Apple iPhone XS Max review

1 Oct 2018
The iPhone X was not just a milestone for Apple. It also turned out to be the cornerstone the next generation of iPhones is being built around. And while the anniversary iPhone wowed everyone, many people voiced their wish for a Plus size model after the excitement had worn off. And this year Apple is righting this wrong with the iPhone XS Max.

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Anonymous, 01 Oct 2018I would love to know how even P9 does the same of Xz2 Premi... moreWhat, 4 RGB sensors?? LMAO that's not how it works.
The monochrome sensor could capture 3x as much light as a similar RGB sensor counterpart, and the P9 only combines the light information of the monochrome sensor to the RGB sensor to produce a much cleaner, clearer, and more pleasing image.
But the P9 not only had small sensors, its ISP wasn't really capable of doing as much as the XZ2 Premium.
The AUBE™ Fusion ISP of the XZ2 Premium could combine the monochrome and RGB image in real time, while the P9's ISP can't, and it's just on the software processing that the combination occurs.
You're not like working with 4 RGB sensors, you're simply getting 2 sensors, one dedicated to detail capturing and the other for color information.

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    • hommoud
    • 3%I
    • 02 Oct 2018

    x max does not charge when it on asleep

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • Js{
      • 02 Oct 2018

      alski10, 02 Oct 2018Check out some battery tests on youtube. The Xs Max lasts m... moreHey Alski, my point is this..

      The iphone Xs Max lasts more than X the same way S7Edge lasts more than S7. The extra capacity can compensate the bigger screen.
      Then we should compare Xs and X, because they are same size. The battery of Xs was reduced by 2%, while the endurance of this test was reduced by 2.7%.

      Every year Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Qualcomm tell the same old story. That newer CPUs will provide better battery endurance even if capacity gets reduced.

      S9 scores 79h, S8 scores 84 and S6Edge+ scores 83h. All have 3000 mAh, but Edge+ has bigger screen area, android 5 and 20nm cpu. How was this possible?

      Oh, but Z3 with 3100 scored 82 while XZ1 with 2700 scored 82 too?
      Yes, but we don't know how long z3 would score if it had android 8 .

      This option on samsung to turn QHD into FHD is just to fool you.
      You can switch between 1080p and 4K because the 4K is four times full hd.
      QHD is 1.7 x Full HD.

      That is why Samsung users do not see difference in battery life.

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        • Techguy
        • IbG
        • 02 Oct 2018

        iPhone is too overpriced and over rated.

          Anonymous, 02 Oct 2018No it is not.. X score 74h, while Xs scored 72. X ha... moreCheck out some battery tests on youtube. The Xs Max lasts much longer than the X.
          All the reviews I have read also show a much larger difference than whats given by gsma.
          Example: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Apple-iPhone-XS-Max-Smartphone-Review.333544.0.html

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • Js{
            • 02 Oct 2018

            alski10, 01 Oct 2018Only 15% larger battery than the X, higher resolution, larg... moreNo it is not..

            X score 74h, while Xs scored 72.
            X has just 58mAh ( 2% more) but the A12 could not do better despite being 7nm.

              Shanti Dope, 01 Oct 2018Where did the efficiency of the A12 Bionic chip go?? Is th... moreOnly 15% larger battery than the X, higher resolution, larger screen, more powerful and still significantly better battery life.
              On the contrary I think the A12 is quite good in terms of efficiency.
              Enough for a full day of heavy usage which wasnt the case with the previous iphones

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                • Anonymous
                • Js{
                • 01 Oct 2018

                S Yu, 01 Oct 2018The 40MP sensor only acts on its own in 40MP mode, in 10MP ... moreI would love to know how even P9 does the same of Xz2 Premium without the dedicated hardware. How can it deal with all that amount of data.
                Because RGB + MONOCHROME it is like 4 RGB sensors working together...

                Funny is the part that there is no control to force Huawei dual cam to work together.

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                  • Anonymous
                  • Np7
                  • 01 Oct 2018

                  GSM Arean... Good review as always, but I want to find out something with you. The section about the selfie camera tests..... How come haven't you picked up that the new iphones selfie camera has some sort of beauty mode PERMANENTLY enabled? I'm very surprised you haven't picked this up when i have seen all over youtube about this issue? I mean Lu from Unbox therapy tested this out and found that the new iphones do apply some sort of beautify type of thing to the photos and you can disable it. Im not going to be like most people and say you possibly a fan boy of Apple, but surely with the amount of work you put into your review you could have had a look at this? Or picked it up? Also have you tested the charging of the iphone you are using? Does it charge when you insert the cable? There is a known issue with this. I hope you have a look at these things and come back to us about how you view this phone. Im bringing these things up because these phones arent cheap at all and to have this sort of issues is unacceptable. I dont buy Apple products apart from the Imac for my design work, but to pay these insane prices, these phones shouldnt have such issues. This goes for the Note debacle as well. No phone that cost this much should have this types of issues. Anyway thats my 2cents.

                    Where did the efficiency of the A12 Bionic chip go??
                    Is the screen really that power hungry??

