iPhone XS and XS Max Review | Most Powerful iPhones or Smartphones

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Apple in September 2018 release its new iPhones lineup with 3 different models, the iPhone XS, XS Max and the XR. While the cheaper XR version is going to be available to buy till later this year, we reviewed the XS and XS Max. Honestly, there are a couple of noticeable improvements over the iPhone X. So Let’s dive in the complete review of iPhone XS and XS Max.
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Premium Design and Build

Apple’s new iPhone lineup, the XS and the XS Max looks very similar to the previous gen iPhone X. Even the XS model has the same body and display size, although, the XS Max version is more bigger. The XS Max is of the same size as compared to the iPhone 8 Plus but houses a much larger display without a home button and chin. 
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Both the new models comes in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. The new Gold version has received a lot of positive feedback from the reviewers, but that’s not my cup of tea. Talking about the XS, it has exactly the same 7.7mm thickness as the iPhone X but weighs slightly higher (177 grams). While the iPhone XS Max is 7.7 mm thick and weight 208 grams easily making it a two-hand smartphone. Both the models are has metal frame with Glass on the front and back. The new glass is tougher than the one seen on iPhone X and resist to scratches better than before. Also, both the models are now IP68 water resistant which means it can withstand 2m underwater for 30 minutes.
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The iPhone XS and XS Max follow the same design language with Silent switch and volume keys on the left, SIM slot and Power key on the right. There is a thunderbolt charging port at the bottom along with speaker and microphone. Both the iPhone XS and XS Max has a notch which houses the front camera, earpiece, and bunch of other sensors and rest of the front is covered by only the display. Moving toward the back, there is a similar looking Dual Camera unit on the back of both devices and nothing more.
Apple iPhone XS and XS Max both look super premium in terms of design and build quality embracing more tougher Glass and IP68 Dust and Water resistance and the new Gold color might become your next favorite iPhone color too.

Stunning Display

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have the best display Apple has ever used on an iPhone. Specially the enormous display on the iPhone XS Max. Both the smartphones uses an OLED display with is known for vibrant colors and deep blacks.
The display on the XS model is 5.8 inches in size which is the same as found on the iPhone X and has a resolution of 1125 x 2436 and pixel density of 458 pixels per inch.On the other hand, the iPhone XS Max has a gigantic 6.5 inches display with a resolution of 1242 x 2688 and pixel density of 458 pixels per inch.                                
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The iPhone XS Max show split version of the inbuilt apps but it still doesn’t support split view with 3rd party app like on Android devices.  Both the Super Retina displays look astonishing and are bright enough with iPhone XS hitting 611 nits while the XS Max hitting a max of 606 nits. Watching movies on these phones specially the iPhone XS Max feels super immersive with accurate colors 123% sRGB color Gamut. The black appears super awesome and the colors pops out enhancing the overall media consumption experience. Also, the screen supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 standard which means it can stream HDR content on the services like Netflix or Amazon Prime which means better contrast, color tone, and visuals overall. Both the models support True tone and 3D touch functionality and are one of the finest display available in the market as of now.

X-traordinarily Powerful

Both the XS and the XS Max model house the latest Apple A12 Bionic chip which is a 7 nanometer Hexa-core chip with 2x Vortex and 4x Tempest cores. Apple claims that the Vortex cores are 15ster than the last years A11 chip. Even the GPU is also said to be 50% than the previous generation. Both the models has 4GB of RAM and are available in 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options.
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Before we talk about the performance, the Geekbench score both the device topped the chart with around 11,400 on the XS model and 11,500 on the XS Max model. The A12 chip is faster than ever with apps opening and closing much faster than the last years chip. Games like Fortnite, PUBG, Asphalt 9 launches much faster on the new iPhones as compare to even the fastest Android device. Even the most demanding titles like Asphalt 9 runs at full graphic settings without any noticeable lag or hiccup. Also, there is a new whopping 512GB storage variant which is excessive, but its 2018 so why not?
The neural engine in the A12 chip is also upgraded and is now 9 times faster than the one on the last years iPhone X. The virtual world on the iPhone XS and XS Max loads much faster than ever before. Apple also showed different apps during the launch event, each one showing the AR capabilities on the new iPhones and the result was phenomenal. Thus, it can be easily concluded that both the new iPhones are completely future proof and are easily the most powerful phones in the market right now.

