Apple iPhone XS Max Australian review: should you bet on Apple’s biggest smartphone to date?
IT’S the biggest, most feature-packed and expensive smartphone Apple has ever produced. But is the iPhone XS Max worth buying? READ OUR REVIEW.
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THE iPhone XS Max is Apple’s bet that bigger is better.
This record-breaking smartphone has a bigger battery, bigger camera, bigger sound, and bigger storage.
It’s even got greater water and scratch resistance, greater power, greater photo modes and wireless connections.
Only the computer chip is smaller inside this smartphone.
But Apple is also betting that iPhone users will pay the biggest price yet for it, at a staggering top cost of $2369.
We’ve put Apple’s upcoming iPhone XS Max to the test in the days since its announcement to find out whether this phone really is its best yet, and whether it’s worth joining the queue for Friday’s launch.
LITERALLY A BIG DEAL
This aptly named iPhone has been super-sized in many ways but its screen is the largest and most obvious upgrade.
At 6.5 inches, it positively dwarfs the display on last year’s iPhone X and, for the first time, is even larger than Samsung’s famously large Note 9 screen. Big phone fans have a new leader.
Mercifully, Apple hasn’t scrimped on pixels. There are more than 3 million in this phone and the stretched screen still features 458 pixels per inch, making it just as sharp as the iPhone X and even sharper than the iPhone 8 Plus.
iPhone Plus users should also be comfortable with the physical size of this phone. While its screen is bigger, it’s body is smaller. The iPhone XS Max shaves almost one millimetre off its height and 0.3mm off its girth, though it is six grams heavier in the hand.
BIGGER PICTURE
The iPhone XS Max is no headline-grabbing megapixel monster.
You won’t find bigger numbers attached to the dual cameras on the rear of this smartphone upgrade, nor a third lens or outside camera brand.
This iPhone does take noticeably better photographs even than its year-old predecessor, however, and it achieves that with a larger image sensor, better image processor, and artificial intelligence.
We tested the phone’s Smart HDR feature at sunrise to see how it handled challenging light. Side-by-side with photos from the iPhone X, the improvement was obvious.
The new mode offers more detail both in shadows and highlights, more natural colours, and lets phone photographers show off the sky’s gradient without Photoshop.
Portrait Mode is also improved in this phone with a feature called Depth Control. It lets users artfully blur the background after taking a shot, or bringing it back into focus.
It’s not a first for a smartphone camera, but it’s well executed and easy to use.
LOTS OF SMALL ENHANCEMENTS
Plenty of small but mighty upgrades in this phone make a big difference to how you use it.
The phone’s facial scanner is faster and better at an angle. Its seals have been strengthened for greater water resistance — you can even drop it in the sea, rinse it off, dry it, and use it again.
Its glass front and back have been strengthened (though, admittedly, we tried not to test this), its speaker deliver better stereo sound, it will store up to half a terabyte of apps and photos, its battery lasts more than a day, and it packs in more wireless antennas to support speedier downloads.
MINOR DRAWBACKS
No smartphone is perfect and the iPhone XS Max has some cons.
The number one negative is its price. No other smartphone has commanded more than $2000 in Australia. Even dedicated Apple fans will have to question whether this handset is worth so much more than its rivals.
This expensive smartphone also, oddly, comes with a cheap 5v charger and no headphone adaptor.
The dual-SIM feature in this smartphone is also not supported by Australian carriers, and rumours about a standard USB-C charger, shatterproof screen, and support for an Apple Pencil didn’t eventuate.
MAX VERDICT
This is the best smartphone Apple has ever made.
Its giant screen will be a game-changer for iPhone users, its camera is a surprising step up in the field, and its battery and storage should fulfil any traveller’s dream.
A host of smaller upgrades also make this phone loom large over its rivals.
The only thing holding Apple’s biggest phone back is its equally large price. Only Friday will tell if Aussies can get past it.
WHAT’S IN THE BIG IPHONE
Apple iPhone XS Max
Price: $1799-$2369
Display: 6.5-inch Super Retina HD OLED screen
Cameras: Dual 12-megapixel rear cameras with a 2x optical zoom, Smart HDR, and Portrait Mode with Depth Control. 4K video recording with optical image stabilisation.
Security: Faster Face ID facial recognition
Storage: From 64GB to 512GB
Battery: Up to 25 hours of talk time, or 13 hours of internet use
WHAT’S IT UP AGAINST
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 ($1499-$1799): 6.4-inch OLED screen, dual 12-megapixel cameras, up to 512GB storage, facial and fingerprint locks, S Pen stylus.
Huawei P20 Pro ($1099): 6.1-inch OLED screen, three-lens cameras with 40, 20 and eight-megapixels, 128GB storage, fingerprint sensor.
LG V30+ ($1199): 6-inch OLED screen, dual 13 and 16-megapixel cameras, 128GB storage, fingerprint, voice, and facial recognition.
Oppo Find X ($1299): 6.4-inch AMOLED screen, dual 16 and 20-megapixel cameras, 128GB storage, facial recognition, 25-megapixel selfie camera.
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