iPhone XR's Product Red model blazes bright in crimson

Although Apple's latest iPhone XR has a camera that lacks optical zoom, and its LCD display is a step below the iPhone XS' OLED screen, the iPhone XR is the best iPhone for the price.

It also comes in an array of colors including white, black, blue, coral, yellow and red, seen here.

The phone is available for preorder now and hits stores on Oct. 26. We found the iPhone XR delivers 95 percent of the high-end iPhone XS experience at 75 percent of the cost.

There are compromises though: The screen and the camera take small steps back from the XS models, along with a few other feature nips and tucks.   

Starting at $749 (£749, AU$1,229), the phone is hardly cheap -- but the XR (middle) still costs considerably less than the $999-and-up iPhone XS (right) and the iPhone XS Max (left).    

Like many Apple products, the iPhone XR comes in a Product Red version. A percentage of the sale price goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, and it costs the same as the other colors.

Top tip: Go for the $799 128GB version. Apple finally included a middle storage tier, instead of jumping straight from the $749 64GB (fine, but not quite enough) to the $899 256GB (probably more than most people need).   

Click or swipe through for more pictures of the iPhone XR in red.

On the back of the phone is a single 12-megapixel camera. That impacts photos two ways: no 2x optical zoom or extra levels of digital zoom; and no telephoto-enhanced Portrait-mode photos.

You can still tweak lighting options on the iPhone XR though.

On the front is a 7-megapixel camera with Face ID.

Face ID lets you unlock your phone with facial recognition.

Check out more photos of the iPhone XR in day-to-day uses.

Though it's not as top-notch as the XS models, the iPhone XR is built to be the best everyday phone in Apple's iPhone lineup, based on price, battery, speed and key features like the camera. It's a good size and, very nearly, a perfect phone for its price.

For more info, read CNET's iPhone XR review.