Foreign media review: iPhone XS series is not much better than iPhone X

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will be officially available for sale on Friday, September 21, but there are already reviews and testimonials about these two new flagships on the Internet. According to some reviews provided by foreign media macrumors, this year's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are not much better than iPhone X, or they are just simple routine updates.

As we all know, 2018 is the so-called "S" year for iPhone, so this new product is simply called the iPhone XS series. In the past, every "S" year, the new iPhone almost always retains the same appearance design as the previous generation, and this year is no exception. Apple will focus more on updating components, including display, camera, chip performance, etc., including the previous iPhone 4s, iPhone 5s and iPhone 6s.

Last year, when Apple officially released the iPhone X, it claimed that this was a model specially designed for the 10th anniversary of the iPhone. The iPhone X represents the "future of smartphones" and marks the iPhone's entry into a new era of the next "decade". Perhaps based on this, Apple still maintains a lot of the same elements as the iPhone X in the iPhone XS series.

After a period of trial use, many foreign media believe that iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are just "updates, not updates" and cannot be called revolutionary, at least that's how Wired magazine summarized it: "evolutionary, not revolutionary". Another media TechCrunch's review went a step further and believed that the new generation of iPhones had too few updates, even calling the smaller iPhone XS "the most 'S' model Apple has ever made".

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Just like many previous "S" year upgrades, if you have already purchased the previous flagship iPhone in the previous year, you don't have to spend money to upgrade in this case. For example, it's fine to continue using last year's iPhone X this year. TechCrunch said in its review that there are actually only "about 6 clear improvements" in the iPhone XS.

The media said, "If it is an upgrade from the iPhone X, it needs to be said that you have to really like everything the camera can do to feel that there is a breakthrough. But if it is an upgrade from other devices, it should be a huge victory, OLED screen, facial recognition and leading gesture interface, as well as a series of measures that Apple may rethink in 2017 to about 2030."

In terms of specific features, The Verge believes in its review that facial recognition, rear camera, performance, battery life, etc. all give a good impression. At the same time, the review also reminds readers that the only difference between the smaller iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max is its larger 6.5-inch display and longer battery life.

Regarding Face ID, The Verge said, "In addition to a small speed increase and auxiliary appearance support, Face ID is still Face ID. It does not work in landscape or inverted or similar scenarios. If you wear glasses like me, you still need to enter a password when you wake up every morning because you hold the phone too close to your face and the result is that it cannot be used. Sunglasses that block infrared rays will still hinder the official work of Face ID. However, Apple said they are working with sunglass manufacturers to produce new sunglasses that support Face ID."

Regarding the rear camera, The Verge said, "The camera upgrade of the XS relative to the X is meaningful, and the XS does make the X camera look bad in most cases. But we have always believed that the best smartphone camera on the market is Google's Pixel 2. This has been a year, but it is still the highest standard that needs to be broken. Moreover, I think the Pixel 2 still offers a better camera than the iPhone XS. Don't get me wrong, most people will still like the photos taken by their iPhone XS, and its camera is respectable, but I prefer the Galaxy S9. Compared with the Pixel 2, the XS doesn't really do this for me."

Regarding performance, The Verge said, "Last year's iPhone X was equipped with the A11 Bionic chip, and this year's iPhone XS has been upgraded to the A12 Bionic chip. In terms of CPU performance, the A12 is actually not that fast. Apple only mentioned a 15% performance improvement, and I didn't see a significant improvement compared to the iPhone X in my hand."

Regarding battery life, The Verge said, "I mainly tested the XS Max, and the results were very good, even longer than the 90 minutes that Apple claimed for the X. In fact, in non-low power mode, I got a full 12 hours of battery life with the XS Max, even in my daily heavy use of Slack apps, email, video watching, taking pictures and browsing the web. Apple claims that the smaller XS has 30 minutes more battery life than the X, and in the past year, my X has been able to use about 8 hours, so this also makes sense."

In short, if you are really a die-hard fan of Apple, I believe you will still be eager to get the latest and best iPhone, either iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max. As for other general consumers, I believe they will still wait until October 19 (Friday), when the cheaper iPhone XR can be ordered, and make a decision after comparison.

iPhone XR is described by Apple as a product that offers the same experience as iPhone X at an affordable price. Although there are no actual reviews of this phone yet, according to information released by Apple, this model also has an edge-to-edge full screen with thicker borders, Face ID facial recognition technology, a dual-glass body, wireless charging, and many other advantages of iPhone XS, including new camera features such as Smart HDR and depth of field adjustment.

In addition, foreign media CNET said in its review, "iPhone XS and XS Max are both excellent phones that provide huge improvements. You can even call them incredible and very promising hubs that can connect you to the universe. As you would expect, they are the best iPhones currently."

CNET also said, "The question now is that the third new iPhone, the iPhone XR, may be the best choice for upgrading any old iPhone except the 2017 iPhone X. It offers many of the same features as the XS, while also using a larger, but lower-resolution 6.1-inch LCD screen than the XS, and according to Apple, the XR has longer battery life. Its starting price is $250 cheaper than the XS, and only $50 higher than the starting price of the iPhone 8 last year."

The Wall Street Journal's review said, "The new iPhone XS and XS Max are both excellent phones, but the XR, which is expected to be released in October, is more like a good phone..."

In fact, many foreign media have provided a large number of reviews in the past two days, such as the New York Times, Mashable, USA Today, CNBC, TechRadar, The Telegraph, iNews and Pocket-lint, etc., which are not listed here one by one.

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will be officially available this Friday. Have you decided to buy these two new iPhone flagships? Or do you have to wait until October 26 when iPhone XR is available?