It's getting harder to ignore some pretty glaring problems…

I'm taking longer to fully review certain products, and I'm rather enjoying the process.

Sure, I rushed to the gates with my first impressions YouTube videos for the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone Air, but that's the nature of the beast; if you want to be successful on that platform, you have to show up early.

However, I know (because I've asked) that my audience prefers to hear slightly longer-term thoughts than "I've just unboxed this thing and this is what I think about it". Which makes total sense. These are big, important purchases.

I've lived with the iPhone Air since I collected it from an Apple store on Friday, 19th September. I've switched to it from the iPhone 16e, and I intend to run it for the next 12 months.

I'm taking this seriously, folks.

Today, I'm going to reveal what the iPhone Air is like to live with and tackle the three biggest questions people have about Apple's new squeeze: battery life, the camera system, and that single speaker.

But first…

Hello, lovely design

The iPhone Air is all about the design. Apple tells us it's a glimpse into the future and that it contains the "power of pro" inside. These statements are undoubtedly true, but let's not beat around the bush — the iPhone Air is absolutely a design-first product.

It needs to be for reasons I'll get to in a moment, but I can confirm that the iPhone Air delivers when it comes to first impressions.

This is a stunning piece of hardware from Apple. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it's the most impressive Apple product I've held for quite some time. The decision to opt for polished edges as opposed to a matte finish was inspired, and the thinness and lightness are genuinely impressive.

Everyone to whom I've handed the iPhone Air has marvelled at Apple's new smartphone. When you point out that most of the computery bits are actually housed within the camera bump (I'm not calling it a 'plateau', sorry, Tim), jaws inevitably hit the floor.

The display is also utterly lovely.

Oh, and Liquid Glass feels like it was made for the iPhone Air. No, really.

I'd love to know how many people have walked into an Apple store recently with the intention of buying either an iPhone 17 or iPhone 17 Pro (or Pro Max) but who have instead walked out with an iPhone Air based on its looks alone. I guess that it's more than you might think.

How bad is the battery life?

The iPhone Air's battery is weird.

The first weekend I began using it in anger was rather encouraging. On the Saturday, the iPhone Air was moved from the charger with 100% remaining at around 7:55AM. By 10:30PM that evening, I received the 20% battery warning.

On the Sunday, it started with 100% at 7:30AM, and by 7:15PM it still had 55% remaining.

It's worth bearing in mind that the phone was probably still doing some updating and indexing in the background, because I'd only finished setting it up on the Friday. Equally, I hadn't owned it for long enough for iOS to figure out my usage and adjust the battery performance accordingly.

Impressive stuff, right?

Hold your horses. During the week that followed, I travelled to Munich for a press event, and on the first day I was there, the iPhone Air's battery had pretty much exhausted itself by 4PM. This will doubtless have been a combination of relying solely on the cellular connection and the battery-sapping inevitability that is roaming. Still, I can't remember a smartphone performing that poorly, battery-wise, for quite some time.

Now that I'm back at home, I'm finding that I'm hitting the 20% warning message relatively consistently at around 5PM each day, which is early enough to be irritating. My days consist of living off WiFi at home and the studio, but also relying on 5G connectivity for relatively short trips here and there. I don't game on my phones, and my usage is a combination of communication, browsing, social media scrolling, and photo-taking. Pretty regular, I'd say.

The iPhone Air demonstrates admirable battery performance (given the size of the battery) when you spend most of your time on WiFi. It'll get you through a day, no trouble at all in that regard. However, step outside of the comfort of WiFi, and it's a different story; if you spend a lot of your time living on cellular connectivity and you use your phone consistently throughout the day, the iPhone Air will become troublesome.

There's a reason Apple released an iPhone Air-only battery pack alongside the phone.

There's a reason I'm having to use my UGREEN MagFlow power bank more than I've ever had to previously.

The battery in the iPhone Air was always going to be a compromise, and I can confirm that it absolutely is.

How restricted is the camera?

I lived with the iPhone 16e for six months, and as much as I admired the entirely unremarkable way it simply got the job done, there was one element that always frustrated me — the camera system.

I'm afraid the iPhone Air camera feels identical to the iPhone 16e camera. Whether or not this is technically the case isn't clear. On Apple's website, the iPhone Air's rear camera is labelled as "48MP Fusion camera system/48MP Fusion Main", whereas the iPhone 16e reads "2‑in‑1 camera system 48MP Fusion Main".

