- Hey guys, this is Austin.
The iPhone XS is one of the best phones you can buy today,
which makes sense as it's also one of the most
expensive flagships ever.
As opposed to doing our normal Is It Worth It
video this year, instead I think it's a lot
more useful if we answer the most important question
with any new gadget launch.
Who should buy the iPhone XS?
One big reason to pick up the XS or the XS Max
is if you're already in the Apple ecosystem
and you're looking for an upgrade,
especially if you're coming from an older device
such as an iPhone 6 or 6s, this is a big step forward.
Take the camera, for example.
Put it side by side with the 6s and you will
notice a big difference.
Now part of this is because there are
several generations between the phones,
which means that things like color science,
dynamic range, and the video quality
has all been improved.
But you're also getting additional functionality,
including the second telephoto option,
which is especially useful for the portrait mode,
which is actually pretty good on the XS.
It's also hard to overlook the difference
in screen size.
Gone are the days of huge bezels on top and bottom.
Instead, the new iPhone is basically all screen
up front, including the notch.
Oh yes, my friends, the notch.
Look, personally I don't mind the notch.
Not only is it on basically every flagship
phone out there, but at this point, while sure,
you might think it looks ugly,
almost anyone is going to be able
to get used to it very quickly.
That notch houses one of the biggest differences
between the XS and previous generations.
Face ID.
Put simply, instead of having a home button
with Touch ID, instead you use your face
to unlock the X and the XS.
And, generally speaking, it works pretty well.
Certainly not perfect,
but as far as I'm concerned, not bad.
There are also some software updates from legacy phones,
and some of which are pretty substantial.
One of my favorites is the gesture-based navigation,
since you don't have a home button to be able
to exit apps, as well as swipe in and out
of multi-tasking and whatnot.
This makes it a lot faster to be able
to just swipe on the bottom of the screen.
Performance is also a consideration.
Every year, the iPhone does get faster.
And while the A-Series processors have been
really impressive, especially the last couple years,
when you pit the XS compared to the X,
and especially going back to the 7 and the 6S,
you're gonna notice a pretty substantial difference.
Sure, the camera is a solid update this year,
but it is certainly not worth dropping
another $1000 to get.
Same thing goes for the performance.
Yes, on paper the XS is faster,
but realistically, there's almost no
real world difference.
More than any phone I've used in years,
the iPhone X has held up so well
over a full year of use.
The battery life still lasts all day long.
It still feels fast, the camera is great.
If you have one and you're not, like,
rocking a broken screen or something,
it is almost impossible for me to recommend
it over the XS.
No, no, I didn't actually mean that.
That's the wrong,
I flipped that.
The X still feels every bit as fast
as it did last year, and even more so
now that iOS 12 is out.
Speaking of, let's actually talk about iOS 12
for a second.
As opposed to most updates,
which make your iPhone feel slower,
12 legitimately does make even older
iPhones feel a lot faster.
I'll be real.
If my job wasn't to review the latest tech,
I would not have updated my iPhone X to a XS.
It's good, but the upgrades are just not worth it.
On the other hand, one reason why you might
wanna pick up the XS is longevity.
It's really impressive that Apple is still
supporting the iPhone 5s after five years.
And honestly, the software support on the iOS side,
it's one of the major advantages over Android
in my opinion.
If the XS gets that same level of support,
it is a serious selling point.
Sure, $1000 for a phone is expensive.
But when you break that up over three,
four, or even five years of usable,
well, use, that's pretty cool.
There's also the fact that the updated screen design
is the new standard going forward,
which is a good sign for app support.
Long story short.
If you want to pick up a new iPhone today,
the XS has a good shot of being able
to last quite a while.
On the other hand, not everyone wants to spend
$1000 on a new phone.
Sure, the XS is great, but there's a lot of
other things you could do with $1000.
Like pay rent, or buy a lot of Subway sandwiches.
- [Ken] What?
- [Matt] $5.00 footlong.
- That's a lot of $5.00 footlongs.
That's-- - They're not doing that.
- 200 of them. - They're not, they're not
doing that anymore. - No.
- Wait, they're not?
- [Matt] That's not a thing anymore.
- Not only can you pick up a much cheaper
Android phone such as the Pocophone F1
for a lot less than half the price,
but there are also other iOS options
that can do a decent job of not costing $1000,
such as the iPhone 7, which is now $450.
Sure, it's probably not going to last as long,
but you're still getting a solid camera,
really reasonable performance,
and it costs less than half the price of the XS.
One point in favor of the XS,
specifically with the Max, is if you're really
into media consumption.
Which, odds are if you're watching this video right now,
you probably are.
Based on early numbers, it seems like the XS Max
is heavily outselling the standard XS,
and that's really only for one reason,
the fact that it's got that bigger display.
Besides that, there's actually really no difference
between the XS and the XS Max.
The 6.5 inch OLED display is about as good
as it gets for a smartphone.
Not only is the brightness, and the color,
and especially the contrast, terrific,
but it does support all the fancy new
display technologies, including HDR10
and Dolby Vision.
The improved speakers also make a difference.
Not only are they louder, but they also have
better stereo separation.
And that, combined with the screen,
makes the XS Max an excellent media consumption device.
Honestly, the main reason to not buy
the iPhone XS is really simple, the iPhone XR.
Take everything that's good about the XS,
add a wide variety of colors,
remove the telephoto camera while still
keeping the main camera intact,
and replace the OLED display for an IPS panel,
and boom, you've got yourself an iPhone XR,
which just so happens to be a full $250 cheaper.
That's a big difference compared to past generations.
Previously, Apple would knock about $100 off of
the entry-level iPhone.
But this year, you're getting the XR with almost
the exact same spec but with a major price cut.
Something that's easy to miss is that while the XR
does have a lower pixel density,
which is on-par with the iPhone 8,
but the actual screen size itself is right
in-between the XS and the XS Max.
The XR won't be out until late October,
so I can't give it my full recommendation just yet.
But on paper, it really does look like the full package.
You just aren't missing much compared to the XS.
And that is my recommendation.
If you really want the best and have the
budget for it, by all means pick up the XS.
It's a great phone.
For almost everyone else though,
I really feel like waiting for the XR is worth it.