September is always Apple’s month, and this year has been no less. The guys from Cupertino came on stage to show the devices they want to compete with in the most premium price range in the smartphone sector , and so, after an hour and a half of presentation, we met the iPhone 11 , iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, three mobiles that start from 809 euros for the cheapest to 1,659 euros for the most expensive.
The one we are dealing with today we could say is the intermediate, the iPhone 11 Pro , a terminal that comes to be configured as one of the best mobiles to date and that has already gone through our workshop to be analyzed in depth. Now, I’ve spent a month using it as my personal phone to see if the iPhone 11 Pro really lives up to its last name. This has been my experience.
Notch and module, a peculiar combo
As always, we start by talking about the design and I will be direct: the iPhone 11 Pro is the perfect size . It is small enough to be used with one hand and large enough to fit a good screen that can be enjoyed in any situation. It is a compact mobile, one of those that no longer remains, and is appreciated on a daily basis.
Now, that compaction does not translate into a mobile phone neither light nor thin. It is somewhat thicker than the iPhone XS and weighs 188 grams, which is not exactly little. To put it in context, the original iPhone X weighed 174 grams and was 7.7 millimeters thick. On a personal basis, the feeling that it transmits to me on a day-to-day basis is robustness , something that helps the matte back that, for better or for worse, remains glass, ergo fragile, although at least the tracks do not remain too marked.
And now that we talk about the back, let’s talk about the camera module. Simply put, you either hate it or love it . I don’t dislike it and frankly it looks better in person than in photos. In the press images and renders it looked much more exaggerated, but when you see it with your own eyes the truth is that it is not so ugly. The model that I have been using is the black color (the world was divided between those who wanted it black and those who wanted it green) and, as is the custom at Apple, it conveys that feeling of a premium device, not the following.The vast majority of visible changes are in the back, since the iPhone 11 Pro is the same as its predecessor in the front
And so far the changes, because the front could perfectly be that of the iPhone XS. Apple continues to bet on the notch and OLED screens, and it is not that there has been spectacular work to reduce the size of the eyebrow, but that it is just as great as in previous models .
Here it already depends on the OCD and the hobbies of each one. The notch on the iPhone X may have been eye-catching, but we’ve been seeing the same notch for three years, and at least I’ve gotten used to it. You know it is there and that when you enlarge a YouTube video the eyebrow eats part of the screen, but it is not dramatic and you learn to ignore it. As I said in the month of use of the Galaxy Note 10+ referring to the hole in the screen, it is not pretty, it is not aesthetic, but it does not bother .
As for the screen, little can be said. If the iPhone XS was spectacular, in the iPhone 11 Pro it would not be otherwise. We have a 5.8-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel with FullHD + resolution and a density of 458 pixels per inch, and it ‘s excellent in terms of brightness, quality, colors, and touch sensitivity . Now, Apple could have tried to get rid of the side frames to get a more immersive experience if possible, but no, the screen still does not reach the ends of the device. Be that as it may, the screen is very good and has not given any problems of any kind.
A point to note is that Apple has given the final thrust to 3D Touch to replace it with Haptic Touch , better known as “leave pressed”. Does it show in the day to day? Not too much, although it is somewhat slower and if you come from an iPhone 8 Plus (as was my case) you can miss it during the first days. The operation is exactly the same, only you have to press and hold instead of pressing, and in practice it is not a radical change.
Otherwise, something I would have liked to see on the iPhone 11 Pro, so being a Pro model, is a screen with a higher refresh rate . We have phones on the market with 90 and up to 120 Hz , even the i Pad Pro has a 120 Hz screen, and it would have been wonderful if Apple had brought it to their last-batch iPhone.
Let’s not forget the speaker
I would not like to leave out the sound. I will not entertain much because there are no major changes from previous generations, I would just like to emphasize that we continue to keep the stereo and that the headphone jack is gone so as not to return. We have two speakers (one below and one above) and they sound good, even with the volume at maximum , although a little more punch would not have hurt.
I agree with my colleague Anna that they are speakers that lack nuances and dynamic range, but you can always choose a Lightning or wireless headphones. Apple continues to put EarPods in the box , although everything is said, for the price of the iPhone they could already put some wireless AirPods. Be that as it may, it’s not the best sound on the market, but it doesn’t disappoint either.The iPhone 11 Pro does not have the best speaker on the market, but it is more than solvent and it is enjoyed
A highlight is the location of the speaker. Depending on how you pick up the phone you are more or less likely to plug the bottom speaker and the sound becomes muffled. It is one of the ills of having the main speaker on the bottom edge, and little or nothing can be done to remedy it. You either put the speakers there or you put them on the front, and doing so would mean adding a larger lower frame. A matter of priorities.
