The iPhone Air is so light, I forgot it was in my pocket

After using the iPhone Air for the past 10 days, I can confirm what everyone is wondering: Yes, it really is that light and thin. But what’s more interesting is whether Apple’s thinnest phone ever, at just 5.64 millimeters, is worth the tradeoffs it requires.

I’ve used the iPhone 15 Pro Max as my primary phone for over 18 months now, and my secondary phones are often flagship Android phones, so I know what a big smartphone looks like. Meanwhile, the iPhone Air is so light that when I first picked up the iPhone 17 Pro Max after using the Air, the Pro Max suddenly felt heavy. That contrast tells you something about what Apple has accomplished here, and what it may be giving up.

Friends who have kept the iPhone Air say how great it looks and feels in hand, even though the phone weighs just 12 grams less than the iPhone 17. I share the sentiment. I find myself picking the phone off my desk just to experience that feeling again. The novelty of building the phone will certainly wear off, but for now, I’m enjoying it.

The phone is not small. It is easier to hold because it is thin. (Sorry, iPhone Mini fans.) But if you have trouble operating phones with large screens with one hand, this won’t be much different due to the 6.5-inch screen.

As the title suggests, when the iPhone Air is in my pocket, I often forget it’s there. If you have trouble fitting large phones into your pocket, the iPhone Air will likely fit. If you have no problem, your pockets will feel lighter.

While the phone is thin, it is very sturdy. I had a phone drop from bedside table level, and it was fine. One time, I accidentally sat on it, and it didn’t lose any shape. there Lots of Videos There to suggest that it will work well in most everyday conditions.

I typically use most phones without a case, and I didn’t want to add any bulk or thickness to the air of an iPhone with a case — though you’ll need one if you plan to use Apple’s new shoulder strap. And if you want extra protection, you can use Apple’s Apple case without adding a lot of heft.

Given the construction of the iPhone Air Slim, there’s been a lot of talk about battery life. I noticed that the phone would often start getting hot after intense gaming or video streaming, especially around the camera panel area, which led me to check the battery percentage more often than I should have.

The phone has processor crossovers to let you gaming with intense graphics, but if you plan to use the phone extensively during the day, the $99 Magsafe battery pack — which fits on the back of the phone — is a good idea, as it will get you through the day with ease. One added bonus of carrying the pack is that you can accessorize your Magsafe-compatible AirPods battery if necessary.

In general, the Air’s battery life on the iPhone is okay if you plan to do tasks like making some calls, watching some videos, scrolling your feeds, and answering your emails while connected to Wi-Fi. I took the phone on a two-hour ride and watched a downloaded movie on Netflix, and didn’t see much of a drop in the battery level. But keep in mind that this is a new phone, and the battery will drain over time, which could be a concern if you plan on holding on to this phone after a year or two.

Another flaw of the iPhone Air is in the camera department, with its single-lens rear camera setup. The phone features a 48-megapixel sensor with an F/1.6 aperture, just like the iPhone 7. The 26-millimeter focal length camera has sensor stabilization to shift the sensor to capture good photos in most lighting conditions. Although detail on images is good, I noticed that the iPhone’s camera processing often makes the background brighter than what you see with your eyes.

There’s no dedicated telephoto camera, and you’ll have to make do with a 2x crop of the main sensor. However, apart from low-light conditions, the zoom works well. I have three pets, and over the years, I’ve really appreciated a good zoom so I can capture their cute goofs without moving from my spot. I missed having this option with the iPhone Air.

You may decide to overlook the wide-angle lens if you travel a lot or move to places where you might want to take wide landscape photos.

Apple has changed the Selfie camera sensor across the new lineup with a new 18-megapixel square sensor. This enables you to take portraits in different formats without having to hold the phone in landscape mode. Thanks to Center Stage, when more people are crammed into a frame, the camera automatically chooses a wider aspect ratio. But you can manually control zoom in/out and orientation as well. If you shoot videos for different creative channels, the new iPhones also have the option to shoot a clip using feeds from the front and rear cameras simultaneously.

Side note: The Air has a camera control button just like previous iPhones, but I didn’t bother using it much.

There is a third drawback, albeit smaller, which is a single speaker. The iPhone Air is designed in such a way that Apple cannot accommodate speakers at the bottom. When you’re gaming, listening to music, or taking calls on the speaker, you’ll only hear sound from the speaker above the screen. I personally use AirPods most of the time, but I missed having dual speakers while watching an awkward video without the earbuds.

Although Apple nailed the tough part — engineering an amazing phone — now comes the hardest part, which is convincing people to buy one. The Air fills the fourth slot in the company’s four-door iPhone lineup, previously occupied by the Mini and Plus. For Apple, the Air’s mission is to do better than that. But the question is, whose phone is it for?

Just like my colleagues Amanda Silberling and Jolly port It’s easy to be swayed by the iPhone Air because of its shape, he wrote on launch day. You may be convinced after you hold the phone. When I got the iPhone Air, I told a friend that it was a “vibe phone” — one with more swag and hair than practicality.

It’s not a phone you can charge in the morning and confidently get through the entire day without any additional battery support. But if aesthetics or portability matter more than all-day battery life or a multi-lens camera system, the iPhone Air delivers. If not, the rest of the iPhone lineup is for you.