I have gone a bit nuts with the iPhone choices the last couple of releases. Figured I’d write a little review and experience.
When Apple announced the 8/8Plus followed by the one more thing announcement with the iPhone X, I was intrigued. I decided I was going to upgrade to the 8 Plus as it would be the most perfected design of the lineup.
It was a great phone and as advertised. Then the X released shortly after, and I played with it side by side in the store. It blew me away a lot more than I anticipated it would. Slightly larger form factor than the 8 but somehow a larger screen than the plus. The screen was a little thinner, but taller. I worked out a trade with someone that couldn’t get over the notch and loved the Plus size models. I was very happy with that X. I never missed that button, Touch ID, or those bezels.
Less than a year later, they announced the Xs and Xs Max along with the Xr. My thought was I will do the upgrade to the Xs and hold onto it for 2 years. I loved the upgrade to 512GB as I keep all my music, movies, photos, and books on device. Slightly better processor, battery life, and MUCH better camera was the selling point, plus I always like that the s Models tend to perfect the previous versions design. So I paid a lot of money and sold the X to offset some of the cost.
The Xs was a great device and the improvements were as advertised except the battery life. For some reason it took a slight hit. It wasn’t dramatic mind you, but there were quite a few days I wasn’t getting a full day out of it. My eyesight is also not as good as it used to be. The last few times I was in Best Buy, I stopped to take a look at the Max, and it had me second guessing my decision to not go bigger. I started doing a little research on Max reviews and saw a lot of love/hate primarily based on form factor and lack of any added features over the Xs. The Plus form factor never bothered me, and I didn’t really care if it was the same internals. I started researching how much I could get for the Xs on either trade in pricing or selling it outright. I went with Swappa. My company gets a corporate discount, so I saved a little money on it, ordered the Max and immediately listed my Xs and sold it pretty quick. I took a little hit, but so far I am finding it completely worth it.
After the initial couple days, I found the battery life to be WAY better than the X or the Xs. Where I might be at 40% at the end of my workday with the Xs, the Max is at 70%. Using it at night, before I would go to bed, the Xs was less then 20% and almost dead, or it would had dies and been recharged at some point. I am at 40-50% on the Max. This was one of my biggest reasons for the upgrade, and I am very happy with that result. The bigger screen is making it easier for me to read. I found myself zooming in a lot with the Xs. The Max’s larger screen has made the letters a little larger for me to read. The only concern I had was one hand use. I have pretty large size hands and never struggled to reach the top of the plus phones with my thumb. With the lack of the bezel, it made that thumb stretch a little longer. It is just large enough that things on the far top left make me use the second hand, or I just use reachability. This is not often at all and doesn’t affect the usability for me. I am also finding the volume to be louder then the Xs. Loud enough where I regularly turn it down. They say everything is the exact same as the Xs, but like the plus, I am getting that split screen on Contacts, Calendar, messages, and emails which was a pleasant surprise for me. I am surprised reviews didn’t really point that out. The videos on the larger screen are mind blowing, and I love seeing the extra details in the photos. I am able to work with spreadsheets a little easier on this phone than the Xs, I am finding everything to be a little easier to work with.
I really do wish I looked into the Max more up front. In the end, I don’t think I could ask for a better iPhone, this really has become as perfect as I could ask on every level.
When Apple announced the 8/8Plus followed by the one more thing announcement with the iPhone X, I was intrigued. I decided I was going to upgrade to the 8 Plus as it would be the most perfected design of the lineup.
It was a great phone and as advertised. Then the X released shortly after, and I played with it side by side in the store. It blew me away a lot more than I anticipated it would. Slightly larger form factor than the 8 but somehow a larger screen than the plus. The screen was a little thinner, but taller. I worked out a trade with someone that couldn’t get over the notch and loved the Plus size models. I was very happy with that X. I never missed that button, Touch ID, or those bezels.
Less than a year later, they announced the Xs and Xs Max along with the Xr. My thought was I will do the upgrade to the Xs and hold onto it for 2 years. I loved the upgrade to 512GB as I keep all my music, movies, photos, and books on device. Slightly better processor, battery life, and MUCH better camera was the selling point, plus I always like that the s Models tend to perfect the previous versions design. So I paid a lot of money and sold the X to offset some of the cost.
The Xs was a great device and the improvements were as advertised except the battery life. For some reason it took a slight hit. It wasn’t dramatic mind you, but there were quite a few days I wasn’t getting a full day out of it. My eyesight is also not as good as it used to be. The last few times I was in Best Buy, I stopped to take a look at the Max, and it had me second guessing my decision to not go bigger. I started doing a little research on Max reviews and saw a lot of love/hate primarily based on form factor and lack of any added features over the Xs. The Plus form factor never bothered me, and I didn’t really care if it was the same internals. I started researching how much I could get for the Xs on either trade in pricing or selling it outright. I went with Swappa. My company gets a corporate discount, so I saved a little money on it, ordered the Max and immediately listed my Xs and sold it pretty quick. I took a little hit, but so far I am finding it completely worth it.
After the initial couple days, I found the battery life to be WAY better than the X or the Xs. Where I might be at 40% at the end of my workday with the Xs, the Max is at 70%. Using it at night, before I would go to bed, the Xs was less then 20% and almost dead, or it would had dies and been recharged at some point. I am at 40-50% on the Max. This was one of my biggest reasons for the upgrade, and I am very happy with that result. The bigger screen is making it easier for me to read. I found myself zooming in a lot with the Xs. The Max’s larger screen has made the letters a little larger for me to read. The only concern I had was one hand use. I have pretty large size hands and never struggled to reach the top of the plus phones with my thumb. With the lack of the bezel, it made that thumb stretch a little longer. It is just large enough that things on the far top left make me use the second hand, or I just use reachability. This is not often at all and doesn’t affect the usability for me. I am also finding the volume to be louder then the Xs. Loud enough where I regularly turn it down. They say everything is the exact same as the Xs, but like the plus, I am getting that split screen on Contacts, Calendar, messages, and emails which was a pleasant surprise for me. I am surprised reviews didn’t really point that out. The videos on the larger screen are mind blowing, and I love seeing the extra details in the photos. I am able to work with spreadsheets a little easier on this phone than the Xs, I am finding everything to be a little easier to work with.
I really do wish I looked into the Max more up front. In the end, I don’t think I could ask for a better iPhone, this really has become as perfect as I could ask on every level.
