Apple iPhone XR vs iPhone 12: What Will The 12 Add?

Introduction

Should you upgrade already? Should you wait for another year? Is it OK to get an iPhone XR?

We'll soon find out all the answers to those questions and much more.

Let's start.

While Apple's iPhone 12 hit stores in October 2020, Apple's iPhone XR went on sale two years sooner.

With this article, you'll be able to compare every feature of the iPhone XR and the iPhone 12. Then, you can decide what model better suits your needs. Let's start.

For additional information regarding our smartphone comparisons, check this FAQ.

 Click here  to check who their rivals are.

Price*			vs.
Device	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Release Date	2018, October	2020, October	2y.
OS Updates	6 years	6 years	0y.
Security Updates	6 years	6 years	0y.

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Which One Has The Best Performance?

Geekbench 5 scores the iPhone 12 58% ahead of its sibling in the multi-core ranking. If you value performance, be aware of that difference, as it will be noticeable daily.  ? 

The iPhone 12's performance does stand out if you consider related-priced phones. While the average sits at 3040, this one is 34% above them.

It's safe to say that the iPhone 12 can be tagged as high-end.

Performance*			vs.
Features	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
SoC	Apple A12	Apple A14
Graphics	Apple GPU	Apple GPU
Geekbench 5 Score	2575	4067	1492
OS	iOS 12	iOS 14.1
Tek-Score	6.2	8.6	2.4

*Reference: 100: Apple iPhone 13.

Which Phone Has The Best Display?

The iPhone 12 has a better display, and it should be noticeable.

One peculiarity that the iPhone XR has over most competitors at its price range: Its pixel density evens out at 24% below the rest.

About the iPhone XR, you should know that 93% of its rivals have an AMOLED screen, and 77% have an Always-On display.

For the iPhone 12, please be aware that 92% of its rivals can play HDR content. Plus, all have an AMOLED screen, and 88% have an Always-On display.

Display Density (DPIs)*			vs.
Features	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Size	6.1	6.1	0.0
Screen Type	LCD	AMOLED
Resolution (px)	828x1792	1170x2532	1478664
Refresh Rate	60hz	60hz	0
Dots per Inch	323.61	457.25	133.64
Always-On-Display	No	No
Notch	Wedge	Wedge
Peak Brightness	660 nits	639 nits	-21
HDR	-	HDR10
Sub Tek-Score	1.2	2.9	1.7
Protection	Corning toughened glass	Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Tek-Score	5.2	7.5	2.3

*Reference: 100: Sony Xperia 1 II.

Which Phone Has The Best Cameras?

Be aware that the iPhone 12's picture quality is, on average, 57% above its adversaries at about this price tag. And it should be your option today.

About the iPhone XR: This camera came out of DXOMARK's labs with a score of 112. If you also consider its digital zoom abilities, it'll get 116** points. If you want to know more about it, click here.

Before moving on, keep in mind that 97% of its rivals can record videos in 4K or more, and all have an ultra-wide-angle lens.

About the iPhone 12: On DXOMARK's reviewing article, they gave this shooter 132 points. By considering its wide-angle lens, we'll get to the final score of 139 points. If you want to know more about every tidbit, check it here.

Furthermore, just to let you know, all of its rivals can record videos in 4 or 8K, have an ultra-wide-angle lens, and feature Optical Image Stabilization. Additionally, only 12% of them feature a macro lens.

If you're not a numbers person, we can tag the iPhone 12 as a high-end.

If you love optical zoom like I do, you should consider other options like the iPhone 13 Pro.

**You should give this score a margin of error of up to 6 points, especially for cameras with no zoom and with less than 40MP. They moved to a new camera test protocol, and I only have few reviewed devices to deduce a compatible score.

Picture Quality*			vs.
Primary Camera	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Megapixels	12	12	0
Aperture	1.8	1.6	-0.2
Lens	26mm	26mm	0
Lens Type	Wide-Angle	Wide-Angle
Flash	4	4	0
HDR	Yes	Yes
OIS	Yes	Yes
Video	2160	2160	0
Score	116	139	23

*Reference: 100: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra.

Extra Camera(s)	iPhone XR	iPhone 12	vs.
Megapixels	-	12
Aperture	-	2.4
Lens	-	13mm
Lens Type	-	Ultra-wide-Angle
Score	4	7	3

Selfie Camera	iPhone XR	iPhone 12	vs.
Megapixels	7	12	5
Aperture	2.2	2.2	0.0
Lens	32mm	23mm	-9

	iPhone XR	iPhone 12	vs.
Tek-Score	6.8	8.2	1.4

Who has the best frame?

The iPhone 12 does have an advantage here, thanks to its weight and water resistance.

The iPhone 12 weighs 164 g. (5.78 oz), while its sibling is 30 g. (1.06 oz) heavier. But because this is a bit relative, I've developed a formula for a kind of "display size to phone weight" ratio. The iPhone XR got a score of 3.3, showing it's kind of weighty for its screen size. In the meantime, the iPhone 12 has 6.9, which is pretty nice.  ? 

The iPhone XR is resistant to water up to 1 meter, while the iPhone 12 got the IP68 rating, so it can safely go in up to 1 to 3 meters. Remember that it shouldn't be for over half an hour, on standby, and freshwater only.