Face ID behaves very well, but …
Given the design, the screen and the sound, we are going to talk about what we have in the notch, which is nothing other than a TrueDepth sensor to bring Face ID to life. Being clear and direct, Face ID works perfectly, it doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night . The iPhone scans our face, creates a three-dimensional model and compares it with the one previously registered, and it does not fail. In fact, with a scan it detects us with and without glasses, which I appreciate as a person with myopia.
In addition, the vast majority of applications that I use, such as the bank or LastPass, are updated to allow unlocking with Face ID and this is almost instantaneous. Apple claims to have improved it in terms of speed and angle, but I haven’t noticed. The experience is very similar to that of the iPhone XS, and that’s a good thing . Face ID is one of the best biometric security systems on the market and justifies the existence of the notch (although it could have been tried to reduce its thickness).Face ID is above the vast majority of face unlock systems, but the iPhone 11 Pro was an opportunity to have bet on screen fingerprint readers
However, I break a spear in favor of the fingerprint sensors. Face ID works well, but if you want to unlock the phone you have to take it and turn it on for the sensor to work, and that, depending on the context, can be a bit tedious. I understand Apple’s idea of not implementing an under-screen fingerprint reader until the technology is smooth and rough, but the technology is there and it works , and being a Pro model, the same would have been a good time to give it an opportunity. It is a personal reflection, nothing more.
Performance: outstanding, no more
The A13 Bionic processor Apple is a masterpiece of engineering. If the A12 Bionic left us with a good taste in the mouth, the A13 has only improved the experience . The iPhone 11 Pro stands out and shines in all the tests it has undergone, be it everyday applications or heavy games with powerful graphics. We can discuss design, on camera, on Face ID, on the operating system … but not on performance. It is fantastic, plain and simple.
However, all that glitters is not gold, and that is that the iPhone 11 Pro has 4 GB of RAM, and that, you want it not, it shows in multitasking. It’s quite normal for apps that we leave in the background to reload cold after a few minutes, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s there. It is not uncommon for you to be on Twitter, open Instagram, spend 10 minutes viewing photos, chat for 10 minutes on WhatsApp and when you return to Twitter the app will reload. That nothing happens because it opens very quickly, but you have to take it into account.
Now we could enter the novelties of the processor, the computing power for AI tasks and other novelties developed by Apple in the A13 Bionic, but they are things that are not noticed at the user level on a day-to-day basis. If what you are interested in is knowing if the iPhone is going well or not, stick with the idea that performance is one of its most positive points .Internal storage has been one of the most controversial points of the new iPhone, and that is that they all start from 64 GB
As for internal storage, I must admit that with 64 GB I am more than enough because for years I moved to the cloud and keeping files locally is not something I am used to doing. Now, I recognize that a 1,100-euro mobile phone the size of the iPhone 11 Pro cannot start from 64 GB and that the minimum amount should be 128 GB, especially if you want to take advantage of Apple Arcade, Spotify playlist downloads and Netflix content or Amazon Prime Video. If this is your case, my personal recommendation is that you forget about the 64 GB one and opt for the immediately superior model, even if it is more expensive. I consume everything in streaming and with 64 GB I have more than enough, but it is something personal and it does not have to be your case.
iOS has improved
If you are an iOS user you will know that it is a very solvent mobile operating system, but not perfect. iOS 13 has all the good things about iOS with many interesting improvements that make the difference, but many of the limitations of the OS are still present.
The first thing I would like to highlight is that the first version of iOS 13 was a disaster . The first days with the iPhone were marked by some bugs, slightly absurd bugs and a rather regular experience, but if anything has characterized Apple, it is the speed in the deployment of updates and after four days iOS 13.1 was already with the problem solved and incidentally, a higher battery consumption that was fixed the following week with another update.iOS 13 was little polished from launch, but with the arrival of the updates it has been greatly improved
Having said that, in this section I would like to highlight what has made the difference on a day-to-day basis, and not so much to analyze iOS 13 as such. iOS 13 is synonymous with dark mode and almost all day-to-day apps (a greeting to WhatsApp) are optimized so that when activated in the system it is activated in the apps. It is appreciated, especially working as well as it works. When Caesar is Caesar, this is also Android 10.
The integration between Apple devices is simply pure magic . It is amazing how quickly an Apple Watch or AirPods are configured with the iPhone. I also like that Apple discarded once and for all the volume up and down animation, and it was because it escaped the logic that a huge gray module appeared in the middle of the screen every time we modified the volume. Now it is a bar on the side that goes unnoticed. Thanks, Apple.
Positive point for Apple also for the gesture system , which is very intuitive and once you get used to it you are not able to live without it, and for the native support for console controls. As an Apple Arcade user, I appreciate being able to play with the control of my PS4 just by connecting it via Bluetooth.The gestures of iOS convince and work really well, so much so that you do not miss the buttons of Android or Touch ID
Not everything is good, of course. For example, during the trial month you couldn’t change the video resolution and frames per second from the camera app . You had to go to the settings to do it and it was tedious, but with the release of iOS 13.2 that has already been solved and now it is possible. Be that as it may, in our month of use we did not have this option available.
