Consumer Reports has rated the iPhone 11 Pro Max the world’s best smartphone, according to its updated smartphone rankings released over the weekend.
The iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max also make the top ten of the list.
Their report praised the battery life improvements on the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max over last year’s iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, with the company saying they were able to run the iPhone 11 Pro Max for 40.5 hours – a major improvement over the 29.5 hours offered by the iPhone XS Max.
The iPhone 11 Pro, on the other hand, managed 34 hours, with the iPhone 11 lasting 27.5 hours.
The company, according to its website, “uses a robotic finger programmed to put the phone through a range of tasks designed to simulate a consumer’s average day. The robot browses the internet, takes pictures, uses GPS, and, of course, makes phone calls.”
Though Consumer Reports didn’t go into much detail on the cameras of this year’s iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, which are considered a key selling point, they did earn “some of the highest scores” in these categories, with the rear cameras scoring “very good” ratings, which puts them on par with the competition such as the Samsung Galaxy S10+.
“Our testers say the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max notched some of the highest scores in our ratings for still-image quality,” Consumer Reports said.
“The iPhone 11 also earned a Very Good score in this category. And all three phones received an Excellent rating for rear-video quality.”
Consumer Reports also tested the water-resistance and durability of the devices, both selling points Apple was keen to promote at this year’s keynote.
What’s interesting to note, however, is that the iPhone 11 Pro couldn’t make it through a durability test, with the report saying “the tumbler is a rotating chamber that repeatedly drops a phone from a height of about 2.5 feet.
The phone is checked for damage after 50 drops and then again after 100. The goal is to expose it to impacts from a wide variety of angles.
“In the case of the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro Max, the phones we tested made it through all 100 drops with just minor scratches.
“But when we checked the iPhone 11 Pro after 50 drops, we found that its display was broken and not working. A second sample also broke.”
The iPhone 11 Pro Max was given an overall score of 95, with the iPhone 11 Pro ranked 92.
The new iPhone 11 had an overall score of 89, which put it in eighth place in this top ten…
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy S10+
- iPhone XS Max
- Samsung Galaxy S10
- Samsung Galaxy Note10+
- iPhone XS
- iPhone 11
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Are you surprised to see Apple at the top?
Let us know your thoughts on Twitter and check back soon for more news and reaction to the new iPhone 11 range, as well as rumors and leaks on the 2020 iPhone range and the upcoming iPhone SE 2, expected in the spring.