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A tangible screen size comparison between iPhone XR and iPhone 8 Plus

So many people are currently in the same boat as me, coming from a 6s [Plus] or later and are trying to decide on an upgrade. I am personally picking between the 8 Plus and XR and while each phone has their own Pros and Cons, (for example the 8 Plus has 3D Touch and a Telephoto lens while the XR has better HDR and more battery life) the biggest difference between the two is the display, and not just their sizes, but their aspect ratios too!

 

I watch a lot of 16:9 content on my phone and the size of that content and the visual quality of it is very important to me and in order to get a better idea of what watching 16:9 content on iPhone XR would look like, I made this:

1185192074_XRvs8Plus.thumb.png.688fbb0947ac941ad636257e412de968.png

 

As you can see the XR's display is not as wide compared to the 8 Plus and is also much taller. The result is a much smaller 16:9 image that can be displayed on iPhone XR without cropping in. Compounding this, iPhone XR has a lower ppi, 326ppi vs 401ppi on the iPhone 8 Plus. This means your content will be smaller and also less sharp when viewed from about less than half an arms length.

 

So while yes, iPhone XR has more display area than iPhone 8 Plus (13.68in^2 vs 12.89in^2), it can't display 16:9 content as well as iPhone 8 Plus can. So consider this when making a purchase and ask yourself the question, how much do you value video content?

 

(Btw please leave some arguments for/against the iPhone XR and 8 Plus. I'm going back and forth between which one I want)

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The ppi and 16:9 image dimensions aren't very different.

Comparing side by side or the numbers on paper then yeah it becomes obvious, but if you use your phone to do phone things then both are perfectly usable.

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I use a Xs so the screen is slightly smaller than the Xr but it still feels bigger than my old 6s plus (screen wise). Personally I'd recommend the Xr because you seem like the person to keep your phone for a long time and with the new design, faceID and the A12 chip it will feel like a significant jump over the 6s plus unlike the 8 plus which, while its still an upgrade, would feel pretty similar overall and you might get bored of it pretty quick.

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6 hours ago, Radioactive Snowman said:

for a long time and with the new design, faceID and the A12 chip it will feel like a significant jump over the 6s plus unlike the 8 plus

I actually like the design of the 8 Plus a lot, the white glass front and back look better than the XR imo, so that sense of a “significant jump” would be superficial. Actual specs wise the A11 Bionic is still 2.5x more powerful than the A9 and the A12 Bionic is only like 3x faster than the A9. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

I actually like the design of the 8 Plus a lot, the white glass front and back look better than the XR imo, so that sense of a “significant jump” would be superficial. Actual specs wise the A11 Bionic is still 2.5x more powerful than the A9 and the A12 Bionic is only like 3x faster than the A9. 

I think the plus series iPhones feel like surfboards since getting used to the Xs. Theres a lot to be said for the lack of bezels on the Xs/Xr when it comes to everyday convenience

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5 minutes ago, Radioactive Snowman said:

I think the plus series iPhones feel like surfboards since getting used to the Xs. Theres a lot to be said for the lack of bezels on the Xs/Xr when it comes to everyday convenience

I’ve been using a Plus model iPhone for 3 generations of iPhone. I don’t think I have any complaints, lol. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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33 minutes ago, NeuesTestament said:

If you don't mind the old design I think the 8plus is by far the better choice. You get a Full HD display for a cheaper price.

That’s the way I’m leaning. I actually really like the White/Silver design of the 8 Plus. 

Laptop: 2019 16" MacBook Pro i7, 512GB, 5300M 4GB, 16GB DDR4 | Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 128GB | Wearables: Apple Watch SE | Car: 2007 Ford Taurus SE | CPU: R7 5700X | Mobo: ASRock B450M Pro4 | RAM: 32GB 3200 | GPU: ASRock RX 5700 8GB | Case: Apple PowerMac G5 | OS: Win 11 | Storage: 1TB Crucial P3 NVME SSD, 1TB PNY CS900, & 4TB WD Blue HDD | PSU: Be Quiet! Pure Power 11 600W | Display: LG 27GL83A-B 1440p @ 144Hz, Dell S2719DGF 1440p @144Hz | Cooling: Wraith Prism | Keyboard: G610 Orion Cherry MX Brown | Mouse: G305 | Audio: Audio Technica ATH-M50X & Blue Snowball | Server: 2018 Core i3 Mac mini, 128GB SSD, Intel UHD 630, 16GB DDR4 | Storage: OWC Mercury Elite Pro Quad (6TB WD Blue HDD, 12TB Seagate Barracuda, 1TB Crucial SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD)
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