live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
This is my iPhone XS Max review. I used the iPhone XS Max as my personal (exclusive) device for roughly 3 weeks. The iPhone XS Max is a great smartphone, I don't think it's a great value.
_________________________________________
WATCH SOME MORE VIDEOS...
Dear Google...
https://youtu.be/XjZJHsYIj2w?list=PL7u4lWXQ3wfI_7PgX0C-VTiwLeu0S4v34
Unboxing Every Google Pixel 3 XL + Pixel 3
https://youtu.be/BJrsmM6aEYE?list=PL7u4lWXQ3wfI_7PgX0C-VTiwLeu0S4v34
This Smartphone Has 5 Cameras… But Why?
https://youtu.be/LNa93qmP868?list=PL7u4lWXQ3wfI_7PgX0C-VTiwLeu0S4v34
The Levitating Turntable - What Magic Is This?
https://youtu.be/JUlPN2A_r-g?list=PL7u4lWXQ3wfI_7PgX0C-VTiwLeu0S4v34
The iPhone XS Has A Serious Problem...
https://youtu.be/J_lRJuQtBmc?list=PL7u4lWXQ3wfI_7PgX0C-VTiwLeu0S4v34
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
So, it's been a little while to be living on any one specific smartphone
0:06
In fact, with the speed at which these phones are launched, it's pretty much as much time as you can spend
0:13
I got this thing going on where I'll take my main SIM card, my main phone number, the phone number that everybody has
0:20
and I will put that SIM card into a device and use it exclusively as my daily driver
0:27
whether you like that terminology or not, for that entire period. And in this case, with the iPhone XS Max, it has been maybe even a little longer than usual
0:35
And I kind of felt the need to do that because switching over to iOS is a one-time deal
0:41
It's like once a year. So many devices to choose from in the Android space, and they're getting launched at various intervals
0:48
But in the iPhone world, you get new iOS devices once per year
0:53
So I put a little extra time on it to make sure that I really absorbed it as much as possible
1:00
So this is the XS Max in front of me. I thought might as well go for the bigger one since it's newer, I guess, than the regular XS
1:07
Slightly bigger battery, bigger screen, and the XS is a lot like last year's X
1:12
which I also used for an extended period of time. So this phone here in front of me is a good phone
1:19
I need to get that out of the way. Everybody wants to make this discussion black and white
1:24
A discussion of contrast that like one thing is the thing and the other thing is not the thing
1:31
And honestly, it doesn't break down that way. It's like so many other things in life
1:36
There is a gradient. There is a gray area. And the vast majority of things, if not everything, lives somewhere in that spectrum
1:44
This phone is a good phone. I used it for an extended period of time
1:48
It did what I wanted it to do. In fact, in some cases, very well, and in some cases, better than the various Android counterparts that I've used recently
1:59
Compatibility. In and out of multiple cars, where I have Bluetooth connections, this one has been the most stable, instantly connecting and never requiring any kind of manual input
2:10
Part of that is a benefit of scale. This is one set of hardware and software that is combined in this product and then proliferated amongst this huge group of people all using the exact same hardware
2:26
So if you're an auto manufacturer and you're working out your Bluetooth profiles or compatibility, iPhone is going to be at the top of your list
2:32
And of course, there's various other products like that and accessories and so on that can benefit from the scale of iPhone
2:38
There's also certain apps on here that I would say are a little bit better possibly than their Android alternatives
2:45
This part of the discussion has been converging of recent. I would say Android has gotten a lot better in this space, but there still is this scale advantage when it comes to compatibility and iOS
2:58
Of course, market share is something that's changing rapidly, so this is not a static thing
3:02
This is a dynamic part of the conversation, and this may change in the future as well
3:06
but nonetheless compatibility very nice. It's solid, it's robust, the build quality is something that I like
3:13
Now you know I not a huge fan of glass phones but I will gladly switch to a glass phone in exchange for wireless charging which this device happens to have Not the fastest charging device but it has that feature and I like it Now when you pull this thing out of the box it important to know that you feel like you are dealing with a quality device
3:32
You feel like you are dealing with an expensive device, certainly more so than some other products you'll pull out of a box
3:39
You guys know I raved about the recent Pocophone F1. $299. Wow, maybe that does have a show
3:47
We know what it was about. It was a crazy delivery of specs for not such a crazy price
3:52
That's kind of the opposite of this phone here. This phone has the price tag to match
3:56
You pull this out of the box and you feel like you're holding on to something expensive
4:00
So I commend Apple for being able to deliver a premium phone that truly does feel premium
4:07
The camera in most situations is also good. I was mostly critical of the front-facing camera and some of the things it was doing to skin tones
