iPhone 8 vs 11: Intro - two years apart but are they two worlds apart?

It may seem unfair to compare the iPhone 8 vs iPhone 11 because the iPhone 11 came two years after the announcement of the iPhone 8, where you would expect some significant spec upgrades as a result. However, to put it succinctly, it actually is a choice between wanting a budget iPhone that simply gets the job done but isn’t particularly powerful anymore in today’s market vs an upgrade that looks extra flashy and wouldn’t seem out of place amongst the latest line of iPhone models. We give you the full breakdown and our verdict on which you should choose in the iPhone 8 vs 11 debate.

iPhone 8 vs 11: Design - bigger in every way!

The iPhone 11 is taller (13mm more), thicker by 1mm, wider by 8mm, but heavier (way heavier!) by 46g! The weight is the huge difference when holding both phones in either hand. You may need to think about whether the size is ergonomically hand-friendly for yourself, or whether your jeans/bottoms have pockets that are big enough to fit this chunky phone in now. However, there are reasons for this notable size increase, and arguably it is because of the extra durability and sturdiness for those that have ‘butter fingers’ and always damage their iPhone through constant drops, but likely because they’ve fitted in a lot of internal improvements inside (which we’ll cover more later). One of them being an upgrade to IP68 (IP67 in the iPhone 8), which means you can drop your iPhone into 2m of water now for half an hour. 

In terms of the colourway, the iPhone 11 follows on from the iPhone XR with a fun selection to choose from such as; (PRODUCT)Red, yellow, lavender, mint, black, and white. Whereas the iPhone 8 released a more premium looking colourway of gold, silvery and space grey.

The obvious difference in terms of design is the missing home button from the iPhone 11 which was last seen on an iPhone 8! Some people miss the beloved home button, but for those that have not yet tried an iPhone without it, this means you’ll have to learn new shortcuts and hand gestures, but we promise this is something you’ll get the hang of pretty quickly.   

iPhone 8 vs 11: Screen - similar quality, but a lot bigger

When Apple made the iPhone 11, they outfitted it with the same Retina screen technology that they put in the iPhone 8 a couple of years earlier, but made it a lot bigger. You get an edge-to-edge 6.1” LCD screen in the iPhone 11 vs a 4.7” LCD in the iPhone 8 (no thanks to the large bezels), which is great news for you if you like watching YouTube videos or playing mobile games. 

iPhone 8 vs 11: Camera - marked improvement

If you plan on taking a lot of photos with your iPhone everywhere you go, but you’re not a picky photographer, then the refurbished iPhone 8 might be just enough for you, but if you want to one-up to the next level of smartphone photography, the iPhone 11 will surely take you there. Thanks to the fact that it has an additional rear-facing camera, you’ll be able to take wide-angle shots, so if you’re a lover of landscapes or architecture, the iPhone 11 may be the better choice for you. But even if the wide-angle lens doesn’t sound that interesting to you, you’ll probably be pleased to hear that the iPhone 11 camera has a better image processor that will ensure better sharpness and colour accuracy on just about any picture. And that image processing especially comes in handy at night. Thanks to the iPhone 11’s spectacular Night mode setting, pictures you take at night will have more detail than ever before, even if you’re not using the flash. How is the iPhone 11 able to do this? We think it has something to do with machine learning—ooohhh robots… cool!!!

iPhone 8 vs 11: Performance & storage - A13 Bionic processor means higher performance

With the two generation gap between the iPhone 8 and the 11, the performance of the iPhone 11 will be noticeable to the iPhone 8. This especially shines when handling more powerful apps like big games on the iPhone 11 and will be an important factor if you consider yourself a mobile gamer. CPU frequency and RAM capacity has increased slightly in comparison to the iPhone 8, all adding to the improved processing speeds. However, if you only plan to surf the web, use social media, make calls, send texts and emails and nothing too heavy, then the A11 Bionic chipset in the iPhone 8 will serve you plenty.  

With storage, both have a maximum capacity of 256GB.

iPhone 8 vs 11: Battery - bigger phone means a bigger battery too!

It’s clear to see Apple is trying to move away from the need of power banks, and it doesn’t come any clearer with the improved battery capacities that you see in the X series and beyond. The iPhone 11 has a battery capacity of 3110 mAh, which is significantly larger than iPhone 8’s 1821 mAh. This certainly comes in handy as the improved camera will mean you’ll need that extra juice to last you the whole day, especially if you’re thinking of upgrading for an upcoming holiday. 

iPhone 8 vs 11: Special features - facial recognition here to stay

As a result of the iPhone 11 series continuing the fashion of non-existent home buttons, authentication through face recognition has become the new norm. Extremely intuitive and works more often than not, this is an advancement from the iPhone 8 in terms of technology gimmicks. However, if you’re not a fan of facial recognition or are a bit conspicuous of this tech, then the iPhone 8 and its fingerprint ID is just as reliable. 

Both phones come with wireless charging, and provides slow-motion video recording capability. 

iPhone 8 vs 11: Price - quite an upgrade but it comes at a cost

Currently on our latest refurbished iPhone 8 deals, you can pick one up for as cheap as £119. Whereas if you’re looking at a refurbished iPhone 11, the cheapest deal is at £246. However, it is important to bear in mind that this is a saving of up to 50% off, plus 12-months warranty whereas a brand new iPhone would in fact set you back at £489 instead. 

iPhone 8 vs 11: Verdict

The iPhone 8 is undoubtedly a bargain in today’s market. Not many iPhones with an LCD screen, 12 MP camera, and powerful enough Bionic processor will cost as low as it does today, not to mention it is still supported with the latest iOS by Apple. 

However, if your budget allows you to spend considerably extra, then the iPhone 11 is a popular choice when you compare the price and features to the latest iPhone 13 models where performance and specs are quite minute.