"Music"
Hey guys It’s Sagar from Tecworkz, and here
is my camera review of the iPhone XR.
I got this phone on the launch day, but I
have been travelling ever since, So I did
not get a chance to shoot and upload its unboxing
video for you guys.
I took this phone on a road trip with some
of my friends.
So I got a chance to take a lot of image and
video samples with it.
I wish the Pixel 3 and OnePlus 6T were also
available when I was on this trip.
It would have given me some really good images
for a comparison video.
Anyways, Before we get to the image and video
samples from the XR, let us first get its
specifications out of the way.
iPhone XR essentially packs in the exact same
12 megapixel primary camera, with F/1.8 aperture,
26mm wide lens, larger individual pixel size
of 1.4 micron, Optical Image Stabilisation,
and twice the number of autofocus pixels as
we saw on the iPhone XS Max.
It doesn’t have a secondary telephoto lens,
but it can still take portrait images using
Apple’s new computational photography algorithms.
It packs in all the same software features
like Smart HDR, Depth control before and after
taking a portrait shot, portrait lighting
effects and so on.
You can shoot 4k videos at 24,30 and 60fps
and 1080p videos at 30,60,120 or 240fps.
Only things missing from the rear camera are
the ability to take portrait images of objects
or non human subjects, and 2 extra portrait
lighting effects that are available on the
rear camera of the iPhone X, XS and XS Max.
At the front, we have the exact same 7 megapixel
true Depth camera sensor like on the XS and
XS Max, with F/2.2 aperture, Smart HDR feature,
and ability to shoot 1080p 60fps videos.
With specifications out of the way, let us
now check out the image and video samples
from the iPhone XR.
But before that, make sure to hit the subscribe
button, so you don’t miss out on any of
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All of these images are shot in the auto mode,
with Smart HDR turned on.
Thanks to the new larger sensor, there are
a lot of details in these images.
Everything in these shots look crisp and sharp,
as you would expect from a camera on a flagship
smartphone.
I personally feel that these images should
have a bit more contrast, as some of the images
might look too flat at times.
Colours also look good but they are a bit
warmer and slightly saturated, compared to
the actual scene.
Despite of this, the overall images are good
and very pleasing to look at.
There is no secondary telephoto lens, so you
cant take 2x optically zoomed images.
But you can still take 2x digitally zoomed
images with this single lens.
In fact, you have the option to digitally
zoom in by 5x.
These images are not as detailed and clear
as the images from the telephoto lens of the
XS and XS Max, but in bright daylight, most
of these digitally zoomed images look good
enough.
Now on this years iPhone lineup, Smart HDR
is one of the best addition.
It offers an amazing dynamic range, in any
lighting situation.
Without this feature, the coconut trees in
this image would have been completely black,
and due to the bright sun in the background,
the sky would have also be completely blown
out.
These are 2 images with and without smart
HDR turned on.
Look at how much details and colours the Smart
HDR mode brought back from the shadows in
the trees.
And here is another great shot.
Without the Smart HDR turned on, camera would
have exposed just for the Sea (which is the
brighter part of this image), or for the shade
in the foreground.
But thanks to the Smart HDR mode, everything
is properly exposed, and the colours are also
looking really good.
Here is a quick test to check the focusing
speed of this camera.
It is quick at switching the focus from far
to near objects and then back again.
And as you can see, it is equally good at
handling the quick change in the exposure
of the scene.
I take a lot of close up and macro shots,
so quick and accurate focusing plays a big
part in taking images like these.
Thanks to wide F/1.8 aperture and bigger sensor,
background in all the closeup shots is blurred
out very nicely, leaving the subject in perfect
sharp focus.
Coming to the portrait shots.
XR uses the single wide lens to gather all
the depth information it needs for these portrait
shot.
It is really good at detecting the edges and
separating the subject from the background.
And while its not perfect, it still does a
good job keeping the hair, ears and glasses
in focus, most of the times.
I like the compressed background in the portrait
shots from the iPhone XS and XS Max, but I
hate the fact that you have to keep a considerable
distance between you and your subject, while
taking these portrait shots on those phones.
Since the XR uses all the information from
the single wide camera, you can get pretty
close to your subject.
Another advantage of using the primary camera
for taking portrait shots is that, since this
cameras has a larger sensor and wider aperture
than the telephoto lens, you get better portrait
images in lower light.
I wish Apple allowed us to switch the normal
and telephoto lens, while taking portrait
images on the iPhone XS and XS Max.
There is however one downside with the portrait
mode on this phone.
It will only let you take portrait images
of humans.
