Hands on: Adding a telephoto lens to the iPhone XR with Moment

The iPhone XR's camera takes great landscape, and wide angle portraits. But wouldn't it be better to have a telephoto zoom lens like its more expensive flagship, the iPhone XS?

On the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max you get two different focal lengths -- a regular wide lens, and a 2x telephoto lens, perfect for portraits. The Moment 58mm Telephoto lens can be used on your iPhone XR to achieve a 2x zoom.

While we're missing that second sensor, Moment's lens will not only get you that 2x zoom, it will actually make your telephoto shots look better than the iPhone XS's secondary shooter. With the lens, its using the iPhone XR's main camera sensor with a much lower aperture which will result in brighter, less grainy photos and natural looking bokeh without using Portrait Mode.

Take a moment

If you're not familiar with Moment, they've been producing these high quality lenses for the iPhone for several years now, and their V2 lenses have only gotten better. The exterior is made out of high quality aluminum, and the lenses themselves are hefty and feel good to hold. The lenses are also made out of high quality glass to give you the best image quality possible.

Moment also requires you to use their photo case -- which is how you attach the 58mm Telephoto lens to the phone. We like this concept because it allows us to use these Moment lenses with other phones, like an iPhone 6, 7 or 8 Plus, even the Pixel 3 from Google.

Third party lenses back in the early days were made out of plastic and didn't often use high quality glass with multi-coat so they weren't as sharp, and introduced chromatic aberration to the images. Fortunately, Moment doesn't do that. All of their lenses are made with the best materials and it shows.

It adds character to your photos

What makes the 58mm telephoto lens so great is the shots you're now able to get with the iPhone XR. Having a single wide camera is so limiting when you're looking to shoot portraits or you're looking for a more compressed shot. With the iPhone XS that's not really an issue, and the lack of secondary lens is what drew me away from buying the iPhone XR.

Portrait Mode looks great on the iPhone XR paired with the Moment 58mm lens, shots are more compressed, and I love how sharp the photos are even though we're adding another layer of glass on top of the lens.

New iPhone and more cameras

September is right around the corner, and we're hearing that the new "iPhone 11R" -- or whatever they wind up calling it -- will apparently add a secondary shooter to its more budget friendly iPhone. So, not having a secondary lens may be a thing in the past once these new iPhones are announced.

But, if you're not in the market to upgrade your iPhone just yet, picking up a Moment lens won't be such a bad idea, and it's an inexpensive way to add a secondary lens to your iPhone XR.

Pick up the 58mm Telephoto lens direct from Moment for $120. Don't forget to pick up a case as well, including those from Moment or Nomad's Rugged Case.