Call me sceptical, but I have a feeling that they might actually be the exact same thing. Both devices have one camera lens on the rear and, therefore, one sensor behind it. They also share the same zoom options when you open the Camera app, which is precisely one (2x). Well, two, if you count 1x. There's no wide-angle, and the most you'll get from the digital zoom is 10x.

By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge has a wide angle (although it too can only extend as far as 10x).

The lack of a wide angle is regularly frustrating. As some have pointed out, yes, you can get around this by using the selfie camera's wide setting or by shooting a panorama. But I hate workarounds — particularly when the tech in question is so new and so expensive.

Don't get me wrong — the iPhone Air takes lovely photos at 1x, because of course it does. It's just incredibly limited beyond that, and while I can accept it — just — on the entry-level iPhone 16e, I'm afraid I'm struggling to on what is essentially a pro-level iPhone in all but name.

The saving grace for the iPhone Air's camera system is the Centre Stage front camera, which is utterly brilliant. If you weren't aware, you can take both portrait and landscape selfies with it without reorienting the phone. It's game-changing, and it's also something the iPhone 16e doesn't have.

Although you do get it on the regular iPhone 17. Just sayin'.

Speaker problems

A quick caveat before we dive into this: I very rarely use the built-in speaker on my smartphone, because I always assume that no one else wants to hear whatever it is I'm listening to. And I have eleventy-three million pairs of headphones.

On the rare occasions I do rely on my phone's speaker (let's be honest — it's usually while visiting the bathroom), I'm rarely disappointed by the audio quality. This is particularly the case with iPhones, and the iPhone Air is no different; it has a perfectly adequate speaker.

But it is only one speaker. Which means no stereo output if you hold the phone in landscape orientation. Once again, this doesn't bother me at all, but I respect the opinion of those to whom it matters.

This isn't the main problem with that single speaker, though. For me, it's the placement. Apple has chosen to place the speaker at the very top of the iPhone Air's frame, in roughly the same place as the earpiece. It's rather discombobulating.

I regularly find myself listening to voice notes, and if I'm out and about without my AirPods immediately to hand, I've become accustomed to reducing the volume (remember — no one wants to hear what I'm listening to) and placing the bottom of the phone against my ear. The number of times I've done this with the iPhone Air while frantically turning up the volume only to hear absolutely nothing is, frankly, unbelievable.

You'd have thought that, by now, I'd have got used to holding the phone to my ear as though I'm taking a call to hear the voice note. But, no, I keep cranking up the volume and cursing to myself while passers-by hear every detail of the team meeting update from Mark Ellis Media towers.

I can only assume that the speaker placement is, once again, due to the focus on battery size, but it is annoying.

What's it like to live with?

The problem with the iPhone Air is the fact that most people will slap a case straight onto it. That means the initial "wow" moment generated by the thinness is incredibly fleeting. The only time you'll experience it again is if you unearth your iPhone Air from its protective sheath. Which will be never, because you've spent a fortune on it, and the idea of it coming to any harm is gut-wrenching.

This means the iPhone Air quickly becomes almost as regular as the regular iPhone 17, only with a worse battery and a less capable camera system.

There is something about the iPhone Air, though. Its display size is unique within the line-up and sits in-between both the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. And, depending on which case you opt for, you will often be reminded of how unique its design is.

It's early days for me, and I'm in the weird position of having other phones that provide me with the photographic and battery capabilities the iPhone Air is lacking. But I like the iPhone Air. I'm just not sure if it's because it's fun to write and talk about, or if it's because it is genuinely one of Apple's most compelling devices.

Time will tell, and I will of course report back. But if you're still reading this, I know you have one overriding question which I'll do my best to answer before signing off.

Conclusion: Who should buy the iPhone Air?

If you want a solid iPhone that doesn't present you with any battery challenges and which has a camera system that'll never feel like second-best, just get the iPhone 17. This year's regular iPhone is a corker and should be the first port of call for most people.

If you want the ultimate iPhone, get the iPhone 17 Pro Max. It's wonderful. Particularly in Cosmic Orange.

If you want something entirely different and aren't fussed about the compromises outlined in this review, the iPhone Air might be for you. The question is how long you'll be able to live with those compromises before they become too much, but if the comments I've received from happy iPhone Air users are anything to go by, there's a good chance you won't be hit by buyer's remorse.

Stay tuned for future thoughts about the iPhone Air from yours truly over the coming months.

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