I know quite a few folks on MR are going from an X to XR for different reasons. For those that made the jump, how are you enjoying the XR so far?
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iPhone XR X to XR owners - impressions
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The XR also shows more info on screen than the X, but if you wanted more screen area and liked the X's screen, the most logical upgrade would be to the XS Max.
The big downside of the Max though is the high cost.
Honestly we are all a little crazy here 
I had an Xs max. Returned it for being unwieldy and got an Xs. In the mean while I got a pixel 3. Returned my xs for a coral xr. In the last 6 months I've had: an SE, a One plus 6, a MiMix 2s, a MiA2 lite, a pixel 2xl and a pixel 2, an iPhone x, and a galaxy s9.
Us phone gurus are never happy. However I'm hoping to stick with the pixel 3 and the iPhone xr for awhile.
Have an app watch 4 for my iPhone and a Fitbit versa for my pixel. Now i want to decide whether I want a Ticwatch c2 or a Misfit 2. It never ends!
I had an Xs max. Returned it for being unwieldy and got an Xs. In the mean while I got a pixel 3. Returned my xs for a coral xr. In the last 6 months I've had: an SE, a One plus 6, a MiMix 2s, a MiA2 lite, a pixel 2xl and a pixel 2, an iPhone x, and a galaxy s9. Us phone gurus are never happy. However I'm hoping to stick with the pixel 3 and the iPhone xr for awhile.
Have an app watch 4 for my iPhone and a Fitbit versa for my pixel. Now i want to decide whether I want a Ticwatch c2 or a Misfit 2. It never ends!
I'd be interested in this thread as I'm not due to trade my X for an XR until January, and yes I am doing it for that much better battery as I am spanking mine most days. The bigger screen and better camera would be nice upgrades as well.
Do you think the every day typical consumer remotely cares about that? Or the even have knowledge of this? I doubt it. You’re not going to find too many iPhone X owners downgrading to the XR , maybe _some_ on here, but most upgrading to the XR are coming from an iPhone 7 or lower. Keep in mind Apples Target audience is *not* X owners.
Its a $100.00 difference Over the 5.8 X. As that member alluded to that you quoted, it doesn’t make sense for an iPhone X owner in some aspects to downgrade to the XR, and even if an iPhone X owner did downgrade to the XR, the Max is not that much more unobtainable given the price difference for a base storage model XS Max.
Now, if an XR want to upgrade to the Max, _that_ would be a Significant price difference.
I switched to an XR from an X due to eye problems. I went to a neurologist and eye doctors multiple times within the last year because of a major increase in ocular migraines. I saw the thread about a week ago about iPhone X eye strain, and started putting together that it might be related. I must make it known that my eye issues may be exasperated due to intraocular contact lenses I had implanted in Germany.
My iPhone X was paid off so I decided to just do the Apple Upgrade Program for an XR. I replaced my silver 256GB with a 256GB.
I personally am not a case person, so for me the XR feels great in hand. It's a bit more slippery due to the more matte aluminum around the sides, but the back glass has a nice sticky feel.
The screen is not any worse than the XS to me. I feel they're just "different" and it's all about what you prefer in a screen. If you prefer a color-shifted bright-as-hell feeling screen that's capable of turning blacks completely off, then get the XS. This screen feels more even to look at and I feel like my eyes are adjusting less. I definitely *feel* like eye strain and future migraines may have gone away, but time will tell. The bright ass colors that the OLED produced in specific locations felt piercing to me. The screen has super rich colors that seem spot on. Blacks obviously aren't pure due to the LCD. Text does not appear pixelated, at least to me. I keep the system default sized third from the left in the display options.
Let me start by saying I'm on iOS 12.1 public beta 5. The performance is definitely smoother on the XR, and I don't think it's just placebo, it has that liquid smooth feel iPhones used to feel like. The camera seems to be good with colors, I feel like the focus might be a tad bit off, especially in low light situations. It might be a bug or user error. My face on the front cam seems like it's being smoothed out. The colors in most photos are super rich.