For some reason, it needs to detect a Human
face in order to take a portrait mode image.
This is a huge disappointment for me, coz
I like to take portrait images of various
things or non human objects.
I did manage to trick the camera into taking
portrait images of statues and mannequins,
but it is pretty inconstant while doing so.
As a workaround, you can you Halide Camera
app to take portrait mode images of pets and
objects.
It’s a paid app, and they have found a way
to capture the depth information available
from the images of the iPhone XR.
Here are a couple of examples of the portrait
mode images of objects taken with this app.
If a 3rd party app can find a way to add this
functionality, I am sure Apple can do it with
their native camera app, and I hope we get
the ability to take portrait mode images of
pets and objects in one of the future software
updates.
As the light starts to go down, iPhone XR
still manages to capture detailed and good
looking images.
Since it is a flagship device, it doesn’t
struggle in lower light as some of the mid
range smartphones.
Thanks to a larger sensor, wider aperture
and optical image stabilisation, there are
a lot of detail and clarity in its low light
images.
Smart HDR is active in these situations as
well, and it makes sure that there are no
over exposed parts in the low light images
from this phone.
Optical image stabilisation negates the blurry
and shaky images, even if the shutter is open
for slightly longer time to let in more light.
You can use the digital zoom in lower light
as well.
Even the iPhone XS and XS Max use the digitally
zoomed images from the primary sensor when
the light is low.
So you are not missing the secondary telephoto
lens in these situations.
You can use flash in very low lighting situations,
but just make sure to keep some distance between
you and the subject, else their skin tones
will be completely blown out.
The 7 megapixel front facing camera also delivers
great looking selfies.
Beauty gate issue if you want to call it that,
has been fixed with the iOS 12.1 update, and
the selfies are crisp and sharp.
The frame is pretty cropped in, so getting
your friends in one shot is a bit tricky.
This camera also shows the same amazing dynamic
range, thanks to the Smart HDR mode.
This image was taken at sunset, with sun just
outside the frame.
Even then my face is perfectly lit, and the
background is not over exposed.
You can take portrait images with the true
depth selfie camera, and the results are just
as good as the iPhone XS and XS Max.
It is much better at detecting the edges and
separating the background compared to the
iPhone X.
It even does a great job around transparent
and tinted glasses, which is one of the areas
where the iPhone X struggled a lot late year.
You can take usable good looking portrait
selfies even in lower light.
These low light portrait selfies, or portrait
selfies in general are not as good as the
ones from the Pixel 3, but let’s leave that
argument for another video.
Here is a video sample from the front facing
camera of the iPhone XR.
This is the same 7 megapixel True Depth camera
that we saw on the iPhone XS and XS Max.
And you can see how this phone handles the
overall exposure of the background, and overall
colours of the scene.
Coming to the video footage, Just like the
iPhone XS and XS Max, the iPhone XR is one
of the best in its class.
It can shoot 4k 30fps videos with an amazing
dynamic range.
Stabilisation is really good, thanks to optical
image stabilisation combined with Apple’s
cinematic stabilisation.
You can also shoot 4k 60fps videos, which
you can playback as they are, or even slow
them down to have a nice cinematic video sequence.
I have shot these video clips in various lighting
situations, and it should give you a fairly
good idea of the video performance of this
phone.
For slow motion, you have the option to shoot
at 120 or 240fps in 1080p resolution.
And you get to choose the parts of the video
that you want to slow down, later on.
Single camera on the iPhone XR is the same,
and just as good as the primary camera on
the iPhone XS and XS Max.
It does not have the secondary telephoto lens,
and it might not be able to take portrait
images of pets and objects, via the native
camera app.
But it is still better than the 2 higher priced
phones when it comes to taking portrait images
in less than ideal lighting conditions.
To be honest, if you know what you are doing,
it is difficult to take a bad image with this
iPhone XR.
Even without the secondary lens, I would rate
this camera to be just as impressive as the
dual cameras on the iPhone XS and XS Max.
If you are using an iPhone 7 or any phone
from before that, and you are looking to upgrade,
iPhone XR will give you a much needed bump
in the camera performance.
So after looking at over 70 image and video
samples, what do you guys think about the
cameras on this new iPhone XR.
Let me know in the comments section.
By the way, if you don’t agree with my analysis
or my views about these image and video samples,
you can always go back, mute the video, watch
it in the highest resolution that your device
supports, and draw your own conclusions that
way.
That is it for this video guys.
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You can also check out some of the other videos
from the channel.
This has been Sagar, and i’ll catch you
guys in the next video.
Take care.
