Apple iPhone 13 Review (Updated 2022) – Is it Worth Buying?

iPhone 13 – Two-minute Review

The iPhone 13 doesn’t add many new features, but it improves on the iPhone 12 in numerous categories, most notably cameras, display, power and battery life, making it one of the most amazing all-around phones we’ve seen from Apple.

On paper, it’s difficult to see why Apple didn’t title this phone the iPhone 12S. The style is much the same, the specifications aren’t noticeably altered, and there aren’t many eye-catching new features.

Everything about the iPhone 13 is, however, a little better than before — and certain components are noticeably improved.

The iPhone 13’s battery life is its defining feature. Previously, iPhones were not linked with long battery life, but we were hard-pressed to run out of charge throughout every day of our testing.

If we talk about its battery life, Apple has finally nailed it, and it’s now considerably superior than prior iPhone models.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 13’s new A15 Bionic engine is very powerful, and when combined with 4GB of RAM, it is capable of executing many applications and tasks swiftly and effectively.

The inclusion of the company’s Sensor-Shift OIS technology, which was previously only available on Apple’s Pro Max devices, is a huge deal for people who wish to photograph swiftly without losing their subject in a blur.

The screen of iPhone 13 is a little better than what we’ve seen on previous standard’ iPhones, which is significant if you’re moving from an iPhone XS or earlier. The OLED technology used here allows for a brighter image than ever before, and the picture quality is just outstanding.

With iPhone 13, one regret is that Apple hasn’t added a 120 Hertz refresh rate on the iPhone13, so the experience isn’t as fluid as it is on the iPhone 13 Pro Max or iPhone 13 Pro.

Apple’s new iPhone will cost you, as usual, with the iPhone 13 beginning at $799 albeit this year that includes 128 GB of storage compared to the 64 GB of the base-model iPhone 12.

While the iPhone 13 might not seem to be a significant step forward for Apple at first sight, the enhanced camera, screen, performance and battery life all add up to make it a compelling investment for anybody upgrading from an earlier iPhone or switching from Android.

Apple iPhone 13 Price and Storage

The iPhone 13 begins at $799 for 128 GB of storage and goes up to USD 899 for 256 GB storage and $1,099 for 512 GB storage, when available. It costs £779 in the United Kingdom, with the 256 GB model clocking in at £879, and the 512 GB variant clocking in at a whopping £1,079.

Trade-in deals from both Apple and cellular carriers, as well as several discounts, may help you save money on these high-end smartphones. Visit our iPhone 13 deals page to keep up with the newest bargains. And don’t forget to check out the iPhone 13 Cyber Monday bargains.

Apple iPhone 13 Design and Colors

• The display looks more immersive with the smaller notch makes
• The placement of button is slightly different
• Blue and Pink are the standout colors

For iPhone 13, there are just two noteworthy changes to the design. To begin, instead of being aligned vertically, its cameras on the back are now oriented diagonally.

First and foremost, the notch has been shrunken by 20 percent while still offering the same high-quality Face ID and TrueDepth camera system you’ve come to expect from the iPhone X since it introduced this technology four years ago.

On a day-to-day basis, the iPhone 13’s reduced notch does not make much of a difference. We didn’t find either notch obtrusive while viewing videos side by side in landscape mode at full-screen.

With applications like Gmail, which has a white backdrop and a portrait orientation, the little notch was a welcome addition. While the iPhone 13’s notch is smaller, it swoops down a little further.

The iPhone 13’s button location differs somewhat from that of the iPhone 12’s. Right-side power button is lower than the volume buttons and the ringer switch on the left-side.

Other than that, the iPhone 13 has just the same CeramicShield display, flat corners and sturdy glass back, as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12. IP68 water resistance is still there, as it was previously. Face ID doesn’t function well with masks, thus the lack of Touch ID on the iPhone 13 is a disappointment for many of us. Like the iPad mini 6’s Touch ID sensor buried in the power button, we didn’t require a display-mounted fingerprint sensor.

In rare circumstances, the iPhone 13 seems to have difficulties unlocking with the Apple Watch. Apple is aware of the problem and promises a remedy shortly.

This year’s iPhone 13 is available in a variety of hues including (Product) Red. That particular blue model was a lot of fun to use without becoming overpowering. In addition, the color-coordinated metal frame Apple provides with its entry-level iPhones continues to please us.

