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???
The full spec list can be found here.
The full spec list can be found here.
The Good
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.
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.
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.
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