Apple iPhone Xs Max review
The Apple iPhone XS Max is the latest flagship from Apple, offering a powerful performance, impressive display, and enhanced camera capabilities. The device boasts an industry-leading A12 Bionic chip, providing seamless multitasking and efficient battery life. The 6.5-inch Super Retina HD display offers stunning visuals, with vibrant colors and crisp details. The camera system has been improved, with a dual-camera setup featuring a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel telephoto lens. While the camera is great on its own, it falls short of expectations when compared to other top flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The iPhone's camera produces more restrained colors, while the Note 9 captures warmer and more vivid images. In low-light conditions, both phones produce clean photos with minimal noise, but the Note 9 tends to capture brighter and more saturated colors. Portrait mode images are equally impressive on both devices, but the iPhone has a slight edge in terms of color rendition and dynamic range. Overall, the iPhone XS Max is a top-of-the-line device that delivers excellent performance, display quality, and camera capabilities. While it may not be the best choice for those seeking exceptional camera performance, it remains a compelling option for those invested in the Apple ecosystem. The device's price point, however, is likely to deter many potential buyers, making it a niche product for those willing to pay a premium for an exclusive experience.
Build Quality and Design
The iPhone Xs Max is a stunning device that sets the benchmark for smartphone design. From its sleek exterior to its precision-engineered components, every aspect of this phone has been crafted with utmost care and attention to detail. The first thing that catches your eye (or should I say, your touch) is the phone's build quality. The Xs Max boasts a sturdy stainless steel frame, seamlessly integrated into the device's durable glass body. This union of materials provides an exceptional level of rigidity and structural integrity, making it feel premium and solid in hand. The design language employed by Apple for this phone is minimalist yet sophisticated. The seamless integration of the screen with the rest of the device creates a beautiful visual line, giving the Xs Max a sleek, almost bezel-less appearance. This streamlined look not only enhances the phone's aesthetic appeal but also makes it a joy to hold and use. One feature that truly sets this phone apart from its competitors is its exquisite attention to detail. Every element of the design has been carefully considered, from the precise chamfers on the edges to the perfectly aligned display with its subtle curvature. This level of craftsmanship elevates the Xs Max to an altogether new level of excellence in smartphone design. In short, the iPhone Xs Max is a triumph of design engineering. Its masterful blend of style, functionality, and build quality makes it an absolute pleasure to use and behold. Whether you're an Apple aficionado or simply looking for a top-of-the-line device, this phone is sure to delight and impress with its exceptional craftsmanship.
Battery Life
While the iPhone Xs Max boasts an impressive array of features, its battery life is a letdown. Despite being one of the most powerful smartphones on the market, it struggles to deliver a full day's use. In our tests, the Xs Max consistently fell short of our expectations. With moderate usage, including social media browsing and gaming, we managed to squeeze out about 10 hours of battery life. However, this is not enough to get through an entire day without needing to be recharged. One of the issues with the Xs Max's battery life is its inability to handle heavy use. If you're someone who likes to watch videos or play games extensively on your phone, you can expect to see significant battery drain within a few hours. Furthermore, the Xs Max's battery life does not improve much over time. Even after multiple charge cycles, we found that the battery life remained relatively consistent, failing to show any noticeable improvement. Overall, while the iPhone Xs Max is an excellent device in many ways, its battery life is a major disappointment. If you're someone who relies on your phone's battery to last through the day, you may want to consider other options.
Display
The Apple iPhone Xs Max boasts an impressive 6.5-inch Super Retina HD display, making it one of the largest and most vibrant screens available in smartphones today. The OLED panel is a significant upgrade over previous iPhones, offering deeper blacks, wider color gamut, and higher contrast ratio. This results in an incredibly immersive viewing experience, with crisp and detailed visuals that make movies, TV shows, and games look stunningly good. One of the standout features of the Xs Max display is its HDR10 support, which allows for a wider range of colors and more precise color grading than standard dynamic range (SDR) displays. This results in images that are more lifelike and nuanced, with subtle details and shading that would be lost on SDR screens. In our testing, the Xs Max display was impressive, with accurate color reproduction, good brightness levels, and excellent viewing angles. The screen also features a 60Hz refresh rate, which is sufficient for most users but may not satisfy those who crave higher frame rates. While there are no major complaints about the display, it's worth noting that some users may find the screen too large or unwieldy, particularly in smaller hands. However, for those who enjoy using their phone as a miniature TV or gaming console, the Xs Max display is an excellent choice. Overall, we were thoroughly impressed with the quality and performance of the iPhone Xs Max's Super Retina HD display.
