Review iPhone 13 Pro review: One of the best phones ever

Sep 22, 2021
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Using the S21 Plus as a comparison to the iPhone 13 Pro doesn't feel very apples-to-apples. Comparing models, should the performance and camera tests not have been the iPhone 13 compared to the S21 Plus and the iPhone 13 Pro to the S21 Ultra? Puts the validity of the "one of the best phones ever" into question for me.
 
Sep 22, 2021
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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 all the way. There is no turning back once you try it. Best productivity and media consumption phone - period!
 
Sep 22, 2021
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Tom’s review of the iPhone 13 was superb. I really appreciate the comparison photos and in-depth analysis of its features. I had already pre-ordered my iPhone 13 Pro Max, and after reading the review, I can hardly wait to get it and start using the camera. Thanks again for the outstanding review.
 
Sep 22, 2021
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It's funny how you choose the iPhone pro 🤣 vs the Samsung galaxy s21 plus use the s21 ultra for the iPhone could get destroyed!!🔥🚒
 
Sep 22, 2021
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I feel the review was well written in all, only let down by being written through a rose tinted lens.

The negatives of the phone were either glossed over, or not mentioned.

The display, for example, was glossed over a bit. Samsung and LG make the best displays currently, they literally a display supplier to Apple. That immediately tells you that even Apple knows who has phones with better displays. The reviewer acknowledged that the iPhone 13 didn't have the best display on the market. The iPhone 13 Pro may have a very good display, but there are several phones with superior displays. The S21 series, Xiaomi Mi 11/Ultra, Sony Xperia 1 III, Oppo Find X3 Pro, off the top of my head. Again, this was slightly glossed over in the review.

The negligible, bordering non-existent CPU performance gains over last generation failed to warrant a mention at all in the review, see this article for evidence:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...ant-cpu-upgrades-due-to-chip-team-brain-drain

Instead the focus was all on the genuinely impressive GPU gains, where Apple has been lagging behind Qualcomm for a few years (and may have finally caught up).

I agree with one of the other comments regarding the camera comparison. It was unfair. The S21 Ultra is Samsung's best camera phone, not the S21 Plus. You wouldn't pit an iPhone 12 or 13 against the S21 Ultra, would you? So why do the inverse? I'm sure Tom's Guide have an S21 Ultra on hand to use.

Moreover, comparing any of the iPhone 13 models to the S21 series isn't a fair comparison in and of itself. I realize that the S21 series is all anyone has to go on currently, but you can't forget that the S21 series is the competitor to the iPhone 12 series, not the 13 series. It's akin to writing an S21 review and comparing it to the iPhone 11 range. Last generation VS current generation. Unavoidable, yet unfair nonetheless.

The iPhone release is timed perfectly so it wins all the 'best phone of the year' awards, gets loads of positive reviews that hang around for months, etc. But in fact, all the major competitors to the fresh iPhone series' don't actually release until the following year. So in the review, the author should have at least mentioned the upcoming S22 series, the impending Snapdragon 895/898 reveal (along with the Exynos 2200) even just for a reality dose at the end.

Despite my seemingly nit-picky rant, the reviewer is clearly very experienced and has an extensive knowledge of smartphones, particularly in the camera department. I applaud him and his review for that, and I hope to see more great reviews (hopefully with some critiques from commenters taken into account) from Tom's Guide in the future.
 
Sep 23, 2021
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So the iPhone 13 Pro is one of the best phones around yet it is being compared to a S21 Plus?

I mean, its a great written piece, absolutely no doubt about that. However, as someone on here has previously mentioned, there was hardly any critique which means as a review, the written piece I am afraid its absolutely useless, unless you worked for Apple/or are a fanboy who thinks Apple is better than anything else. There was no single mention of the S21 Ultra in the review (Apple probably held you at gunpoint 'do not mention that phone!'.

There has been some photo comparisons online between the S21 Ultra and the Iphone 13 Pro Max by MrWhosTheBoss, and surprisingly, it was a draw between the two devices regarding photo/video capabilities. He showed us that evidence and I felt that was a proper review by a tech enthusiast who actually cares to tell you the truth.
 
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MrEBE

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Feb 1, 2011
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I'm an ever happy iphone user.. I do know why and what make me in love with the iphones Technologicaly speaking (all the requirements to anything IT to be able to produce CONSTANT PERFORMANCE) and exactly the why and what made me hate every time I had to work with androids (being the Web OS, Open Environment, it is..)

I change iphone around every 3 years.. and am now a very happy Iphone 13 user.. but jeez how I would love to pocess one 13 Pro !! Mostly as a big photography enthousiast..
But sadly I cannot justify the hughe price difference here (around 400.-)...

Beside, always do remember that the happiest people are the ones who learn to want what they have.. the sadiest people are the ones who always want the next things..

And I keep repeating to friends how great the iphones are and stay many years after release ! I had to temporaly fall back to my old iphone 8... let me say.. I updated it to 15.3 and was blown away by the performance of that "very old" machine !!