iPhone XR Decision! iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone XR?

[Gudi]

I'm tired of "Apple knows that they are doing and they are masters!" Tell me something.

I already did.

...then why Apple are selling XS and XS Max at a much better ppi and a 1080p display?

Apple are selling them, but people aren’t buying them. Analysts expect the XR to account for over 60% of all iPhone sales this year. Priorities make the XS a niche product most people don’t care about. It’s like with the Mac Pro, arguably it’s the best Mac, but most people are better off with an iMac.

And why are you using Apple/Android comparisons? That's apple and oranges. Android is a completely different OS that uses different methods to run things on millions of different phones.

Because Android is where those customers end up who care most about winning pointless spec wars. It’s 2018 and a flagship phone must have this much ppi and at least tripple cameras. This line of thinking is not Apple fanboy like. If you argue this way, you’re buying from the wrong company anyway.

 

[SHKLMRE]

If you want this forum to make a decision for you: everyone here will say go for the 8+

It honestly comes down to if you want the previous generation of iPhone or the newer, full screen generation of iPhone.

In terms of the screen quality of the Xr vs the 8+ there is a difference but it is NOT as huge as people are making it out to be. For example, The 1080p screen on the 8+ is ok, but compared to the OLED screens on the X/XS, it clearly is not the best. But since you’re only comparing the Xr to the 8+ I feel like the screen quality is much more similar. I’ve had every DPI and every screen type apple has made. In addition, the full screen display really does change how you view and feel about the phone.

It’s tough making decision based on what others think when in reality unless a random person on this forum is buying you a new iPhone, don’t weigh their opinions.

 

[NorthSeaBeach]

If you want this forum to make a decision for you: everyone here will say go for the 8+

It honestly comes down to if you want the previous generation of iPhone or the newer, full screen generation of iPhone.

In terms of the screen quality of the Xr vs the 8+ there is a difference but it is NOT as huge as people are making it out to be. For example, The 1080p screen on the 8+ is ok, but compared to the OLED screens on the X/XS, it clearly is not the best. But since you’re only comparing the Xr to the 8+ I feel like the screen quality is much more similar. I’ve had every DPI and every screen type apple has made. In addition, the full screen display really does change how you view and feel about the phone.

It’s tough making decision based on what others think when in reality unless a random person on this forum is buying you a new iPhone, don’t weigh their opinions.

We will have to see about the screen clarity difference between the Xr and 8+. I can see a clear difference between my 6s 326 ppi screen and the 401 ppi screen on my wife's 7+.

I'm going to wait and compare the 8+ and Xr in store. I want to see it for myself.

Haven't ruled out a Xs (max) either.
First world problems.

 

[SHKLMRE]

We will have to see about the screen clarity difference between the Xr and 8+. I can see a clear difference between my 6s 326 ppi screen and the 401 ppi screen on my wife's 7+.

I'm going to wait and compare the 8+ and Xr in store. I want to see it for myself.

Haven't ruled out a Xs (max) either.
First world problems.

Like I said... a few DPI bump on a LCD screen isn’t noticeable as upgrading to an OLED display. If your concern is screen quality, which it seems to be, then clearly the Xs Max is the go to option. Just look at the 8 which has the same DPI as the Xr and compare it to an 8+. Then look at a X/XS max.

 

[Ortiz83]

8+ > XR. Much better and bigger 1080p display. Better back camera than XR. 3D touch. Touch ID. Cheaper.
Just because newer, doesn't mean better. And Apple fanboys here will bow before Apple and Cook in almost about everything.

How can XR have a PPI display of an iPhone 4 in 2018 is beyond me, and almost criminal. 2018, and we have a phone that costs $800, with a 720pish display. WTF. Think about that for a second.

[doublepost=1539937891][/doublepost]
No it doesn't, or at least it's way worse than Touch ID in bed. I have a XS Max (and 8+ last year) and my experience between them in bed are night and day. I have to move my head in a certain position, get off the pillow or sit up before the damn thing works.

I have an Xs Max. Same as my X before it, Face ID has worked all the time for me at night in my bed. Not sure why it works for me but your experiences are night and day.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

I pick 8+ because:
[…]
3. Most importantly Face ID emits IR radiation and constantly blasts hundreds of IR dots at your face (even when Face ID is not being actively used, search youtube video to see this). It is still a gen1 product and is too new to say it's 100% safe. Apple only states it "is safe to use under normal usage conditions" (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208108). This implies there are conditions it is not safe (but Apple does not tell us). However, Samsung users already reported the IR iris scanner in their phones caused eye discomfort: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...-say-iris-scanner-causing-eye-discomfort.html It is too early to tell if FaceID will cause any long term health effect.
[…]

Wow, just wow. Do you sometimes go outside, like when the sun is out?
You know, that warm feeling on your skin in direct sunlight, that's the sun's IR emission. Does Face ID give you a warm feeling on your face? No? Thought so.

