iPhone XR Review: One month later

iPhone XR has been out for just over a month, and I’ve been using it, sometimes side by side with an iPhone XS, often times on its own, and for the last few days side by side with an iPhone 6s. Why a 6s? Because I wanted to get a sense not just of how cool the new colors are, though they are, or whether the display and camera system were dealbreakers compared to the iPhone XS, which really depends on the individual, but how much of a difference the upgrade will make to a real person in the real world.

And a lot of people considering the XR, people who don’t get a new phone to review every couple days, weeks, or months, have been using the same phone for a couple or few years already. That’s the 6s. Maybe the 6, SE, or 7. But mostly the 6s. And, if that’s you or someone you’re close to, I want to take my head out of the tech bubble for a minute and put myself in your shoes.

Maybe you’re ready to upgrade and you’re considering giving up the familiarity of the Home button — you know, the one only tech hot takers ever thought that was boring — and try out the full screen future. But you’re wondering if the $750 up front or the few bucks extra on your carrier plan is worth it for the iPhone XR. Whether it will provide value to you or yours beyond the price.

Just over a month later, that’s what we’re going to answer.

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[Swindie]

I’ve had the XR for about 2 weeks and I’m loving the battery life. It lasts me a full day and I’m a heavy user. After android for 6 years I’m glad I made the switch. Also got an Apple Watch 3

[juliogol]

“The internet loves to mistake cynicism for intelligence”. Genius.

[BurnoutsAndBourbon]

Gotta say, best transition into a sponsor yet

[jochlebowski]

Don’t understand the need to hate apple products that much, yes they are expensive but NO ONE forces you to buy them!!! It’s like Android users need to drag down Apple users to validate their decision to not owning an IPhone!!!!

[DieterRust]

I’m still a iPhone 6 owner, it wasn’t until the XR was announced, I haven’t cared for upgrading.
Nothing really compelled me to upgrade until the X, then the price point, to me, felt was too much for a phone. I’m finally intrigued into upgrading so here’s to the new year and new phone!

[matthewsjardine]

“...if you cannot see that, I can help you with that. Simple Contacts...” 😂 Hahaha, brilliant. Thanks René.

[iron_bolt]

I have the XR. It’s such a great phone.
Big like for that ad transition. 😂

[EdwardSwardt]

That lowkey UnboxTherapy burn is amazing.

[kJong]

I've had my XR for 3 days now, upgrading from SE, and I'm loving it! Battery life is great, camera is awesome, and A12 just flies.

[lavfnbr]

My 6s cant even last about 2 hours without losing at least 75% of its battery

[shubhagrawal]

My dad was using a 6s ..i gifted him a Xr recently 😄😅😁

[mysterymark]

I don’t care who hates this phone, it’s a great phone and I’m getting one on Friday

[JonBridgeman]

HI Rene. I just wanted to say that I've subbed to your channel having moved to iOS from Android (I have an iPhone XR)  having caught some of your videos in the past.  I honestly think your videos are among the most interesting and informative on YouTube.  I love how content is king in your videos and have always found them (even when on Android) free of bluster and bias. Explaining complex ideas in an engaging way, without trivialising or dumbing down your subject, is an artform and your videos do that in spades.  Thank you for helping me along the way, in my early tentative steps as an iPhone user.

[SCKemz]

I just bought the XR today and I’m reading comments about the screen quality being blurry. If you want that crisp look, turn off the True Tone option. It made it visually appealing for me.

[michelleb]

Review by me after using it 3 weeks:

I LOVE IT
Pro’s:
-Screen size is perfect
- It looks stunning (i have the white one)
-I don’t bother the 828p AT all I don’t see a difference with the XS (my father has one) the only difference I see is that the colors are a BIT less vibrant.
-It’s very fast
-The batterylife is AWESOME (it lasts for about 8-9 hours of heavy using) Since I had it it never died and I only charge it once a day or once in 2 days.
- Camera is veryy good
- I haven’t missed 3D touch at all (I didn’t use it a lot on my 7)
- face ID works almost every time and is very fast ( a lot faster than touch ID on my previous iphone 7.)

Only a few cons:
- the bezels are a bit big but you will get used to it
- I break my phone screens all the time and to repair the screen is EXPENSIVE but I’ll be really carefull with this one lol
- it is a bit thick

[alliejr]

I upgraded from a 6 to Xs and extremely pleased and hugely impressed, especially with the camera. It's absolutely a "worth it" upgrade. It took about 5 seconds to adjust to no home button- the swipe was so natural and intuitive from the start, for me and I keep doing it on my iPad by accident.

[spageddie]

I really want the XR for a number of reasons, including:
1. The XS is too small but the XS Max is too big
2. The XS and XS Max are too expensive, but I want a new looking iPhone
3. The red looks B-E-A-Utiful
4. So does the camera!
5. The screen looks good to me! I’ve never had an OLED screen so I don’t know what I’m missing out on, plus, looking at the phone in the Apple store, the resolution hasn’t bothered me. I mean, watching videos on my 7 plus, I feel like I can’t really see the difference between 1080 and 720 anyway.
Edit: oh and 6. The battery life sounds pretty darn good!

[indiekiduk]

I upgraded from 6s to the XR and am really impressed, I thought the large screen would be a hinderance but it has been great and I've hardly put the thing down. It is like using a new class of device especially with the gesture-based UI. My other fav features are Face ID and especially experimenting with the Attention Detection. Also the true-tone display is a nice bonus feature. And the haptic touch feels amazing, with an effortless long touch to activate and the haptic feed back is really nicely done, and getting the ability to use it on the lock screen/notification bubbles today was a real nice surprise!

[michaelhorton]

I went from an iPhone 6S Plus to an XR - really loving it - did the battery £25 replacement with Apple -they broke the front camera so had to replace the screen camera and finger print sensor... my wife now has my ‘new’ iPhone 6S Plus - win win - thanks for the smart reviews!

[OislamforallO]

I got it 2 weeks before, its amazing.. it lasts 7 hours but I use it with LTE and I charge it when it reaches 20% to maintain my battery life. Its just amazing and my usage is in the middle