the iPhone 12 Pro review By Matt Gonzalez

When I get a new phone in I like to pick it up and just start using it. There's always. These standout features that companies like apple touts, that they want you to pay attention to, but once you get in there, I find there's really only a few things that you really notice. So with that in mind, let's spend some time with the iPhone 12 Pro and figure out. What this is all about. Camera is a big deal for me.

It's the reason I get the pro phone over the regular 12. I use my camera a lot and the improvements' year over year, and especially over the regular phone, in this case the 12. Those are improvements that I really care about so here those differences from the regular 12 are the telephoto camera and the LIDAR sensor. So that's great. But what really matters here is the actual quality.

What am I getting for the upgrade this year, and I think the big story is at least for me- is that now deep fusion is on every lens, you get better low light and the LIDAR scanner, but even still, this is very much an iterative year for this camera. The changes are not immediately noticeable and that's not necessarily a bad thing, because the iPhone 11 Pro camera, which is what came before this was already great, so improving on that I mean it's going to be even better, even if the tweaks are small, I did notice right off the bat that smart HDR is working overtime here, it's really pulling details out of the shadows and the highlights- and I feel like deep fusion gives you better detail in what would otherwise be muddy scenarios. It's not perfect. There are still situations where sometimes smart HDR is doing a little too much or maybe not enough, but you can always get some version of a perfect photo out of this camera again. The reason why I carry this when it comes to low light- I mean it seems better, but honestly it's kind of hard to quantify quality wise.

I don't notice too much of a difference, even though the lens assembly on the main camera is allowing more light in, but I did notice the LIDAR scanner is working here. So what this does in the camera system is let you focus faster in low light, because it's not relying on the ambient light around you in the area. It's actually sending out its own light and reading the return to figure out and map out the world, and it works. It's noticeable for sure. Furthermore, it's a very limited use case at this point, I'd like to see the LIDAR scanner be expanded, past the camera and AR, but now that it's actually built into the phone rather than just the iPad Pro.

I think the possibilities for this are endless. I'm hoping that this is not a one and done feature and that they can do more with it. Since I mean it's taking up a good amount of space on the back of the phone, the more important thing I've come to realize lately, with the camera system on the iPhone is video quality. It's just it's the next level. I mean not that other cameras can't do good video, but this one just does it the best consistently and that's kind of what I think you can rely on with the iPhone camera? It's consistency.

I've used the video from iPhone cameras multiple times in these videos that normally I use cameras that cost thousands of dollars. And, honestly, you wouldn't notice. No one's ever said anything. No one has pointed it out and that I think, is all the skill of approval that I need now this year. The updates again like the rest of the camera system, aren't that crazy, but you do get Dolby Vision, HDR, and that is like.

Okay, I mean like it performs well on the phone, but the usability of that is still yet to be seen. Hopefully, in the future, though, that will change, but things like HDR, where you get the sky and the shadows all really well exposed you get up to 4k 60. I mean all the features that you'd want from a perfect video camera are here with the iPhone 12 Pro and that matters to me because, like when I go out and like do stuff, I oftentimes don't want to carry a big camera, especially a video camera like a photo. Camera is one thing, but a video camera is a whole other, but with this I can just kind of go anywhere and still get great video, and again it's not that you can't do this with other phone cameras out there. It's just this one.

I can trust, and I know I can trust it like. I said the camera this year is iterative. The quality is great, don't get me wrong, but it's not something that you're immediately wowed by I mean I do notice differences and those differences will add up over time, but I think that kind of wow factor will come more so with the 12 pro max later on. In the year- and that is definitely something I'm going to be taking a look at- it- has been three years since we've seen a change with the iPhone design. That is a long time and Apple has really been getting comfortable with uh keeping the design around for a while.

So I'm glad that they have not only updated the design this year, but they have chosen a design that I'm okay with them keeping around for a while, the squared off edges, I mean they just they feel great, there's a reason why so many people claim the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 5 or their favorite phones? It's not only because those were great phones, but the design was just top-notch. It felt great in the hand it was easy to hold, and I really appreciate that apple went back to that and just brought it to 2020 standards. The thing I appreciate the most isn't even the sides of the phone, but just the fact that the front is so flat. I really am not a fan of the trend of these curved displays on a lot of phones. These days, I just don't like it: it's not a great experience, even though it looks very pretty.

I feel like the more industrial kind of more linear design of the iPhone 12 is speaking to me more I just like it. I did notice, though, that I tried on multiple occasions to hit the power button-up top as if it was an iPhone 5. That's a very strange muscle memory that I was not expecting to have that. That was just funny. I noticed it, but immediately when you pick it up.