Infrared is at the very bottom of the optical spectrum, that's why it's called infra-red, because it's frequency is even lower (up to multitudes lower) than red light. That means it's less harmful than literally any visible light.
Harmful radiation, harmful not by merely causing heat but by actually damaging cells and even altering DNA that is, needs wavelength shorter than 400 nm, which is about where the ultraviolet range begins. That's why UV, X-Ray or radioactivity can give you sunburn and worse things while visible light or IR can't.

It is absolutely safe to say that Face ID can't "cause any long term health effect".

 

[NorthSeaBeach]

Like I said... a few DPI bump on a LCD screen isn’t noticeable as upgrading to an OLED display. If your concern is screen quality, which it seems to be, then clearly the Xs Max is the go to option. Just look at the 8 which has the same DPI as the Xr and compare it to an 8+. Then look at a X/XS max.

I did play with Xs (max) in store. I liked the screen, but I love the screen on my wife’s 7+ too. That’s good enough for me. The only thing worth upgrading to a Xs (max) would be the camera and in case of the max screensize. But I have a hard time convincing myself that’s worth the extra cash over a 8+. Besides I fear the issues with the Xs/oleds. Antenna and pwm. In store those things are set at 100% brightness, I use my phone on a much much lower brightness most of the time especially at night and pwm might come into play.
Going to play with the Xr when it’s in store and make up my mind.

 

[Manatlt]

Apple are selling them, but people aren’t buying them. Analysts expect the XR to account for over 60% of all iPhone sales this year. Priorities make the XS a niche product most people don’t care about. It’s like with the Mac Pro, arguably it’s the best Mac, but most people are better off with an iMac.

I'll tell you why. It's not because of the PPI and the resolution that people don't care about. It's the price. What Apple are selling the phones for, is ridiculous. People are finding it hard to justify $1000+ for a phone regardless. Even with my XS Max, I have been thinking "why did I spend this much money again?" It doesn't even have Touch ID!

Even this XR...the price for it is ridiculous, especially with that display.

Because Android is where those customers end up who care most about winning pointless spec wars. It’s 2018 and a flagship phone must have this much ppi and at least tripple cameras. This line of thinking is not Apple fanboy like. If you argue this way, you’re buying from the wrong company anyway.

Yes it's 2018, and it must have this much PPI/1080p display. Phones don't really need dual cameras but it's a great bonus.
And yes, Apple could have given XR 1080p display. It's not that expensive to build. The reason why they didn't because they want to make the difference between XR and XS/XS Max as much as possible. Otherwise, apart from OLED...why get XS/XS Max? I would have gotten the XR myself!

I'm not really a Apple fanboy, but I had 5 iPhones and 3 iPads in my life. My main mobile devices are from Apple. The only Android device I have is a Moto G5 that is used for Android Auto only.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

I once held an iPhone 7 and 8+ together side by side. I can tell the difference between the displays.

I'm tired of "Apple knows that they are doing and they are masters!" Tell me something. If having a 720p-ish display and 326ppi is "great" and together, give you a better display experience than the 8+...

...then why Apple are selling XS and XS Max at a much better ppi and a 1080p display? It's not rocket science to know that PPI and resolution matters. Even Apple knows, hence WHY their premium phones have higher PPI and 1080p!

Because the OLED models use a PenTile sub pixel matrix which means that while every pixel has a green sub pixel, it has to share red and blue sub pixels with its neighbors. Thus, for red and blue the PPI is lower by a factor of √2. And guess what 458 PPI divided by √2 is? That's right, 324 PPI, about what the XR (or 8, 7, SE, 6s, 4...) has.

All that aside, the XR's display isn't "720p-ish", not even close, especially since it's a different aspect ratio. In overall pixels, it actually is much closer to 1080p Full HD than to 720p HD.

 

[-M4-]

Errr..one has telephoto lens, one doesn't? Yes I'm aware Pixel 3 did wonders, but XR's camera software is not as great as Pixel 3's.

