iPhone XS Max: specifications, pros and cons, video review, reviews, price

X Es Max is an updated version of the iPhone X released at the beginning of 2018. It has no fundamental differences or breakthrough technical developments, but justifiably occupies a niche of a fresh flagship in the Apple line. Despite the minimum of differences, its release was able to create excitement – at the start of sales, many people lined up in orderly rows under the shops for several days, stocked up with warm clothes, sandwiches and thermos with tea. Having spawned a trinity of phones – Xr, Xs, Xs Max – Apple, thus, stopped the classic policy of “one release – one device”. This fact is connected with the drop in sales (the number of devices sold) in comparison with the previous models, especially the popular and really popular “five”, “six” and “six es”. Now you can choose a device based on your wallet – the younger version at a relatively “budget” price,

Specifications

We present the general hardware characteristics of the device in question in the following table.

Pros and cons

Consider the positive and negative aspects of the device. pros

• A high-quality OLED display from Samsung, as in the iPhone X. The only significant difference from the previous flagship is the 60% expanded dynamic range.
• 3D infrared face sensor. The owner’s face recognition sensor is quite useful, it acts as one of the security lines of the smartphone along with fingerprint unlocking.
• The IP68 resistance standard is really steeper than the iPhone X, which means you can safely drown your XS Max two meters underwater and safely search for it for half an hour. This is twice as much as the IP67 standard allows.
• Advanced camera capabilities. One of the new features is Smart HDR, which creates multiple photos at once with different settings and then stitches them together. Much the same as Google did for its Pixel phones.

Minuses

• With relatively small changes relative to the X version, the price of the Xs Max becomes sky-high – after all the markups, duties and other components of the price, the buyer will have to fork out from $ 1200 (86,000 rubles).
• Intra-ecosystem problems of the operating system: inability to connect with other devices via wireless interfaces, paid content, “closed” OS, etc.
• Company policy. Of course, there is no entry for a memory card. This was done in order to stimulate sales of versions with 256 or 512 gigabytes of internal memory.
• The supplied power supply supports the old version’s power supply scheme – in order to charge the smartphone with it from 0 to 100 percent, it will take (!) Three and a half hours.
• There is no 3.5 mm headset input. “Well, to hell with her!” – you thought, – “I’ll use the adapter!”. But alas, no. The adapter is not included in the package. Also, the Lightning port is not claimed to be compatible with any third-party adapters.

Smartphone design

Let’s start with the most unsympathetic part of the design – the cutout. Large cutout with front-facing camera, speaker, IR sensor for Face ID. In general, neither the proportions, nor any exterior details of the device have changed: the frames around the screen are minimized, the edging is made of steel (as usual, a damn brand and easily scratched), and the front panel and back are covered with tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass version which cannot be called.

Available body colors: gold, space gray, silver. Simple, tasteful, boring. In any case, you will have to pack the device in a bumper or a cover – the ceramic body is scratched, rubbed, and is unlikely to survive a fall on the asphalt.

The set of functional elements remains unchanged from year to year: the button for turning on and activating Siri (large) – on the right, as well as a slot for a SIM card (or, oh my God, two SIM cards – in the Chinese version), volume control buttons (medium) – on the left, the sound profile switch (small) – in the same place. Lightning – bottom. And no mini-jack. Yes, everyone has come to terms for a long time, but I will add to the shortcomings anyway.

Screen

The Xs Max has a 6.5-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2688×1242. As always, Apple avoids flat numbers, pursuing its own goals – in this case, a pixel density called Super Retina – 458 ppi. The display is straight, not curved like the OLEDs in the Galaxy series from Samsung, Sony or Huawei. Naturally, the manufacturer claims that this is the “best in the world” OLED display – neither agree nor argue with this. Traditionally, Apple is doing well with screens, but with the use of a unique technology, everything has become quite good. The screen has a conditionally infinite contrast, supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 technologies. The picture looks great, especially if you activate the True Tone mode, which allows the smartphone to independently select the color rendition depending on the ambient light, – the mode also appeared in the iPhone in the last generation and has not disappeared anywhere in the Xs. It is activated by default, I recommend that you just do not touch this setting.

The average gamma at the default settings is 2.23, which is close to ideal. The color temperature is slightly above the norm – 6 700-6 800 K. The average deviation of DeltaE for the extended Color Checker palette (shades of gray + a wide range of color shades) is 2.02 with the maximum allowable rate of 3 and the standard of 2 units. The color space is almost exactly the same as the sRGB standard.

