iPhone XS Max Gold iPhone Xs Max — different texture? Grippy/sticky?

[DDustiNN]

(Not a complaint, but an observation.)

My silver iPhone X is extremely smooth and glassy and feels amazing in the hand. My gold Xs Max, on the other hand, feels quite different. It almost feels sticky, or extra grippy, almost plasticky or something. I’m not sure how to describe it.

Then I opened my silver Xs, and it also felt extremely smooth exactly like my X.

So makes me wonder... is it the coating? Does the space gray feel the same as the gold? Was the X the same way, and did it normalize after a bit of use?

Without having a silver to compare to, you might not understand what I’m trying to describe. But does anyone else who has both notice a difference?

 

[Miska82]

Space Grey here as Max and same observation. I think it is the colour layer in the steel rim which makes it more grippy. Almost like rubber coating which helps keep it in hand. Don't know is silver color the same?

 

[SnyG]

Do you mean the stainless steel? It’s definitely quite “grippy” but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing at all.

 

[DDustiNN]

Space Grey here as Max and same observation. I think it is the colour layer in the steel rim which makes it more grippy. Almost like rubber coating which helps keep it in hand. Don't know is silver color the same?

Silver feels super smooth sand glassy. Not exactly slippery, just sleek. Gold feels very noticeably different. Yeah probably the coating they use then.
[doublepost=1537612957][/doublepost]

Do you mean the stainless steel? It’s definitely quite “grippy” but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing at all.

Yeah. Not really bad, but very noticeable compared to the silver.

 

[jimmy_uk]

SG slippy while Gold seems to stick to my hand. It's definitely a difference in the steel band.

One thing I'm really noticing is how the glass back makes my hand sweat. Not nice.

 

[DSTOFEL]

(Not a complaint, but an observation.)

My silver iPhone X is extremely smooth and glassy and feels amazing in the hand. My gold Xs Max, on the other hand, feels quite different. It almost feels sticky, or extra grippy, almost plasticky or something. I’m not sure how to describe it.

Then I opened my silver Xs, and it also felt extremely smooth exactly like my X.

So makes me wonder... is it the coating? Does the space gray feel the same as the gold? Was the X the same way, and did it normalize after a bit of use?

Without having a silver to compare to, you might not understand what I’m trying to describe. But does anyone else who has both notice a difference?

I noticed the same thing straight away when I picked up the gold XS Max in the Apple store yesterday.....had a bit of tackiness to it. I actually recall thinking it doesn’t feel slippery....would easier to hold on to! Then I thought....probably doesn’t matter either way...because the vast majority of people are gonna have it in a case anyway.

 

[WannaApple?]

I was just coming here to post this morning, that my silver Max seems very slippery!

I dont know how people will get by on this thing without a case! Even putting it down on my bed, couch, etc. it slips and slides around like its on ice! LOL. My case will be here this afternoon. Even though its too pretty to put in a case, no way would I trust myself with this full glass slippery sucker!

 

[sotie]

I noticed the tackiness and plastic feeling as soon as I picked up my gold Max yesterday. I definitely prefer the feeling of my silver X better.

 

[Caliber26]

Same here. Went from a silver X to a gold XS and I'm not digging how this new phone feels in the hand. I much prefer the smooth, metallic feel of my X. This one fees like the band is plastic or rubberized. Plus it smudges a lot easier, causing the gold band to look dull in appearance.

As much as I hate to give up such a beautiful color, and as much as I hate to set up a new phone yet again, I might have to exchange it for a silver one. For $1150, I expect to feel 100% satisfied.

 

[44267547]

I believe the Gold uses a PVD coating around the bands, so maybe that’s what’s actually giving it the more grip like texture. But in the same respect, the space gray also has a PVD coating around the bands as well to protect it, which others are noticing the grip like texture.

 

[DDustiNN]

I ended up returning it, though not for this reason. The Max is just too big for me to comfortably use one-handed. And I wasn’t really fond of the gold color as much, especially the back. Silver Xs is the one for me! Bonus: I love the super smooth feel of it, compared to the gold.

 

[Bane-Thunder]

I have noticed this going from my silver X to my gold XS, but im very happy with this feel like I have an even tighter grip.

Loving the gold something very calming about its champagne gold colour.

And I've always liked the combination of black and gold.

 

[Nikhil72]

As a no case person, definitely noticing and loving the grippiness on my Gold XS Max

 

[TheRealAlex]

(Not a complaint, but an observation.)

My silver iPhone X is extremely smooth and glassy and feels amazing in the hand. My gold Xs Max, on the other hand, feels quite different. It almost feels sticky, or extra grippy, almost plasticky or something. I’m not sure how to describe it.

Then I opened my silver Xs, and it also felt extremely smooth exactly like my X.

So makes me wonder... is it the coating? Does the space gray feel the same as the gold? Was the X the same way, and did it normalize after a bit of use?

Without having a silver to compare to, you might not understand what I’m trying to describe. But does anyone else who has both notice a difference?

This happenes when the Oleophobic oil resistant coating has not cured properly.

The Steele sides on my Gold XsMAX are very grippy which was surprising. But the front and rear glass should feel very slick and smooth and not grippy. Try Exchanging your device or feeling one at the Apple store.

 

[5105973]

This happenes when the Oleophobic oil resistant coating has not cured properly.

The Steele sides on my Gold XsMAX are very grippy which was surprising. But the front and rear glass should feel very slick and smooth and not grippy. Try Exchanging your device or feeling one at the Apple store.

My front glass felt kind of grippy. I’d wondered why that was. I’ve only encountered that feeling in a few Samsung phones I’ve owned. This is my first iPhone that’s had that grippy feeling to the glass.

I didn’t like the feel of it. But I use tempered glass protectors on all the time so that solved the issue for me. I’m one of the people on this forum who suffers with ill effects from pwm flicker from some of these OLED displays. My eyes get along so far with this particular phone, so I’m not going to return it for anything short of a functional defect that makes key features unusable.

As far as the metal is concerned, I don’t really handle it much so I don’t really care. It looks nice.

 

[kasakka]

The back glass on my gold XS has a surprisingly good amount of grip to it. It actually puts me in a hard spot where I wanted to add a skin to the back but the gold looks so good and also feels good to hold that I might as well go naked or try to find the slimmest clear case available. And then hope it doesn't feel more slippery.

 

[TheRealAlex]

The back glass on my gold XS has a surprisingly good amount of grip to it. It actually puts me in a hard spot where I wanted to add a skin to the back but the gold looks so good and also feels good to hold that I might as well go naked or try to find the slimmest clear case available. And then hope it doesn't feel more slippery.

I’d go ceaseless because the XsMAX Gold is so beautiful. But I don’t buy AppleCare and I don’t pay $19 insurance.
So a case protects my critical communication device. And adds some security since thieves may just think its a cheap black Android phone. Not the newest Gold iPhone so its camouflage.

 

[gelie]

I was surprised how different the gold felt in the Apple store. I thought maybe it was a rough demo or was over tested by customers. The salesman told be a lot of customers are noticing a the difference in texture between the gold and silver/space grey. Glad I stuck with silver.