Players unknown battlegrounds was pretty smooth. No noticable lag or stutter. The screen size feels nicer than the iPhone X. The cellular reception oddly feels stronger on T-Mobile for me. It might be a placebo affect, but yeah. The wifi connection is definitely up-to-par. Restoring from backup on the beta was the smoothest and fastest I've ever had anything restore. I have noticed that some apps might not be optimized yet for the XR. Notably Snapchat has two super tiny (maybe one pixel lines) on each side? Also some text in other apps is off in size.
I'm overall super happy with my side-grade and don't think I made a mistake. I got the white color and it still fits in my Audi Q5 phone cubby.
My iPhone X was paid off so I decided to just do the Apple Upgrade Program for an XR. I replaced my silver 256GB with a 256GB.
I personally am not a case person, so for me the XR feels great in hand. It's a bit more slippery due to the more matte aluminum around the sides, but the back glass has a nice sticky feel.
The screen is not any worse than the XS to me. I feel they're just "different" and it's all about what you prefer in a screen. If you prefer a color-shifted bright-as-hell feeling screen that's capable of turning blacks completely off, then get the XS. This screen feels more even to look at and I feel like my eyes are adjusting less. I definitely *feel* like eye strain and future migraines may have gone away, but time will tell. The bright ass colors that the OLED produced in specific locations felt piercing to me. The screen has super rich colors that seem spot on. Blacks obviously aren't pure due to the LCD. Text does not appear pixelated, at least to me. I keep the system default sized third from the left in the display options.
Let me start by saying I'm on iOS 12.1 public beta 5. The performance is definitely smoother on the XR, and I don't think it's just placebo, it has that liquid smooth feel iPhones used to feel like. The camera seems to be good with colors, I feel like the focus might be a tad bit off, especially in low light situations. It might be a bug or user error. My face on the front cam seems like it's being smoothed out. The colors in most photos are super rich.
Players unknown battlegrounds was pretty smooth. No noticable lag or stutter. The screen size feels nicer than the iPhone X. The cellular reception oddly feels stronger on T-Mobile for me. It might be a placebo affect, but yeah. The wifi connection is definitely up-to-par. Restoring from backup on the beta was the smoothest and fastest I've ever had anything restore. I have noticed that some apps might not be optimized yet for the XR. Notably Snapchat has two super tiny (maybe one pixel lines) on each side? Also some text in other apps is off in size.
I'm overall super happy with my side-grade and don't think I made a mistake. I got the white color and it still fits in my Audi Q5 phone cubby.
You doubt that the typical consumer would be aware that a bigger screen would contain more information? That would require a tremendous amount of stupidity.....
I see no reason to downgrade to the xr. I don't think it's a bad phone on its own but the x has a better screen and a better camera arrangement
What you lose is dual cam OLED and 3D Touch, thinner bezels
What you gain is battery a12 better cam Face ID and noticeable real estate the way it scales and color options of course
Yes it’s 0.3” bigger than x but it’s scaled like a max (excpet for non landscape homescreen)
Depends on what you mean by camera "arrangement." If most of your photos are taken between 1x and 2x zoom (the range where the second lens on the X does *not* kick in) then your photos will invariably look better on the XR than on the X owed to the *much* larger sensor in the single lens. That has been amply demonstrated with side by side photo comparisons. It also jives with years of camera sensor development.
Two cameras instead of one and I use the telephoto camera on my X often
Based on a casual perusal of threads here, that makes you a somewhat unusual case. Highly unscientific of course
???
It's *much* bigger in terms of sensor size. Don't focus on the physical size difference because it won't seem like much. Focus on the fact that it's 30% larger. That's enormous in terms of camera sensors. That lets a LOT more light in, but also unleashes far more photographic capabilities in other aspects. Here's a good primer:
https://petapixel.com/2018/09/19/iphone-xs-vs-iphone-x -a-look-at-the-camera-hardware-changes/
The article focuses on the XS vs X as it was written prior to the release of the XR. But it focuses on the single lens, which is the same as the one in the XR.