Siri, meanwhile, is a very capable assistant, but somewhat awkward in some situations . If I say to Siri “Tell X I’m going there”, what I want to do is send a message via WhatsApp, not an SMS, and it seems that Apple is doing it , but by default iOS 13 bets on its own apps, in this case iMessage. The same with “Put X song”, which takes you directly to Apple Music or your library. To open Spotify you have to be very explicit: “Put X song on Spotify”.If you’re coming from an Android phone, familiarizing yourself with notifications can take some time
Although I come from using another iPhone as a personal mobile, I recognize that notifications still have room for improvement. If you come from Android and you are used to having the icons in the upper area, you should know that in iOS 13 they still do not appear and that the only indication you have is the red dots on the icons of the apps and the lock screen. It is a different implementation and when you get used to it, it stops being important, but it is important to highlight it for the users of the Google operating system.
But be that as it may, iOS 13 is a solvent operating system , which has been polishing little recently and, at least right now, is characterized by not having an iota of lag, or forced closings or anything like that. Ultimately, the iOS vs. Android battle will depend on each person’s personal tastes.
Quick charge and battery for a while
Fast charging is not a new thing on iPhones, but what is it is that Apple has chosen to add a charger compatible with the 18W fast charge of iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max ( not on iPhone 11 ). That means that charging the mobile from 0% to 100% takes approximately a little more than an hour and a half, and yes, I buy the argument that there are much better technologies on the market, see OPPO VOOC, but if we put the iPhone 11 Pro next to its predecessors, the change is, to say the least, remarkable.
The autonomy of the iPhone 11 Pro is outstanding , and it is something that I attribute to the fact that Apple has absolute control when it comes to optimizing hardware and software. If we look at the number of milliamps / hour, 3,179 mAh, it surely leads us to think that the battery will not be anything out of this world, but not at all.The battery of the iPhone 11 Pro is more than enough to exceed 24 hours and not have to be charged until the next day
With moderate, normal use, it ‘s easy to get through the day without going through the charger and extending the life of the device until two in the afternoon the next day. It is no longer that the battery management is good, but that the consumption is in the background is almost residual, so much so that you get used to not charging the phone at night even having it at 20%.
Wide angle and night mode are here
After many years on Android, the wide angle has reached the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max , leaving Apple mobiles with a batch of the most complete lenses consisting of a normal angle, a wide angle and a telephoto with two optical magnifications. Is it the best optical zoom on the market? No. Is it the best wide angle on a mobile camera? Yes, and by far.
This triad of lenses allows you to get several frames of the same scene and perspectives that would not be possible otherwise. Where the camera takes the chest is in the wide angle, and it is that Apple, using algorithms, has achieved something that is not easy to see on Android phones, and that is that all the sensors achieve the same tones and colors . The most normal thing is that the wide angle has a warmer white balance, but Apple has solved it by code.
The level of detail is excellent, especially when the light is there. Apple’s image processing is very well achieved, Smart HDR has been improved, and sharpness has increased from the previous generation . However, it is appreciated that we continue to have a 12-megapixel sensor, and that is noticeable when we expand more than we should. .
Something that I would have liked to be able to test is Deep Fusion, a function that Apple announced during the presentation of the iPhone and that promises to achieve greater clarity, but during the test month it could only be used in the beta of iOS 13.2 and, for therefore, it is not a function that we should consider in this analysis, although it is currently available. It would also have been nice to mount a professional mode on the iPhone 11 Pro , but no, for those who want to get the most out of the camera, they will have to go through the box and buy an app like Halide, which allows you to control all the parameters and extract files in RAW.
As for night photography, positive points and negative points. The positives are that the normal angle and telephoto lenses achieve the most decent results , with correct detail, well-managed highlights and native colors. It is a camera that is enjoyed very much in all situations, and the night is one of them. Now, the wide angle better leave it alone. It is a less luminous lens and that shows a lot . Are the results bad? No, but they have nothing to do with those obtained with the other lenses.
And what is a current mobile without its corresponding night mode? Apple has developed its own and, being completely honest, it is the only one that has convinced me for now. Why? Because the image obtained is a night photo, not a night photo that tries to appear to have been taken at seven in the afternoon. Some lights are simply improved and more detail is achieved through long exposure, but the photo shows that it is at night.
That said, it would not have hurt if Apple had offered more versatility in modifying the exposure time . By default, the mobile analyzes the scene, shows you a preview of the photo you are going to get and the time you have to hold the phone. Freehand night mode lasts between one and ten seconds and with a tripod up to 30 seconds, but it is the iPhone that decides the maximum time, not the user.
