iPhone 14 Pro Review: As close as you’ll ever get to perfection

Design and Build

When it comes to build quality, the iPhone 14 Pro follows the same design language as its predecessor, albeit with a new notch and a larger camera bump. For the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple retains the stainless-steel frame with matte textured glass on the back. The iPhone 14 Pro also has a ceramic shield coating on the screen to offer an extra layer of protection. In my experience the materials used here are extremely durable and among the toughest in the market.

Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. The iPhone 14 Pro also has the same elegant design formula of its predecessor. The phone is considerably heavy, weighing 206 grams and measuring 7.85mm thick, although the differences aren’t noticeable. The button, port, and slider placements are pretty much the same. Apple continues to opt for the Lighting port rather than a USB-C port, although that could change somewhere in the future.

It is worth noting that customers in the US don’t get a SIM slot. There’s no fingerprint reader on the iPhone 14 Pro but Face ID is as adept as ever, ensuring quick unlocks every time. Overall, the iPhone 14 Pro is one of the best built smartphones in the market, but I’d still advice using a case, although I did find the phone less ergonomic due to the sharper edges. But the case did take care of that minor setback. However, the phone looks extremely good when used without the case, but I’d advise against doing so.

Display

The iPhone 14 Pro opts for a 6.1-inch LPTO Super Retina XDR OLED display. The panel boasts a 1179 x 2556-pixel resolution and a 460 ppi pixel density. Like its predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro uses Apple’s ProMotion display, which is capable of scaling between 10Hz to 120Hz. The screen supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG, delivering an excellent viewing experience for shows, videos, and movies. It also gets plenty bright with a peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits and a peak outdoor brightness of 2,000 nits. The iPhone 14 Pro is also the first to feature an Always-on display, an area where the LTPO technology will help to save power.

Specifications and features aside, the iPhone 14 Pro has one of the best displays I’ve seen on a smartphone. The screen gets extremely bright and can be viewed clearly under any environment, while the colours look punchy yet accurate. Additionally, Apple also uses True Tone technology to automatically adapt the colour and intensity of the display to match the light in your environment. Moreover, it was an absolute delight gaming on the iPhone 14 Pro’s screen. Despite only just introducing the Always-on display on the iPhone, I think Apple’s adaption is one of the best yet, revealing a dimmed version of the lock screen with notifications and widgets.

The display on the iPhone 14 Pro easily stands out, even among premium smartphones. However, the excellent display aside, the biggest highlight on the iPhone 14 Pro is the addition of the new notch. Apple calls it the “Dynamic Island”, which goes above and beyond the conventional waterdrop and hole-punch camera cutouts. The Dynamic Island is a pill-shaped notch that houses the new front camera and Face ID sensor, but it can do so much more.

The Dynamic Island can be used see notifications and alerts. You can also expand the Island in certain apps and a host of first-party services that you can interact with using the Dynamic Island. YouTube, Spotify, Apple Maps, SharePlay, Apple’s Media Player, Apple Play, and several others can be used with the Dynamic Island. I think the Dynamic Island is an excellent addition to the iPhone 14 Pro, although it doesn’t rise to the level of essential just yet. But there is more room for improvement here, much more.

Performance

So far as performance is concerned, there are zero compromises here. Apple’s A16 Bionic chip is one of the fastest among smartphones and easily outpaced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipsets. The A16 Bionic is built on the 4nm process and features a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine. The A16 Bionic also has one billion more transistors than its predecessor. And the powerful chip is not without its perks as it makes the navigation experience extremely smooth, while the gaming experience was top-notch. No matter the title I threw at it, the iPhone 14 Pro handled every game with ease, capable of running Diablo Immortal, Call of Duty: Mobile, BGMI, Apex Legends Mobile, and Asphalt 9: Legends with little effort.

We also ran some benchmarks to put the A16 through its paces. Our testing revealed that Apple’s A16 Bionic chip had a massive lead over the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. In Geekbench, the chip managed a single-core score of 1865 points and a multi-core score of 5445 points. In AnTuTu, the iPhone 14 Pro almost managed an overall score of one million, scoring 983848 points. When it comes to benchmarks, it easy to spot the difference between the A16 Bionic and its Android counterparts. However, this gap in performance is less evident while gaming and may only be visible to seasoned gamers.