Apple iPhone 13 Display

• The display is quite bright making it easy to read in direct sunlight
• Colors and contrast are superior

Aside from having a 120Hz refresh rate, the OLED display of Apple’s iPhone 13 performs a fantastic job. In comparison to last year’s iPhone 12, the new Super Retina XDR display is 28 percent brighter, and it’s also certified at an impressive 800 nits.

The brightness difference between the iPhone 13’s display and the iPhone 12’s display isn’t remarkable, but it may assist if you’re attempting to see it in direct sunlight.

The overall quality of the display remains excellent. Compared to the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13, on average, gave 795 nits of brightness in our lab testing, while the Galaxy S21 averaged 702 nits. DCI-P3 and RGB color gamuts were also measured on the iPhone 13 and reported at 78.1 and 110.2 percent respectively. Samsung’s Galaxy S21 scored 77.4 and 109.2 points, while the iPhone 12 scored 81.1.

The color accuracy is also excellent, with the 0.26 Delta-E score. In comparison, both the Samsung Galaxy S21 and the iPhone 12 have an average of 0.29.

Apple iPhone 13 Cameras

• Its colorful and bright images leave Samsung behind
• Improved Night mode is delivered by the Ultra-wide camera
• Photographic styles give you creative control

It is not merely the new lenses arrangement that makes the iPhone 13 cameras better. Compared to the iPhone 12, the wide-angle camera now captures 47% more light, owing to a bigger sensor with 1.7m pixels.

Moreover, the ultrawide camera’s upgraded sensor provides greater low-light performance as well as reduced noise, making it even more versatile.

As a photographer, you may like the new Photographic Styles tool, which allows you to change the color temperature of your images. Using the Camera app, you may choose from a wide range of options including the conventional and colorful styles.

To see how different styles worked, we tried using the function on a series of portraits. As an example, using the rich contrast option reduced haze while using the brilliant setting brought out the coleus plants and tree backdrop more strongly. Changing this effect on the fly isn’t as simple as tapping a setting and then selecting the style you want, but we appreciate the customization options.

Compared to the iPhone 12, the iPhone 13 is able to represent the shadows more accurately.

In addition, the iPhone 13 was able to get a more impressive, colorful and brighter result. Even though the photos taken with the Galaxy S21 Ultra are razor-sharp, they have a bland quality to them.

Although the iPhone 13 performed similarly to the iPhone 12 in most photography conditions, we saw a significant improvement in Night mode.

Apple iPhone 13 Video

•  While adding bokeh, the cinematic mode automatically changes focus on subjects
•  The video quality of Dolby Vision HDR is superior

While shooting videos on the iPhone 13, you’ll really feel like a filmmaker. And the new Cinematic mode is to thank for that. It adds depth of field to the videos and automatically adjusts the focus based on what’s occurring in the frame, like someone tilting their head to speak with another person. You don’t even have to raise a finger to get it to operate.

The backdrop bokeh effect has been explored by several smartphone companies, including Samsung, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra isn’t intelligent enough to transfer the focus from topic to subject in real-time.

Even in cinematic mode, the iPhone 13 struggles to keep up with fast-moving objects. However, since Cinematic mode cannot be recorded in 4K, this option can only be used in 1080p. We believe many people would want to test it out, particularly for TikTok social videos.

Higher dynamic range, improved noise reduction, and improved semantic rendering all contribute to the iPhone 13’s impressive video quality. Our eyes were drawn to how much quieter the video from the iPhone 13 was when we compared it to the iPhone 12 while walking around the Manasquan reservoir.

Apple iPhone 13 Performance and A15 Bionic

• Comes with the fastest A15 Bionic chip
• Machine learning performance is notably better

A15 Bionic chip, however, does not offer significant improvement over A14 Bionic that is found in the iPhone 12. For machine learning and artificial intelligence, the A15 Bionic has a 16-core Neural Engine in addition to the 4-core CPU and 6-core GPU of the A14 Bionic.

There is a 50% increase in CPU speed and a 20% increase in GPU speed in the iPhone 13 compared to the competition, according to Apple. Before we move towards the benchmarks, we believe it’s vital to speak about how fast this smartphone feels in normal usage.

