(Bright upbeat music) - What's up guys!
Saf here on SuperSafTV and this is my full review
of the iPhone XS Max after using it for over two months.
Now although in this video
I'm going to be talking about the iPhone XS Max
pretty much everything also translates over
to the iPhone XS which is very similar
apart from slight differences, so do bear that in mind.
And a lot of you guys will also know
that in my full reviews I don't go over specs.
Specs have been covered in my boxing video
which you can check out in the cards.
In this video I'm simply going to be talking
about my experience, what I like about the iPhone XS Max,
what I don't like about it,
and what I think can be improved.
Right so let's initially start off with what I like most
about the iPhone XS and XS Max and that is the cameras.
This has some of the best cameras on the market right now
and we've got a big improvement compared to last year
and that is thanks to Smart HDR.
This makes your images look absolutely awesome
because of the amazing dynamic range.
It's something that I have been ranting about
for a long time is that iPhones
should just have HDR switched on by default
unless you want to switch it off.
This is something that lots of others do as well
such as on the Google Pixels.
And it looks like Apple has finally listened
and the XS and XS Max have Smart HDR switched on by default
and it works really, really well.
Some people might think it's a bit too aggressive
because it does brighten up the shadows quite a bit
and this is specially noticeable for the front facing camera
where a few people were saying that it's
beautygate where it's actually applying a beauty filter.
I don't think it's a blanket beauty filter
it is brightening up those shadows
which gives you more of a flatter image.
This is going to come down to your personal preference
I don't mind it too much it's not going to give you
like a plastic beauty mode
that we've seen on many other smart phones.
Portrait mode has also been improved,
the front facing camera portrait mode
actually works really well.
I wouldn't say it works as well
as something like the Google Pixel 3XL.
And portrait mode in the rear facing camera
I absolutely love.
It does a great job in terms of edge detection
you can also edit the blur after the fact,
both the front and rear facing cameras.
But one area where I think
the XS Max can improve is in low light.
When you put it up against some of the competition
for low light photography the iPhone XS Max does struggle.
And that is because we've got others like the Note9
with a super wide F1.5 aperture
and manufacturers like Huawei and Google
are offering a dedicated night mode
which uses software processing and longer shutter times
in order to give you better low light photography.
This is something that we don't have on the XS Max
and it's unfortunate I hope we will be getting something
like that via a software update
or maybe for the next version.
Now what about video work,
I would go as far as saying that
the iPhone XS and XS Max has the best
video recording on any smartphone out right now.
Colors are great.
Dynamic range is once again really, really awesome.
We've got great stabilization.
And this year finally, finally
we have stereo audio recording.
Once again this is something that
I've been ranting about for many, many years,
because previously iPhones only recorded in mono sound.
And compared to lots of other devices
which recorded in stereo sound
the previous iPhones did not sound good at all.
This year it has changed we've got stereo audio recording
and it sounds absolutely great on the new iPhones.
Now I would recommend shooting below 30 frames a second
on the iPhone XS Max and that is because
extended dynamic range is not supported
at the higher frame rates.
So although you can film at 4K at up to 60 frames a second
I'd recommend to sticking to below 30 frames a second
because the video is going to look so much better.
So all of the videos and images you take on the iPhone
are going to be viewed on this display
and this display is absolutely awesome.
It's one of the best displays out there.
We've got all the technology which means
blacks are deep, colors are vibrant,
and details are also very sharp because of the resolution.
Now yes there's a notch but we don't have a bottom chin
like we've got on other devices that do have a notch.
So it's something that I think you'll get over very quickly.
I was over the notch on the iPhone X
after using it for a few days.
It's not that much of a big deal
and I really do like the display of the XS Max
and I also like this larger size.
I'm glad we've got this larger size
because in terms of physical dimensions the XS Max
is very similar to something like the iPhone 8 Plus
but you're getting a much larger display
because of the smaller bezels.
Now within this notch you have a bunch of sensors
because of Face ID and Face ID has also improved
compared to last year.
It's so quick and easy just check this out.
Boom swipe up and you're in.
Very quick, and also very, very secure.
Now there are certain issues that you're going to be finding
if you've not used Face ID before,
such as the fact that if your phone is lying flat on a table
then you are going to have to lift it up
and point it at your face.
You're not just going to be able to unlock it like this.
Like you would have been able to do
if it had a fingerprint scanner at the front.
And also there's certain situations
which I've mentioned before
these just might affect me personally
I'm somebody who uses my phone a lot when I'm in bed
and sometimes my face is halfway sunken in the pillow
and I just want to quickly look at something
but I either have to kind of get up halfway
to be able to use Face ID or tap in my password.
Neither of which I want to do when I'm half asleep
and just want to quickly check my phone.
These are very minor issues
I don't think they're going to affect people that much
Face ID is absolutely great and I do like it.
Now let's look at the build and design
very similar to what we had last year on the iPhone X
although we do have this new gold color now
which I personally do really like.
And the XS Max also feels really premium
because of that stainless steel band
and the glass panels in the front and the back.
We've also got IP68 water and dust resistance
which is great.
Now we do have a camera bump which means
(light tapping) when you've got the device
flat on the table it is going to rock about,
once again not a huge deal
but just something to bear in mind.
And we only have three color options
so we've got the space gray, we've got the silver,
and the gold however if you do want to personalize
the iPhone a little bit more to your liking
then you can always pick up a skin
from our channel sponsor dbrand.
I've been rocking the black matrix skin
and also the marble skin which I think
goes really well with the gold version.
I'm going to be leaving a link to dbrand skins
in the description below
if you want to pick up a skin for yourself.
Now speaking of speed and performance
the XS Max is one of the fastest devices out there.