If you're not seeing a difference, *especially* in low light photos, I don't know what to tell you. That flies in the face of many expert reviews as well as what common sense would tell us.
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Areas where the XR is better:
Battery life - best iPhone ever in this regard.
Camera - it might lack the second lens, but the main camera is an enormous improvement. Considering the telephoto camera will only even kick in under certain circumstances (well lit scenes) it doesn't seem to me that this is a material loss. You also gain the ability to capture stereo audio in videos which is another quantum leap.
Chipset - A12 over A11.
(arguably) display - if you suffer from PWM screen dimming headaches or prefer LCD characteristics (primarily RGB stripe rather than Pentile)
Faster FaceID
Where the X is better:
More compact physical dimensions
(arguably) display - @3x retina, deeper blacks (though the XR does display more content at once, is more power efficient for light content and is bigger overall) slimmer bezel
Build - if you really prefer stainless steel over aluminium I suppose?
3D touch
Battery life - best iPhone ever in this regard.
Camera - it might lack the second lens, but the main camera is an enormous improvement. Considering the telephoto camera will only even kick in under certain circumstances (well lit scenes) it doesn't seem to me that this is a material loss. You also gain the ability to capture stereo audio in videos which is another quantum leap.
Chipset - A12 over A11.
(arguably) display - if you suffer from PWM screen dimming headaches or prefer LCD characteristics (primarily RGB stripe rather than Pentile)
Faster FaceID
Where the X is better:
More compact physical dimensions
(arguably) display - @3x retina, deeper blacks (though the XR does display more content at once, is more power efficient for light content and is bigger overall) slimmer bezel
Build - if you really prefer stainless steel over aluminium I suppose?
3D touch
I'm unusual in every sense of the wordBased on a casual perusal of threads here, that makes you a somewhat unusual case. Highly unscientific of course
Honestly we are all a little crazy here
Us phone gurus are never happy. However I'm hoping to stick with the pixel 3 and the iPhone xr for awhile.
Have an app watch 4 for my iPhone and a Fitbit versa for my pixel. Now i want to decide whether I want a Ticwatch c2 or a Misfit 2. It never ends!
h isn't there medication for that condition?
I like Max but went with XR, I have X. XR is heavy & bulky, probably would return it. If I want hefty phone than I would rather buy max than XR.
Did you see the XR actually in the store first hand? It’s strange, but for me the display really doesn’t feel much bigger. The camera and battery, yes sure. But when I held it in my hands it felt clunky and heavy and thick...
- XR has much better wide angle lens
- XR has way better video stabilization
- XR has Smart HDR
- XR has larger display area
- If you are on iPhone Upgrade Program, monthly price for XR is much cheaper
- XR has 128 GB storage option
- If you are on T-Mobile, you get 600 MHz LTE band support
- Dual SIM
Yes I did see it in store, i left my thoughts about it on the thread I made the other day about trading iphone x for an XR. Its a good phone, I'm still going to switch to it.
I'm trialling the XR having swapped the XS for it, and my husband owns the X. Things to note about the XR:
The portrait mode is great. I might be one of the rare ones to say this, but I believe it captures more detail than the XS. I also like the fact that the focal length is not has restrictive so you get more of the background, and the colour of the photos are more natural (photos come out looking warmer on the XS)
It feels nice in the hand and less "precious" compared to the X or XS. Might have to do with the fact that i'm used to the aluminium body of the older gen phones.
Is more clumsy to use if you want to use it with only one hand. I didn't think it would be at first when I was in the store, but as I'm using it day to day now, I definitely notice the difference. This is even with reachability and assistive touch enabled, and I have medium size hands.
Screen resolution negligible.
I'm still tossing up whether I hold onto the XR or swap it back for the XS because of the size consideration as I want to use the phone comfortably with one hand.