Obviously, you're noticing the sides, but, more importantly, or differently, it feels light. It feels less substantial, but in a good way. You know these phones they're using premium materials, it's stainless steel and glass. So it's going to have some heft to it, but it doesn't feel heavy and since the phones are getting bigger and bigger, not having them be heavier and heavier is great, even though it's definitely more of a kind of placebo effect. It's not light by any means.

It just feels that way because of the overall design. One thing that I have yet to really put to the test is the ceramic shield up front. You know supposed to be four times stronger than the glass before I never had any breaks with my iPhone 11 Pro, but I did have a lot of scratches and ceramic in theory should help with that. The back of the phone I felt on the 11 pro has been great. I mean I didn't have any scratches on it really, and I'm hoping that's the case here with the 12 pro as well, but the front it had a bunch of hairline scratches just from day to day use- and you know I'm not using a case on my phone most of the time.

So I want it to hold up to the test of time, and that is yet to be seen. But it's something I'm going to be. Keeping a really close eye on with the iPhone 12. MagSafe is probably one of the things I was most excited about when they announced the iPhone 12, because there's something different, something we haven't seen in a phone before now. As of today, the utility remains to be seen just from the accessories that are currently out yeah, it's cool that you can put a case on, and it shows you what case you have on.

That's all fine and dandy. But more importantly, is things like MagSafe charging in we can all see it. This is definitely a play for the future to have a portlets iPhone, but if they do it this way, and can somehow get data transfer working, I'm all for that. But for me, what I'm most excited for is when third parties get their hands on this, and they can create some really cool accessories. Things like car mounts the magnet seemed strong enough to be able to work for all of that.

But as of today, it's an it's a cool feature that honestly, I'm just excited to see more out in the wild. One thing that I was hoping to- I don't know I guess, like just notice: more is 5g, and obviously it's early days. I've only been using the phone for a few days, and I do have 5g signal where I am, which is cool, but I don't want to say I'm skeptical of 5g, because obviously it's a thing it works, and it is faster, but the kind of clamoring and the need for 5g in your next phone is just not something. I really understand here's my thinking on this, the 5g of the future, the one that we're all kind of wanting or that will get benefit from is the ultra-wideband, the millimeter wave technology, and this phone does support it, and it does exist if you go certain places, but that technology is definitely not mainstream. Yet now there is the argument to make that this phone being out in the wild, and so many more people having 5g, capable phones and actually knowing that they have 5g capable phones, could push the carriers to really get their act together and make ultra-wide band better and usable.

But for now it is just kind of a better version of LTE. It is faster in my test. I have gone faster speeds, maybe even like double, but it's not something that is life-changing or really adjusts how I use the phone, it's not the know, 2 000 megabits per second down that you can get with the ultra-wide band tech, and that is where you can really start to see the future really arrive. I do like how apple has implemented 5g in this phone, though with the smart data mode, because oftentimes you're not going to need those speeds and the bigger issue is battery life.5G uses a lot of battery so being able to smartly switch without me having to think about it. It'll just automatically switch to 5g when it thinks I need more speeds or just switch back to LTE when I don't have that is really well-thought-out and so far my battery life has been okay, again still early days of testing, but I haven't noticed a significant hit using that smart data mode, and I am on 5g, so that's good.

What I think is more important is the long term. This is a phone that a lot of people will buy and keep for three. Four five years and then 5g tech will probably be much better. I mean it's only been a few years since this has been announced. So you know in the time from no 5g to now it's done pretty good and that will only continue in the future.

So I think that's kind of the better way to think of 5g in this phone. It's definitely more of a future play because, right now it works it's just a little faster, but not really noticeable, at least in my tests. I think the big question here, for me, especially is: should you even buy the 12 pro? I mean the 12. The regular 12 is so similar to the pro this year that it might just be worth saving the money if you're not planning on either getting a mini or getting a 12 pro max. I mean if you're, okay, with the size 6.7 inches, it seems like the 12 pro max is going to be the way to go, to get the most features and the more that I use the regular 12 with the 12 pro I'm realizing how similar they are. So if I'm trying to recommend a phone, I think for the vast majority of people, the iPhone 12 is the way to go.

I enjoy the extra camera, but it's definitely not necessary. It's more of a luxury or a pro model, which you know makes sense here, but I think you could save the money. There are other features with the 12 pro that I just didn't talk about. You know a 14 processor, more ram screen battery life. Those are features that are a big deal, but I just didn't notice.

These are the ones that I actually did notice. When I picked up my phone, even though some features and changes were slight, I can tell and that's what I enjoy about getting a new phone, it's figuring out how I can use this in my real life. You.

Source : Matt Gonzalez