The iPhone 11 was a pleasant surprise, offering more sophisticated hardware particularly in terms of camera capability and processing power at a lower price than the iPhone XR in 2018. It has a wide 6.1-inch touchscreen and a premium-feeling body, and it's available in a variety of colours.

The iPhone 11 isn't Apple's newest smartphone; that honour goes to the iPhone 12, which was released alongside the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

In terms of style, they're really similar smartphones, but they have better camera sensors, a newer chipset, and smooth, not bent, corners. In some cases, they're big updates, but the iPhone 11 is already on sale and worth considering.

The iPhone 11's imaging capabilities are the most eye-catching feature: with two sensors on the back, you can now take wider-angle snaps alongside the 'natural' key photographs. These sensors are each 12MP and are lifted from the back of the phone in a square glass enclosure that we don't care about.

The iPhone 11's image quality is most notable in the night mode, which brings light and transparency to otherwise impossible-to-see scenes, and the Portrait mode, which defocuses the landscape, has also been improved.

Now that the iPhone 12 line is open, the handset has lost some of its lustrous. However, since it isn't the newest iPhone on the block, the iPhone 11 is expected to get substantial discounts.

The style hasn't changed much since the iPhone XR in 2018, but there are now six colours to choose from, including a new lilac and mint green hue. The iPhone 11's sides have the same feel as the older iPhone 6, 7, and 8, despite the bigger 6.1-inch touchscreen in the middle taking up the majority of the phone's front although with slightly thick borders around the screen.

While not in the same league as the OLED-toting iPhone 11 Pro range, let alone the iPhone 12 series, the display is bright enough and responds well under the eye, with decent bright sunlight output and overall movie and video streaming playback.

Apple reports that the iPhone 11 has an hour longer battery life than the amazing iPhone XR, which we found to be true in our reviews. We were able to get 24 hours of use out of it without having to push it - but there is no quick charging in the kit, so if the battery pack runs out, you'll have to wait about three hours for it to be fully charged.

The iPhone 11's overall pace and performance are impressive, particularly given its low price. According to our early benchmarks, it's still one of the most powerful phones accessible.

In practice, this leads to a smooth experience when switching between applications, but we did notice that the camera was a little sluggish to start up, and processing pictures took longer than usual for a modern phone.

However, provided that a smartphone can edit 4K video at 60 frames per second, it appears to be a fairly powerful gadget to have in your pocket - particularly if you're a social influencer.

Overall, the iPhone 11 is a success for Apple, if only for the fact that it has continued to drop the price year after year. We believe that the hard-working camera and the security that comes with purchasing a new smartphone would be enough to persuade enough people. 

You should be able to get years of use out of this handset, and while you might go for the iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max, or even one of the iPhone 12 versions, if you want more power and spec, we found the iPhone 11 to be fun to use and always outperformed what we might expect given the price - which is a feat you wouldn't expect from Apple.

Price and release date for the iPhone 11

The iPhone 11 was released on September 20, 2019 all over the world, and it's only available for purchase in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It's available directly from Apple as well as a number of other stores.

The iPhone 11 costs $599 / £599 / AU$999 at the moment (for which you get 64GB of storage). That's a lot less than the previous price of $699 / £729 / AU$1,199.

There are a variety of storage models to choose from, with the 64GB model joined by a 128GB ($649, £649, AU$1,079) and a 256GB ($749, £749, AU$1,249) model if you're willing to pay more money for more space.

Any stores, distributors, and networks would most likely sell the handset at a lower price. That's especially true now that the handset has been out for a while and has been replaced by the iPhone 12. We've compiled a list of the best iPhone 11 offers available right now.

Battery

We don't usually do this, but we're going to start with the fact that the iPhone 11 camera is easily the handset's standout feature. Apple has doubled the number of lenses available in this category: while the iPhone XR has a single, porthole-like sensor on the back, the iPhone XR 2019 has a whole window on the back with two 12MP sensors.

For the iPhone 11 series, Apple is obviously aiming for an iconic and uniform look, with the Pro and Pro Max each sporting the same square lens bump on the back.

It takes some getting used to, almost to the point of being obtrusive visually, with your fingers playing around it even more while you're holding the iPhone in the landscape, but thanks to being ‘layered' up from the back – the glass housing around the lenses is raised a small amount from the rear glass, and the sensors themselves a little more.

It's a wide-angle setup, which means you have the standard camera on any phone plus an ultra-wide-angle lens that fills the frame with more of the scene you're filming.

