WHAT ABOUT THE IPHONE XS

A TRUE SMALLER SIBLING IN ALMOST EVERY WAY...

In nearly every way - apart from their size, cost, and battery - these two fines are pretty much identical. They run the same A12 Bionic chip, and benchmark very close to one another; they feature the same 12MP rear camera with a secondary telephoto lens, and the same 7MP front camera. They run the same OS, with the same features, and design wise, they share the same aesthetic, come in the same three colours (Silver, Space Grey, and Gold) the now familiar notch, and both boast improved speakers that are louder than their predecessors, and offer stereo functionality.

Whether that makes a real difference in this form factor is a little beside the point, but they both certainly sound very good.

So let’s drill into what sets them apart.

BATTERY

We ran the same battery test that we put all phones through: a Full HD video run at full brightness for 90 minutes. The iPhone XS scored very close to the iPhone X from last year, dropping to 89% (where the X managed 90%).

This is excellent again, as usually we’re used to seeing handsets lose around 20%, and more LCD-based iPhones easily drop 25%, so the OLED tech seems to be very efficient.

COST

In terms of the price, the good (ish) news is that it hasn’t risen over last year’s incredibly expensive iPhone X, with the 64GB iPhone XS price coming in at $1,629. The 256GB iPhone XS price is$1,879, and the 512GB iPhone XS costs $2,199.

That said, while the cost of rival smartphones has been going up, the iPhone XS is still going to be one of the most costly phones you can buy (apart from the iPhone XS Max, which carries the eye-watering price tag of$1,799 for the cheapest option).

VERDICT

Out of the two, which should you buy?

Both are really quite expensive phones, to be honest, but if the modest price difference isn’t an issue, we’d suggest going with the Max, purely for that extra screen real estate. Whether your browsing the web, catching up on Facebook, or consuming any kind of media, it is the more pleasurable option.

But if you prefer the more compact option, there’s certainly nothing wrong with the XS.

IPHONE XS 64GB, $1629; 256GB, $1879; 512GB, $2199 www.apple.com/au CRITICAL SPECS A12 Bionic CPU, 4GB memory, 5.8in screen, 2,436 x 1,125, 2,688 x 1,242 resolution, 2,658 mAh battery, 143.6 mm x 70.9 mm x 7.7 mm, 177 grams, iOS 12.