Apple iPhone 11 Hands-On

Written by Vaughn ChuaPublished • September 26, 2019

Apple’s launched the new iPhones weeks ago and one of them is the iPhone 11. It’s the base iPhone model and probably what most people will upgrade to. We finally got our hands on one so check out our initial thoughts about the device below.

Author’s Note: Our iPhone 11 unit was bought in Singapore with model number A2221 which supports the LTE Band 28 (700MHz).

Much like the iPhone XR, the iPhone 11’s body is made out of recycled low-carbon aluminum material covered with glass. If you put them side-by-side, you’ll see no difference except that for the latter’s rear cameras layout.

The 6.1-inch display still sports that thick notch design which I particularly don’t like ever since it was introduced. Regardless, this is somewhat necessary as it houses the call speaker, 12MP front camera, and sensors for FaceID.

You can find the power button and the single-Nano SIM tray on the right while the mute switch and volume rockers are placed on the left side. The buttons are in the perfect position where my fingers can reach them easily. They are also low-profile but are clicky and tactile which is great.

There are no components at the top while the bottom has the microphone, Lightning port, and loudspeaker.

At the back, you’ll see that Apple enclosed the dual 12MP cameras, LED flash, and noise-canceling microphone in a protruding square-ish shape. It looks weird and cute at the same time.

The iPhone 11 is lighter than the iPhone XR which is good for those who are not fond of heavy smartphones. It also doesn’t feel much different given that both of their dimensions are identical. Overall, the device is sleek and premium which is expected of an Apple product.

As usual, my gripe with glossy phones is that they are prone to fingerprints and smudges. As usual, you can remedy this by always bringing a microfiber cloth or just cover the device with a case.

Powering the iPhone 11 is Apple’s latest A13 Bionic chip and 4GB of RAM which is 1GB higher than the iPhone XR. We’re yet to fully review the device but so far it is snappy and very responsive. It even scored an impressive 459,690 in AnTuTu.

We got the 128GB storage variant, but you can also choose between 64GB and 256GB depending on your needs. We’ll know more once we take the iPhone 11 for a full spin so stay tuned for that.