It's a simple setup: a button at the bottom of the camera interface allows you to switch between focal lengths, and you can keep it down to unlock a scroll wheel that allows you to zoom in and out more smoothly.

When switching between the two cameras, there's a small judder, and if you look closely, you can see a gap in the light intensity of the two sensors in the preview.

Since the total quality is very different when zoomed out - you'll get a much darker shot - we'd recommend only using the further-out sensor in a solid, bright scene and depending on night mode the rest of the time.

Fixing the too-narrow images while you should be using the ultra-wide lens is meant to be easy.

We saw in a tutorial how the iPhone 11 could take a shot with the regular lens, but we couldn't figure out how to access the broader shot that's meant to be taken at the same time, allowing you to adjust the composition after the fact.

We used all of the appropriate settings, but most people would find it difficult to make the image big after it has been taken.

On a related note, iOS 13 has a long-awaited feature: the ability to adjust the aspect ratio when snapping. You can choose between a square 16:9 image and a regular 4:3 image. However, regardless of the aspect ratio, the phone displays a 4:3 screen.

Let's have a look at one that does fit well in low-light situations. Apple's iPhone cameras have never been very good at night, but with its upgraded AI capabilities, the iPhone 11 is capable of producing some stunning images.

There's a setting that allows you to make what would usually be a poorly-lit picture look as plain as... okay, not quite as clear as day, but beautifully bright if you're in a sort-of-dark scenario or focusing a tripod-mounted phone at the night sky.

The iPhone 11 does this by asking you to keep the screen still for 2-5 seconds so that the shutter will remain open longer; the phone then takes several images at various exposures and sharpness speeds and merges the data to create the best shot possible.

The capturing time can be increased to up to 30 seconds if the phone is tightly braced or fixed – this is only really important if you're going to be taking images of the night sky, and we found very little difference between the brightness between photos taken over 5 seconds and photos were taken over 30 seconds for general night shots.

The findings are astounding, putting Apple on par with Huawei, Samsung, and Google when it comes to low-light and night photography, and allowing it to outperform its competitors in several respects. Night mode will render pictures taken at 1 a.m. appear to be taken in the late afternoon, and if you can keep your subjects still, you'll get some nice shots.

Start photographing a scene of motion, such as people performing at a concert, and you'll be in for a world of a blur. You'll have to manually toggle off night mode, which is inconvenient while you're trying to get a fast shot.

Speaking of speed, iOS 13 has a new feature that allows you to take a short snap, Instagram-style, instead of burst mode images by pressing and holding the shutter button, you can still do this by sliding your finger left; if you slide right instead recording will be locked, allowing you to take your finger off the shutter button to adjust exposure and zoom.

This is a useful feature that would cater to those who wish to easily post video clips on social media. While the video doesn't have the same low-light capability as still photography (more on that later), it's seamless and defaults to the settings you've already selected, so you can be shooting high-end 4K footage in seconds.

When we fired up the shutter, the iPhone 11 would sometimes display a black screen, requiring us to switch to another mode (like video or slow-mo) to jolt the viewfinder into displaying something. We'll keep an eye on this because it's likely to be patched in the near future with an upgrade, but it seems to be a bug when launching the camera app.

Deep fusion of iPhone 11 back camera

Deep Fusion is a feature that Apple emphasized at the iPhone launch case, and it may be the feature that propels the iPhone to the top of our list of best camera phones, or at the very least makes it very close.

This feature will take nine images before you click the shutter button to take a shot, analyze the details in each, and then determine how to light and maximize the snap when you do take it on a pixel-by-pixel basis. On point, it was dubbed "wild science," and if it succeeds, we'll gladly agree with Apple's assessment.

We haven't had a chance to thoroughly test this functionality on the iPhone 11 since it was just released with iOS 13.2, so we intend to include a complete analysis of Deep Fusion once we've had a chance to do so.

Portrait Mode

With the inclusion of the second camera, Apple has significantly improved Portrait mode on the iPhone 11 over last year's iPhone XR – where software was used to assist the iPhone in determining which was foreground and which was background last year, the additional sensor provides more tactile detail to assist.

It's not ideal – when a scene is separated into foreground subject and background, it often blurs the object that should be in focus (especially with hair), but it can take some good photos.

High Key Mono, which joins the Stage Light and Stage Light Mono options in iOS 13, is a new addition to the Portrait mode effects. It looks arty and professional at times, but if the foreground image isn't taken perfectly, it looks a little bad.

Movie Recording

Apple is making a lot of noise about the iPhone 11's ability to record 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps), and for good reason: offering such a feature on a phone at this price would appeal to a lot of people.

