Best iPhone in 2024: Which Apple Phone Should You Buy?
We test every iPhone under real-world scenarios, focusing on features, design, performance, cameras, battery life, and overall value. We document our findings in an initial review, and then periodically update it as new iOS updates arrive or to compare it to new phones from competitors like Samsung, Google, and OnePlus.
Photography
Photography is a big focus for iPhone, so we shoot photos and video of a variety of subjects in different settings and lighting scenarios. We try out all the new camera modes, like ProRes Log video that debuted with iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
Battery life
Battery tests are conducted in a few different ways. We evaluate how long the iPhone lasts over the course of a typical day of use, and note how it performs during more focused sessions of video calling, media streaming, and gaming. We also run a video playback test, which isn’t always included in the initial review and is added later in an update.
Performance measurement
We use benchmarking apps to gauge performance, as well as our own anecdotal experiences using the phone for our review. Of particular interest is how graphics and animations look. Are they fluid? Or do they stutter or stutter? We also look at how quickly the phone switches between horizontal and vertical orientations, and how quickly the camera app opens and is ready to take a photo.
Emergency SOS is perhaps one of the most important features to come to a phone this year.
We perform processing-intensive tasks like editing photos and video, exporting video, and playing games. We evaluate whether a newer version of the iPhone has enough features to make it worth upgrading from older models. Some of these tests will be added in later updates after the initial review is published.
Read more: How CNET Tests Phones
