Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max review & Comments

Thanks for the review. I was looking at the XS Max as an upgrade from my 7+ (which my wife now has) but the cost was crazy. I ended up going Android with a Samsung S9 plus (Android seems to have vastly improved since I last had one). £79 for the phone and £46 a month for unlimited everything. So far I'm loving it!
 
Value for money - 7

Touch generous that.
 
They're good phones with excellent hardware. But you're paying a premium for iOS. That premium is just getting a little silly at this point.
 
I still cant help but think the are trolling their customers by calling it XS
 
Thanks for the review. I was looking at the XS Max as an upgrade from my 7+ (which my wife now has) but the cost was crazy. I ended up going Android with a Samsung S9 plus (Android seems to have vastly improved since I last had one). £79 for the phone and £46 a month for unlimited everything. So far I'm loving it!

We have both the S9 and an iPhone X in the household. I’ve got the iPhone, due to it running seamlessly with my MacBook, but both operating systems are excellent in my opinion.

As mentioned in this review. The screen on the iPhone X is more than enough for everyday use. But anyone who says it’s remotely close to the standards of the S8 or 9 need glasses :D
 
Looks amazing and seems to do a myriad of useful things but can you actually speak to another person by using it?
Don't be silly - why would you want to do that? It's a mobile phone!
 
I have the 8 plus, which was an upgrade from the 6 plus in May of this year, it is way faster than the 6, everything is so smooth and apps open instantly. If the X is faster still I would be amazed, how fast is fast enough ?????, for me I cannot see an advantage apart from the screen being oled but would that be obvious to see in everyday use. I'm not knocking Apple, being using their kit since around 1992 and I always will, even persuaded some of my mates to change to ios from android, but to fetch out new phones with slight upgrade every year and expect folks to upgrade/buy them is getting to a ridiculous point.
 
Looks amazing and seems to do a myriad of useful things but can you actually speak to another person by using it?

From what I heard, Apple removed the antenna from the iPhone to make space. You now have to buy one of their special cases with a built in antenna for £99
 
I would be the last person on earth to own an Apple device, and these don't change my mind one bit. More of the same really. A tweak here and there, and screen sizes that are just heading into the ridiculous category (many Android manufacturers are doing the same though). Apple just don't differentiate their models enough. An Iphone 7 or 8 is still way more than enough for most locked into Apple's world - just where is the incentive and financial justification to spend this much on these new devices? £1k for Apple is now mid-range, and the profit per handset for them must be astronomical. Sorry, this is just a case on rinse, repeat, relaunch with a whole heap of new marketing twaddle layered on top.
 
was hoping it would cost £1500 so I could get 2 for when the inevitable happens and the screen explodes while its nestled on the couch and I happen to drop my guts. That way I wont have any annoying loose change outta 3 grand.

how does the fake bokeh handle foreground subjects with frizzy hair, I found the older phone was fine with bald subjects but looked ropey with perms.
 
I’m a fan of Apple stuff, and have had an iPhone since the first one came out. The XS and Max has zero appeal for me though.

It’s hugely overpriced for a start - even in comparison to the X. In part because of Brexit / bad exchange rates, but also undoubtedly because Apple is on a quest these days to eek every last cent out of the consumer. Guess they have to pay for Apple doughnut building somehow...

£1000 for the minimum spec XS, and £1500 for the max spec is simple profiteering, no matter how they try to justify it with the “for most people it’s only $1 a day” quote from Tim ‘the accountant’ Cook.

The Apple Watch 4 is another example of cynical pricing - this year the price has shot up and the steel version no longer even comes in a proper polycarbonate watch box.

I won’t even go into the anaemic feature upgrades this year...

Anyway, another year of the iPhone 8 for me - the last real iPhone imo.
 
I keep thinking everytime a S model is released its more of a software update/block. The fancy background portrait photo stuff for example, surely the previous model could do that if the iOS allowed it?

I appreciate the processor is new and it's not something I can comment on speed in XS Vs X model but I do remember previous reviews saying how much quicker the X was when it came out. I just question how much of its software based.
 
I used to buy every iPhone. I've had them all from the iPhone 2G all the way upto the iPhone 7. With a few Android phones along the way also (new phone each year).

Once the iPhone X came out though, that ended my relationship with Apple Smartphones. How on earth you've given it 7/10 on price is beyond me, £1000+ for a mobile phone is ridiculous.

I think iOS and the iPhones are great - but they simply don't offer anything to justify that kind of price difference (Beyond the social symbol). Even Samsung are starting to get silly with their pricing.

Now Andriod is pretty much on par with iOS and with Chinese manufacturers actually becoming a very good alternative now hardware upgrades / real world performance differences is plateauing, i'll be sticking with that. Just don't see what value it brings spending an extra £600 odd on a smartphone to get an iPhone X gives you now-a-days.

Very happy with my Huawei P20 Pro which i got for £530 (including the contract total), after selling the free "AirPod" style headphones, closer to £430 for a top end smartphone with a contract for 24 months.
 
The quandary I’ve got now is that whilst I don’t think the X series onward are worthwhile or good value for the reasons mentioned earlier - there’s far more to the decision than hardware.

