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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. Okay, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, these are devices that,
00:10well, when they did the announcement, I was not overly impressed with them. Not because
00:15they weren't good phones, but I just felt like they were very similar to the iPhone
00:18X that I already had. And ever since the iPhone 3G, like, not the original iPhone, but the
00:23one after that, I have gone every single iteration of every iPhone possible. Because I'm an iPhone
00:31user, it's always been my thing. This is the first year that I will not be upgrading to
00:36the iPhone XS Max, or even the iPhone XS. So, these phones are, they're easy to criticize.
00:43I feel like people have been critical about the price tag, it's very expensive, and yet
00:47it doesn't include the fast-charging cable or fast-charging brick. It also doesn't include
00:52the analog headphone adapter this year, so a few things feel like they're missing right
00:55out of the box. Now, on paper, the specs are pretty good, but there were no standout features
01:00that really made these iPhones pop out as being really special phones this year. But
01:04I ordered a pair anyways just because I was interested to see if the XS Max would be a
01:09phone I'd be interested in switching to. Just because of the bigger size, bigger screen,
01:12I thought I'd be interested in it. Short answer, it's a great phone, but it's not enough for
01:17me to switch over to it coming from the iPhone X. A couple physical things I don't love about
01:22it, it's a big phone, bigger than I thought it'd be. Like, it's been a while since I've
01:25used one of the plus-sized iPhones, and it's a big phone. I've used this for four or five
01:29days at this point, and it just feels, it feels big. I don't like it. I definitely prefer
01:34the smaller size of the iPhone XS, or the iPhone X. And also, the color on this phone
01:39is more pink than I thought it would be. Like, in pictures on their website, it looks kind
01:43of like a brownish gold, but in real life, I think on certain angles, it's got this pinkish
01:48hue. I think it's because the glass has this iridescence to it, and when you tilt the
01:51right way, I mean, it's just, it's pink, to me. And I don't love that. But, aesthetics
01:56aside, it's a really good phone, and the camera is way better than I thought it'd be. So over
02:01the past few days, I've been shooting quite a bit with it, and the only thing I can confidently
02:04say is that it's definitely a better camera than the iPhone X. As for whether it's better
02:09than the Pixel 2 XL, or even the Note 9, I feel like that's a lot more subjective. I've
02:14always had personal preference for the way that images look coming off the Pixel 2 XL,
02:18and over the past year, I feel like it's been the camera leader. Like, that's just
02:22my personal preference. But right now, the iPhone XS really gives it a run for the money.
02:26The iPhone X from last year just felt always substandard compared to the Pixel 2 XL, but
02:31XS and the XS Max really stepped it up. They're still not the leader with low-light photography.
02:36I think the Samsung flagships and the Pixel 2 XL still do a little bit better with low-light
02:41photography, but the XS and the XS Max are definitely better than the X. The other thing
02:46I noticed is that the XS Max has a more aggressive facial smoothening compared to the iPhone
02:50X. Apple has traditionally been really timid or light-handed with any of the facial smoothening
02:55or any kind of effects that they put on the selfie cam, but this year, it's bumped up
02:59a little bit. It's not crazy over the top, like the Huawei P20, that thing just destroyed
03:03my kid's face, but it is noticeable compared to the iPhone X. Everything else on the iPhone
03:08XS Max, though, feels really kind of similar to the iPhone X, and I think that's the whole
03:13point of this phone, right? I mean, it's not meant for people that are coming from
03:16the iPhone X to just immediately want to upgrade to the XS or the XS Max. I feel like these
03:20phones are reserved more for people that have older phones, and they're great phones in
03:24that regard. It's just that for someone that's a bit of an iPhone, not a fanboy, but I'm
03:29an iPhone enthusiast. I use them every year. It's just not enough of a hardware upgrade
03:33to switch over to this year. iOS 12 running on my old iPhone X feels like a fresh phone
03:38to me. The stacked notifications and Siri shortcuts and the improved speeds, it's a
03:43really nice OS update. So my overall thoughts on this phone, if you're fortunate enough
03:47to have an iPhone X from last year, I think you'll find the iPhone XS and the XS Max kind
03:52of uninspiring. They're great phones, but they're just so similar to the iPhone X from
03:56last year that you probably won't be compelled to upgrade to them this year. If you have
04:00an older generation phone, they're awesome phones, but I think the real winner here is
04:04actually iOS 12. It has made older devices, like even the 5S, this is a device I actually
04:10use it pretty frequently for work, and I actually use it for the thermal imaging app for my
04:14laptop reviews, and this phone feels like it's double the speed compared to what it
04:18was like on iOS 11. And that just speaks volumes about software in general, right? For Apple
04:23to put out iOS 12, it must have taken crazy amounts of effort, time, money, and we get
04:28it for free. It just breathes new life into older hardware. You look at these phones,
04:33the XS and the XS Max, they're fantastic hardware, and we're always in that pursuit
04:37of better phones, faster phones. But this time, software did the trick for me. It wasn't
04:43hardware, like this is great hardware, but I feel like it just got eclipsed by how good
04:47the software was this year. Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if you liked
04:51it, subs if you loved it. See you guys next time.