The telephoto lens is nice, but it only really works in portrait mode or with good light. In low light the XS defaults to the main camera for zooming. Since most use cases of the camera use the main lens, which is better and then has smartHDR applied to it, I’d say it’s an overall upgrade anyway. And this is without knowing how well the single-lens portrait mode works.

———————————

For people pointing out the “safe while under normal usage conditions” for FaceID, that’s a pretty standard way of saying: we have studies showing that with normal use it’s safe, but we don’t have them for other uses so we can’t guarantee it even if everything points towards being safe anyway. Every research about medications does this kind of warning, for example, and there have been many cases where further research then showed it’s safe in other use cases (in fact, even leading to better ways to control certain diseases).

Research on eye exposure to IR has shown that at most, with very heavy exposure (dealing with high intensity IR radiation for most of your day for a lifetime of work), has lead to a 16% increased risk of senile cataracts compared to normal population (which means that, if the normal risk is 1%, then those people had 1,16% overall risk - for comparison, smokers have 4000% increased risk of lung cancer). Keep in mind, this is with heavy exposure of high intensity IR over more than 40 years. FaceID is nowhere near that kind of exposure at all, even if you use it all day.

 

[Gudi]

Yes it's 2018, and it must have this much PPI/1080p display.

Bogus.

And yes, Apple could have given XR 1080p display. It's not that expensive to build.

How do you know? There never was an edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display before. It’s like saying it could have had 3D Touch. Who knows how complicated it is to implement this technology on a display with a notch and rounded corners? If it isn’t expensive to go 1080p, why isn’t Apple doing it?

The reason why they didn't because they want to make the difference between XR and XS/XS Max as much as possible. Otherwise, apart from OLED...why get XS/XS Max?

But nobody is getting them! The Max sells only because of screen size, it’s between 20-30% of the market. But the XS is projected to account for only 10-20% of this years iPhone sales. That’s nothing for new flagship phone. Apple doesn’t care which of their products you buy, they get their margin on every device. People with too much money will always buy the most expensive iPhone with maximum storage. Product quality doesn’t need to be higher to justify higher sales prices, because money itself has different value to different people. Some people will pay up just because they want the “exclusive” gold color, which isn’t available for the XR.

I'm not really a Apple fanboy, but I had 5 iPhones and 3 iPads in my life. My main devices are from Apple. The only Android device I have is a Moto G5 that is used for Android Auto only.

Fanboy is a mindset, not a purchase history. I’m buying my first ever iPhone this year despite being a huge fan from 2007 on. My main device is an iPad Air 2 with broken glass. Despite owning much more than me, you’re not too happy with Apple’s product strategy. As long as you don’t know why to prefer Apple, you should purchase something else. At least it’s 2018, and if that’s not a reason to buy a Samsung Galaxy with a high-res OLED screen, I don’t know what is?

 

[rockitdog]

8+! 326PPI is laughable in 2018.

 

[leezz]

It is absolutely safe to say that Face ID can't "cause any long term health effect".

Face ID may be safe, but it's not a time tested technology for now. No one can say it's absolutely safe without long term testing. I just want to point out that people did get eye discomfort from using Samsung's iris scanner, which also uses IR. Apple's technology may be different, but it still uses IR.

 

[NJHitmen]

If you want this forum to make a decision for you: everyone here will say go for the 8+

Apparently not, going by the poll numbers. At the moment, the XR is winning in a landslide (66 votes to 26). I, too, figured more people would vote for the 8+. Lots of threads on this forum lament the XR's loss of TouchID, and the lower pixel density, relative to the 8+.

That said, personally I'd absolutely go for the XR. For my purposes, it has a number of significant advantages: current-gen processor, superior camera (larger sensor and Smart HDR are the most significant camera upgrades in years), larger full-screen display, FaceID (personal preference over Touch ID), and considerably longer battery life. Those upgrades are important to me - obviously, YMMV.

Yeah, I'm a little bummed about the display - Apple obviously could've used a panel with greater pixel density, and chose not to in order to further differentiate the XR from the XS. This annoys me in principle. But, what's done is done...it is what it is. 326ppi is OK for me, even if I'd prefer more pixels. Can't always get what you want. Again, for me, this deficit is outweighed by rest of the XR's package, which I find really compelling.

All that aside, the XR's display isn't "720p-ish", not even close, especially since it's a different aspect ratio. In overall pixels, it actually is much closer to 1080p Full HD than to 720p HD.

Yep. 828p, to be precise.

