iPhone XS vs. iPhone XR: How much better is the camera?

When it comes to the cameras the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR share nearly the exact same specs. Same camera on the front and same main camera on the back. Except, of course, the iPhone XS has two. But is that extra camera worth the $250 or more that you'd be spending on the higher-end model? Well, that's why we're here. I'm gonna take the 10R and the 10S on a little photo shoot. [MUSIC] If you're looking at the photos on the phones, the ones on the 10S might look a little bit better. Colors appear to be more vivid and there's Better contrast. BUt that probably has little to do with the camera and a lot to do with the screen. OLED on the 10S versus LCD on the 10R. Once of the phones, though, they should look exactly the same because for general shots, they share the same main shooter with the same processing power and smart HDR feature. And the results are impressive. [MUSIC] Same goes for selfies. They both have that seven-megapixel TrueDepth camera that can take regular or portrait-mode selfies. And video will also look the same. In fact, both these guys have one of the best video cameras we've ever seen on any phone. Now where you will start to notice a difference is with the zoom. The 10S uses that second telephoto lens as an optical 2X zoom and then pushes to digital beyond that, which means photos at the same zoom will look sharper on the 10S, and it can get even closer than the 10R, which uses software only. But the most practical tool about the zoom on the 10s is actually that 2x shortcut on the camera interface. That's convenient for quick, one-handed zoom. [MUSIC] You'll probably notice the biggest difference in portrait mode. They both do it, but the 10s is using that second telephoto lens. And it crops in closer whereas the XR is using software only so you have that wider-angle field of view. The downside is it only works on humans. This means no objects, no plants, no back shots, and no animals which, as a pet owner, is kind of a bummer. The only way to get portrait mode on the XR to work on animals for now is with a third party app or if you add a human, or tiny human, to the frame. And sure, the end results look just as cute on both phones, but getting it on the XR was a struggle. I had to readjust my distance multiple times for it to lock into portrait mode. The 10s also has more information to work with coming in from both lenses. So it's a little bit better at determining where to apply the blur. And the edges tend to look softer. But subjects look sharper on the XR and you can fit more into your shot. Plus you still get that slider tool to adjust the intensity of the blur before and after you take the shot. And those lighting effects, minus stage light and state light mono. The downside of having the wider angle lens though, is that it can start to distort the subject if you come in too close or position your subject along the edges of the frame. The upside is your low light portraits will look a lot brighter and sharper on the XR because it uses that wider aperture lens that's able to let in more light. This portrait in the dimly lit tiki bar taken on the 10s is barely usable, while the one shot on the 10r is by no means perfect, but at least you can make out the subject and the scene a lot better. [MUSIC] At the end of the day, both these phones are gonna take great photos, because they share the same Same main camera now the question is whether or not you need that second lens and it really depends on what you're using it for. I for one take a lot of portraits and i wanna have all the options available so I would probably still splurge on the ten S. But what do you guys think? Let me know all the comment section below or hit me up on twitter. And make sure to watch our full review of both these phones on cnet.com. [MUSIC]