                    And I wonder why you haven't thought of going to Portrait Mode if you want to shoot photos in low light using the telephoto camera. I figured this out from using my sister's iPhone 7 Plus within just weeks of trying to fiddle around with it.

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                      • S Yu
                      • j1a
                      • 01 Oct 2018

                      Anonymous, 01 Oct 2018Huawei does not merge coloured and monochrome images. The 40MP sensor only acts on its own in 40MP mode, in 10MP auto it merges data from the BW, it's the main reason the BW exists, please do at least a little basic homework before coming over to confuse others with your false information.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • Js{
                        • 01 Oct 2018

                        S Yu, 01 Oct 2018Finally we have that much needed comparison. Interesting fi... moreHuawei does not merge coloured and monochrome images.

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                          • Peewee
                          • Js{
                          • 01 Oct 2018

                          Well, I do not recommend to check the night photos on the computer. I doubt they can be saved even with photoshop. For a low resolution (12) and ISO (500) It should be better. Noise reduction is too strong. Beyond Samsung level.
                          I tried to resize to 8MP but still look awful...


                          Apple needs to provide manual mode. It has been proved that Galaxy and iPhone fall short when ISO pass 400. While other brands can do better with ISO above 1000. Not only P20 Pro and Xz2 Premium, but even One Plus 6, U12 and Xz2 /XZ3.

                            • S
                            • S Yu
                            • j1a
                            • 01 Oct 2018

                            Finally we have that much needed comparison. Interesting findings.

                            First, one issue to point out: Apple's use of the depth map is a first in smartphones, or possibly any personal imaging device(if there's an actual depth map, you'd notice variable degrees of blurring at different distances, which was absent until an XS sample I saw elsewhere), while Huawei's blur slider is much more crude with only object edge detection, so they're not the same, it's not "like Huawei does this for years", so Apple's has the additional ability to selectively blur the scene based on distance, making the result somewhat more natural, while Huawei could only blur around the object, one of the main causes of fakeness.

                            The XS output (probably due to the HDR) has about half a stop's advantage compared to the N9 at night, it can retain some more noise but also some more detail at about half a stop higher ISO, and the more conservative lens shows a notable advantage in coma control compared to the N9, although it starts smearing when it uses a shutter speed too low, the IS probably can't reliably handle 1/4s.

                            In the sample with the panels and the bushes the XS has massive advantage in the foliage (where the XS performed worse in the shot from the stone path) and on the ground, probably due to a successful HDR attempt while the N9 exposed for the lit panels. Another implication is that EXIF may become moot with the auto HDR implementation, every exposure used in the merge likely has different shutter speed and even ISO.

                            The P20P's auto has notably worse smearing compared to the XS as expected, which means the 1/1.7" 40MP+1/2.3" 20MP BW's combined output downsized to 10MP has worse signal than XS's single 1/2.3"(1/2.5"?) 12MP. Highlight pull is very aggressive and although with little coma, with other ugly artifacts like jagged edges and purple fringing. The reason it should be an auto-to-Smart-HDR comparison is that Apple's Smart HDR is as instantaneous as a single exposure in P20P's auto, turning it on has no penalties in usability, while night mode takes seconds like GCM behavior in low light, if Huawei could pull off something like Apple's Smart HDR with its two modules it should, but the available functional equals are what should be tested.

                            Still, the night mode deserves a final mention, it doesn't smear less than auto in most samples, in some places it smears considerably more while in some places it's about on par. Again, its only advantage is extreme low light, where it gives something and the competition gives next to nothing(the extreme right edge of the panels and bushes sample), but in slightly brighter conditions the smearing outweighs the benefits.

                            For Apple, it's a significant improvement. For Huawei, there's nothing we haven't seen before, unlike the rumor some fanboys are spreading that the image quality has improved.

                              Kiyasuriin, 01 Oct 2018FOR that much I'd expect much more. Truely disappointed in ... moreRemind me of 950/XL, though they could improve it, there is just so much they can do if they let it run at full power. Battery charging is way worse punishment. Its like sony's charging at full capacity but for whole battery. Definitely not better experience.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • Js{
                                • 01 Oct 2018

                                Some photos have distortion in the center..

                                  Did anyone else notice this.
                                  In previous review for iPhone X & Xs, they compared the numbers under sunlight legibility, which would make anyone believe that it's better than, say, Samsung's Amoled's on large devices.
                                  But here for the first time (correct me if I am wrong), they cleared that the sunlight legibility is lower because of how Amoled's behave when stretched in size.
                                  So earlier, this made me, and I am sure many others, that Apple's display is better in this regard, now I know that it's because of the smaller size

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                                    • swiggyswag
                                    • KSf
                                    • 01 Oct 2018

                                    Can't you highlight the ChargeGate issue? on XS Max and XS!

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                                      • AnonD-731363
                                      • SH3
                                      • 01 Oct 2018

                                      Well apple way to remove everything but increase price and for a 1650 price they offer what laggy buggy device with charging problems.
                                      Well apple way how to show how grateful is to its loyal customers :-)

                                        FOR that much I'd expect much more. Truely disappointed in terms of endurance!