Apple iPhone 14 Pro Long-term (Six Months) Review: Style and substance at a stiff price- Technology News
May 08, 2023 10:55:48 IST
Pros:
Premium design and rugged build
IP68 ingress protection
Excellent performance across all cameras
Topnotch video quality
Sharp OLED display with a variable refresh rate
A16 Bionic chip is a solid performer
Multiple OS updates guaranteed
Cons:
No bundled charger, no real fast charging
Telephoto camera underwhelms in low light
Expensive
Price:
Rs 1,19,999 onwards
The most popular Apple product in India currently is the Apple Store they recently opened here amid a lot of fanfare. Now that all the random clapping and selfies have subsided on my social timeline, it is time to look back at a slightly older product from the company, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro. We have been using the device for a good six months and would like to share the experience with you through this long-term review.
Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Design: Elegant, sturdy, and compact but feels heavy
You already know what the iPhone 14 Pro looks like, so I will skip the details like the placement of buttons and ports. Barring the dated notch at the top of the screen being replaced by a Dynamic Island here (more on that later), the design is pretty much identical to that of the iPhone 13 Pro. The phone is built like a tank when it comes to sturdiness, thanks to its stainless steel frame. You also get IP68-rated protection against dust and fluids.
Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi
It weighs in excess of 200 grams and does feel heavy in hand due to its compact size. It should be able to survive a few drops, though I did not test that aspect given its price tag. I did drop it accidentally on my toe from a foot above, and the swelling took a day or two to subside.
Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi
The glass back and the rounded corners give it a touch of elegance that you associate with Apple devices. Even better, the matte finish at the back makes it smudge resistant. However, the glossy metal frame does attract a lot of fingerprints and smudge marks and needs to be wiped from time to time.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Display: Sharp high-res display with a variable refresh rate
The screen size is the same as its predecessor, and the resolution is only marginally higher, but you now get an LTPO display with a variable refresh rate.
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro sports a 6.1-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 2556 x 1179 pixels and a peak brightness of 2000 nits. It is HDR10 and Dolby Vision compliant with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz for flicker-free operation.
The refresh rate automatically throttles between 1 Hz to 120 Hz depending on the content being displayed on the screen. For instance, the screen refreshes faster when scrolling through content for a smoother motion, and the refresh rate drops in the lower two digits when watching a still image on the screen to save battery.
It probably drops closer to 1 Hz when using the always-on display on the lock screen, which explains why the battery reserves arent impacted much even when the feature is switched on.
The screen sharpness, colour reproduction and contrast are excellent. Given the size of the screen, a single-handed operation is still an option; I dont get to say this about most phones these days for the past few years actually.
One thing missing here, and something nobody will miss is the famous notch at the top of the screen which was introduced in the iPhone X. Well, it hasnt vanished completely but has transformed into a pill-shaped cutout on the screen called Dynamic Island.
Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi
Such a fancy name for an aberration; only Apple can pull off something like this, and pull it off it does. Technically, the Dynamic Island is pretty much the notch with some parts missing which detaches it from the top edge and makes it an island.
While it is an improvement over the dated notch, Apple could have come up with something more innovative after half a decade. But instead, they have tried to make this limitation cool and fun, and believe it or not, it actually works. More on that in the OS section.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Performance: A16 Bionic chip is potent with ample headroom for the foreseeable future
Unlike the non-Pro models from the 14 series, the iPhone 14 Pro is powered by Apples latest A16 Bionic chip and is accompanied by 6GB RAM and a choice of internal storage ranging from 128GB to 1TB.
Unlike Android phone makers, Apple has never played the specifications card when it comes to processing hardware, and I wont bore you with synthetic benchmark scores and stuff like that. But I would like to add that the Bionic A16 is an incredibly powerful processing hardware with ample headroom for the foreseeable future.
There has been absolutely no slowdown after six months of use. Day-to-day tasks like browsing, chatting, switching between multiple apps, photography or gaming are simply as smooth as they were on day one. It looks well poised to handle another 3 or 4 major OS updates that the iPhone 14 Pro is expected to receive over the years. The phone runs perfectly cool during general use.
Image Credit: Tech2 | Ameya Dalvi
It does get a little warm after half an hour of gaming, but theres no cause for concern. The hardware is powerful enough to let you play all the recent games on it at the highest settings at a solid frame rate. You get two speakers on this phone one behind the earpiece and the other along the bottom edge.
They are amply loud and offer good clarity with acceptable stereo separation. You dont get a 3.5 mm headphone jack here, and you will need a separate adapter if you intend to use your old wired headphones.
Alternatively, theres Bluetooth 5.3 here to connect wireless earphones and speakers. High-end codec support is still limited to AAC; this really needs to change soon. You get dual-band WiFi with support for a/b/g/n/ac/6 standards. The call quality and reception have been perfectly fine on this phone; well, as good as your network provider can manage these days.
Like all Apple flagship phones over the past several years, the iPhone 14 Pro does not have a fingerprint scanner, and Face ID takes care of your biometric security needs. Face ID is easy to set up, and is brisk at its job.
You can even configure it to recognise your face with a mask on; a useful addition during and after the pandemic era. I cannot say for sure if it is better than its previous generation in reality, but it is certainly more secure than the face unlock feature on most Android phones.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Battery performance: Decent battery life, slow charging, no bundled charger
The battery life of the iPhone 14 Pro sees a marginal improvement over the 13 Pro, probably because of a slightly higher capacity battery used here, among other things. The 3200 mAh battery keeps the phone powered for over a day of moderate use comfortably.
When at home on WiFi all the time, it even lasted close to two days with standard use and no gaming involved. Your mileage may vary depending on your usage pa
Monday, May 8, 2023 at 5:25 am