On the front, the XS has a sharp 7-megapixel camera that also allows you to adjust bokeh after the fact, thanks to the infrared depth sensors used for Face ID. A Unique OS The phone's 2,659mAh battery is slightly smaller than the iPhone X's 2,716mAh cell, but the XS more than makes up for the gap with a more power-efficient processor and radio. Especially on LTE, 4x4 MIMO really reduces the amount of power needed to eke out a signal. Unfortunately, my battery tests haven't completed yet, but I got 9 hours, 50 minutes of video streaming over Wi-Fi with the iPhone XS Max, and Apple says the XS has slightly less battery life. That puts it in full-day range, but short of the Galaxy Note 9. I'll update this review when I have a battery result.

That speed improvement is easy to feel within the phone, as the iPhone XS is one of the snappiest handsets we've ever tapped our way through. iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are splash, water, and dust resistant and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP68 under IEC standard 60529 (maximum depth of 2 meters up to 30 minutes). Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.You shouldn't worry too much about its high ISO performance, as the iPhone automatically switches to the brighter, wider lens and applies digital zoom in dim light. If you use a third-party camera app you can force the phone to use the 2x lens in any sort of light. We used the Moment app for testing as it supports Raw capture and manual ISO control, both of which are missing from Apple's baked-in Camera app. English, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish FaceTime calling requires a FaceTime-enabled device for the caller and recipient and a Wi-Fi connection. Availability over a cellular network depends on carrier policies; data charges may apply.

The question on everyone's mind is the same as it is with every phone: Is the iPhone XS better in low light? The sensor is, without question. It manages to capture images with crisp detail and little noise through ISO 100. That's not a high number if you're talking about a full-frame camera, but for a phone? It's up there with the best we've tested, negating the one-stop advantage the Galaxy S9+ showed over last year's iPhones in our testing. Update: iOS 15 has been announced at WWDC 2021 and it will come to the iPhone XS "this fall" (likely meaning September). Features of the software include spatial audio and voice isolation for FaceTime (plus the ability to have Android users on calls!), image collages in group Messages chats, a new Notification Summary, a redesigned weather app, and much more. Apple includes the same slow-charging 5W power adapter it always does with its phones, but says that it will charge faster with iPad or MacBook adapters. We put that to the test last year and decided that the iPad adapter is a must-buy to charge your phone with.It adds a 'smart layer' to proceedings, allowing the handset to recognize things on the screen, whether that's appending an Animoji to your head in real time during a FaceTime call, or working out what's needed to improve the quality of a photo as you're taking it. Globally, there are four different regional versions of the XS, with slightly different LTE bands. They'll all roam globally, but they're each best for primary use in the countries where they're sold. (We have a full rundown of the differences here.)