I phone Xs _Review

I phone Xs _Review

Specifications:

Starting Price: $999

Processor: A12 Bionic

Screen:5.8-inch OLED (2436 x 1125 pixels)

Storage: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB

Face ID: Yes

Rear Camera:Dual 12MP wide (ƒ/1.8) and telephoto (ƒ/2.4)

Front Camera: 7MP, ƒ/2.2

Battery Life: 9:41 10:38

Metal Frame:Stainless steel

Colors: Gold, Silver, Space Gray

Weight: 6.2 ounces

Size: 5.7 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches

iPhone XS Design:

Before we get to the nit-picking, let’s be clear – the XS is a gorgeous phone. It features a pin-sharp Super Retina OLED screen that runs all the way to the edge of the phone.

Performance:

The A12 Bionic processor is the first 7-nanometer chip in a phone, but what's more important is what that enables. Apple claims that the two high-performance cores in this 6-core processor are up to 15 percent faster, and that the 4-core GPU is up to 50 percent faster.

Screen Quality:

The XS display is truly impressive. It’s bright, sharp and makes colors pop. This is largely thanks to the change from LCD screens on older iPhones to OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays, first seen on the X, though long established on top-end Samsung models. OLED screens can show a wider range of colours than LCD, and excel at blacks, lending greater contrast to the images you see on screen.

Notch and Icons:

It’s not all good news for the XS’ screen, though. The notch has persisted from the X and like its forbear, the XS fails to make the most of the extra screen real estate. It’ll display the time, whether your location is being used, your signal, whether you’re connected to wifi, plus the battery icon (though not battery percentage). Apple has also decided to bump up the size of these icons compared to older 4 and 4.7-inch phones – so there’s actually less room to display information than older phones.

iPhone XS Cameras:

When Apple launched the XS, the company waxed lyrical about its camera qualities. In particular, it noted the raft of software improvements over its predecessor, including an improved portrait mode and new ‘Smart HDR’ function.

Same Cameras, Different Software
There’s no discernable upgrade in the camera hardware from the X to the XS. Both feature two 12 megapixel rear cameras (one wide angle, one telephoto for detail shots). Both feature the same aperture ratings. Both have dual optical image stabilization, and both offer 2x optical and 10x digital zoom.

There’s no real hardware change on the front camera, either. It’s still housed within the notch, and still uses a 7Mp lens which Apple calls ‘TrueDepth’ – a nod to its FaceID tech. Again, the improvements come from the software.

Smart HDR:

Smart HDR (high dynamic range) replaces the Auto HDR featured on the iPhone X. HDR is an imaging technique that allows for the creation of greater contrast within images by taking multiple shots and combining them into one.

The iPhone XS’ Smart HDR technology makes use of its new smarter processor and neural engine (more on that later) to create images that are more visually engaging and dramatic thanks to the way it can understand and display shadow, light and color. You’re also able to see each individual frame captured and select the ‘lead image’ after taking the photos.

Portrait Mode:

Another big change over the X was the advanced “bokeh” (background blur) and Depth Control available on Portrait Mode. Depth Control, in particular, received a big round of applause at the launch event, but isn’t exactly unprecedented in the world of phone photography.

In essence, this new tech takes Portrait Mode, debuted on the X, to another level. It lets the user change the aperture after the picture has been taken. Again, this means you’ll be able to capture more visually engaging images where you want to create focus on the foreground.

iPhone XS Features

The iPhone XS is laden with features some coming courtesy of the new iOS 12 plus others inherent to the new iPhones only.

Face ID:

It was one of the standout features to launch with the old iPhone X, but Apple has been able to further improve the Face ID experience. Thanks to sensor improvements and the new neural engine, Face ID is quicker and smoother than ever.

Dual SIM:

In a first for iPhones, you’ll be able to use two SIM cards – although one will have to be an eSIM. This means that you’ll be able to hold two numbers on your iPhone, useful if you’re travelling or want one phone to work as a business and personal phone.

Storage Space:

However, there’s still no option for expandable storage. While Samsung phones let you slot in a microSD card, Apple limits you to the on-board storage only (or backing up to iCloud).

Things are more generous with the latest generation of iPhones. When buying the XS, you can choose between 64GB, 256GB and 512GB models, with the price rising accordingly.

Better Waterproofing:

We briefly mentioned this earlier, but the iPhone XS is now more waterproof than ever, meeting IP68 certification standards. Apple states you should be able to dunk your iPhone in up to 2 meters of water for half an hour with no nasty side effects.

See our list of the Best Waterproof Phones you can buy

Improved speakers:

Thanks to improved speakers, the iPhone XS has wider stereo playback compared to the iPhone X.

This means that when you’re playing music, videos or games on your phone, the sound won’t feel like it’s being pumped out of the speakers on the bottom of your phone exclusively. It should be less directional, and should help fill the space around you better.

No Headphone Jack:

In keeping with all models since the iPhone 7, Apple has ditched the headphone jack with the iPhone XS. You’re expected to use wireless headphones, or an adaptor that fits into the lightning socket.

Two bits of bad news here, though. First, that means you can’t charge the phone and have the headphone adaptor connected at once. Second, unlike with the iPhone X, Apple doesn’t include a complementary headphone adaptor with the iPhone XS.

New Processor:

The XS uses a new processor, the A12 Bionic. This features an expanded GPU with four cores, rather than the A11’s three, and an improved six-core CPU. This should translate to performance improvements of around 50% and make the iPhone XS one of, if not the, fastest phones in the world.

However, this phone is very good.