This year, just like last year, I only begrudgingly switched from the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max flagship model to the iPhone 15 baseline model. I love having the bigger screen, small screens make me squint -- yes, I have been prescribed glasses but I’m still resisting getting them. And, who wouldn’t love to use a device packed with ALL the flagship features? But I swapped the smartphone, anyway, because that’s what the job demands. And, I have to say at the end of a month and more of using it, I’m not really mad that I did! 

Apple iPhone 15 launched in India, starting at ₹79,900

The Apple iPhone 15 looks like candy -- sweet, pink, yummy tech candy. The glass on the rear panel itself has been infused with colour, and other shade options include black, blue, green, and yellow. Apple’s proprietary Ceramic Shield protects the rear panel, which has a powdery matt finish to the touch. The iPhone 15 sports a 6.1 inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a pixel density of 460ppi. The peak brightness of the device has also been amped up to 2,000 nits compared to last year’s maximum brightness of 1,200 nits on the iPhone 14. However, the refresh rate is still at 60Hz, whereas most smartphones in this price range offer 90Hz, if not higher.  

I logged in to DailyMotion to catch up on some BTS nostalgia - binge-watching old videos of Bangtan Boys’ American Hustle Life. The visuals were crisp, and I didn’t even need to plug in my AirPods. The sound on the device is clear and rich, with videos as well as music that I streamed.  

I was happy to see Dynamic Island on the iPhone 15, considering how much I loved it on the iPhone 14 Pro Max last year. For me, this is one of the small but meaningful additions that deserved to be brought to the entire line-up, which Apple delivered this year. I continue to use it to glance at my Spotify track at any given moment, log in to the device each time, and use maps as we try to find our way to a new Korean restaurant in town. 

Camera

I pop out the camera one fine Sunday as we’re driving around and record some videos in motion, which turn out to be super crisp and smooth. The iPhone 15 has an upgraded 48 MP sensor as its primary, along with a 12 MP sensor as the ultrawide lens. The stills captured on the move were surprisingly sharp and non-blurry. There’s minimal post-processing as the image saves onto the device, resulting in vivid but realistic colours, tones, and saturation. This was true for most photographs I took, especially under direct sunlight, however, some taken in less-than-optimal lighting conditions turned out to be a bit grainier than I had expected.

While I had the option of saving photographs in either JPEG or HEIF format, only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max offer the choice of saving them as ProRAW images. The only downside was sometimes after shooting a video and taking some photos, I felt the area on the rear panel adjacent to the volume buttons warm up quite noticeably.

Tech Specs

The new A16 Bionic processor plays a huge hand in how quick and snappy the iPhone 15 feels. The unit I reviewed had 512 GB storage, although you have the option of going for 128 GB or 256 GB, which are also more affordable. There’s the much-awaited USB-C port, which honestly makes my life as a tech reviewer so much easier, simplifying how many cords I need to be juggling around. However, the transfer speeds through the USB 2.0 are not as fast as the ones on the Pro models. 

According to the company, the smartphone is certified with the IP68 rating for protection against dust and water. This keeps it safe from being submerged in about 18 metres of water, for up to 30 minutes.

The battery life on the iPhone 15 is sufficient for a full day of functional usage. I had Spotify on for a couple of hours a day, checked e-mails frequently, and scrolled endless reels on my commute back home, before hitting the bed. Not to mention taking photos and the occasional 10-15 second video, while I was out and about. With all of this, I didn’t always have to plug in the device before I hit the bed. Apple says that the iPhone 15 can charge up to 50 per cent in 30 minutes using a 20W adapter. In my experience, this claim was fairly accurate. 

Verdict

As a baseline model, the iPhone 15 is perhaps the most feature-packed option I’ve seen in recent times. I love the upgraded camera, the trickle-down of the Dynamic Island from last year’s flagship models, the ease of a USB-C port and a capable new processor. If you’ve always wanted an iPhone but aren’t sure you want the flagship variant, the iPhone 15 makes for a great starter pack to sample the best of what Apple has to offer. 

Price - ₹79,990 onwards 

Pros - Compact design, bright display, decent camera, Dynamic Island 

Cons - No telephoto camera, low refresh rate, no always-on display

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