iPhone 11 Pro Full Review

The iPhone 11 Pro is Apple’s latest iPhone that has people asking us “What’s really changed?” It’s a fair question because it looks very similar to last year’s iPhone. But use the new cameras for a few minutes and both that question and inquisitive looks from doubters quickly fade. Apple put a lot of effort into its triple-lens rear camera, offering a trio of 12MP lenses that shoot regular, telephoto, and brand new ultra-wide perspectives. Not having to back up to fit everything into the widened frame is a big perk. Also, all of our friends appreciate not having their heads cut off in portrait photos. ‘Night Mode’, meanwhile, addresses the single biggest complaint we’ve heard from iPhone users over the years: photos in dimly-lit bars and restaurants don’t look very good – not next to their Android phone-touting friends. The shame! Good news: the iPhone 11 Pro has the best low-light camera we’ve tested on a phone – any phone. Apple brightens with the best of them and its night mode is automatically applied, topping Samsung, Huawei and Google’s interfaces. Video looks and sounds best-in-class from the oversized rear cameras, yet we found the biggest year-over-year leap in the physically smaller 12MP front camera. It now records in 4K and shoots slo-mo video. Apple’s ‘Slofies’ work best with long, flowing hair to whip back and forth, so we had to get creative in our tests. So much of the iPhone 11 Pro is about the camera, but there’s a bit more. We found battery life noticeably better than the iPhone XS – we’ve gone longer than a day with heavy use. You don’t need the Pro Max for its battery prowess. Its matte finish back cover looks nicer and feels less slippery, though it won’t wow as much if you immediately stick an iPhone 11 Pro case on it. The 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro is the one to get if you want the most advanced iPhone that’s easy to use with one hand. It feels a lot smaller than the 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max and 6.1-inch iPhone 11. Don’t be fooled by its size, though, it’s pricier than the telephoto-and-OLED-lacking entry-level iPhone 11. It doesn’t look different from past iPhones on the front, so it may seem hard to justify the price. But if you’ve been waiting for better photos and video out of a new iPhone, this is it – and that’s more important than a new look or 5G, at least in 2019.

Design

• Looks nearly identical to the iPhone XS and iPhone X
  
• New frosted matte finish on back
  
• Easier to grip the phone and hide smudges
  

Screen

• 5.8-inch screen size
  
• Re-worked to be brighter
  

Performance

• Offer unsurprising gains with the A13 chipset
  
• Video editing and exporting noticeably faster on the iPhone 11 Pro
  

Camera

• Best low-light camera tested
  
• Triple-lens camera versatility
  
• Night mode shines
  

Battery life

• Very good battery life
  
• Stretching close to a day and a half, even with heavy use