Cameras

If you are going to pay upwards of 1 lac rupees on a phone, there are some big camera expectations. And it is safe to say that the iPhone 14 Pro doesn’t disappoint, offering a massive camera upgrade over the iPhone 13 Pro (Review). The star of the show is a 48 MP primary sensor, which is 65 percent bigger than that on the iPhone 13 Pro. The main camera is accompanied by an upgraded 12 MP ultrawide unit and a 12 MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom.

You also get second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation to assist with focusing. Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro also benefits from software tweaks and a new Photonic Engine that comes courtesy of that A16 Bionic chip. The Photonic Engine promises even better detail and colours across all lighting conditions. Lastly, the 12 MP front camera has also been updated and now features Autofocus. But enough of specifications, let’s look at real-world results. Moreover, the phone took photos with very-little shutter lag.

In daylight, the 48 MP primary camera looks superb with some of the best results I’ve seen on a smartphone. Shots in daylight retain a ton of detail, while the Photonic Engine helps improve dynamic range yielding excellent results. The camera also reproduces natural-looking colours, while maintaining a nice vivid look. There’s no signs of over sharpening or oversaturation, while exposure was well handled even in tricky situations. The new 48 MP sensor is Apple’s first pixel-binning sensor and captures images in 12 MP, although you can take full 48 MP shots in the ProRaw mode to get even more detail in shots. Raw images are uncompressed and are better for editing.

The 12 MP ultrawide unit maintains its colour consistency across the main camera. It also captures a ton of detail and good exposure, although we did notice a bit of oversaturation in some photos. The ultrawide camera also doubles as a macro unit and benefits from the sensor’s ability to capture more light. The macro mode activates automatically even moving close to a subject, although it can be disabled through the Settings. Apple has also upgraded the telephoto camera with a larger sensor and 3x optical zoom. The 3x zoom on the telephoto camera tends to retain a lot of detail with accurate colours.

Overall, the three lenses do an excellent job of maintaining consistency in terms of both colours and detail. As far as shots across the three lenses go, this is as consistent as it gets. Moreover, the three cameras also capture vibrant images across all lighting scenarios, even complex ones. However, the 3x optical zoom pales in comparison to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Pixel 7 Pro, and Vivo X80 Pro’s zooming capabilities, which is the iPhone 14 Pro’s Achilles’ heel. The iPhone 14 Pro’s Portrait mode is also quite impressive, capturing natural skin tones and accurate edge detection. You also get a several Portrait Lighting modes including natural, studio light, contour light, stage light mono, high-key mono, etc.

The main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro takes excellent shots at night, capturing detailed shots with superb dynamic range and little-to-no noise. I found images looked sharp with vibrant colours and good exposure. The iPhone 14 Pro also took images with warmer tones, which looked better than the cool temperatures of the Pixel 7 Pro, in some instances. The ultrawide camera cannot keep pace with the main camera at night. While the ultrawide unit does captures bright images at night with a fair bit of detail, darker areas in the scene aren’t represented as well.

The iPhone 14 Pro can take 4K video at 60fps in ProRes, while Apple’s Cinematic Mode has support for 4K HDR video at 30fps and 24fps. Apple has also added a new Action Mode that can record video in HD or 2.8K resolution (Supports ProRes and Dolby Vision) at up to 60fps. This mode offers extreme levels of stabilisation with Apple claiming that it is a substitute for a gimbal. I recorded a video running with this mode off and turned on and the difference was night and day. The level of stabilisation this mode offers is excellent but whether it can replace a gimbal is anyone’s guess.

Additionally, Action Mode also requires a fair bit of light and is rather ineffective at night. Footage in Cinematic mode also looks great and adds that Hollywood movie effect. Additionally, standard video taken on the iPhone 14 Pro is excellent as always with detailed and vibrant looking footage during the day and at night. The front camera on the iPhone 14 Pro can also record 4K footage at up 60fps, although video quality isn’t as good as on the rear camera, particularly indoors.

And since we’re on the topic of the front camera, you’ll be pleased to know that it too has got a major upgrade and now supports Autofocus. Apple says the new TrueDepth camera’s faster aperture also helps capture better low light selfies. Selfies captured in daylight have a fair bit of detail and look quite sharp with vivid colours. Portrait selfies look good with natural skin tones, accurate edge detection and subject separation. When it comes to overall photography and videography, Apple continues to remain one of the best. And the iPhone 14 Pro is Apple’s best effort to date, and it shows.