Camera
The camera is one of the most critical aspects of any smartphone, and in this review, we'll be comparing the camera capabilities of the iPhone XS Max with those of the Galaxy Note 9. In good lighting conditions, both phones produce excellent images. However, there are some subtle differences between them. The iPhone XS Max tends to capture a more restrained and true-to-life color rendition, while the Galaxy Note 9's photos appear more vivid and warmer. Our preference here goes to the iPhone, as its colors are more accurately representative of reality. In terms of detail, both phones perform well, but the iPhone does tend to get slightly softer at the corners. Noise-wise, both cameras produce squeaky-clean images with minimal grain, even in low-light conditions. When it comes to dynamic range, the iPhone has a noticeable advantage over the Note 9. In regular daylight photos, the iPhone's Smart HDR feature allows for a wider range of tonal values, which results in more detailed and nuanced images. Conversely, the Galaxy Note 9 tends to clip highlights, resulting in lost detail in the brightest areas. In low-light conditions, both phones have their strengths and weaknesses. The Galaxy Note 9 produces slightly brighter and more saturated images, but at the cost of some noise. In contrast, the iPhone's darker exposure makes for cleaner photos, even if they're not as vibrant as those from the Note 9. The telephoto camera on the iPhone XS Max is a significant improvement over its predecessor. When compared to the Galaxy Note 9's similar setup, the iPhone's telephoto lens produces sharper images with better contrast. The only downside is that the iPhone cannot use its telephoto lens in low-light conditions unless you force it through Portrait mode. When filming video, both phones produce high-quality footage. In 4K resolution, the iPhone has slightly better detail and a warmer color tone, while the Note 9's images are sharper in 1080p resolution. However, the iPhone's stabilization is smoother and more refined than that of the Galaxy Note 9. Overall, the camera on the iPhone XS Max is excellent and provides many advantages over other top smartphones like the Galaxy Note 9. While there may be some small differences between them, the iPhone's strengths make it a strong contender in this price bracket.
Price and Value
The Apple iPhone Xs Max is undoubtedly one of the most powerful smartphones in the market today. With its industry-leading chipset, larger bezel-less OLED display, better stereo speakers, and improved camera, it's a device that offers quite a lot over last year's iPhone 10. However, the hefty price tag of over €1,200 (or $1,300) may deter many potential buyers. At this premium level, one would expect an unbeatable set of features and performance, but unfortunately, the difference between the Xs Max and other top flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is quite small. In terms of camera capabilities, while the Xs Max's images are indeed excellent, they're not significantly better than what other high-end smartphones can offer. Similarly, the device's display and speakers are impressive, but not revolutionary. Considering its price, the Xs Max feels like a luxury item rather than an essential purchase for many users. Unless you're deeply invested in the Apple ecosystem or have specific needs that require this device's advanced features, it may be hard to justify the expense. For those who value performance and don't mind paying a premium for it, the iPhone Xs Max is undoubtedly a solid choice. However, for others, there are more affordable alternatives on the market that offer similar experiences without breaking the bank. Ultimately, the decision to buy an iPhone Xs Max comes down to personal preference and budget. If you're willing to pay top dollar for a device with exceptional performance and features, then this might be the phone for you. But if you're looking for a more affordable option or have other priorities, there are plenty of other great smartphones out there to consider.
Performance
The Apple iPhone XS Max is a powerhouse in the world of smartphones, boasting an industry-leading A12 Bionic chip that provides exceptional performance. In our testing, we found the device to handle even the most demanding tasks with ease, thanks to its 4GB of RAM and efficient processor. Whether you're browsing through multiple apps simultaneously or running resource-intensive games like Fortnite, the iPhone XS Max handles everything with finesse. The A12 Bionic chip provides a significant boost in performance compared to its predecessor, resulting in seamless multitasking and snappy app launching times. In terms of graphics processing, the iPhone XS Max's GPU is capable of handling demanding tasks like 3D gaming and video editing without breaking a sweat. We noticed minimal lag or stuttering even when pushing the device to its limits, which is a testament to Apple's commitment to delivering top-notch performance in their flagship devices. The iPhone XS Max also excels in terms of overall system responsiveness, with quick app launching times and smooth transitions between tasks. Whether you're using the device for gaming, video editing, or general productivity, the performance is simply top-notch. Overall, we were thoroughly impressed with the Apple iPhone XS Max's performance capabilities. With its powerful A12 Bionic chip and efficient design, it's clear that this device was built to deliver exceptional performance in all aspects of mobile computing.
Pros
1. The iPhone Xs Max offers an industry-leading chipset for lightning-fast performance.
2. It features a larger bezel-less OLED display that provides stunning visuals and immersive viewing experience.
3. The phone comes with better stereo speakers that deliver richer and more detailed sound.
4. Its camera is great, taking excellent photos in both daylight and low-light conditions.
5. The iPhone Xs Max has improved camera capabilities compared to other top flagships like the Note 9, although the difference might be small for some users.
6. It handles bright lights better and preserves highlights due to its Smart HDR feature.
Cons
1. The price tag of over 1200 euros is quite high and might deter many potential buyers.
2. Compared to other top flagships, the iPhone Xs Max's camera difference may not be a significant deciding factor for those shopping in this price range.
3. The division between Android and iOS devices might also discourage some users from purchasing an Apple device.