I Tried The New iPhone 11 Lineup

While last week's Apple keynote in Cupertino, CA, didn't exactly bring the smoke and mirrors of March's event (wherein Oprah and Tim Cook hugged before a standing ovation and I may have shed a tear), there are three new additions to the iPhone family not to be slept on. And together with iOS 13, iPhone's newest operating system coming out on Thursday, the new iPhones are pretty darn nice. I've been using the iPhone 11 and its more sophisticated cousins, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, for the last week, and here are my honest thoughts thus far.

The iPhone 11 Basics

My coworker, upon looking at my iPhone 11 the other day, said: "That is a sexy phone, Anabel." She was referring to its combination of purple hardware and Dark Mode screen (a feature of the forthcoming iOS 13). I have to agree with her. The iPhone 11's color options are, in my opinion, even better than those of the iPhone XR, and I have gotten many compliments on the lavender shade of my 11 so far. I've been using this clear case from Apple to protect it, since I want to display the color of the phone but am too afraid to fully go commando.

Apart from the new colors (green, yellow, black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED in addition to purple), the real star of the iPhone 11 is the much-improved camera system, which contains two rear cameras (in comparison to the XR's single rear camera) — but more on that later. Aside from all the new photo opps, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max are all made with the most durable glass yet, which means you can drop these bad boys and feel a little less nervous doing so. (I did this the other day with my iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max at the same time, narrowly missing the toilet, and braced myself after what were two very loud thuds only to find both screens unscathed.) They all also have the A13 Bionic chip, the fastest chip in a smartphone, Wi-fi 6, the fastest ever Wi-fi, and the new Super Retina XDR display. While the presence of these new features isn't as easily felt as, say, the new selfie camera, I can honestly say that these phones have felt a lot faster than my XR.

As far as battery life, the iPhone 11 can last up to an hour longer than the iPhone XR. It's also fitted with spatial audio, which makes watching TV on your phone a much more immersive experience than before, since the sound is literally 3D. (Though it's a bit annoying while watching Instagram Stories when I don't need such intense audio.) This feature also seriously enhances the mobile gaming experience of Apple Arcade.