Battery

Apple doesn’t mention the size of its batteries, but the information is quite easily available. Rumours suggest the battery size of the iPhone 14 Pro is slightly larger than that of its predecessor. Additionally, the iPhone 14 Pro can get from 0 to 50 percent in 30 minutes if you buy a 20W charger from Apple as there no adapter included in the box. The phone also supports 15W MagSafe wireless charging as well as Qi wireless charging. In terms of charging, there’s nothing of note here. However, I started with the bad as a prequel to the great. And that’s battery life.

The iPhone 14 Pro delivers the best battery life of any compact smartphone and goes toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S22 Ultra, OnePlus 10 Pro, and Pixel 7 Pro, all of which, house significantly larger batteries. During my time with the iPhone 14 Pro, I got an entire day’s worth of battery life and more on a single charge. This was under heavy usage, including using the camera app, gaming, watching videos, browsing the net, and spending time on social media. Not to mention, the Always-on display was turned on the entire time and even then, the battery of the iPhone 14 Pro showed no signs of weaning.

iOS 16

The iPhone 14 Pro runs on iOS 16 out of the box with Apple’s class-leading software and security support. iOS 16 brings a ton of new changes to the operating system by enabling lockscreen customisation, novel ways to share upload content with the family, new Focus modes, and enhancements to messages. Users can now fine-tune and customise their lockscreen using a variety of wallpapers, clock styles, and real-time widgets.

The customisations here are endless and each lockscreen can also be linked to a Focus setting. The iPhone 14 Pro also has Satellite SOS and the Crash Detection feature. iOS 16 is one of Apple’s biggest OS updates in a while and goes a long way towards making the experience more convenient and customisable than ever before. Here’s a look at all the new features available on iOS 16.

Verdict

So let’s get down to the main question at hand, which is ‘should you buy the iPhone 14 Pro’. The plain and simple answer would be ‘yes’! But plain and simple is so boring, so let’s tell you ‘why’ and maybe, ‘why not’. First off, if you are looking for the best smartphone in the market with ‘zero’ compromises, then don’t think twice about getting the iPhone 14 Pro. The only difference between it and the ‘Pro Max’ model is that the latter has a bigger screen and battery. That being said, the iPhone 14 Pro has better battery life than almost every Android smartphone and if you don’t mind the smaller display, there’s no reason to opt for the ‘Pro Max’ model.

The vanilla iPhone 14 is an excellent choice for new Apple users. But the iPhone 14 Pro offers a ton of upgrades over its vanilla counterpart. The iPhone 14 Pro has a massive camera upgrade on the back and a brighter and more vibrant display with a higher refresh rate. It is safe to say that both cameras and the screen of the iPhone 14 Pro are class leading. Coming from an Android phone, it is safe to say that the iPhone 14 Pro offers superb camera performance across all lenses. Moreover, iOS 16 brings tons of customisation to improve the user experience, while the guarantee of Apple’s incredible software support continues.

Then there’s the iPhone 14 Pro’s excellent design and top-notch durability standards. Finally, the iPhone 14 Pro has several firsts. Apart from the new higher resolution 48 MP camera, the iPhone 14 Pro also features a new Dynamic Island notch and an Always-on display. The Dynamic Island isn’t your ordinary notch and can do so much more, with even more future potential. And even though, the Always-on display has been on Android for several years now, Apple’s first attempt will force a lot of OEMs to reimagine the feature. On the flip side, the iPhone 14 Pro isn’t without its flaws, most evident of which is its slow charging and lack of an adapter in the box.

Additionally, the zooming capabilities of the cameras can be found lacking when pitted against the Galaxy S22 Ultra, Xiaomi 12S Ultra, Vivo X80 Pro, and Google Pixel 7 Pro. And then there’s the fact that you get a little for a lot in terms of storage with the base model offering just 128GB of space for Rs 1,29,900. Lastly, apart from the notch, very little has changed in terms of the iPhone 14 Pro’s design. However, the ‘Pros’ on the iPhone 14 Pro massive outweigh its ‘Cons’. So if you are looking for a premium smartphone in 2022, you’ll have little-to-no regrets opting for the iPhone 14 Pro, it is without the doubt the best smartphone I have used till date.