I think the overall usability of the android software platform is pretty awful. I’ve bought and tried various android phones over the years - and although it slowly keeps improving, it still feels like an unorganised, insecure mess within, ironically, a google walled garden.

(and yes, I realise that’s an opinion many don’t agree with - but I’m confident in my findings, and I don’t need passionate counter arguments about freedom!).

So next year I’ve really no idea what I’ll do - the 8 series iPhone will be in need of replacing, no doubt Apple will have gone full on for their faceID phones, and I don’t want to switch to android! Maybe I’ll just go back to a candy bar T9 handset!....
 
The quandary I’ve got now is that whilst I don’t think the X series onward are worthwhile or good value for the reasons mentioned earlier - there’s far more to the decision than hardware.

I think the overall usability of the android software platform is pretty awful. I’ve bought and tried various android phones over the years - and although it slowly keeps improving, it still feels like an unorganised, insecure mess within, ironically, a google walled garden.

(and yes, I realise that’s an opinion many don’t agree with - but I’m confident in my findings, and I don’t need passionate counter arguments about freedom!).

So next year I’ve really no idea what I’ll do - the 8 series iPhone will be in need of replacing, no doubt Apple will have gone full on for their faceID phones, and I don’t want to switch to android! Maybe I’ll just go back to a candy bar T9 handset!....

I think that point is very valid as different manufactures put their own spin on the android system causing confusion when you move from make to make - whereas iOS is universal as it was intended.

I've had the same phone for about two years now and the more and more I look around at new handsets I don't see anything drawing me into buying one. The more screen real estate is nice but I'm not convinced about the tear drop. When my current one breaks and I get something new that has these new features I may change my mind.

But its fashionable to have the latest and greatest and almost every kid I see has a new iphone or one with a smashed screen. I keep thinking it must cost parents a fortune!

Anyway sorry I don't mean to move off the discussion topic!
 
Anyway sorry I don't mean to move off the discussion topic!

Yes, likewise from me - back to the regularly scheduled ‘iPhone XS review’ programme!
 
This is a missed opportunity. The review could have provided colour measurements of the kind found in AVF TV reviews. As it is, this is a fairly generic review, when it could have been a more AV oriented review. That’s not to say it is a bad review, but that it’s not distinguishing itself particularly from numerous others out there. It was an enjoyable read anyway, thanks.
 
This is a missed opportunity. The review could have provided colour measurements of the kind found in AVF TV reviews. As it is, this is a fairly generic review, when it could have been a more AV oriented review. That’s not to say it is a bad review, but that it’s not distinguishing itself particularly from numerous others out there. It was an enjoyable read anyway, thanks.

I don't understand the reviews in general - not just this one - If I released a product that was 90% identical to the last one that was same price/more expensive I can't imagine under any other circumstances I'd achieve 9/10.

Is it because the assumption of a S model is a minor upgrade? - I don't know but I don't (and never have) understood the high praise for such minor changes.

It's not that I'm against apple products - they have released and do release some impressive devices but I often feel there is a pro agenda at play!
 
£1000 for the minimum spec XS, and £1500 for the max spec is simple profiteering

Well they are a trillion dollar company ;)
 
The quandary I’ve got now is that whilst I don’t think the X series onward are worthwhile or good value for the reasons mentioned earlier - there’s far more to the decision than hardware.

I think the overall usability of the android software platform is pretty awful. I’ve bought and tried various android phones over the years - and although it slowly keeps improving, it still feels like an unorganised, insecure mess within, ironically, a google walled garden.

(and yes, I realise that’s an opinion many don’t agree with - but I’m confident in my findings, and I don’t need passionate counter arguments about freedom!).

So next year I’ve really no idea what I’ll do - the 8 series iPhone will be in need of replacing, no doubt Apple will have gone full on for their faceID phones, and I don’t want to switch to android! Maybe I’ll just go back to a candy bar T9 handset!....


Let's be honest - your iPhone 8 won't really need replacing (unless you've broken it). That phone will do everything you need for another 1-2 years easily if you want to save yourself some cash in the process. This upgrade cycle manufacturers try to get you into is only in their interest - you'd not use any new handset any differently in reality - very few people do. It's just this shiny, new rectangle that Apple say will be better than last years, and the year before that, and every year they say the same thing without making any real changes. It's getting tiring.

I think Apple have given up on trying to convert Android owners en-mass to Apple, so now it's all about increasing the average selling price of the handset so they can literally drain every last penny out of their every loyal customers. We're now entering £100/pm contracts territory, and if these new devices sell - and they surely will - next year Apple will see how far they can push again, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a top end £2000 handset!

On the subject of Android being 'pretty awful', I'd say since v7 it's matured very nicely indeed. Take a look at one of the Google Pixel phones if you want to see native Android done well and running very smoothly. It's a refreshing experience.
 
Yes its damn expensive but you’re paying for premium phones both Xs & Max. Android phones have no equivalent on the market, that is to say they are not as premium or as desirable as high end IPhones. It’s like comparing Ford/Hyundai (Android) vs BMW or Mercedes (IPhone Xs)

Which car would you rather have and willing to pay a ‘premium’ over the other.

I have a second hand Galaxy S4, by the way but if someone wants to gift me a high end phone and asks me which one on the market, then it has be either Xs or Max, I would go for Max.
 

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