Released a few months after its two big brothers (the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max), the iPhone XR is not only available at a more affordable price, but it is without hesitation one of the best smartphones on the market. With the same processor as the XS, the best LCD screen on the market and a 12 megapixel main camera sensor, the little brother has absolutely no reason to envy its elders, or the competition.


The iPhone XR in short

Performance and battery life worthy of a space rocket
Ergonomics and design: a “massive” but elegant little brother


The infamous LCD screen
One of two notable Apple concessions for the iPhone XR concerns the screen. Equipped with an LCD display and not an Oled like the XS or XS Max, the screen covers 79% of the front panel (against 82% for the XS). In real terms, the contrasts are less pronounced and the definition is lower (1791 * 828). Unless you are a purist, however, the difference is almost impossible to detect with the naked eye. So yes, even if it is not full HD, the iPhone XR offers sufficient display finesse for all daily uses, and with responsiveness that is quite acceptable.
One small quibble if we are nit-picking: make sure to look at the screen full on, especially in bright sunlight. The display loses much of its brightness when at an angle.
And for the artists?
The camera

Second annoying point: the camera. Unlike its big brothers, the iPhone XR has only one rear sensor, the same as the main focus of the XS, 12 Mpx and a focal length of 26mm, with 1.4 μm pixels. The XR can still shoot in portrait mode, but only of human faces. It does not offer a 2x optical zoom and it struggles to render the details of a landscape as finely as the iPhone XS or XS Max. It is also not as good in selfie mode, with its 7 Mpx sensor.
These differences will especially bother regular users of iPhone 7 Plus, 8 Plus or photo enthusiasts, although the iPhone XR has enough qualities to allow very good normal use. In broad daylight, it provides sufficient detail with excellent white balance management. It is in low light that it loses out to its competitors, especially the Google Pixel 3.
In terms of video, the smartphone is still able to shoot in 4K up to 60 frames per second, just like the XS. The rendering is excellent and fluid.
What of the planet in all this?
We are very aware that Apple has shown considerable effort in its commitment to the environment, especially during the development of the XR. But what are the facts? As surprising as it may seem, Apple is right behind Fairphone in a Greenpeace report. The NGO congratulates Apple for its use of renewable energy and cleaner materials than its competitors. However, it decries the difficulty of repairing and recycling devices, even if the iPhone XR is the easiest of the siblings to repair according to iFixit. It also seems that Apple is not at all interested in improving this aspect, since the firm continues to lobby in the United States against the right of users to repair their iPhones. And of course you know very well that for us, at Back Market, this is important.
Verdict, Apple is still doing better than its big competitors, Samsung and Huawei, who use much more contentious materials and more questionable energy sources.
The Doc’s diagnosis
“The iPhone XR is the soft version of the XS and XS max iPhones. Apple offers us an iPhone at an attractive price of below € 1,000, rich in color, with better autonomy, and available with 3 storage capacities (64, 128 and 256GB). The format is attractive and the technical performance is up to scratch. The iPhone XR overall test is very positive.
On the other hand, its sole rear camera deprives it of the optical zoom and limits the capacities of portrait mode.”
Joseph from Back Market.
Pictures taken with an iPhone XR
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