We tested the iPhone 14: a safe bet but with little news

Both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 have been Apple's best sellers, according to research firm Counterpoint Research.

The Cupertino company presented its successor in early September: the iPhone 14, a mobile with good features, but very similar to its predecessor.

The great novelties of the company's most ambitious models have not arrived at this terminal: neither the always-on screen, nor the redesign of the classic notch (the notch at the top of the screen) nor Apple's most powerful processor.

To all this is added the price: if the iPhone 13 started at 909 euros, the cheapest version of the iPhone 14 costs 1,009 euros.

The apple giant is usually quite consistent with the design of its terminals.

The one on the iPhone 14 is almost identical to the one on the iPhone 13. While it maintains the square format with flat sides, the main difference is in the colors in which it is available – blue, purple, black, white and red.

In hand, the mobile is quite comfortable.

It measures 14.6 centimeters high, 7.1 wide and 0.7 thick and weighs 172 grams.

It is, therefore, the lightest iPhone: the iPhone Plus weighs 203 grams;

the iPhone 14 Pro, 206 grams;

and the iPhone 14 Pro Max, 240 grams.

Image of the new iPhone 14.

The 6.1-inch screen looks sharp and bright, but still maintains the 60Hz refresh rate. This parameter refers to the number of times the screen is refreshed per second.

So the higher it is, the smoother the user experience and the smoother the scrolling between apps.

Both the iPhone Pro and the main high-end mobile phones of the competition incorporate refresh rates that reach 120 Hz. Apple's decision not to bring this rate to the iPhone 14 seems, a priori, difficult to justify.

realistic photographs

If there is a section in which the iPhone usually stick out, it is in the photographic one.

Apple usually reserves the best advances for its most ambitious terminals.

In fact, this year the Pro models have made the leap to 48 megapixels for the first time.

However, the iPhone 14, in addition to a 12-megapixel front camera, maintains two rear sensors – a main sensor and an ultra-wide angle – also 12 megapixels.

Some users may miss a telephoto lens.

In general, realistic photographs are achieved, with an adequate level of detail and a good dynamic range.

Although some improvements can be seen, the results are not very different from those achieved with an iPhone 13. With the wide angle, a little more sharpness in low light conditions would be desirable.

On the other hand, the quality of the videos is remarkable.

If the iPhone 13 stood out for the cinema mode, the iPhone 14 launches the action mode, which is used to capture fluid videos with the hand.

This mode works best in bright light and allows for better stabilization even when the person you are recording is constantly moving.

The iPhone 14 does not release a processor

Unlike the iPhone Pro, which debuts the A16 Bionic processor, the iPhone 14 maintains the A15 Bionic of the iPhone 13 – although slightly modified.

The terminal is compatible with 5G networks and is available in three versions: 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB of storage.

This newspaper has tested the 512 GB.

In general, the performance of the mobile is as expected of a high-end mobile in all cases.

Although the A15 Bionic processor still performs well, betting on the A16 would have been a strong point for the future.

Apple does not make public how many mAh the battery of its mobiles has.

In general, the autonomy of the iPhone 14 is enough to reach the full day, even if the terminal is used intensively.

But, like its older brothers, the iPhone 14 supports a 20W fast charge, which leaves this terminal far from the competition's figures.

While some mobiles can be fully charged in just half an hour, in the tests carried out by this newspaper, the iPhone 14 has taken about an hour and a half to charge.

The back of the iPhone 14.

Among the novelties of the iPhone 14, the shock detection stands out.

"When your iPhone detects a serious car crash, it displays an alert and waits 20 seconds to automatically start an emergency call, unless you cancel it," says Apple.

If the user does not respond to this alert, the mobile will call the emergency services and play an audio message informing them of the crash and providing the coordinates where the accident occurred.

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