Skip to content

iPhone 11 vs iPhone 7/8/X/XR/XS - Real world camera comparison

2019-10-01 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali · recording, 15:03 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Sponsor segment present, Family

Comparing photos from five years of iPhones, from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone 11 Pro, Ali finds the differences hard to see: he calls the iPhone 11 the sweet spot, the iPhone 8 a solid budget option and the 11 Pro worth it only for telephoto fans, and argues that photos are for memories, so nobody needs to upgrade just for the camera.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Why Apple wants us to upgrade every year, and the plan of the comparison

  • ★★ Ali says the iPhone is Apple's best-selling product line and the main reason it is the world's most valuable company, so Apple has every interest in encouraging people to upgrade their iPhones every year. — 00:00:00 · Apple, iPhone
  • ★ Ali says the reason Apple gave for upgrading to its 2019 iPhones was all about the cameras. — 00:00:29 · Apple
  • ★★ Ali says he is a big fan of overthinking tech purchases, to be more intentional about upgrading and to get the most happiness and value from the money he spends on new tech. — 00:00:29

00:01:27 — Three conclusions: the ultra wide is good, the iPhone 8 is a budget option, camera comparisons are overhyped

  • ★★★ Ali thinks the new ultra wide lens on the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro is actually pretty good. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ Ali calls comparing phone cameras pointless: people never compare their photos side by side, and for three to five years or more phone cameras have been so good that nobody wishes their photos were better. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Ali calls iPhone camera comparisons overhyped: anyone on a budget, or who cannot justify $700 to upgrade every year, should not feel bad about not upgrading their iPhone. — 00:02:26 · Apple, iPhone
  • ★★ Ali finds it genuinely hard to tell apart photos from the iPhone 8, X, XR, XS, 11 and 11 Pro. — 00:02:26

00:02:55 — Main wide lens, tested at Downing College

  • ★★ To test the iPhone lenses, Ali asked on his Instagram story for volunteers to help him film in Cambridge town centre; four people came and met him at Downing College. — 00:02:55 · Instagram, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
  • ★ Ali says Downing College is one of the 31 colleges of the University of Cambridge. (hedged) — 00:02:55 · University of Cambridge
  • ★★ Ali says nobody zooms in to check a lens's vignetting: all that matters in a camera comparison is whether you can tell at a glance that a photo is nicer than what you are used to. — 00:03:26
  • ★★ Ali finds iPhone 7 photos a little worse than those of the iPhone 8 and later, although the iPhone 7 has exactly the same camera as the iPhone 8; the iPhone 8's image processing improved. — 00:03:55
  • ★★ Ali says the iPhone 7 is no longer sold, and the only iPhones on the Apple website worth comparing are the iPhone 8, iPhone XR and iPhone 11. — 00:03:55 · Apple

00:05:01 — Selfie camera

  • ★★ Ali posted on Twitter a comparison of selfies from the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone 11 Pro Max; most people picked which was which, but a fairly high share chose the XS Max, which he says shows most people cannot really tell the difference. — 00:05:01 · Twitter
  • ★★ Ali says a selfie from the four-year-old iPhone 7 would have exactly the same memory value to him as one from the iPhone 11, though the iPhone 11's is objectively a little nicer. — 00:05:31
  • ★★ Ali does not think the improvement in iPhone selfie quality warrants spending all that money to upgrade. — 00:06:00 · iPhone

00:06:26 — Ultra wide and telephoto lenses

  • ★★ Ali, who does not care much for architecture or interior photography, finds the ultra wide lens of the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro good for making group photos of people a little easier. — 00:06:26
  • ★★ Ali explains that the iPhone 11 Pro has three lenses, wide, ultra wide and telephoto, while the iPhone 11 has two, the wide and the ultra wide. — 00:06:56
  • ★★ Ali says he has never found himself needing to use the iPhone's telephoto lens. — 00:07:27 · iPhone
  • ★★★ For people who really love the telephoto lens, Ali calls getting the iPhone 11 Pro a no-brainer, since its telephoto lens is pretty good. — 00:07:27