Regarding the portrait, the iPhone 11 Pro stands out in the daytime, offering natural results, with well-achieved bokeh, a correct level of detail of the subject and colors true to what our eyes see . Also, portrait shooting is now possible with the normal wide-angle lens and telephoto, so there are more possibilities. In my opinion, the best results are achieved with the telephoto, mainly for a matter of perspective. At night, the results are acceptable, but there is a noticeable drop in sharpness.
Day portrait mode
Night portrait mode
The daytime selfie is correct and now a little more versatile, since the iPhone changes the angle automatically depending on whether we take the photo vertically (possibly so that only we can go out) or horizontally (which is surely to include more people). The level of detail is preserved, the camera is capable of recovering the details of the background (although the high beams are still a problem depending on what situations) and the level of detail of the subject is sensational.
The nightly selfie has never been a point in which the iPhone stand out, and in the iPhone 11 Pro it would be no less . Selfies don’t go wrong, but they’re not the best you can get. The photo comes out with more noise and less sharpness, something that is even more accentuated in portrait mode. It is by far one of the points where the iPhone languishes the most.
Day selfie
Night selfie
The portrait mode with the front lens by day is very striking. Bokeh is applied gradually, the level of detail is good, and trimming is accurate even in difficult areas. The colors are true to reality and the filters are striking, although to achieve a good result it will be necessary to look for a more homogeneous background such as a smooth wall. At night we can say exactly the same as in normal selfies: it has room for improvement.
Daytime selfie portrait mode
Night selfie portrait mode
Apple put a lot of emphasis on the benefits of the iPhone 11 Pro in relation to video recording, and it is that when things are done well, it should be noted: the iPhone video is far ahead of what other brands offer . Not only in detail, colors and sharpness, but in stabilization, especially during the day. The wide angle and the normal angle have OIS and EIS and the wide angle uses EIS, and the results with all three lenses are simply spectacular. The video on these lines speaks for itself.
Say that it is possible to alternate between the different angles without stopping the recording and that the transition is smooth, even more so when we do it manually. In short, if you want a mobile with which to record video, the iPhone 11 Pro is the device to buy. Of course, keep in mind that EIS depends on the light that is in the scene, so at night the stabilization will be less evident or, directly, it will not be activated.
One month of use with iPhone 11 Pro
One month of use with iPhone 11 Pro
After having used the iPhone 11 Pro as my personal mobile for a month, I can only say that it is one of the best mobile phones that currently exist on the market . It has its negative points, without a doubt, but overall it is one of the most complete and versatile phones we can find.
The iPhone 11 Pro is a compact mobile, that feels good at hand and that feels premium, despite the module that I understand is not to everyone’s taste. The screen, on the other hand, is enjoyed and looks very good, although the notch is still the same size as in previous generations and could have been compacted a little better to scratch a higher percentage of panel / front ratio. A higher refresh rate wouldn’t have hurt either.The iPhone 11 Pro stands out for its performance, camera and battery, but it is not the best mobile on the market.
Regarding performance, nothing to object to. Everything is moving as you would expect, the gesture system is intuitive and accessible, the autonomy is more than correct and iOS 13, polished based on updates perhaps more frequent than you might expect, offers the most Apple experience so far . Stay with this idea, we will return to it soon.
As for the camera, as my colleague Anna said, the wait for the wide angle was worth it. Now the iPhone has a complete, versatile batch of cameras , with very good results and a video experience above all its rivals. However, the last name Pro required more than just a wide angle, perhaps a professional mode implemented on the camera, but it was not.
It seems that everything we have said so far is good and that the answer to the question “Do I buy it?” It could not be other than a resounding “Head, yes”, but no. The iPhone 11 Pro is the best Apple iPhone to date, but we must take into account the priorities of each and what we look for in a mobile. I explain.iOS 13 and the ecosystem of Apple products are two of the elements that weigh the most when deciding whether or not to opt for the iPhone 11 Pro
There are mobiles with a better screen, a better camera (rather than a video camera), with better autonomy and a software experience with many more functions. The iPhone 11 Pro simply lives up to all of them, but it doesn’t take gold. It is the most complete Apple experience so far and opting for it or another device will depend on two things: how integrated the Apple ecosystem is in your life and how much or little you value what is offered in iOS 13 . If you are looking for a mobile phone with a 90 Hz screen, for example, there are other better options than the iPhone.
Is the iPhone 11 Pro Rs. 1,06,600.00 worth (which is not the same as “it costs”) ? For me, and after trying it for so long, yes, although anyway, at least 128 GB of base storage would have been appreciated, especially for those who flee the cloud. For that price you take a smartphone that is enjoyed and that does not give problems of any kind , but my recommendation is to put the priorities in order and decide if iOS 13 and the Apple ecosystem weigh more than other sections.
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