4:15
Now that issue doesn't exist nearly as much, if at all, on the rear camera, which otherwise can produce some amazing images
4:22
Apple has its own version of computational photography, capable of merging multiple photos together
4:27
You saw the smart HDR functionality. That stuff is only going to get better with time as the sample size increases and so on
4:34
And of course, Apple can go in there and make updates to things like BeautyGate. If people don't like the effect that it's having on their skin tones, that can be tweaked
4:42
I think a lot of people are going to go ahead and compare this camera to the upcoming Pixel device, the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL
4:48
Totally different implementation here. Of course, as you know, we have the multi-lens scenario
4:54
A lot of where we're living right now is somewhere in the nuance, the gray thing that I was talking about before
5:00
I don't really think your life is going to be impacted all that much by using this smartphone camera versus the Pixel 3 XL
5:07
For most people, in most circumstances, either of those two phones is going to suffice in delivering
5:12
the type of results that you happen to be looking for. It's going to be a matter of taste
5:17
Yes, that's right. It's taste. A lot of it has to do with what you're comfortable with
5:21
or what you have pre-existing knowledge of or what your family members happen to use
5:25
Like all these pieces actually add up to your eventual decision on which smartphone is best for you
5:32
And it is important to remember it is a question of best for you rather than best overall
5:37
Even in the case of those DxO scores, Some people still pick other images down the list on different smartphone cameras that they consider to be more pleasing
5:45
Comes back to this idea that there is no best, just the best for you
5:50
Now, we can talk a little bit about the notch here. It's notch city right now
5:54
Like, my whole Twitter is essentially talking about notches. It's amazing. Apple, they come out with it, and then, boom, it's across the board
6:01
I knew when I saw it on the original iPhone X, it was going to be an earthquake, a notch quake
6:08
So all of a sudden you have all these phones coming out with notches and I probably looked at a dozen phones with notches since the iPhone X
6:14
If I can disable the notch, I'll disable it. I'll get rid of it
6:17
Now, Apple doesn't natively give you the ability to do that, so I put a black background until you launch into an app, in which case you become more aware of the notch's existence
6:28
What I do like in the iPhone's case is that there's no chin to go along with the notch, at least the rest of the device is relatively symmetrical
6:36
You're housing some pretty cool tech when it comes to facial recognition and so on
6:40
But I should talk a little bit about this facial recognition It still suffers from some of the same issues that the iPhone X did I be lying in bed for example sometimes it just miss or you know the place where I holding the phone is a little bit close
6:53
and I find myself doing these types of motions. Is it the end of the world? No, absolutely not
6:59
Does it require me to condemn the entire device? No, absolutely not. But it is something that you should know about
7:04
With the lack of a fingerprint scanner on this phone, there are those circumstances in which you find yourself either doing that
7:09
or typing in the passcode. It's not every time. It's not every person's face
7:14
Some people wear hats. Sometimes I wear glasses. It's not all the time, but it is sometimes, and so it's worth knowing about
7:21
I would still prefer if this phone, and I said this about the previous version
7:25
had some alternative authentication system like a fingerprint scanner in the back
7:30
They'll never get rid of the Apple logo, but how cool would an Apple logo fingerprint scanner be
7:34
in conjunction with face unlock? So you have both. Whichever picks up first, that's the one you go with
7:40
The display on here is nice, uh, OLED, it's a must at this price point, as you know, uh, this one has it
7:46
I do also enjoy having access to a dedicated Switch for dealing with audio issues, uh, silencing the phone and so on
7:54
Something I don't like is that we still have this effect here. This is not my favorite effect
7:58
Yes, there are times where I use the device on a flat surface, and I'm just not a huge fan of this breakdown right here where, uh, you know, not a deal breaker
8:08
Once again, not a deal breaker. There's been a lot of talk about the asymmetry on the bottom of the device
8:13
I rarely would even look at the bottom of the device here. What's more interesting to me is the reason for it
8:18
Apple is no longer working with Qualcomm at all. In fact, Apple and Qualcomm are not so friendly right now
8:24
There's various lawsuits, disputes going on between the two brands. You know Qualcomm, they're giants out here when it comes to chipsets, networking components, and so on
8:34
Because of the dispute, Apple chose to go with Intel. You can see there's an extra antenna band here to support the latest wireless protocol
