This is my first iPhone – Apple iPhone 11
Pro. Released in 2019, acquired in 2023, about 4 years later. I never imagined
I would use one, honestly. The experience is a mixed bag of pleasant and
unpleasant impressions. It was given as a gift and I have to use it as an
appreciation. 😀 But, I did my best to have an open mind while reviewing this
smartphone.
The day I received it, I have to decide
whether to use it as a personal phone or a work phone. Eventually, I decided to
use it as a work phone, because (1) its longer security update is ideal for
work, and (2) shifting to a walled city for personal life is not a good idea.
If you read my previous blog, you have an idea how it fares currently as a work
phone. So, I stayed on Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact for my personal mobile tasks.
But, replacing Sony Xperia 1 II as a work phone with iPhone 11 Pro.
Previous Blog - My Work Phone through the Years (and the unintended switch to iOS)
Task 1 – Music Play
The music app prioritizes online streaming
based on how the user interface was designed. However, local audio files are
managed well. Upon exploring on options for data transfer from my PC, I came
across an application called 3utools that can easily transfer my tracks to
iPhone. That is, aside from iTunes. 3utools has a good number of utilities as
well, making it easier for me to manage files on iPhone. It is the easiest way
to enjoy my audio library I ripped from my CDs. The same library is on my
microSD, but iPhones do not have a slot for it. Thus, you have to settle for
the built-in storage.
As for audio outputs, there is no 3.5mm
audio port on iPhones since iPhone 7, making my experience on it less ideal.
Somehow, wireless audio is good and I am not going to invest on earpods – the
earphone that has lightning connector. I guess, I would expect another gift! 😁 Loudspeakers also make up for the lack of the precious port.
General audio quality is good. Loudspeaker
included, despite having a down-firing and earpiece combination of stereo
speaker set-up. Being similar to Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition and LG V50s ThinQ,
output on the earpiece is not as loud as the down-firing speaker. However, I
find it to have a bit better quality than those two, especially when it comes
to bass. This is not to say that the other two are underwhelming – I can enjoy
music playback via loudspeaker on any of these phones. For loudness, it wins
against my previous work phone, Sony Xperia 1 II. But, for general quality,
especially with the Dolby Atmos turned on, Xperia 1 II is definitely better, in
my experience.
Task 2 – Web Browsing
There is no much issue on web browsing. I
find Safari browser simple and easy to use like most browsers. There were just
weird responses I get when zooming out and zooming in – maybe it is part of the
animation – it scrolls on its own every time I change the zoom level. Scrolling
is a bit tricky, too. It does not allow me to scroll and move freely. If I
initially scroll vertically, it will not allow me to change to horizontal
scrolling without lifting my finger. There is no diagonal scrolling here. On
Chrome and Firefox browsers (I am using on Android and Windows devices) I can
scroll and move around without lifting my finger – like I would do if I am
moving a literal paper. Talking about paper, apple seemed to optimize how web
pages appear as it looks like an actual paper, especially when True Tone is
turned on. Maybe it has something to do with their “retina” technology as well.
Its color rendition and pixel density appeared perfect for web browsing, but
not really on pixel peeping on photos. More on that later. Lastly, the star of
the show – wide notch. It is not as intrusive as the pill-shaped punched hole
on Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition which I recently reviewed, nor the dynamic island punched hole on iPhone 15 series and iPhone 14 Pro line-ups.. But it is worse than LG G8 and LG V50s. Worse than that is, iPhone does not provide an option to hide
the notch. All of these issues I mentioned, though, may not be an issue for
most people since only few have uninterrupted display. It is still my concern
since I am shifting from one – Sony Xperia 1 II.
Task 3 – Subway Surfer
I heard that iPhones are good on gaming,
but I am not a gamer enough to prove or refute the claim. iPhone 11 Pro, being
a flagship in 2019, gives smooth and enjoyable gaming. There are some hiccups
on Subway Surfer, like the animation on distance covered and coins selected.
But it is still responsive like it does on its android version.
Task 4 – Photo Shoots
The camera UI of the stock camera app is
just as simple as it gets. It is what iPhone cameras are known for. You get
most of the settings on the screen, except for some that requires you to open
the general settings app. It is also a matter of swipe on the left and right to
get to other camera modes – other than photo mode, it also has time-lapse, slo-mo,
video, portrait and pano modes. Though, I do not get the manual mode I used to
get on android phones.
The quality I get is excellent. There are
some instances where I get oversharpened, but not as bad as some other phones.
Denoising is just right. At first, photos I get tend to be bland and quite
leaning to green colors. However, when I transferred it on PC, colors are
similar to what I get on my Sony Xperia 1 II – meaning, it is true to life, not
as oversaturated as some smartphones today. HDR is also not that aggressive,
except for how it applies on the blue sky – it certainly underexposes the sky
beyond my preference.
As for lowlight, resulting photos are quite impressive. Though only the main lens (wide) supports lowlight photography. I am still able to use ultrawide lens, but it does not have lowlight capability and will just provide a dark photo. At first, I thought nightmode is available for telephoto lens. Apparently, it just crops the shot from the wide lens – the same approach I get from LG and Honor, maybe most smartphones with telephoto lens. This is different on my Sony Xperia 1 II – if I want to use the telephoto, it lets me use it. Likewise, when the phone detects that I get too close to my subject, thinking that I am shooting a macro, it automatically shift to ultrawide lens – again, something similar to most smartphones except xperia.
