The iPhone 11 Pro, along with its larger iPhone 11 Pro Max sibling, sit right on top of the iPhone foodchain - replacing last year's iPhone XS and XS Max models.
But as you might have noticed, Apple's flagship models now wear the "Pro" moniker, just like the iPad Pro. But having used the latest and greatest - iPhone 11 Pro Max for just over a week, there one thing that's pretty easy to conclude on and that's this: If you're looking for better value, you'd rather read our detailed review of the iPhone 11 (yeah, you're welcome).
But if you do have some cash to burn or just want the best iPhone there is, there seems to be two things you'd be paying the extra moolah: more cameras and longer battery life. Any of these factors can be why you choose an iPhone 11 Pro (INR 99,900 and higher) or iPhone 11 Pro Max (INR 1,09,900 and up) over the iPhone 11 (starts at INR 64,900). Even though you will notice a big gap in price there, the iPhone 11 Pro's are absolutely better than the iPhone 11, as well as the rest of Apple's phones that are still on sale. But are they a straight INR 35,000 or more better? That depends on how much value you place on the "Pro" level improvements.
Build and Design
The iPhone 11 Pro Max looks identical to last year's iPhone XS Max and follows the same design trend set with the iPhone X. Given how quickly designs change on Android phones, Apple three-year design update cycles does leave you feeling a little "meh" about it.
Unless you're coming from an iPhone XS Max or probably the iPhone 8 Plus, the other thing that you'll notice right away is just how heavy the 11 Pro Max is. It could be just me but because of how broad the phone is, the phone just feels a lot more clunier than say a Galaxy Note 10+.
However, dont confuse that as my way of labelling the iPhone 11 Pro Max as a bad-looking phone. It's still extremely well built and feels as premium as a INR 1 lakh phone should feel (okay, that's a bit of a stretch), but it certainly doesn't feel refreshing anymore.
The wide notch plays a huge role in making the front design look dated and that's pretty much an eyesore when compared to Android flagships. The notch is also of the same size as before and even though the 'Max' variant here offers a large-screen, the notch does come in the way.
Turn the phone over and that's where you'll notice the differences in design. The centrally placed Apple logo sits lower and there's no branding or any text or any kind elsewhere, which makes for a super-clean looking device. Another thing 'Pro' means is that your iPhone is less slippery and I really love this matte finish glass that rejects fingerprints and greasy fingers.
That said, the matte finish does make the phone feel a tad more slippery than the glossy, and that might mean you’ll probably need to add a case into your purchase mix anyway. A case will also helps smooth out the rather sharp camera bump, which holds the three rear lenses.
Of course, the elephant in the room with this year’s iPhone 11 Pro design is the eyeball grabbing camera module. The three new sensors sit inside a glossy square, paired with a flash and microphone. In pictures, these look pretty ugly and that's true in person as well. I have gotten used to it over time but I can't say that this weird design's grown on me. It hasn't.
What I did find interesting though is the fact that the entire back is milled from a single piece of glass and the actual camera sensors don’t protrude too much. It’ll still wobble if you try and type with it on a table, though.
The frame is also the same polished surgical-grade stainless steel band which can surely handle a few bumps and bruises.
The iPhone Pros also come in four colors — gold, gray, silver and a new midnight green shade which I really liked. The dark green and grey shades also help cover up the cameras, so if you absolutely hate the camera bump, you might want to have a look at these two shades.
The new 'Pro' models are also tougher and more water resistant
Apple says the glass used on these phones is the ‘toughest glass ever on a smartphone’ thanks to something that the company calls 'dual-ion exchange'. While that may be true, I certainly not going to intentionally drop a INR 1 lakh smartphone to test out those claims.
While the iPhone 11 Pro still remains IP68 rated for water resistance, Apple now says the phone can be submerged in 4m of water for 30 minutes. This isn't just an improvement from last year's iPhone XS, but rather the best water resistance claim in the smartphone world, at the moment.
Display: XDR, Short For Brilliant
Apple might have fancy new name for the display, but the 6.5-inch Samsung-made OLED display used on the iPhone 11 Pro Max is very much the same as the panel on the iPhone XS Max from last year. It's a sharp, vibrant, has great contrast level and is easily one of the nicest to look at. In my opinion, even better than the one on Samsung's very own Galaxy Note 10+.
The new ‘Super Retina XDR’ branding seems to only hint towards the increase in brightness, with the iPhone 11 Pro now capable, Apple says, of consistently hitting 800 nits when the phone is being used in direct sunlight. It should also be able to boost that further to 1200 nits when you’re playing back HDR-enabled content from Netflix or YouTube.
Testing either of these is difficult as there’s no manual way to constantly enable these super-bright modes, however putting the iPhone 11 Pro Max next to the Galaxy Note 10+, streaming an episode of Altered Carbon in Dolby Vision HDR does show the iPhone do a sightly better job with white balance even though the Note does get a little brighter.
You'll notice that extra boost in brightness when you're outdoors, too. The weather hasn't been very kind in Mumbai lately but even under direct sunlight, I barely had issues with reading text or viewing posts on Instagram.
