If you take pictures indoors or in low light or at night, the 11 is miles above the X or XR. The night mode is leaps better. It’s literally almost like magic.
I always laugh when folks talk about not upgrading like it’s some badge of honor or they are being so much smarter than the rest of us. If you’re keeping your phone 5-7 years, you’re missing out on tons of tech that likely makes your experience significantly better.
And I don’t think you’re even saving that much money. Apple devices hold their value. If you keep it in good condition, the money you save by holding onto the phone for 3 years is negligible. Because anything you saved on the new phone, you lost on the decrease in value of the old one.
If you’re keeping it over 5 years, then you’re saving money I guess, but you’re depriving yourself a lot of advancement for a little monetary gain.
If you can’t be bothered to sell your old phone, I guess this doesn’t work for you, but if you don’t mind, upgrading every year or two makes a fair amount of sense.