pros and cons of the iPhone XS

Pros and Cons of the iPhone XS

Apple stormed the market with an excellent iPhone X and followed it up with an iPhone XS, which aimed to build on top of all the things that were great about the X model. With the release of the XS model, Apple discontinued the X. If if the style of the X is to your liking, the XS is the next logical choice. As always, there are pros and cons to any product, and the XS has its share of both. So is this phone worth your consideration? 

Let’s take a look at some pros and cons of the iPhone XS:

Pros of the iPhone XS

1.) Display. The XS has the same 5.8-inch display as the iPhone X. With the use of OLED, it can display a more vibrant color range, deeper blacks, and incredible brightness. 

2.) Camera. The XS has dual rear cameras, both at 12 megapixels. One of the cameras has a telephoto lens, the other has a wide-angle lens. The cameras can take 4K videos at 60 frames per second, as well as slow-motion videos at 1080op at 240 frames per second. Alongside that, the cameras have image stabilization technology. These image sensors absorb light better and display low-light photos in a crisper sharp manner, as well as a Smart HDR feature that takes multiple pictures of the same shot, then sorts through the best features of all of them and compile them into the best resulting image possible.

3.) Durable Design. Built with durability in mind, the XS is comprised of an aluminum alloy and durable glass. While a case is still recommended for the protection of the front camera, this phone is not as susceptible to scratches and scrapes as its predecessors. 

4.) Face ID Security. While its predecessors also utilize the Face ID, next-generation level security for accessing the iPhone, Apple has touted improvements to the feature that measures out to be faster than in the X model. However, to the user, this may not be visible in a real-world scenario. While this feature may not have the speed of swiping a pattern on the front screen, it is vastly more secure.

5.) Sound. While eliminating the 3.5mm headphone jack back in the iPhone 7 design, Apple replaced the space with an additional speaker giving the phone a more robust and superb sound. This feature continued into the X and XS models. The XS and XS Max models contain an enhanced speaker system that can easily substitute for any need to have a portable speaker as the iPhone itself is capable of generating fantastic sound quality.

6.) Fast Wireless Charging. The XS model has been enhanced with tighter internal coils to support wireless charging that is faster than any of the previous models.

Cons of the iPhone XS

1.) Price. The price for the iPhone is a staggering $999. The 512Gb model supersedes that with a $1,349 price tag. This would be way out of the budget of affordability for most common consumers.

2.) Headphone Jack Lightning Adapter. After removing the 3.5mm headphone jack back in the iPhone 7, to calm the customer complaints, Apple began to include a lightning port to 3.5mm adapter with every subsequent model since. However, the XS seems to not include this adapter in the package.

3.) Battery. The battery life on the XS is only average. It still requires daily charging as regular daily use drains the battery after approximately 12 hours. Apple claims that this is a longer-lasting battery than that on the X model, surpassing it by 30 minutes. Still, it is not as good as the battery life in the XS Max, which can reach up to 13 hours.

4.) Memory Expansion. There is not much room for memory extension, as the XS model does not include an SD memory slot.

5.) Face ID issues. The Face ID feature may be secure, but it is also finicky. It is susceptible to poor performance in low light settings and gives users issues with how exactly it recognizes their faces. One may be caught in an annoying attempt to access their phone to check notifications by not being able to get in after multiple attempts at using the Face ID, forcing many users to switch the security back to the much easier touch screen swipe mode.

Alan Behrens

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *