When Performance Triumps

- Tushar Kanwar

Design: The iPhone X had ushered in a new era of all-screen iPhone design, and the XS duo follow the same design language, clad in glass and stainless steel for that jewel-like premium feel that is without a parallel in the smartphone segment. Save for the classy new bronze-ish gold colour, it is hard to tell the XS apart from the X, although the glass is more durable and the phone now comes with a higher IP68 dust/water rating. The XS Max is all of this, but bigger…a whole lot bigger. The really big deal is that the 6.5-inch screen has been squeezed into a body that isn’t that enormous (and not quite as heavy as one would expect), especially if you are considering an upgrade from one of Apple’s previous Plus-sized models. That said, it is still almost exclusively a two-handed phone, and the XS is a better form factor in almost every sense – everyday use, slipping into a pocket – unless you need the vastly bigger screen.