It's so fast and smooth, I've not really had any issues
in terms of lag or anything like that.
And I've done some speed test on the XS Max versus
some of the competition on the Android side
and the XS Max really does hold its own.
That is thanks partially to the Apple A12 Bionic chip
which is one of the fastest chips out there.
But also because of how well the XS Max
is optimized for the software.
Of course we do have iOS 12 on here
and it works really well with the iPhone XS Max.
iOS 12 has also been improved
compared to previous generations.
I do like it a lot more now,
specially in the way of notifications,
which is something that I've complained about before.
Now that we've got group notifications
it's a lot more organized,
but I still think it could be better.
So what do I mean?
For instance if you're within a messaging app
and somebody messages you 10 different messages
you're still going to be seeing their name
10 separate times on each message.
I mean what is the need of that
it's just wasting lots of space on your screen.
These should be in grouped or maybe sub grouped
so that things are a lot more organized
and the space within your notification area
isn't taken up by repeated information.
There are also other improvements that can be made to iOS.
Everything just seems to be buried in the settings.
Like for instance if I'm within the camera
and I want to change the resolution from 4K to 1080P
I can't do that within the camera app
I have to go all the way into settings,
find the camera app, and then change it there.
That's just too much of a long process.
And also icon arrangements,
why does everything have to be towards the top?
This is a large device, every time I'm going to be using it
my hand and my thumb is going to be towards
the lower portion of the display,
but all my icons are here at the top.
So if I've got a page where icons
have not filled up the screen
I can't move one of these down towards the bottom.
It's just not going to let me do that.
It's going to snap everything towards the top
where my finger or my thumb can not reach.
I really do think the next version of iOS
should really address some of these issues.
Now lets talk about the speakers very, very good.
We've got wider stereo sound
so we've got a speaker here in the ear piece
and one bottom firing.
They do sound really, really good.
Yes you can cover the right hand speaker a little bit
sometimes when you've got your device in landscape mode.
Not a huge deal though.
And of course we don't have a 3.5 mm jack.
This is something that we've not had for a long time
and it's something that you should've got used to.
However this year you no longer get
the dongle out of the box, the 3.5mm to lightning dongle.
Something you do have to bear in mind
it looks like Apple are really going for
that whole wireless audio experience
and don't want you to use a 3.5 mm jack anymore.
Now lets talk about Memojis,
you might remember from my review of the iPhone X
when it came to Animojis I wasn't too keen.
I mean I found it a bit of a gimmick
because I used Animoji for the first few days
but then the novelty really quickly wore off.
Maybe because I don't like making myself into a dog,
or a monkey, or a pig.
It's not something that I'm personally into,
but Memoji is something that I really like.
My Memoji looks so much like me, lots of people have said
that it looks more like me than I look like me,
it's absolutely awesome
and it also tracks really, really well.
Memoji is also miles ahead of the competition.
I mean we can just take one look at AR emoji
and see how bad that is
and how good Memoji is in comparison.
But I wish you could use Memoji
a bit more within other apps.
Say Snapchat, Instagram, et cetera.
Yes you can use it within iMessage and for FaceTime
but I think it should be a stand alone app
which should be integrated with others.
So for instance if I'm doing an Instagram livestream
I can do that as my Memoji.
That would be pretty cool and I hope Apple
can do that in the future we'll see.
Now let's talk about the battery life of the iPhone XS Max.
It's been pretty good for me over all,
it does get me through the day on most occasions.
I am a pretty heavy user.
I would say that the iPhone XR
does have better battery life compared to the iPhone XS Max.
Now that is in part because of the low resolution display
that the XR has and personally
I would pick a better resolution display
over better battery life, that's just me.
The iPhone XS Max will get most people
through the day without problem
and you do have wireless charging.
Wireless charging is something that I really, really like.
If you don't have a wireless charger
and you have a device that supports wireless charging
my advice would be to pick up a wireless charger
and put it on your bedside table.
So when you're about to go to sleep
and you want to leave your phone and charge,
you don't have to go around trying
to find a cable in the dark,
you can just drop it on your wireless charger
wake up and your phone will be charged.
You will thank me later trust me.
But all is not good when it comes to charging
on the iPhone XS Max
and that is because although it does support fast charging
we do not get a fast charger out of the box.
Now this is something that I simply don't understand
why Apply don't include a fast charger out of the box.
Pretty much every other manufacturer includes
a fast charger out of the box.
Even for devices which are maybe
a few hundred pounds or dollars.
On top of that if you do want to buy a fast charger
it's going to cost you around 74 pounds.
Now I'm hoping that next year the new iPhone
may have usb type c maybe and if that is the case
then I'm hoping that Apple do include
a fast charger out of the box
because it really should be included.
Especially for a device at this price.
And this device starts at around
1,100 pounds or 1,100 dollars.
Which is very expensive making this
one of the most expensive devices out right now.
And it does go up to 1,450 pounds or dollars
if you want to go for the 512 gigabyte version
which is of course a lot of money.
Now this is something that I think is expected
we had 1,000 dollars or pounds for the iPhone X last year.
So of course because of the bigger screen
and the bigger battery, et cetera
you are going to be paying more.
And it's something that I think
a lot of people were expecting.
And if you can afford that price point then I think
you will not be disappointed with the iPhone XS Max.
In my opinion it is the best iPhone you can buy right now.
So that's what I think about the iPhone XS Max.
(upbeat techno music)
What do you guys think of the iPhone XS Max?
Definitely drop me a comment below
and let me know your thoughts.
I hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful.
If you did then do hit that thumbs up button for me.
And if you haven't already then be sure to subscribe
and switch on notifications,
we've got lots more content coming up on here.
Thanks for watching this is Saf on SuperSafTV,
I'll see you next time.