iPhone XS and XS Max review – Apple’s latest handset is the best phone you can buy today

APPLE didn't become the world's first trillion-dollar company by accident – and the new iPhone XS proves why.

I’ve spent a week with Apple’s latest handset, and am convinced it’s the best phone I’ve ever used. But is it worth the hefty £1,449 price tag?

iPhone XS and XS Max – what are they?

Gadgets fans will remember that last year, Apple introduced a brand new all-screen design with the iPhone X.

Well for 2018, Apple has doubled down on that slick look with two new all-screen phones – the iPhone XS and XS Max.

The XS is the direct replacement for last year’s X, and costs the same £999.

But there’s also a new and larger XS Max model, which starts at £1,099 – and rises to nearly £1,500 for the top model.

Importantly, Apple has broken two records this year: it’s released the biggest iPhones ever, and the most expensive.

iPhone XS and XS Max design – what’s new?

Small screens are gone for good, it seems – and I’m chuffed.

There’s a vocal minority that wants dinky mobiles, but the way we’ve all spent our money on phones in recent years proves we want bigger screens.

This year, you can choose from a 5.8-inch model, or an enormous 6.5-inch model.

When the latter was announced, there was panic about whether the beefed-up blower would fit in anyone’s hands.

Well the fact is that the iPhone XS Max is actually a little smaller than the old iPhone 8 Plus, despite gaining an extra inch of screen. It looks great, and feels fine in the hand.

Screen size naysayers are trying to ruin our fun – don’t let them.

The phone itself is very attractive. There’s a glass back (to allow for wireless charging), smooth stainless steel framing, and an edge-to-edge display that looks glorious.

The small notch at the top of the screen remains. It’s not ideal, and it does get in the way sometimes – particularly with full-screen games.

But it’s the price we pay until phone makers can figure out how to embed cameras and sensors underneath the display.

Besides, the notch has been widely copied among Android phones, so it’s hardly an Apple-only problem.

The display is protected by a new type protective glass for improved durability and scratch resistance. It’s hard to vouch for that so early on, but I’ve definitely dropped it several times this week and failed to damage it.

The phone also has improved water resistance this time around – an IP68 rating, to be precise.

That means you can dunk it in two metres of water for up to 30 minutes safely, although I still wouldn’t make a habit of doing that to anything over the value of £50.

It also resists spills from loads of other liquids too – including coffee, tea, and soda, according to Apple.

Lastly, the phone comes in three colours.

There’s the old Silver and Space Grey options from last year, and a new Gold colour that looks a little rosier in real life compared to the marketing pictures.

iPhone XS and XS Max screen – gorgeous HDR visuals

I’ve talked about the size of the screen, but the real improvements are regarding its visual quality.

If you’re coming from anything like an iPhone 8 or older, you’ll be seeing a far sharper picture.

Both phones have pin-sharp displays packed with 458 pixels per inch. Gone are the days when iPhone used to sit far behind Android rivals in terms of screen resolution.

Apple has also added support for various hi-tech video standards, like Dolby Vision and HDR10. The latter is a type of High Dynamic Range, which means HDR-friendly content will have better contrast (brighter whites and darker blacks) on your screen, and will be packed with a wider range of colours.

The new iPhones also retain Apple’s True Tone display tech, which matches your screen’s white balance to the ambient colour temperature around you, reducing eye strain.

This is definitely one of the best phones on a screen, easily on par with Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9. I’d say new Sony Xperia XZ3’s screen is slightly more impressive in terms of visual fidelity, but the iPhone XS Max looks better overall thanks to the half-inch larger panel.

Watching HDR telly from Netflix on the iPhone XS Max is genuinely incredible, and will probably look better than a lot of your living room tellies.

iPhone XS and XS Max camera – a stunning snapper

The camera hardware compared to last year’s iPhone X hasn’t changed significantly.

The biggest physical change is that the camera’s sensor is now larger and deeper, which lets it capture more light.

But otherwise it’s the same 12-megapixel dual-camera system, pairing a f/1.8 wide-angle shooter with a f/2.4 telephoto snapper.

Both of these rear-facing cameras have optical image stabilisation (for blur reduction), and offer optical zoom (which means you don’t lose quality while zooming in).

The camera system can also film 4K video at up to 60 frames per second.

What’s really boosting camera performance is the new image processor inside Apple’s A12 chip.

This gives the iPhone XS more powerful processing capabilities, meaning it can do more software tricks for your camera snapping at once.

For instance, your iPhone will now take eight photos at once, some at varying degrees of exposure. It then blends the best bits of these photos together to create a kind of super photo.

It’s called Smart HDR, and it’s a great way to take quality pics when the lighting in your scene is difficult.

