Article Summary
- Apple has released its three new devices, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR
- While the XS and XS Max are stacked with great features, the XR may have everything you need in a smartphone—with a cheaper price to boot
- Our five reasons to grab the iPhone XR include price, battery, colors, features and display.
Apple has released its three long-awaited new phones, the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR.
While it may be tempting to jump on one of the XS devices, especially since they earn Apple's current "flagship status," the XR may be just the phone you're looking for, with a far more attractive price tag. Below is a quick comparison of the three new iPhones, and read on for our 5 reasons to wait for the XR.
iPhone X Models Compared
iPhone XR Reason #1: Price
Man, new smartphones just keep getting more and more expensive don't they? The iPhone X broke the $1,000 ceiling, and the XS and XS Max unsurprisingly do the same. The 64GB version of the XS starts at $999, while the 64GB version of the XS Max starts at a whopping $1,099.
It's enough to make you want to hold onto your current iPhone. But you don't have to. The iPhone XR comes in at a $749.99 price point, a full $250 cheaper than the starting price of the XS. What's more, the XR includes some of the same core features that the XS sports (more on that later).
iPhone XR Reason #2: Battery Life
NBC's The Good Place aired an episode last season in which the main character got to choose from a selection of frozen yogurt flavors, one of which was "full cell phone battery." Her reaction to trying it: "I'm so relaxed."
This surely resonates with iPhone users who have struggled to keep their devices charged. The iPhone XR has the best battery life of the three new devices; Apple says the XR can outlast the iPhone 8 Plus by 90 minutes. That's reason enough for many to hold out for it.
iPhone XR Reason #3: Colors
Some will scoff at your decision to choose a smartphone based on color, moments later texting some inane Animoji to a friend—which incidentally was the feature that convinced them to pick up their iPhone X. Which is to say: any reason for a purchase is as valid as the next.
I'm one of those people who buys stuff based on color—that's why I bought the rose gold iPhone 6s, and why I more recently picked up the "kinda blue" Google Pixel 2. If you're an aesthetics-oriented person like me, you're going to want to wait for the iPhone XE, which comes in a range of brilliant colors—blue, yellow, red, coral, black and white—that expand beyond the, at this point, rather "blah" colors of typical iPhones. The blue, especially, looks awesome.
iPhone XR Reason #4: Similar Features to the XS
While many outlets have pointed to the superior features (display, build, camera) found in the iPhone XS, do they really necessitate the (much) higher price tag?
After all, the XR contains perhaps the XS's most innovative new feature: the lightning-fast A12 processor. That means your speed and overall experience with the XR will be very similar to the XS. This includes, to summarize Apple marketing talking points, 50% faster graphics performance, 50% lower power usage, and 15% faster performance cores (whatever that means).
Oh, and the XS's much-celebrated dual-SIM support? The XR has that too!
iPhone XR Reason #5: Big Display
At 6'1" inches, the iPhone XR's display strikes a near perfect balance between the huge screen of the iPhone XS Max (6.5") and the handy, smaller iPhone XS (5.8"). It's a bit smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus (see comparison to the right).
It's big enough to enjoy hours of Netflix streaming but not so big that it's annoying to have to hold when you go for a run. Like the XS, the XR's design is bezel-less.
Much has been made of the XS's superior OLED screen, but the XR's pixel density means its LCD screen should be just fine for most users. After all, it's a smartphone display, not a television screen.
WhistleOut's comparison engine allows you to check out phone + plan prices from dozens of carriers. Plan prices haven't been posted yet for the iPhone XR, but you can see what the carriers are offering for the iPhone XS and XS Max:
iPhone XS 64GB
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Our Review | 87/100 |
| Screen Size | 5.8" |
| Available On | 0 Plans from 0 carriers |
| Available From |
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| View Full Details |
Apple's 2018 new generation of iPhone X with improved camera, 5.8" all-screen OLED display, faster Face ID, wireless charging and Gigabit-class LTE
iPhone XS Max 64GB
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Our Review | 88/100 |
| Screen Size | 6.5" |
| Available On | 0 Plans from 0 carriers |
| Available From |
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| View Full Details |
Apple's 2018 new generation of iPhone X with improved camera, large 6.5" all-screen OLED display, faster Face ID, wireless charging and Gigabit-class LTE
Chris Holmes
Staff Writer
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