Cameras

One of those smartphone functions, the difference in operation of which is increasingly difficult to feel between the old and the new device, is the camera. At least in the case of Apple. Although the phone retains the same 12-megapixel sensors with ƒ / 1.8 and ƒ / 2.4 apertures and optical stabilization, there have been some internal changes. The increased pixel size allowed for more light to be collected, and the aforementioned machine learning is increasingly involved in the camera. For flash users, the True Tone capabilities have been updated. The most avid mobile photographers will notice a change in the angle of the wide-angle camera (26 mm versus 28 in the top ten). There is also a second telescopic sensor, which not only serves as an optical zoom, but also helps to take portrait shots.

In most cases, good lighting conditions will make it difficult to tell the difference between the old and new cameras. This is more noticeable in difficult conditions, where more light and less artifacts are obtained in the frames. What these cameras indulge in is the stability of the results. If many phones may require you to take a couple of repeated shots from which you can choose the appropriate one, then with the iPhone camera a blurry frame will be a rare exception to the rule. For a simple user, this is a good advantage, because you can avoid clogging up extra storage space and not wasting time looking for the best picture. And they, by the way, turn out to be excellent. Thanks for this is the work of the processor and the Smart HDR function. Videos can be recorded in 4K resolution at 60 FPS, and slow motion can be maximum in Full HD at 240 FPS. As with photography, this is a great camera.

Battery and charging

Compared to other manufacturers, Apple installs batteries with a small capacity. All emphasis and the effect of long-term operation is achieved through energy-efficient proprietary processors and software optimization. The phone has a 3179 mAh battery, when tested in the GeekBench program, the net screen time was four hours and forty-five minutes. At the end of the test, the program produced a numerical value of 2856 points. The result exceeds the performance of the Xiaomi Mi 8, but is inferior to, for example, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and is kept at about the level of the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

The complete charger will take a little over three hours to restore the charge. That is, in order to achieve adequate charging speeds, you will have to purchase a separate Type C (Lightning) power supply and wiring. An absolutely inconvenient solution, given the breakthrough (65% charging from 0 in thirty minutes) developments from Qualcomm (Quick Charge), HiSilicon (Dash Charge) and other sub-brands of mobile SoC development.

Video review

The video review attached below will reveal details and other features not included in the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Laq7ExOH7F0

Tests in games + AnTuTu Benchmark

In the synthetic test AnTuTu A12 Bionic scored a record 372,106 points. Affected by the optimization of the system and the 7 nm technical process of the hardware platform. The closest competitor on Android scored 70,000 points less – Xiaomi Blackshark based on Snapdragon 845. But it is worth considering that the benchmark is a synthetic, artificial test – in real use the device will never be loaded as much as the test software loads it. To a greater extent, based on the result obtained in points, it is possible to estimate the system performance margin. But the iPhone is not bought for the performance of the hardware, right?

Kit and packaging

The device comes in a classic Apple white box. The top part shows a photograph of the phone. Inside, as expected, there is a phone in factory films, a power supply, a charging cable, and accompanying waste paper.

Impressions

Let’s list some feedback from device users:

Valentine, Sterlitamak. This is an amazing phone. Actually. He’s absolutely worth the money. Hardware, OLED display, healthy camera and face unlock – thanks to these parameters, the phone will be relevant for a long time from the point of view of technical capabilities. If you decide to take something from Apple, I recommend looking at the XS Max.

Elena, Volokolamsk. I chose for a long time, looked at reviews on YouTube, read reviews on the iPhone XS Max . And I was determined! I definitely recommend buying. Impressive features and pleasing design. It is better to buy from Apple branded retail stores, since the sellers in the store give a three-year warranty. In a word – a must-have for those who love quality and comfort in use.

Vadim, St. Petersburg. He’s cool and handsome! I bought the girl as a gift, she really liked the gift! With a large screen, rounded edges, a pleasant front glass with an oleophobic coating. Autonomy is enough for two days of active use. Supports fast charging – half of the battery charges in about forty minutes. Everything is cool, the purchase causes only positive emotions, I recommend it!

TOP 5 Smartphone Facts You Didn’t Know!

Five interesting facts about the device:

1. Depth option. This feature has significantly improved the performance of the face recognition system. In addition, in photographic portraits, it became possible to eliminate the blurring effect of hair and the edges of glasses. Editing of previously taken pictures is also possible. The level of the bokeh effect can be adjusted by the user in the range of f 1.4 – 16. The option is available for both cameras.
2. Support for two SIM cards. Implemented through eSIM technology, relevant for China, USA, Japan and South Korea.
3. Energy efficient platform based on 7nm technical process.
4. Waterproof – if it gets into water, the phone will last about half an hour.
5. Able to create 3D animoji based on a snapshot of your face. Realized thanks to the 3D Face ID function.

Comparison with other phones in the same segment

Let’s compare the device with its closest competitors.

How much does a phone cost?

At the time of the publication of the article in the official retail in the Russian Federation, prices start at 85 thousand for the younger (4 + 64 gigabytes) version. The older one will cost 115 thousand.