iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus Review: Minor Refreshes and a New Balance

Apple’s annual iPhone reveal event is supposed to be one of the biggest moments in tech each year. At this year’s show – the company’s first in-person product launch since the beginning of the pandemic – the new iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus were two of eight new products jostling for space and attention. The iPhone 14 Plus is an all-new option in the lineup, offering the size benefits of the Pro Max models without some of the features and the associated cost, and so it’s clearly the more interesting of the two new siblings. I’ve been able to spend over a month with both, the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus. If you’re wondering which of these to buy, or whether either of them is right for you, read on.

iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus price in India

It’s interesting that

iPhone 14 Plus daytime photo samples (top: primary camera, bottom: ultra-wide-angle camera) (Tap to see full size)

Apple’s camera app has been a victim of feature creep with all these new modes requiring more buttons and controls, but there are still some things you need to dip into the main iOS Settings app to change. iOS 16 introduces subject extraction from within the Photos app – all you have to do is long-press to pull a subject out of its background, and you can then drag or paste it into other apps. iOS also uses on-device machine learning to help you search through photos by text, and optical character recognition is now as easy as tapping and swiping to select anything you see.

All said and done, no matter how you feel about the features that you do or don’t get, the quality of photos and videos that the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus can take is undeniably impressive. Shots taken with the primary camera in the daytime came out detailed and sharp, and I had no trouble with exposure even in tricky lighting conditions. The textures on leaves and petals looked natural and colours popped nicely. It’s possible to get some neat depth effects even without portrait mode, but extreme close-ups aren’t as successful because there’s no macro capability. The ultra-wide-angle camera delivers slightly lower quality but that isn’t evident if you aren’t magnifying photos to their actual size on screen.

iPhone 14 low-light photo samples (top: primary camera, bottom: ultra-wide-angle camera) (Tap to see full size)

iPhone 14 Plus low-light photo samples (top: primary camera, bottom: ultra-wide-angle camera) (Tap to see full size)

There’s much more of a difference in quality between the two cameras in low light and indoors. The main camera continues to do very well. Even with a little light around, subjects come out looking bright and crisp, and even small points of light against dark backgrounds are usually defined well, without any bleeding. Portrait mode allows for some moody compositions, and motion blur is well under control. However, details are noticeably less crisp, colours aren’t as accurate, and subjects at even a slight distance can seem a bit murky when using the ultra-wide camera at night.

iPhone 14 Plus low-light photo samples (top: primary camera, bottom: ultra-wide-angle camera) (Tap to see full size)

Apple doesn’t seem to have changed much about the front camera compared to the iPhone 13. Selfies in the daytime look fine, but at night it’s best to check the results so you can try again if needed.

Video is smooth at 1080p and 4K although colours are a little overpronounced at the higher resolution. The footage that both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus can capture is good enough for capturing memories and possibly even for professional work. Just like with stills, the lower quality of the ultra-wide camera is much more noticeable at night, with a little visible judder when recording while moving.

iPhone 14 Plus low-light selfie sample (tap to see full size)

Verdict

We’re at a point where there isn’t much you can do to make a premium phone significantly better than its own predecessor, but even so the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus left me somewhat underwhelmed. In a nutshell, the iPhone 14 is Apple’s least significant update yet, and that’s because the company has locked itself into a pricing strategy that prevents Pro features trickling down. At least this model isn’t more expensive than its predecessor, so you’re still getting something a bit better at the same price.

The iPhone 14 Plus does have some novelty value and excellent battery life going for it, but it’s far more expensive than competing Android devices. It might tempt anyone with an iPhone X or older to upgrade and it might be exactly what some people are looking for.

Since you aren’t getting Pro features either way, it seems that you really won’t lose much if you choose to buy last year’s iPhone 13 instead of the current generation. Nearly all the things that make the iPhone 14 good apply to its predecessor as well. You could save Rs. 10,000 (or more when offers are factored in) and you’d get pretty much the same device, just with a bit less RAM and slightly weaker cameras. The only reasons to choose an iPhone 14 over an iPhone 13, especially in India, would be if camera quality is absolutely critical, you anticipate needing crash detection in the future, or you don’t mind spending more money now to maximise usability and resale value many years down the line.

Rumours are already circulating about next year’s iPhones, and it’s likely that they’ll have a minor design refresh including the Dynamic Island. Apple is also due to replace its Lightning port with USB Type-C. If those sound like features worth waiting for, you can quite easily skip the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.