Until very recently, the rule of the thumb was that the big flagships of smartphone makers used to gather all the premium features while the lower price bracket devices got through with less and older features. As much as this rule still implies due to the market forces of supply, demand, cost and profit, it has changed radically over the last couple of years.
Newly-founded companies with Chinese headquarters saw the opportunity to manufacture smartphones that came surprisingly close to what we know as the premium tier, but at way lower prices. And boy oh boy did those companies take the chance. OnePlus is probably the biggest and most accurate example to support the above statement.
Inevitably, the existing premium companies had to come up with a strategy to prevent their rivals from snatching a piece of their pie. Samsung, for instance, started bolstering its low-end devices, marketing its J series and adding more and more of its features from their premium segment. LG lowered tis prices and focused on accessories innovations and ecosystem support. And then we’ve got Apple, which was the last frontier to fall. The Cupertino giant seemed impenetrable thanks to its loyal fanbase. Its latest iPhone XR however, gives away the new strategy that aims at getting back, a big portion of their customers who left the company due to its high pricing strategy.
What’s more, is that the XR is actually a great choice for anyone who’s looking to buy a smartphone without having to pay a fortune. Even more interestingly, it’s considered by many people a better choice to opt for, instead of its XS and XS Max counterparts. Why is that, you ask? Here are 6 reasons why should prefer the iPhone XR over the iPhone XS.
The price
That’s quite obvious, so let’s get it through quickly. The 6.1inch XR model is several hundred dollars cheaper than the XS and the XS Max. It goes without saying that you lose a few benefits when you
cut the price, such as the OLED screen and the dual camera, but you still have all the major upgrades
such as the new bionic chip. In addition, according to Apple’s statements, the iPhone XR is a far
better option that the company’s last budget-friendly alternative, the iPhone SE and it’s also pretty
close to the iPhone 8 Plus, especially in terms of size.
It has Face ID
Unfortunately, that notch at the top of the screen that spawned a public outcry last year, when it
was first presented on the iPhone X, is also found on this year’s XR model. But that also means one
other thing. It means that Apple decided to give to the customers who opt for this one, the Face ID.
That’s the facial recognition feature which made its debut last year, on a device that costed $1,000
when it first came out! And you’ll be getting that feature on a much more affordable device this
year. If that’s not a competitive advantage then I don’t know what is!
Camera with Bokeh Effect Portraits
The iPhone 7 Plus gave birth to the bokeh effect era, that feature where the lens of the camera focus
on one object on the picture while the rest – mostly the background – are blurred. In the world of
selfies and Instagram, where photos are part of our daily routines, the bokeh effect is definitely one
of the most favourite features that the average iPhone user had at their disposal.
Unfortunately, not everyone had that feature due to the high prices on the previous model. And
while you may rush to state that numerous apps and other phones offer the same effect, you can’t
deny the fact that Apple is the best at it. We don’t know why and we don’t know how. But it’s
true.This year things are changing since the bokeh effect is also available on the iPhone XR, despite it
not having a dual camera.
A12 Bionic Chip
The A11 Bionic chip that was found on the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X was truly a pretty damn good one.
According to many benchmarks, it was even better that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845, the rival chip
you can find under the hood of a Galaxy S9, a Note 9, or even a OnePlus 6.
With this year’s new A12 Bionic chip, which has been built based on a 7 nanometers architecture,
more benchmarks will tout it as the undisputed winner among smartphone processor chips. Just to
give you an idea of how powerful this CPU is, Apple said that it has managed to get the chip working
on machine learning activities in real time, while ensuring that the end user will not experience any
losses in speed and performance. Now, to have that on a smartphone that the average user can
afford, is quite possibly the main reason out our top-six list.
Nearly identical full-screen displays
Maybe the iPhone XR doesn’t have as thin and delicate edges as the XS. But still, if the iPhone X
looked bezel-less to you, then the XR will absolutely fit your taste. After all, if the only thing you have
to give away for a better price is the screen, isn’t that a trade worth making?
Many available colors
Apple must think that the more money you spend on a phone, the duller your handset should look.
There’s no other way to explain the company’s decision to add more colors to a series that will cost
less. It’s either that, or Apple wants to appeal to the medium-end segment more than we all
thought.
The iPhone XR will come in six different colors including the red version that we’ve seen before in
other models. If you want to stick with the regular look, that’s totally up to you. But the mere fact
that there are more colors to choose from poses as an extra reason to opt for the XR over the more
expensive and less colourful XS.
Buying a new smartphone is not an easy drill. Especially when you have a plethora of alternatives to
choose from. Hopefully, this list of six reasons will help you make a more informed decision. Can you
think of any other reasons that we’ve left out? Make sure to let us know in the comments below!