One notable missing feature, that might really have truly earned that ‘Pro’ tag, is a faster refresh display. The ProMotion displays on the iPad Pro up the standard 60Hz to a maximum 120Hz, making everything you do seem a lot smoother. It's hard to explain just how much better a 90Hz or 120Hz screen is, but once you’ve seen it, it can be hard to go back. Having reviewed the OnePlus 7T just before this, I couldn't help but miss that here. Perhaps that's just another thing that Apple's saving for its 2020 iPhones.
SEE ALSO: OnePlus 7T Review: Smooth As Butter But There's Room For Improvement
Cameras: The Three Eyed Raven
The ugly camera module on the back may have a bit too much of look-at-me value then what you'd want but Apple has seriously improved on the camera front with the iPhone 11 Pro (and with the iPhone 11) in many ways. I'd go as far as to say that the overall improvement in performance is major enough to have the iPhone stand toe-to-toe with the best out there.
Personally, it’s my favourite smartphone camera thanks to reliable consistency in the quality of all three cameras. To top if off, the Night Mode, even though not manually accessible, does a very good job at getting the job done.
Even though the megapixel count hasn’t changed in years, the 11 Pro takes supremely detailed snaps with lovely colour reproduction across all three cameras. You zoom in and zoom out without noticing you’re changing lenses – something that normally trips up other triple-camera phones.
Apple's camera software, and third-party camera apps, are still ahead of Android flagships when it comes to responsiveness. Tapping the shutter button takes pictures instantly, and third-party apps like FiLMiC Pro keep the UI clean instead of throwing a truckload of buttons and modes for you to figure out.
Moving on to new things to look out for here, Night Mode’s a feature we’ve been wanting on iPhone for a number of years now, and finally we have it. The iPhone 11 Pro’s take on this mode is a little different, as it comes on automatically when the light is low and can’t be manually accessed. This can be slightly annoying, as in a few instances I would have preferred to be able to turn it on myself.
The mode works by shooting a number of short exposures and then combines them to produce a finished image which resembles the impression of a long exposure. The phone will decide for itself how many seconds to shoot for, but you can use a slider to take control of it as well. Apple says that attaching the phone to a tripod will see the mode jump to the maximum number of seconds but you can also improvise and rest your phone on a ledge or railing to increase the exposure time higher.
Overall, Night mode puts in an excellent performance which is just about on par with those we've seen on the Pixel 3 or the Huawei P30 Pro (although the shots look less dramatic).
On instances, I did find the results to be a little too sharpened side, taking away a slice off realism, but they look great anyway and I don’t think anyone will have a major gripe with it.
Portrait mode is also not new here, but there have been some improvements made under-the-hood with how it recognises non-human subjects. The obvious candidate for the treatment is pets and animals, but it should also give a little bit of a boost to still life subjects too (yeah, photos of food for Instagram Stories look brilliant). In practice the results are fairly impressive. You might notice the edge-detection looking straying off in bits every now and then if you zoom in closely, but otherwise, for social sharing, you’ll definitely love the natural-looking skin-tones and textures.
Other than the standard and Portrait mode, the iPhone 11 Pro native camera app retains the simplicity that Apple devices have become known for. While this means that enthusiasts may be left wanting when it comes to flexibility, it also means that using it is very straightforward, just how you’d want a pocket point-and-shoot to be.
The other super useful new feature of the iPhone 11 Pro is the use of the wide and super-wide cameras to help with composition when shooting with either the wide or telephoto lens. You can now see what’s happening outside of the frame, which is very useful for waiting for the opportune moment, deciding that a wider angle might be a better idea or reframing your composition altogether. Further to that, you can also elect to enable “Capture Outside the Frame” in the main menu. Here, two images will be simultaneously recorded, allowing you to adjust the composition and/or wonky horizons without losing resolutions. However, you’ll need to be happy with shooting in the less compatible HEIF format, rather than JPEG, while those simultaneous images will be deleted if not used within 30 days.
Video recording is excellent too, easily the best on any phone you can buy now. The stabilisation is spot on and so is the way the cameras react to sudden change in light. Apple’s also gone on and added 4K 60fps (with extended dynamic range mind you) recording on the front camera - making it a charm of a phone to have for vloggers.
If you happen to be shooting a subject with the light source on top, there is a considerable amount of lens flaring though and that’s something that you’ll have to be careful about.
Performance and Software
The iPhone 11 Pro is an absolute performance beast, with the new A13 Bionic chipset helping put it up there with the fastest phones we have reviewed. That should come as no surprise to anyone who is familiar with Apple’s silicone, as it has constantly been ahead of the competition from Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei.
Paired with the A13 is a completely new U1 chip. This is able to directly communicate with other iPhones packing the U1 to transfer files through AirDrop, without the need for a connection. There’s also, according to the Geekbench benchmarking app, 4GB inside. Apple never details its RAM specs and the amount has rarely affected how well an iPhone performs.