Looks*			vs.
Body	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Size	150 x 75 x 8 mm (5.29 x 2.65 x 0.28 in)	146 x 71 x 7 mm (5.15 x 2.50 x 0.25 in)	-17438
Weight	194 g. (6.84 oz)	164 g. (5.78 oz)	-30
Build	Front and back glass	Front and back glass
Colors	Black, Yellow, Red, White, Coral, and Blue	Black, Red, White, Green, and Blue
Screen To Body Ratio	81.25%	88.18%	6.93
Disp.Size To Weight Score	3.3	6.9	3.5
Looks	8.6/10	10.0/10	1.3
Waterproof	IP67	IP68
Biometrics	Face ID	Face ID
Tek-Score	5.6	8.6	2.9

*100% = 4+ colors + front and back glass + S2BR: 86+%.

Which has the best battery?

The iPhone XR does have a bigger battery, with 2942 mAh, while the iPhone 12 only has 2815 mAh. But according to GSMArena's tests, there's no real difference between them.

Battery*			vs.
Features	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Capacity (mAh)	2942	2815	-127
1h Talk + 1h Web + 1h Video	78% left	79% left	1
1h Talk + 3h Web + 1h Video	62% left	64% left	2
1h Talk + 1h Web + 3h Video	64% left	64% left	0
Bat. To Phone Size Score  ?	3.5	5.7	2.2
Sub Tek-Score	6.8	6.9	0.1
Fast Charging	15w	20w	5
Wireless Charging	5w	15w	10
Tek-Score	6.0	6.6	0.6

*Reference: 90: Samsung Galaxy A42.

Which has more storage?

They share the same amount of storage.

The iPhone XR features 64GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM. Also, similarly priced adversaries usually have more storage and more RAM. They're around 6GB of RAM and 113Gb of storage.

In its turn, the iPhone 12 has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of integrated storage. Again, you'll most likely get more RAM and more storage by picking any rival at that price range. 8Gb of RAM and 135Gb of storage: that's the average, not the best you can find.

Most people should be OK with only 64 GB of internal storage. However, if you can't get enough of the record button, you'll find out that 64 GB won't be enough for you.

Storage*			vs.
Features	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
RAM (GB)	3GB	4GB	1
Internal (GB)	64GB	64GB	0
Micro SD	No	No
Tek-Score	2.8	2.8	0.0

*Internal Storage + 256GB Memory Card (Max: 512GB).

Which is the most connectivity-friendly?

The iPhone 12 is your better option, as it features 5G.

You can find the iPhone 12 in the (LTE and) 5G variant.

Connectivity			vs.
Features	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Network	LTE	5G
Bluetooth	5.0	5.0
NFC	Yes	Yes
3.5mm jack	No	No
Tek-Score	3.6	4.6	1.0

Which is more affordable?

Here are the prices that we've come across recently:

Reference: $392

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$431.99

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Apple iPhone XR

Reference: $880

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$709.95

$729.99

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Apple iPhone 12

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Prices on eBay are in $US but Europe-based. You can click to check the prices in your country.

Prices marked with ! are from renewed/refurbished/carrier-locked phones (except eBay prices that, as a last resort, can be from bids or used devices).

How much of a "phone" can your money buy?
That's how much "score" you can get with $100 based on the global score that you'll see in the next section (higher is better).

Have you found better prices elsewhere? The formula is simple: score/price*100.

Also, don't forget to check the latest deals from these four stores, and the state of the art on mobile technology, if you don't want to overpay on your next smartphone.

Related articles:

Best smartphone deals

The Best Unbiased Smartphones For All Budgets

Smartphone Specs Statistics: The State Of The Art (Q1 2021)

Want to know about that global score? First, let me mention the average at their price range. It's 6.1 for the iPhone XR and 7.1 for the iPhone 12.

Verdict: What Makes the Apple iPhone 12 Stand Out?

The iPhone 12 does have a significant performance increase compared to the iPhone XR. I guess you could wait another year if you don't think the XR is that slow or if you're happy with its battery life. Still, you wouldn't get an AMOLED display with a decent amount of pixels per inch right away. Just like you wouldn't get the Victus, the ultra-wide-angle lens plus better overall camera, a slightly lighter device, nor an extra Gigabyte of RAM.

If you think that you can live without that for a whole year, or as long as you plan to keep your (next) iPhone XR, then, by all means, do save a few hundred bucks.

Pros	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
#1	Performance	Performance
#2	Cameras	AMOLED
#3	Fast Charging	Cameras
#4	Wireless Charging	Fast Charging
#5	Glass Protection	Wireless Charging
#6		Glass Protection

Cons	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
#1	Screen Resolution	Always-On-Display
#2	AMOLED	MicroSD Slot
#3	Always-On-Display	3.5mm Jack
#4	MicroSD Slot	Price
#5	Weight
#6	3.5mm Jack
#7	Price

Relative Score*			vs.
Global Score	iPhone XR	iPhone 12
Gaming Score	3.8	6.3	2.5
Tek-Score	5.34	6.72	1.38
Your Score

*Reference: 100: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Scroll the sliders down below to get your own personalized score. Let's suppose you value performance and battery life, and you don't really care about anything else. Then, just set the "Performance" and the "Battery" sliders up to 5 (5+5=10), and then the other sliders down to 0. You'll know what's the best phone for you.

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