New Software

The new iOS 12 on both the iPhone XS and XS Max is much faster and smoother than before. It is much more responsive than ever with faster app loading and navigating through the UI much feels like a breeze. There are a lot of new features and enhancements in the iOS 12 and while we can’t talk about them all, here are some of the best features and improvements.
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  • The new iPhones can now recognize up to 50 facial movements through its TrueDepth camera for Memoji. These memojis can now be used directly on Facetime or can be sent in outgoing messages.
  • There is a new search option to find the exact photo which you are looking for in your gallery. As you type, the suggestions will keep coming until you find the one which you are looking for.
  • iOS 12 now handles notifications much better than ever before with feature like bundled notifications and you can also disable notification from a particular app right from the notification panel.
  • The new Do Not Disturb mode can now be set up for a particular time or location. For example, if you set it to a particular location, all the notification alerts will be muted until you leave that place.
  • Screen Time, which is a new feature of the iOS 12 helps in tracking how long you have been using a particular app, website, or the overall device to keep better track of your time.
Other features of the iOS 12 includes the new Siri shortcuts, group video calling with up to 32 people (will be activated via software update in coming months), more battery information and much more.

Better Than Ever Camera

The iPhone XS and XS Max appears to have similar camera setup on papers like the last years iPhone X. They both sports dual 12 Megapixel sensors, the primary one is a wide angle with f/1.8 aperture while the other one is a telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture which provides 2x optical zoom. Both the sensors are optically stabilized to minimize the shakiness while recording videos. Both the phones can record 4K videos @60fps. 
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The real difference can be seen when you point the camera and start shooting images. Both the new iPhones camera with more micron pixels now captures more light providing better low light shots with wider dynamic range. The Smart HDR feature comes auto-enabled on both devices which basically captures multiple Overexposed and Underexposed images and combine the best parts of all these images together into one single images boosting details in shadow and highlighted areas. The portrait shots on the iPhones is better than ever and now comes with Depth control which let you change the depth of an images ever after you’ve already captured it
Overall quality of the images are better than the iPhone X with vibrant colors and balanced dynamic range. Also, the images are noticeably clear and sharper. Low light images are also improved with better details and less noise overall. Overall, the low light images turn out to be well exposed and clear.
One the front, both the models have same 7 Megapixel depth camera which can capture portrait shots through software algorithms. It also make use of the SmartHDR and Depth control feature to enhance the overall experience. Image quality is improved and low light shots are also much better than before. Overall, the camera on the new iPhones are a significant improvement over the previous gen models.

Improved Yet Decent Battery Life

Both the iPhone XS and XS Max have different size batteries. The iPhone X has a 2,658 mAh non-removable battery which is slightly smaller than the previous gen iPhone X. While the iPhone XS Max has a 3,174 mAh battery which is comparatively bigger. Though Apple claims that the battery life on the new iPhones are better than the iPhone X with XS lasting 30 min more and XS Max lasting 1.5 hours more. 
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Honestly, there isn’t much difference in the battery life of XE and the X while the XS Max may last noticeably longer.However, even the bigger one won’t last more than 1.5 days on a single charge with mixed to heavy usage.
Both the new iPhone supports Wired and Wireless fast charging with 50% charge in just 30 minutes. However, in order to fast charge your new iPhone, you have to spend a couple of buck on the fast charger as it doesn’t comes with either device.

More Features

For the first time ever, both the new iPhones supports Dual SIM, a feature which is available for Android since 2012. Although, the second SIM is not a physical SIM instead Apple has gone for the eSIM. Also, the Dual SIM functionality will be activated later during the years. Both the phones supports Gigabit Class LTE resulting is super fast download and upload speed. Other connectivity features on the new iPhones include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v5.0, and A-GPS. 
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There are a bunch of sensors on both the iPhone including Face ID, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, barometer, NFC, and ambient light sensor. Finally, the new phones shows that Apple has completely drifted away from the fingerprint scanner and replaced it with FaceID. Talking about the FaceID, it is noticeably faster than before due to the smart algorithms and faster A12 Bionic chip. It is accurate and works accurately even in low light situations.
The new iPhones comes with improved stereo sound and you will immediately notice the audio boost. Comparing with the iPhone X side by side, the audio on the newer models is noticeably clear and louder. You will surely think twice before using an external speaker because of how good the sound is.

Should You Upgrade?

So it all boils down to one single question “Should you upgrade?” Well if you are an iPhone X owner, I will recommend you to wait for the 2019  iPhones. Yeah, the iPhone XS and XS Max are significant improvement over the previous gen model with better camera, improved performance, new color, better stereo sound, and IP68 dust and water resistance, however, the iPhone X is still a powerful device and still good enough for next couple of years.
For others, if you really loved the new iPhones, there is no reason not to buy one except the price. The iPhone XS lineup start at $999 for the base 64GB model, $1149 for 256GB model and a whopping $1349 for the latest 512GB model. On the other hand, the iPhone XS Max starts at $1099 for 64GB model, $1249 for the 2565GB model and $1449 for the highest 512GB variant.
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