8:43
And this is the first time that Apple has gone all Intel on their device
8:47
Some people with the previous gen iPhone ended up with Qualcomm. Some ended up with Intel
8:51
It appears to me, looking at this from a distance now and seeing this transition
8:57
it might not be the greatest thing for customers. How much of the Wi-Fi issues that have been reported may be hardware related to an internal design
9:06
that Intel is responsible for, or possibly it's a software, hardware, communication thing going on
9:14
But what we do know is Qualcomm is the market leader when it comes to these type of communication components
9:20
So will the networking be as rock solid on this as the last one
9:24
Time will tell. I did notice that the Wi-Fi would drop out from time to time
9:28
but then again, 12.0.1, the latest software on here, actually claims to fix some of that
9:34
or hopefully fix some of it. Okay, sound. I was really impressed with the sound. The sound coming out of this is definitely an improvement over the previous one
9:41
And it's one of the best sounding smartphones that I've heard. As of right now, this is one of the best sounding smartphones out of the speaker unit that's out there in the marketplace
9:52
It's a bit unfortunate to me that they didn't move to USB Type-C. I get it
9:57
There's a lot of peripherals out there that utilize the lightning port
10:02
But honestly, for me, I have so many accessories on Type-C. It would have been nice to just see native Type in there fast charging in the box I just want to talk a little bit about notifications in general Not a huge fan of the way that iOS deals with notifications comparative to Android
10:18
I just find the individual cards and even the way that notifications are stacked within iOS are not
10:24
quite as streamlined. This is a preference thing. I feel the need to reiterate this is a preference
10:30
thing. That said, iOS has made a number of improvements regarding nested notifications
10:36
So at least now they're stacked on top of each other. If you are a heavy user and you get a lot of notifications, that was a huge issue in the past
10:43
Apple has addressed that. But to me, it's still a step behind what's happening on Android
10:48
That said, it's a taste thing. Battery life, I should say I was concerned about the battery on here
10:54
Because it is smaller than some of the other flagship devices. Like, say, for example, the Note 9
11:01
There's some power management stuff going on here that is obviously very effective
11:05
because at the end of the day, I'm getting similar numbers in terms of leftover battery life
11:09
It's not like I'm hunting for a charger with this thing. If you are locked into the iOS ecosystem and you want battery life
11:15
you can go with this max or you could wait for the XR. As depressing as that screen might be or will be or who knows
11:23
that thing should be really good. And on Apple's site, they've even listed it as the battery champion for runtime
11:30
So that's something to keep in mind. I'm not going to go out there and tell you that there's a $400 phone on the market that's going to give you the same overall picture as what this iPhone is going to give you
11:41
As fine or good or quality this product continues to be, the real question comes down to cost
11:49
It comes back to cost again because ultimately that's my job here is to evaluate these things from a cost performance perspective
12:00
you're going to be determining what works best for you in comparison to what you want to invest
12:07
it's the best i can do it's the best thing to talk about for me speaking and thinking as
12:12
responsibly as i possibly can to the average one of you to the person out there who's a customer
12:17
who's looking at smartphones who's considering buying a new one i'm gonna have to say this phone
12:22
is great but i still don't think you should buy it at this cost this one in front of me is 1100
12:28
bucks USD. And in certain markets, it's even more than that when adjusted. In some places like India
12:34
for example, the thing is almost two grand equivalent. The iPhone XS Max is a great phone
12:39
The iPhone XS is a great phone. They have problems. Every phone has problems. But for those of you
12:43
in the audience looking for advice concerned with cost to performance ratio, I do not think
12:49
the XS Max is worth 1100 bucks or whatever price it is in your local market, not compared to what
12:56
else is out there. If you got money falling out of your pockets, if you got boatloads of cash
13:01
go ahead, disregard everything I said and just be like, I don't care. I can have 10 of those
13:05
but I can't be that useful to you anyways. That wraps up this video. As you know
13:09
I'm doing this switch thing. I got to switch to another phone. I got to bring the heat
13:14
So let me know down in the comment section, which phone am I switching to next? I will be switching
13:19
and I won't be holding back. Stop it. I'm bringing fire to all of them. I'm looking to give you
13:25
value wherever I can. I'm going to keep doing it. All right? Comment section, what am I switching to
#Computers & Electronics