Consumer Reports finds iPhone XS and XS Max last hours longer than iPhone X, contradicts p...
Consumer Reports has published their final test results for the iPhone XS and XS Max, yielding yet a few more surprises regarding the newest iPhones.
The biggest news from Consumer Reports testing was apparent battery life improvements. Both the iPhone XS and the XS Max outperformed Apple's reported numbers, and the publication's expectations.
The new iPhone XS was able to go 24.5 hours, while the Max made it 26 hours in lab tests. That compares to the iPhone X, which was a half hour shy of hitting the 20 hour mark.
For the test, Consumer Reports used a robotic finger programmed to run through a series of tasks on each device, simulating an average user's day. The robot "browses the internet, takes pictures, uses GPS navigation, and, of course, makes phone calls." To keep things consistent, they put the display at 100-percent, which means that dropping the brightness could extend evaluation numbers further.
iPhone XS and XS Max internals | source: iFixit
Apple says that the XS should get 30 minutes more out of the battery than the X, and the iPhone XS Max should garner 90 minutes more life before shutting down. These tests -- not the same process Apple uses to arrive at its numbers -- show the new handsets can in some situations beat Apple's estimates.
The results contradict findings from Tom's Guide, which evaluated the iPhone XS last month. In that round of testing, iPhone X beat out both iPhone XS and XS Max in an endurance test involving web browsing over LTE.
Consumer Reports knocked Apple for the included charging brick, noting it took 210 minutes, or twice as long, to charge the iPhone XS Max compared to the Samsung Note 9. Apple could easily remedy the situation by including a USB-C fast charger in the box, something AppleInsider has mentioned repeatedly in our iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max reviews, though the company is unlikely to do so.
iPhone XS and XS Max Cameras
Other results in today's test highlight the updated cameras, which beat out last year's top-rated iPhone X.
"iPhone XS and XS Max managed to improve on that performance, if only just a little," the publication said. "The phones received slightly better scores when it came to the quality of the still and video images taken by their rear cameras."
Performance was also tops thanks to the new A12 Bionic processor, though competing devices like iPhone X and Galaxy Note 9 were only slightly behind.
The biggest news from Consumer Reports testing was apparent battery life improvements. Both the iPhone XS and the XS Max outperformed Apple's reported numbers, and the publication's expectations.
The new iPhone XS was able to go 24.5 hours, while the Max made it 26 hours in lab tests. That compares to the iPhone X, which was a half hour shy of hitting the 20 hour mark.
For the test, Consumer Reports used a robotic finger programmed to run through a series of tasks on each device, simulating an average user's day. The robot "browses the internet, takes pictures, uses GPS navigation, and, of course, makes phone calls." To keep things consistent, they put the display at 100-percent, which means that dropping the brightness could extend evaluation numbers further.
iPhone XS and XS Max internals | source: iFixit
Apple says that the XS should get 30 minutes more out of the battery than the X, and the iPhone XS Max should garner 90 minutes more life before shutting down. These tests -- not the same process Apple uses to arrive at its numbers -- show the new handsets can in some situations beat Apple's estimates.
The results contradict findings from Tom's Guide, which evaluated the iPhone XS last month. In that round of testing, iPhone X beat out both iPhone XS and XS Max in an endurance test involving web browsing over LTE.
Consumer Reports knocked Apple for the included charging brick, noting it took 210 minutes, or twice as long, to charge the iPhone XS Max compared to the Samsung Note 9. Apple could easily remedy the situation by including a USB-C fast charger in the box, something AppleInsider has mentioned repeatedly in our iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max reviews, though the company is unlikely to do so.
iPhone XS and XS Max Cameras
Other results in today's test highlight the updated cameras, which beat out last year's top-rated iPhone X.
"iPhone XS and XS Max managed to improve on that performance, if only just a little," the publication said. "The phones received slightly better scores when it came to the quality of the still and video images taken by their rear cameras."
Performance was also tops thanks to the new A12 Bionic processor, though competing devices like iPhone X and Galaxy Note 9 were only slightly behind.
Comments
I almost never use the 5W chargers. The 12W iPad charger works much better, nearly as well as the USB-C charger, while being a lot cheaper as well. They should've included those at the very least for their $1000+ phones, it's pretty absurd to hobble charging so much.
than the previous generation. Personally I'd take Apple's guidance on that; they've been reliable on battery claims.
Of course most of us would be upgrading from much older phones whose batteries are already tired, so in real world use we'll get much better results no matter what. I'm charging my new XS every 2-3 days, whereas the 6S it replaced needed nightly charging.
When traveling I take only my iPad charger and use that for the iPhone as well.
I agree the old 10W or new 12W is a great charger for the larger phones. It is a complete joke that the Xs and Xs Max comes with a 5W charger. But that’s Apple, counting pennies, pushing up the margins.
For comparison, the battery capacity of the Xs is over twice as large as the 3GS (2658 vs 1220 mAh) and the charging capabilities of the phone have increased dramatically as well, but the charger has not changed a bit.
Regarding Consumer report’s test, I take anything they say with several buckets of salt, but they performed their test very differently than Apple does. IIRC, Apple simply looks at how long you can stream a movie or something like that, whereas CR’s test is more varied.
Not sure why Apple doesn't offer "iPhone Premium Bundles" with some token bundle discount, say 20% less than the cost of buying the accessories you really want separately. I'm thinking iPhone XS/Max + 12W charger + AirPods would be a popular bundle. The Apple Store could also take the lead on bundling deals if getting all of the various products together is more than Apple's distribution model can handle. This seems like a total no-brainer to me.
”Who was that, dear?”
”Just the Robutt Finger again. I don’t understand how it’s able to breathe so heavily.”
As for battery I have had great success with this device. I don't play games so your mileage may vary but I get through the day with 40% to spare.
The sugar-cube is an embarrassment these days.