Simply claiming the iPhone 11 Pro feels ‘fast’ feels like its underplaying this chip. Yes, scrolling around is fast and smooth while apps open instantaneously. You can play all the new games with Apple’s new Arcade subscription service without ever so much as a dropped frame or judder. But, then again, that’s very much the case with iPhones going back a few years. If you’re moving from an iPhone X, an iPhone XS or even an iPhone 8 I doubt you’ll notice an immediate speed difference.
But Apple’s new silicon isn’t just about speed. The A13 Bionic enables a load of tricks too. 4K 60fps video recording from all the cameras, for instance, and the much improved Smart HDR that churns out such exceptional pictures. The A13 accounts for the snappier FaceID sensor that unlocks the phone too, and you can definitely see the phone recognising your face quicker than before.
I’m happy with Apple sticking with FaceID as I firmly believe it’s the most reliable unlocking solution out there. However, the idea of TouchID returning with an Apple-developed in-display fingerprint is certainly exciting for those times where FaceID feels inadequate - unlocking your phone on a table, for instance. Adding something like this might have done more to back-up the ‘Pro’ tag.
The updated A13 chipset should also ensure the iPhone 11 Pro stays fast over the next couple of years, something I can’t quite say about Android flagships. Pick up the two-year-old iPhone 8 and it still performs admirably and has access to the latest software – the same should be true of the 11 Pro in two years. This is of course very important these days as phones get more and more expensive and consumers generally upgrade less.
Like the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro has improved audio. The ‘Spatial’ audio supports formats Dolby 5.1 (if you’re watching from Netflix) with the purpose being to make noise seem like it’s coming from around the whole device, rather than just the speakers at either end. Audio quality is actually fantastic from both the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max and the effect seems to work as well as expected.
One big issue I have with these new Pro phones are the meagre amounts of base storage. If you’re touting your new flagship as a professional device then it needs to come with more than 64GB of storage. I would ask anyone spending upwards of a lakh on this phone to skip that option completely and jump straight to the 256GB size. It would be easy to fill up 64GB with a bit of 4K60fps shooting (this uses up roughly 400/450MB per minute), a number of games and a load of photos. 64GB is hardly ‘Pro’.
iOS 13 isn’t a huge overhaul of the iOS formula, however it does add a few new features that improve the experience. Dark Mode turns all the system apps an easier to read shade of black, and you can now swipe around the keyboard instead of tapping. Photos and Maps have both received healthy updates that seriously improve their functionality.
Battery: The One Thing You Won't Have To Worry About
Battery life, in my opinion is the biggest upgrade on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Using it as my daily driver, I started my day at 8 am with the phone at 100% juice and even after trying very hard, I could wear the battery down to about 25% by 11 pm. On most days, I had more than enough juice to keep using the phone until I got back to office to charge the phone.
How much you get out of it will depend on your usage. I played games, watched episodes of shows on Netflix, responded to messages and emails, streamed music, snapped pictures and played quite a lot of Call of Duty: Mobile before I hit the sack by 11 pm.
Battery life is a full day of whole-hearted, worry-free use, and easily a day-and-a-half, if not two, if you’re a light user.
Charging speed has also improved because Apple is finally packing an 18W fast charger in the box. It won’t blow the competition away like the Galaxy Note 10 Plus, but it’s significantly better than the three-and-a-half-hour charge time on last year’s iPhone with the included cable. It took a little less than an hour and a half to recharge the iPhone 11 Pro Max from 0 to 100 percent. Wireless charging is available if you want to top up the phone throughout the day with a wireless charging pad at work.
I would have really liked to see a USB-C port instead of Lightning. Apple has been adding USB-C to its other products, like MacBooks and, most recently, the iPad Pro, for some time. Considering the iPhone now has the 'Pro' tag, it would have been a ripe time to add the port as well. It would have made carrying charging cables a simple affair, as you’d just need one to charge up all your devices.
Price in India and Verdict
While the iPhone 11 Pro looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the changes Apple has made, do make it a much improved package.
The three cameras on the back are truly excellent and I might just go ahead can say that this is best on any smartphone at the moment - at least until the Google Pixel 4's launched. The video recording is super impressive, the speakers and the well-calibrated XDR display are all tremendous too.
Battery life on the larger 6.5-inch iPhone hasn't been particularly bad over the past couple of years but this time, you won't have to bother about it over the course of the day, regardless of how heavy your use is.
That said, there are certainly areas where I would have liked to see Apple do better, especially since their premium offering now has a ‘Pro’ moniker. Some sort of TouchID-enabled fingerprint sensor under the display and a higher refresh rate display are clear and definite misses. Reverse wireless charging is another miss, although that probably won't be a deal-breaking.
But the biggest problem at hand for the iPhone 11 Pro is actually the iPhone 11. Apple’s more affordable new iPhone has the same main camera, the same ultra wide camera and the same A13 Bionic chipset inside. It’s also a solid INR 45,000 cheaper and available in a much wider array of colours. The iPhone 11 Pro does indeed becomes a hard-sell when you consider just how good the iPhone 11 is, but then again, if value is what you're looking at you probably wouldn't be reading this.
Image Credits: Dhawal Bhanushali