 

[Gudi]

326PPI is laughable in 2018.

So don’t buy it! Nobody cares about losing you as a customer. Apple includes the features it thinks its customers want. If you want something else, you don’t want an iPhone XR.

 

[rockitdog]

So don’t buy it! Nobody cares about losing you as a customer. Apple includes the features it thinks its customers want. If you want something else, you don’t want an iPhone XR.

Well if you're going to quote me at least quote me in full so that you can see that I was answering the OPs original question! That's how message boards work. K, Thanks, Bye!

 

[BenTrovato]

I would vote Xr for the smaller form factor. I need to see the screen live in person before making that decision though. Maybe people are right that 326 PPI is completely laughable and should not be considered

 

[rockitdog]

I would vote Xr for the smaller form factor. I need to see the screen live in person before making that decision though. Maybe people are right that 326 PPI is completely laughable and should not be considered

I think the size difference will be not as much as people think. 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm vs 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5mm isn't much. The screen is the big difference and for me the biggest turn off. I'd rather have the option for 1080p video viewing with HDR than a sub 1080p display with a 2010 PPI.

 

[dukebound85]

I stopped reading his posts when he said the 8 Plus has a better back camera than the XR.

well it is a dual vs single

 

[jm31828]

The 8 Plus. A non-1080p LCD screen on a phone approaching 2019 is just completely reprehensible considering these devices are major media consumption devices at this point. The other stats are comparable, although you get the larger body and bezels. Plus you get wireless charging, AR, and whatever else you might like from the XR.

I won't go into the whole notch thing, but just screen alone I think the XR is not nearly as impressive. I would even say a 7 Plus is better than the XR regardless to everything I just previously mentioned based on the screen merits alone as well.

The 8Plus has wireless charging as well.

 

[NJHitmen]

well it is a dual vs single

But that single camera is superior to either of the 8+’s. The XR’s camera includes a couple of major upgrades over the 8+’s wide-angle unit: primarily, a MUCH larger sensor, and the new “Smart HDR” feature (which is enabled by the A12 processor and updated neural engine).

Yes, the 8+ will take better zoomed shots, because it has an actual telephoto lens (the XR is limited to crappy digital zoom). And this also means the 8+’s portrait mode shots will be better (the two lenses produce better bokeh effect than the XR’s single lens + processing). Plus, the XR’s digital portrait mode will only work on faces. However - I don’t know about you, but most of my photos are not zoomed, and I don’t expect to use portrait mode a whole lot. So, the bulk of my pictures are likely to look better taken on the XR vs the 8+.

I guess if your iPhone photography relies heavily on zoom & portrait mode/bokeh, then the 8+ will take better pictures for you. But I doubt that describes most users.

tl;dr - two isn’t necessarily better than one.

 

[zorinlynx]

3. Most importantly Face ID emits IR radiation and constantly blasts hundreds of IR dots at your face (even when Face ID is not being actively used, search youtube video to see this). It is still a gen1 product and is too new to say it's 100% safe. Apple only states it "is safe to use under normal usage conditions" (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208108). This implies there are conditions it is not safe (but Apple does not tell us). However, Samsung users already reported the IR iris scanner in their phones caused eye discomfort: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...-say-iris-scanner-causing-eye-discomfort.html It is too early to tell if FaceID will cause any long term health effect.

IR is not harmful in any way. It is actually less energetic than visible light (the light from the screen has more energy!) and you are constantly being exposed to a lot more IR than the FaceID sensor puts out on a day to day basis.

Please, don't spread this paranoia about "radiation" being harmful; the only harmful radiation is *ionizing* radiation and neither radio waves nor IR are ionizing; not even close.

 

[CrazyForCashews]

If you don't mind big and heavy phones, you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Aneres11]

well it is a dual vs single

And if you think that means 'better' then you're just as ignorant.

 

[inkahauts]

While these XR pro’s were not listed & might not appeal to OP, they could for other people:

• FaceID for automatic password autofill
• Color options - not a big deal for me, but others might like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Possibly a year longer OS updates from Apple?
• Swipe gestures to help with switching between apps smoother / faster
• Dual SIM capability

Also two for 8+:

• No ugly notch when watching video in full screen mode
• $50 cheaper for the 64gb model ($699 vs $749)

The notch just isn’t an issue when watching videos.

To me it’s not even a contest between Face ID and Touch ID. Face ID always works. Touch mostly worked usually if I didn’t have wet hands.

I’d like to know what the op has as a phone today...