For instance, if you’re snapping a dark subject in the foreground and the sun is shining in the background, Smart HDR could balance that out, rather than leaving the background or foreground over- or under-exposed.

Portrait Mode is back again, too – that’s the cool camera mode that lets you take fancy portraits of your mates, keeping them in focus but blurring the background.

It’s now been tweaked so that you can actually adjust the background blur after you’ve taken the shot.

It’s worked really well for me, although increasing blur too much can sometimes start to smudge the torso of your subject.

The only real niggle of Portrait Mode is that it’s still not fantastic in low light conditions, sometimes struggling to define the edges of your subject.

But generally, it’s a fantastic tool that takes snaps you’d think were shot on a professional DSLR camera.

Other improvements include better general low-light performance, more effective video stabilisation, and a faster autofocus system.

The iPhone XS has, without a doubt, one of the best cameras available on a smartphone today.

iPhone XS and XS Max performance – faster than ever

Apple’s new phones are kitted out with the new A12 Bionic chip.

Every new iPhone gets an upgraded processor, but the A12 marks a very impressive milestone: the A12 is Apple’s first 7-nanometre chip.

That sounds boring, but it’s a big deal.

Computer processors are packed with tiny electronic switches called transistors. These are what allow computing to happen, and the most basic level, by opening and closing.

Chip makers are always trying to decrease the gap between transistors, so they can pack more onto their silicon chips.

Last year’s A11 chip had a 10-nanometre gap between transistors, but the new A12 chip has a 7-nanometre gap. It’s the first 7-nanometre chip on a smartphone, importantly.

This means performance and power efficiency is significantly improved, and it shows.

The phone runs demanding games with no bother, and feels quick and smooth to use generally.

I’ve experienced no noticeable lag when navigating the phone, which is testament to Apple’s highly optimised iOS 12 software as much as it is the chip.

The iOS 12 software brings its own performance improvements too, letting the chip perform actions immediately (with no processor ramp-up) and shortening some navigation animations to make browsing feel smoother.

You also get new features like Screen Time for tracking your phone usage, Grouped Notifications, an enhanced Do Not Disturb mode, and animated Memoji emoji that look like you.

iPhone XS and XS Max features – the most advanced iPhone yet

There’s no end to the list of cool iPhone XS features, but I’ve picked out a few.

The phone supports super-fast gigabit download speeds, which isn’t massively useful now. But once we see speed bumps from UK networks in 2019 and beyond, this will be very welcome.

Augmented reality is even better, with detection of surfaces improved. This is best seen in the new Measure app, which lets you measure real-world 3D objects just using your phone camera.

Apple is also finally adding support for Dual SIM tech (later in autumn). It means you’ll be able to have your regular SIM card in the phone, but also sign up to a second contract (and phone number, of course) using a virtual eSIM on the handset. That’s great for travellers who might want to use a local SIM in destination countries to save money.

Audio is one of the biggest improvements. Normally I’d never mention sound on a phone review (and especially not an iPhone review) because it’s rarely good.

Part of the problem with iPhone sound is that audio has been beamed out of a small section of the bottom of your phone, which makes for a very poor sound stage.

Now audio comes out of the top phone call speaker as well as the bottom of the phone, which is then digitally balanced for accurate stereo sound.

The sound is genuinely very impressive, with the sound stage feeling much wider than the phone itself. The stereo channels are clear and distinctly separate, which makes watching movies on the phone a real treat.

Apple’s Face ID is also faster – that’s the face-unlocking tech that uses infrared light to map out your head.

In my experience, the biggest gains are in low-light conditions – night-time unlocking is now significantly quicker than it was on the iPhone X.

It’s got some niggles, of course. For instance, you still can’t unlock the phone in landscape mode. This was very annoying when I was playing a multiplayer game and accidentally locked the phone, and then had to flip it round to unlock it and resume play.

But Face ID as a feature is seriously impressive, and is much more intuitive and enjoyable than fingerprint unlocking. You can also use Face ID to verify App Store purchase, contactless Apple Pay payments, and even log into some UK bank accounts.

It all comes across as very sci-fi, which is exactly how good tech should feel.

Finally, I was very impressed with Bluetooth connectivity on the phone. My Apple AirPods pair much more quickly (immediately, in fact) to the iPhone XS than they did with the iPhone X.

iPhone XS and XS Max review verdict

The iPhone XS is everything you expect from Apple, and more.

It’s quicker than the iPhone X, has a better camera, and has a truly incredible display.

But most people reading this won’t be upgrading from an iPhone X..

If you’re moving from an iPhone 7 or 8, or even something older like an iPhone 5S, the difference is night and day. It’s like moving into the future.