00:07:57 — Regret over the 11 Pro Max, and night mode by the St Albans cathedral

  • ★★★ For Ali the iPhone 11 is perfect because it has the wide and the ultra wide lenses. — 00:07:57
  • ★★ Ali kind of regrets choosing the iPhone 11 Pro Max on Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program: he says he should have gone for the iPhone 11. — 00:07:57 · Apple
  • ★★ Ali, who took night-mode shots on a night shift at his hospital, thinks the night mode of the iPhone 11 range is useful only in very specific circumstances. (hedged) — 00:07:57
  • ★★ In St Albans, where his family lives, Ali used the iPhone 11's night mode to photograph his mum and uncle by the cathedral, a shot the backlight would normally have made really hard. — 00:08:34 · St Albans, Ali Abdaal's mother

00:08:55 — Portrait mode and the iPhone 11 as the sweet spot

  • ★★ Ali says the night-mode photo of his mum and uncle by the cathedral is grainy and not a great photo, but the memory exists, and would not have without night mode. — 00:08:55
  • ★★ Ali says the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro take portrait-mode photos with their wide and ultra-wide lenses, so you no longer have to step far back and use the telephoto. — 00:09:25
  • ★★ Ali thinks a portrait-mode photo makes a better memory than a normal photo: he really likes the look of a blurred background (bokeh). — 00:09:25
  • ★★★ Ali calls the iPhone 11, at $700 or £729 in the UK, the sweet spot and really good value, because it has the ultra wide lens, night mode and portrait mode. — 00:09:54

00:10:10 — Which iPhone he would recommend

  • ★★★ Ali's main point: you do not need to upgrade your iPhone just for the camera, because it honestly does not make that much difference. — 00:10:23 · iPhone
  • ★★★ For anyone on a tight budget who wants an iPhone, Ali calls the iPhone 8, at 469, a really solid option: it lacks the ultra wide lens and portrait mode but gets you into the Apple ecosystem. — 00:10:23 · Apple
  • ★★ Ali says he will make another video comparing Apple and Android. — 00:10:23 · Apple
  • ★★ Ali thinks the more Apple products you own, the more they work together and the better the overall experience, and from talking to friends with Android phones he does not think Android gives you that. — 00:10:52 · Apple

00:11:21 — Video comparison and the Daniel Wellington sponsor read

00:13:10 — Photos are for memories and stories; when an upgrade makes sense

  • ★★★ For Ali the main point of photos and videos is to make memories and tell stories, and for five years or more it has not mattered which phone camera you have for that. — 00:13:10

    “The main point of taking these photos and videos and stuff is to make memories and to tell stories.”

  • ★★ Ali says upgrading an iPhone makes sense if you want something specific, such as the ultra wide lens for landscapes and architecture or portrait mode, but whether a purchase is worth it depends on many factors: your circumstances, budget and what you want from it. — 00:13:46 · iPhone

  • ★★ Ali says he will make a video on how to judge whether a purchase or an upgrade is worth it, once he has formulated his own thoughts. — 00:13:46
  • ★★ Ali says his reviews of the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro are coming up very soon. — 00:14:15

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Apple · iPhone · iPhone 11 · iPhone 11 Pro · iPhone 8

Also: People: Ali Abdaal's mother

Organizations: Daniel Wellington · Instagram · Twitter · University of Cambridge

Places: Cambridge · St Albans · St Albans Cathedral

Products: Adobe Lightroom · Android · iPhone 11 Pro Max · iPhone 7 · iPhone 7 Plus · iPhone Upgrade Program · iPhone X · iPhone XR · iPhone XS · iPhone XS Max

Also centred on iPhone 11:  iPhone 11 & 11 Pro - Review

Also centred on iPhone 11 Pro:  iPhone 11 & 11 Pro - Review

Replied to by

← Previous: Ready Player One + 'My First Million' - Monthly Favourites #12 · Next → How I Built a Million Dollar Business in Medical School - 10 Tips for Entrepreneurs