Apple announced a few weeks ago three new iPhone 11, of which the two models with the surname «Pro» are the ones that incorporate more news.
Article Breakdown
Apple iPhone 11 Pro Review: Features, Cameras and More
Starting with the design, the Apple iPhone 11 Pro comes with an identical to that of its predecessors iPhone, iPhone X, and iPhone XS, front aspect. Its front is dominated by a 5.8 ″ screen with quite narrow frames and a fairly wide notch on the top that houses the Face ID facial recognition system.
The back does have some differences since the camera module has adopted a square shape that formed on the glass sheet. This module is quite large, which is why it has become the trademark of this model. Apple has opted for a very attractive matte finish for glass that, by the way, is the toughest ever used on a smartphone.
The iPhone 11 Pro is available in gold, space gray, silver, and, as a novelty, in night green. Despite its name, the latter color has a gray appearance that only looks dark green when it is light.
The Apple iPhone 11 Pro has increased slightly in thickness and weight compared to the iPhone XS but, far from losing comfort and usability. It has allowed adding a larger battery. The frame is still made of steel, a material more resistant than aluminum but somewhat more prone to scratches.
Face ID is still present and allows you to unlock the device with comfort and safety through the face, even in the dark. The iPhone 11 Pro allows you to recognize the face from a more extreme angle, although it is still difficult to do so while resting on a table (unless you put your head).
The Super Retina XDR screen is the best I’ve tried on a smartphone because it offers a very high maximum brightness (about 770 nits with 100% of the screen illuminated in white according to measurements) and the highest color fidelity. In addition, it has a True Tone to adjust the white balance to the ambient lighting.
The screen offers a wide color range, as it covers the color range DCI-P3 and is compatible with HDR content. iOS performs automatic color management, so the screen changes to the appropriate color mode depending on the content.
The only thing I miss is the always active screen functionality offered by other smartphones (and also the Apple Watch Series 5).
The Apple iPhone 11 Pro sets the road again in terms of performance as it arrives with a powerful new A13 Bionic chip. This chip incorporates a CPU and a GPU up to 20 percent faster than those of the A12 chip of the iPhone XS but the most interesting is the impressive reduction in energy consumption.
The A13 Bionic chip has been designed with machine learning in mind, with a faster third-generation Neural Engine, which analyzes videos and photos in real-time and allows impressive captures.
In the day today, the iPhone 11 Pro moves with great fluidity although, in fact, you can not know the difference with its predecessors, which were already very fast. Actually, the power of the A13 Bionic comes out in other tasks such as image processing when taking photos, video stabilization, facial recognition, or augmented reality.
The Apple iPhone 11 Pro is available in 64, 256, and 512 GB of storage. If you can afford it, the 256GB option is a safer value for the future, especially if you like to take many pictures and videos (and with the iPhone 11 Pro camera it would be a crime if you didn’t).
Apple has also significantly improved the sound on the iPhone 11 Pro, even when compared to the iPhone XS. Stereo speakers offer a greater spatial sensation and also support Dolby Atmos. As expected, it lacks the headphone jack, so you’ll have to turn to a Bluetooth adapter or headphones.
The Apple iPhone 11 Pro offers fast cable charging via its Lightning connector (no USB-C for now). Apple has incorporated a fast 18W charger into the box that restores 50 percent of the charge in about half an hour and reaches 95 percent in an hour and a half.
In terms of autonomy, Apple claims that the iPhone 11 Pro offers four hours more than the iPhone XS. In practice, I have noticed a dramatic improvement in the autonomy of the iPhone 11 Pro, reaching the end of the day with around 30 percent battery after having been using it quite intensively.
The iPhone 11 Pro offers Bluetooth 5, WiFi 6 (802.11ax), and 4G / LTE class Gigabit connectivity. Unlike other manufacturers, Apple does not offer a 5G variant of the iPhone 11 Pro. Although it is not yet widespread today, it is expected that it will prevail in the coming years.
Apple has incorporated a U1 ultra-wideband (UWB) chip that allows you to locate objects with great precision. At the moment, its utility is limited since it is only used when using AirDrop with another iPhone 11, but Apple has promised new uses.
The Apple iPhone 11 Pro arrives with factory iOS 13, which incorporates some interesting improvements such as the dark mode, shortcuts with automation, improvements in CarPlay, new Memojis customization options, etc.
Some applications such as Photos or Reminders have also been improved with new interesting features.
One of the great advantages that iOS has over Android is the updates. iOS 13 is coming to devices that are four years old, so it is expected that the iPhone 11 Pro will stay updated for a long time.
The triple rear camera of the iPhone 11 Pro offers great versatility as it allows you to take pictures with both a wide field of view (ultra-wide-angle) and zoom (telephoto) to get closer to the details. The resolution of the triple rear camera is 12 MP.
The ultra-wide-angle camera is a new brand, the main camera has a new sensor and the telephoto camera has the widest lens I’ve seen in a “zoom” camera.
Apple has not only improved the camera’s optics but has also evolved the Smart HDR mode to offer a more realistic result (less flat, that is, with more lights and shadows) and has introduced very interesting new Camera features like Capture outside Frame or Night mode.
The Out of Frame Capture records a second photograph with the ultra-wide-angle camera when we take a photograph with the main camera, so if, for some reason, we need to reframe the photograph (for example, something has been cut off) or rotate it a few degrees, we can use part of the image that was outside the original frame.
Occasionally, the Apple iPhone 11 Pro proposes improvements on photography that also take advantage of off-frame capture. A good example is the perspective correction performed automatically when taking photographs of buildings from the street.
The Night mode is also very useful as it increases brightness and reduces the noise substantially without producing an artificial image (like other smartphones). Best of all, it is not necessary to select this mode manually but it is automatically activated when we take a photo in low light.
Of course, the Portrait mode is still present on the iPhone 11 Pro. By default, uses the telephoto camera ( as it should be to reduce distortion ) but you can also use the main camera as well. Apple now allows you to modify the light intensity of the lighting effects and has added a new one (“High-Key Light Mono”) with a white background that offers a very striking result.
As a result of all these improvements, the image quality of the iPhone 11 Pro is excellent, both in good light and in low light conditions. In my comparison with other flagships, the iPhone 11 Pro camera has imposed itself above its competitors, both in sharpness and when it comes to reflecting colors naturally and controlling noise in low light situations.
The 12MP TrueDepth front camera offers good shots and is also capable of taking pictures in Portrait mode with good quality. The camera is wider than in previous models and allows individual or group selfies to be taken.
In the video section, the rear camera of the iPhone 11 Pro allows recording in 4K format at 60 fps with stabilization, surpassing itself to its Android competitors that, in most cases, only offer stabilization at 4K at 30 fps in the best cases. The front camera is also capable of recording 4K video at 60 fps.
Price
The new iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max can be purchased at the Amazon Store online at a price of $ 999.99 (iPhone 11 Pro) and $ 1,099 (iPhone 11 Pro Max).
An interesting alternative to the iPhone 11 Pro if you don’t want to spend so much money is the iPhone 11 ( $ 699 ), which comes with the same A13 Bionic processor. Other features are a 6.1 ″ LCD screen, 64/128/256GB of storage, 12MP dual rear camera, and 12MP front camera.
Here, you can find my Apple iPhone 11 Pro in-depth Analysis and Opinion.