I chose the gold and really like it - although in my process of trying different cases it doesn't show much if at all. I figured, however, if it did end up in a case where the color showed I would have the one I preferred.
For me, the "cased" Xs Max is really not as big of a deal where the color is concerned - I was a MUCH bigger advocate of the space grey 8+ because it gives the illusion of the front facing borders top and bottom disappearing, even in a case. The case is otherwise the color of the phone with every Apple phone I've owned.