Shooting at 60 frames per second adds fluidity to the clip, but some people do not like it because it doesn't look like the footage they're used to watching on TV.

Even compared to the iPhone XS from last year, we found a significant change in visibility and contrast, with more definition and clarity in the darkened regions.

The new iPhone 11 is a tool that anyone with any video-editing skills will be able to do a lot with; being able to adjust the filter effects, color balance, and other settings in the native Photos app before exporting to iMovie is also good. In this respect, it isn't just as sophisticated as other phones on the market, but it strikes a good balance between strength and usability, making it a worthy purchase if you're into fast video capture.

Slofies

There have been selfies, bothies, and groufies, and now Apple has brought a new word to the lexicon of irritating front-facing camera slang: ‘slofies.' Slow-motion video selfies are possible with this front-facing camera, and slow + selfie equals... yep, ‘slofie.' Even selfie was terrible enough, thanks to Apple.

However, if you're interested in those matters, the findings are satisfactory. The iPhone 11 can figure out where to start the slow-motion sequence for you, or you can tweak it in the editing software yourself.

Design

The iPhone 11 has a design that is very similar to the iPhone XR from 2018; in reality, if you put it face-down and cover the display, there is very little to indicate that it is a new handset.

You may be able to tell from the new colours on sale this year: mint green, lilac, and lighter yellow tones join the Product (RED), black, and white options. However, from the front, the iPhone 11 and XR appear to be similar.

Things look a bit different towards the back. We've also discussed the phone's unsightly camera hump on the rear, but the iPhone branding has now been pushed downwards, and the word "iPhone" is no longer visible.

This is something we wanted to go down, and it could signal a point in the next couple of years where the model number or branding disappears entirely – the iPhone 12 could very well be the latest iPhone like Apple has done with the iPad.

If you're debating whether to get the iPhone 11 or the latest iPhone 11 Pro after reading this article, you should know that the cheaper model is slightly heavier - just 0.2mm thicker, but noticeable if you carry them.

But that thickness doesn't stop it from looking premium; the glass and aluminium combination may feel a little dated after so many years of use by Apple, but considering the iPhone 11's price, it feels well worth the money.

The old Lightning connector is still present on the phone's rim, but we have a feeling it will be replaced by a USB-C port in the near future, as it makes for quicker charging.

Display

Unlike the larger 11 Pro, the iPhone 11 has a 6.1-inch display that is called "Liquid Retina" because it uses LCD technology rather than OLED. That means you won't get the same level of colour saturation, as well as the deep blacks and bright whites have seen on handsets with more sophisticated screen technology.

Despite having a resolution of just 1792 x 828 pixels, Apple has engineered and tuned the screen to be transparent, light, and sharp.

While the resolution is smaller than the iPhone 11 Pro's 2436 x 1125, it doesn't seem like you're having a low-res screen here, thanks to the vibrant display and good colour reproduction.

The thicker border across the edges of the panel is less appealing; these days, many models, including those with lower price tags than the iPhone 11, have edge-to-edge screens with no notch at the end.

Apple strongly claims that this is also needed to house the front-facing camera and sophisticated FaceID sensor in order for consumers to gain access to their phones.

However, in everyday use, we considered the iPhone 11's screen to be transparent, light, and easy to see, even on bright days. According to Apple, it can produce up to 625 nits of light, which is more than enough for us in most situations - but it can be dazzling if you look at it at maximum brightness first thing in the morning.

In terms of cinematic prowess, there's no high dynamic range (HDR) replay here, so you'll have to settle for something called "Extended Dynamic Range," which isn't as capable as an OLED-equipped iPhone at playing back high-end films.

In contrast to the iPhone 11 Pro Max, for example, the screen is subtly washed out, highlighting the shortcomings of LCD technology in the Liquid Retina panel. It lacks the higher-spec phone's color depth and contrast ratio, but it's still perfectly serviceable for streaming Netflix or watching live sports, as we discovered in our tests.

Apple's iOS 13,14 and performance

As a part of the iPhone 11's launch with iOS 13, it comes with a number of useful features. We'll get to them later, but first, it's worth remembering that iOS 14 for the phone is now available. A new App Library and home screen widgets are among the main new items.

All of this expands on the features present in iOS 13, and the first thing we notice is that the OS now has more comprehensive, intelligent mini-notifications. That means the little feature that appears to remind you what's going on when you put the phone on silence or adjust the volume is more convenient and engaging.

It means that instead of a box covering the screen, pressing a single volume key pulls up a cool slider that you can manipulate with a finger. It may seem insignificant, but it will change the way you communicate with your phone on a daily basis.