Task 5 – Video Recording
One thing I like about video recording is,
I can use the three focal lengths on the same clip and that shifting among
these lenses are seamless. I do not get such capability on Sony Xperia 1 II,
but newer Xperia 1 series are able to do that. The phone is able to record from
720p at 30fps to 4k at 30fps (4k at 60fps for high efficiency video format). I
also like how stable the resulting videos are.
Task 6 – Video Playback
Video playback is a good experience as
well. Unless, you get into a video aspect ratio that extends to the notch – the
21:9 aspect ratio. So, it is no big deal on contents with 4:3 and 16:9 aspect
ratios. The latter still being widely used on YouTube and other sources. I get
good visuals and audio on media consumption, which is great.
Battery
Test Results
I made a special record for iPhone 11 Pro
for its charging test and discharging or usage test. But, to conform to previous
testing, here is the battery score card of iPhone 11 Pro (on iOS15.x). From 0%,
it fully charged for 2 hours and 33 minutes. This is a bit faster than Sony Xperia XZ Premium with its 2:56-hour charging and other 13 out of 25 phones I
tested in 2021. But, it is slower than Sony Xperia Z5 Premium with its
2:25-hour charging and 10 more phones. So, if I try to rank this phone with the
rest of phones I tested in 2021, including Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition that I
tested in 2022, iPhone 11 Pro will settle at number 13. As for battery life, it
lasted for a day, 5 hours and 44 minutes, where screen on time is at 7 hours
and 44 minutes. It means, a daily charging is needed for such usage without
this phone being drained. If I am going to rank its battery life with the rest,
it would end up at number 10 (9 phones are better). But, it is impressive how
it lasts almost the same as Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition which I tested last year,
2022. That phone had 7 hours and 47 minutes of screen on time (7:44-hour
battery life for iPhone 11 Pro).
I also made a breakdown of its charging. I
made this test, because the first time I attempted the testing, the phone has
weird charging. It even charges longer on some period and after 4 hours, it
stayed at 90%. So, I discharged the phone, tried again and got this result.
I used the 20w charging brick from apple.
But, I am sure that iPhone 11 Pro does not support a full 20-watt charging. I
got the fastest rate in the first half – 1.70% every minute for 30 minutes. I
got the lowest when the percentage is between 87% and 88%, which I did not
expect since I usually experience such lower rate after 90% on android, and
that ambient temperature is quite low at 20C. Consider this – getting 1% of
battery charge in 27 minutes. It could be because of the 90% battery health of
my phone or the system is still adjusting since I reset the phone prior to
battery charge test. After this test, I cannot confirm or refute such
inconsistency, since I do intermittent charging. And I seldom go over 80% when
charging.
I also recorded a breakdown of battery
consumption of the 6 tasks. From the record, photo shoot consumes the most,
with a total of 21%. Next are web browsing and music playback, with 15% and 13%
of consumption, respectively. I wondered how video recording is not even on top
3 despite of some 4k video recording I did. Likewise, I thought video playback
will consume more battery than music playback (though I did the music playback
with the display turned on like on the other 5 tasks, to qualify the entire
time for a screen-on-time measurement). I guess, the battery consumption is not
that accurate, unless there is a reason for photo shoot to consume more battery
than video recording, and music playback over video playback. Nevertheless,
battery life is generally acceptable, even quite impressive (again, to have
similar screen-on-time with Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition).
Conclusion
For a work phone, it is alright. I just
have some issues with it which I wrote on my previous blog. Battery charging is
fine, but my previous work phone is obviously better (1:55-hour charging vs 2:33-hour
charging). Battery life on Xperia 1 II is also better (1 day and 22:27 hours vs 1
day and 5:44 hours of battery life). Audio is generally better on 1 II,
especially connectivity with its 3.5mm audio port. But, excellent bass on 11
Pro is worth-mentioning. I am impartial on web browsing and casual gaming. Photo
shoot and video recording experiences are also quite better on Xperia 1 II –
that is, especially when I want to use specific lenses no matter what the
circumstance is. But, there are some strengths that iPhone 11 Pro has. It will
definitely be the best option for some folks. Add to that, good image quality,
not only on photos, but also of the display – except for cutouts. Stabilization
is admirable, too.
Despite having no prior experience on
iPhone and some inconveniences I have to face, I still enjoy using it. It just
works, they say. It does most of the time. iOS also have gone a long way to
cater users from the other side of the fence – outside the walled garden. And I
must admit, it feels like an android except for some limitations. When I
received this gift, and even after few weeks, I told myself that this will be
the first and the last iPhone I will ever have – well, except when I receive
another one as a gift, LOL! Yet, I am having second thoughts. But, definitely,
I will go back to android for my work phone. And, maybe, when the walled garden
starts to provide greener patches – the DNA of an android, then I will consider
getting one… and enjoy both sides of the fence.
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