The one feature iPhone 11 reviewers don’t like

The iPhone 11 is basically an S update to last year’s very popular iPhone XR. From the front, it looks exactly the same. It has the same design, the same 6.1-inch 720p LCD with fancy rounded corners, the same giant bezels, and the same aluminum body.
But that design has been made slightly better: the water resistance is a little better, and Apple says the glass on the front and back is a little stronger. The camera bump on the back is now milled right into the glass, which is kind of neat, but it’s still a camera bump. The whole design remains a little surfboard-y, and it’s definitely not small. If you’re looking to upgrade from an iPhone SE, this thing is going to feel huge.

Apart from these new colors, the iPhone 11’s design hasn’t changed much since last year. The phone’s frame is still made of aluminum instead of stainless steel, and the 11 remains slightly chunkier than either of the new Pros. And if you were hoping that the iPhone 11 would get some sort of screen upgrade: Sorry, not this time. Apple confirmed that the 11 uses the same Liquid Retina (aka LCD) display found in last year’s XR.

The design hasn’t updated much from the iPhone XR in 2018, although there are now six colors – including a new lilac and mint green shade to choose from. The edges of the iPhone 11 still have the same feel as the older iPhone 6, 7 and 8, although the larger 6.1-inch display in the middle takes up most of the front of the phone (although with slightly thick borders around the screen).

There’s no getting around the fact that the iPhone 11 is basically the same phone as the iPhone XR, but with new rear and front camera systems, the A13 Bionic chip and some bumped up specs. The two iPhones have the same curves, dimensions, display and notch – it’s all very familiar. That’s good if you like the iPhone XR, but less good if you’re trying to justify the decision to upgrade from one to the other.

The size of the iPhone 11 is also worth considering. As much as I like the phone overall, its in-between size is awkward for my small hands. It has a 6.1-inch diagonal display, compared to the 5.8-inch display on the iPhone 11 Pro and the giant 6.5-inch display on the iPhone 11 Pro Max. All of the new iPhones this year are thicker than last year’s too.

The iPhone 11 is the same height, width, depth, and even weight as the iPhone XR. And I straight up love this size. I was a die-hard iPhone Plus-er from the 6 to the 8, but then I found the X’s edge-to-edge display was big enough for me that when the Max rolled around, I stayed with the min. But, then, I got my hands on the XR and it was Goldilocks just right in the middle.