FaceID has also received a much-needed upgrade: the camera's field of view has been greatly expanded, allowing you to access your phone by simply looking at it from your seat. Although you will still need to shift your face closer to the screen or raise it slightly, it's a significant improvement from what was introduced with the iPhone X two years earlier.

This functionality isn't the product of new hardware, and it'll be available on all iPhones released in the last few years; it's just a case of Apple making more use of data collected from existing sensors.

Swipe typing on the keyboard, new Memoji stickers, and control of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options from Control Center are a few other new features we enjoyed not exclusive to the iPhone 11, but still useful.

When you're struggling to do something one-handed, like holding groceries, the modern way of texting comes in handy. While writing a message, the Memoji stickers must be reached from the side of the keyboard (they're not visible when you first open the messaging app), and they have something more personal: a picture of your own face to punctuate your clever prose with friends.

The ability to switch Wi-Fi networks from inside the Control Center is very helpful, as it eliminates the need to open the Settings menu.

So, now that we've covered iOS 13, how about the iPhone 11? According to speculative reports, the new phone will be equipped with Apple's new A13 Bionic processor and 4GB of RAM.

That's a potent combination, and our Geekbench tests yielded a score of 3186, a significant increase over last year. This strength is seen in the user interface, with everything responding as quickly as you'd expect.

However, that's stating the obvious – smartphones have been strong enough to react instantly to your every whim for years, and the distinctions between the merely decent handsets and the very best are found in the nuances. Pascal's Wager, the trial game we played on the iPhone 11, looked amazing, with all kinds of shadows and reflections dancing across the screen, and it worked smoothly.

Saving images or video to the camera roll took a second or two on the iPhone 11, but that's to be expected when processing massive volumes of data (especially in Night mode or 4K video), so that's to be expected; however, some people may expect output to be immediate all of the time.

During our tests, we found no major issues with the iPhone 11 – it's a smart and quick phone that outperforms similarly priced phones while still offering a more mature app catalogue to enhance your experience.

One exception we'd like to point out is that, like the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11 lacks 3D Touch, so pressing harder on the button won't bring up any new menus or features. Instead, new menus or demos of items like web sites or Live Photos require a long press and wait.

That's cool, and the implementation works well after you've become used to the 'rhythm' of having to pause – but it does mean that if you press down on icons on the home screen, you'll have to select to rearrange applications or wiggle your finger on the screen slightly, rather than it just happening. automatically.

Battery life

One of the iPhone XR's best features was that it was probably one of, if not the longest-lasting iPhones we'd ever seen.

Because of the unexpected results, we were worried that our testing process had gone wrong in some way, but it was valid – and the iPhone 11 continues in that vein. In terms of endurance, we considered it to be on par with the XR, comfortably lasting the duration of a working day in our tests.

We discovered that it lasted 27 hours on a low-use day – we took the phone off charge at 8.20 a.m., and it actually died at 11 a.m. the next day when we used it as a wireless hotspot. And with an hour of video streaming, some audio replay, and about 45 minutes of photography mixed in, this was already a lot of time.

It died shortly after 10 p.m. after more intensive usage, which included a lot of smartphone downloads and Bluetooth music playback, as well as updating email often during the day. The iPhone 11 battery life wasn't as impressive as the iPhone XR's, but we've grown used to the fact that an Apple phone doesn't have to have infuriatingly low battery life. 

That's not to suggest it's the best phone on the market; if you're looking for a phone with the best battery life, look to the Android stable, where there are a number of options. If you want to stick with Apple, the iPhone 11 has a good battery life, particularly considering the price.

The iPhone 11 doesn't come with a fast charger, which is obviously a cost-cutting measure given that the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max both come with an 18W charger, which charges the iPhone 11 even faster than the regular USB plug it comes with.

We checked the slow charger in the package and a fast-charging unit separately to give you an indication of the differences in charging speeds.

Using the normal, slower charger included in the iPhone 11 pack, it received 10% after 20 minutes and pretty much kept up the “1% every two minutes” pace before fully charged.

Using a quick charger, the iPhone 11 gained a staggering 35% charge in 24 minutes, and by 12:03 it had reached 75%, at which point we had to delete it to take it on the go. It's fantastic to have a mostly full battery in under an hour, and we suggest getting a quick charger when you buy the phone.

Also, whilst we're on the subject of recommendations, keep in mind that the iPhone 11 allows wireless charging, so having a wireless charging pad for home and work would ensure you never have to worry about running out of juice again - it's a worthwhile investment, even though the charging is slower.