. But that would've been crazy back then. Now however...
But how would he accomplish this? How COULD he accomplish this? He didn't know anyone in Muses. He had no friends in high places that he could call upon to help in this situation. What could he do? He expressed these questions aloud to friend while standing on a television set in the middle of nowhere Louisiana. This friend, being the only person he had spoken to about this so far, knew immediately what to do. This friend led him to a friend, who then led him to another friend that led him to another friend. By the end of the week, the boy had a couple of friends in Muses and plan that was underway. The boy would gather all of the girls friends, get her out to the parade, and when moment came, present her with her very shoe, accompanied with her very own ring.
Which brings us to now. I sit here, typing this story, my soon to be wife sitting across the room watching the news, and a box of wedding invitations sitting next to my desk. It's crazy to think that the story you've just read and the moment you just witnessed above are just the beginning of a long road of life and love. And we'll pave it just the way we have for the past 4 and a half years...
