Apple iPhone XR vs iPhone 12 Pro

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone XR (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 25 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XR
  • Shows 11% longer battery life (33:02 vs 29:49 hours)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • 41% higher pixel density (460 vs 326 PPI)
  • 43% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (731K versus 511K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (807 against 643 nits)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Has 2x more RAM: 6GB versus 3GB
  • Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
  • Thinner bezels – 7% more screen real estate
  • OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
  • The phone is 2-years and 1-month newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
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Review

Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

You can enter your local price of these phones (in USD or any other currency) and click on the "Calculate" button to see which one has a better value for money.
Price

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type IPS LCD OLED
Size 6.1 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 828 x 1792 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 326 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 800 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 79% 86%
Display features - - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 99.6%
PWM Not detected 277 Hz
Response time 32.8 ms 3.6 ms
Contrast 1920:1 ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
643 nits
807 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 150.9 mm (5.94 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 75.7 mm (2.98 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 194 g (6.84 oz) 189 g (6.67 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio
79%
86%

Performance

Tests of Apple iPhone XR and Apple iPhone 12 Pro in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 2490 MHz 3100 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm
Lithography process 7 nanometers 5 nanometers
Graphics Apple A12 Bionic GPU Apple GPU
GPU clock 1100 MHz -
FLOPS ~560 GFLOPS -

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
1118
1617
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
2221
4078
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
511292
731257
CPU 142301 201506
GPU 188718 276492
Memory 70367 119935
UX 104916 129653
Total score 511292 731257
3DMark Wild Life Performance
5231
7407
Max surface temperature 42.6 °C 38.1 °C
Stability 69% 77%
Graphics test 31 FPS 44 FPS
Graphics score 5231 7407
Sources: 3DMark [3], [4]

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64, 128, 256 GB 128, 256, 512 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2)
OS size 11.1 GB 14 GB

Battery

Specifications
Capacity 2942 mAh 2815 mAh
Charge power 15 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:43 hr 1:30 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 11:16 hr 09:54 hr
Watching video 12:45 hr 12:40 hr
Gaming 05:10 hr 05:32 hr
Standby 123 hr 104 hr
General battery life
iPhone XR +11%
33:02 hr
29:49 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main camera
Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Optical, 2x
Flash Quad LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1 (12 MP) 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP)
Wide (main) lens - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/2.55", Apple iSight X (BSI CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6
- Focal length: 26 mm
- Pixel size: 1.4 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
- Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
- Optical stabilization
Telephoto lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.0
- Focal length: 52 mm
- Pixel size: 1 micron
- Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS)
- Phase autofocus
- Optical stabilization
Ultra-wide lens - - 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4
- Focal length: 13 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS)
Depth lens - Yes
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Samples - Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark
Selfie camera
Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4290 x 2800
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor type CMOS Exmor-RS CMOS
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS

DxOMark camera tests

Photo quality
103
135
Video quality
112
Generic camera score
101
128

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE, A2DP
USB type No No
USB version 2 -
USB features - Charging
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 12 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
87.3 dB
92.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2018 October 2020
Release date October 2018 October 2020
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 12 Pro is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
58 (27.4%)
154 (72.6%)
Total votes: 212

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