Most can admit that the iPhone is not the best at every aspect of being a smartphone. Honestly, the average consumer probably wouldn’t notice or care enough. The main differentiator for the majority, and one that matters most especially when paired correctly with great hardware, will always be OS.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone XS Proves Faster Than iPhone X but Slower than Galaxy Note 9 in LTE Speed Test
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is good to see. Glad the separation from Qualcomm didn't stop this progress. This is basically parity, and these peak speeds are frankly more than I will ever need on my phone, so I'm very pleased.
Yep. I don't torrent or download large files. The "faster" plans don't seem to load general browsing any faster (now on a 105 plan, relatively new 16 channel down modem and good wifi).
In real world, I would be happy if the carriers in my region can even deliver 3G-like speed on their LTE. Seriously, the only places that I feel I'm on actual LTE is probably Taiwan (never been to S.Korea, but I heard they have sick speeds as well). The rest, even Hong Kong and pretty much all SE Asia, barely have something you can call LTE. Sure, LTE gives better pings, but speed is more like full speed 3G. I mean technically even HSPA+ can go up to 80Mbps, yet most LTE networks I've been on to only hovers around 10Mbps at best.
It not just about modem. Many other factors are involved too. Like antenna, chipset, firmware etc.
Good modem is one of many factors. Even phones with same modem perform differently.
And one other thing, why do XS/max gives out so much more radiation?
SAR Level (Head)
Note 9 : 0.27
XS Max: 1.17
Maybe XS Max antenna design is lousy compared to Note 9.
Possibly. Intel likely really pushed to get the speed up without taking into account the consequences. Remember that Qualcomm is way ahead in the modem game.
Good thing I don’t talk on the phone without a BT headset. Haha. I wonder how much those put out.
I’m happy note 9 users like their phones. I like my XS Max. All good in the world people. But the reality is perception. I wouldn’t know how my iPhones LTE speed compares to a note 9 because I don’t use them simultaneously. So really, does it matter?
I have a measly iPhone 8, I hope to upgrade to a XS soon, that way I can use all 3GB of my ATT data plan even faster...
In most part of the world Samsung uses their own Exynos chipset +modem (for a lot of their phones). Didnt hear anything about Exynos modem performing worse than SD845 modem. It is not like Samsung depended on Qualcomm modem/chipset.
So you are probably wrong in attributing Note9 better LTE performance to Qualcomm alone.
However, you maybe right about the Intel/Apple being not up to standard in the cellular portion.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
True, reliability and coverage are far more important than "optimal" speed any day of the week. I frequently find myself wanting faster speeds on my LTE and wifi... but that's only because I'm in a poor reception area, my wifi is screwing up, or some other similar type of issue NOT related to the maximum potential speed.
Agreed under optimal conditions there isn't that much difference between the X and Samsung.
But I can say with a weak signal the X is considerably worse. One example, I fly quite a bit and when land in NYC I only have one bar while taxiing to the gate. I used to be able to txt the wife and check email with my iPhone 7 and Note. Since switching to the X I have to wait until I get to the gate. A major annoyance especially when there's any delay.
(AT&T with all 3 phones)
But I can say with a weak signal the X is considerably worse. One example, I fly quite a bit and when land in NYC I only have one bar while taxiing to the gate. I used to be able to txt the wife and check email with my iPhone 7 and Note. Since switching to the X I have to wait until I get to the gate. A major annoyance especially when there's any delay.
(AT&T with all 3 phones)
I honestly feel like most of the testable differences are too minimal to experience real world differences and yet these things make bullet points and headlines every year.
Every single time I hear a person pick an iPhone over a galaxy or a galaxy over an iPhone it is always ALWAYS about OS and features and never about "well it beat the (insert phone name here) on speed tests.
Every single time I hear a person pick an iPhone over a galaxy or a galaxy over an iPhone it is always ALWAYS about OS and features and never about "well it beat the (insert phone name here) on speed tests.
Guys. Guys.
TWO HUNDRED MEGABITS PER SECOND is NOT ENOUGH BANDWITH in 2018? What the hell.
Never mind 400 Mbps. I don’t think Netflix videos stream at anywhere near that, now do they?
Why the hell the Note 9 being marginally faster than the iPhone when both are going faster than is needed in 2018 is beyond me.
TWO HUNDRED MEGABITS PER SECOND is NOT ENOUGH BANDWITH in 2018? What the hell.
Never mind 400 Mbps. I don’t think Netflix videos stream at anywhere near that, now do they?
Why the hell the Note 9 being marginally faster than the iPhone when both are going faster than is needed in 2018 is beyond me.
Has to be the use of Intel instead of Qualcomm, right? I don't see why else there'd be a difference. But I want to see more tests first, and not on Ookla.
[doublepost=1538449440][/doublepost]
[doublepost=1538449440][/doublepost]
It won the "poor signal" test too, which goes down to 0mbit/s. So the test matters. Yes, I agree I don't care about anything past 10, nor do I ever get anything past 10. Netflix streams are less than that.
Last edited:
I read somewhere that the XS Intel chip supports more LTE bands than the Qualcomm chip. Is this true??
Which Qualcomm Chip? The Intel chip used in XS are the XMM75 , which likely support more bands than Qualcomm X16, but less than X20.