Genshin Impact, a famous combat title, with high-quality animations and particle effects that made us feel like we were playing a console game. Also, we were pleased by the Seek app’s ability to quickly identify plants in our garden just by pointing the camera at them.

The iPhone 13 achieved a total score of 4,129 on Geekbench 5 and a score of 1,684. That’s a lot better than the iPhone 12’s 3,859/1,593 and the Galaxy S21’s 3,302/1,048 ratings.

The iPhone 13’s graphical capabilities are equally impressive. The latest iPhone scored 55.9 frames per second on the 3DMark Wild Life test. The iPhone 12 has a frame rate of 51 frames per second, however the Galaxy S21 Ultra only manages 33 frames per second.

In our test of video editing using Adobe Premiere Rush, we didn’t detect significant improvement. The iPhone 13 transcoded a 4K movie to 1080p in 25.9 seconds, compared to the iPhone 12’s 26.5 seconds. It took the Galaxy S21 1 minute and 2 seconds to complete the task.

See how each of the four iPhone 13 models performs and how they compare to the Android competition on our results page for the iPhone 13 benchmarks.

Battery Life and Charging

• The battery life is 10 hrs and 33 minutes, which is almost 2 hrs more than iPhone 12

With an efficient display, a larger battery, and the A15 Bionic CPU, Apple claims the iPhone 13 can last up to 1.5 hrs longer than the previous-generation model. However, the outcomes of our research were much more impressive.

The iPhone 13 held up for 10 hours and 33 minutes on our battery test, which takes into account continuous web browsing over 5G connection at 150 nits of brightness over AT&T’s network. That’s more than two hours longer than the iPhone 12 handed in at 8:25 p.m. The Galaxy S21’s fastest time was 9:53.

Unfortunately, the iPhone 13’s charging speeds are the same as they were on the previous generation. To get to 51 percent capacity in mere 30 minutes, Apple’s 20W charger was used on the new iPhone. The OnePlus 9 Pro is the quickest phone on our list of the fastest charging phones.

The iPhone’s MagSafe charger (15W) is a little slower, however, some may find it more handy since it’s magnetic and doesn’t need the Lightning connector to be plugged into the iPhone.

iOS 15

• Share Play lets you listen to music and watch videos with friends

iOS 15 brings a number of new features to iPhone 13, mainly aimed towards enhancing the user experience. In the future, FaceTime will allow you to listen to music or view movies or television programs with friends and family. Additionally, a new Shared with You feature has been added to the Messages app, where friends may send you photographs, articles, and more.

The new Focus notification filtering function in iOS 15 is something we really like. Finally, the notification system has been improved, with a new summary view option so that you don’t get overwhelmed by notifications.

In addition to a revamped Safari, an improved Weather app, and an improved Maps app, iOS 15 has a few other notable features, like the ability to adjust the placement of the address bar on the bottom of the screen. When you need to check anything up or translate something, you may use Live Text, which recognizes text in real-time through the camera.

Apple just released a bug-fix update. It has been fixed in iOS 15.1.1, which fixes an issue that caused calls to drop. If you have an iPhone 12 or 13 and are experiencing this issue, please upgrade as soon as possible.

iPhone 13 Known Problems

There have been several issues so far with the iPhone 13 for users. Even though a patch is supposedly in the works, some iPhone 13 owners are reporting that the phone would not unlock with an Apple Watch. There are also reports of the touch display of iPhone 13s being unresponsive, which could be an iOS 15 problem.

Complaints about the iPhone 13 Pro’s cameras switching between lenses without notice are being addressed by an upcoming software update from Apple. In addition, certain applications don’t function at 120 Hertz on the iPhone 13 Pro’s ProMotion screens, which Apple plans to fix in a future update. Apps must also be optimized by developers.

What about the Pixel 6?

Google’s Pixel range, which is now available, is the closest thing Android has to an iPhone. When it comes to photography, though, the Pixel phones are a significant threat to Apple’s latest iPhone. This year’s contest between Google and Apple for the finest camera phone is expected to be fierce.

For the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google has taken a leaf out of Apple’s playbook by using its own hardware (called Tensor) for AI and machine learning capabilities, particularly in voice recognition and post-processing of photos.