Six reasons why the iPhone XS Max is the ultimate travel accessory
Whether you spend your travels zooming down mountains with a plank strapped to your feet or lie pancake-style on sandy shores, you’ll want a decent smartphone. It’s a tether to the real world, an entertainment hub, and how you document all the fun you’re having to make your friends jealous.
Apple’s iPhone has always been a strong contender, and this year’s flagship - the iPhone XS Max - really does take things to the max. But how do the specs shake out, and is Apple’s latest really the ultimate travel companion?
The camera
You can revel in a list of camera stats on Apple’s website, but they don’t tell the whole story. In use, Apple’s camera smarts, fancy Neural Engine and software elevate it to another level.
In low light, it’s seriously impressive. When shooting into light, you’ll swear it’s magic. Probably don’t point the lens directly at a spotlight if you demand photographic gold; but you can now shoot into the sun and get balanced photos that aren’t part blown out and elsewhere drowning the subject in shadow.
Video
If you consider your life a real-time Hollywood movie, the new iPhone ramps up video-recording capabilities in key ways. You still get 4K, but now with superior image stabilisation. Shots are smooth even when pelting along on the back of a motorbike on a gravel road, or doing a selfie video in a spectacular far-flung location.
Elsewhere, sound recording gets a boost, with the device’s four mics capturing a stereo field. During playback, you’ll hear things zipping across the screen, without having invested in external recording kit.
Apps
The iOS app ecosystem is rich and diverse, giving you options that just don’t exist on Android. Pixelmator’s a Photoshop-lite in your palms. There’s desktop-grade productivity fare for ‘emergency work’. And when editing those aforementioned movies, you can delve into iMovie and LumaFusion.
The larger display’s a boon, too, when chilling out with music-making apps like GarageBand and Korg Gadget, channelling your inner artist with Procreate and Linea Go, or checking out the best mobile gaming has to offer.
Battery life
Every generation of iPhone ramps up the specs, many of which continue to improve things for travellers. The iPhone XS Max’s display is the most obvious – it’s the largest seen to date on an iPhone. But also the speakers now provide a wider, more balanced soundstage, and battery life’s up as well.
Beyond that, you’ll hear a lot about the A12 Bionic chip, but all you need to know is it speeds everything up, from Face ID to AR apps. Apple was already ahead in terms of benchmarks; and now it’s leapt ahead again.
Water resistance
Even when iPhones weren’t officially water resistant, you’d hear of people fishing them out of a bath and them surviving. The iPhone XS Max, though, gets a splash/water/dust resistance rating of IP68. So dunk your phone in anything from the sea to a pint and it should be fine.
Apple adds that the glass is the most durable ever used in a smartphone. We heroically held back from testing this, so you’ll have to take Apple’s word on that one.
Dual SIM
The new Dual SIM feature feels like it’ll be a slow burn, but the idea is the iPhone XS Max lets you have two numbers. One uses the standard nano SIM slotted into its side; the other utilises the eSIM tech that’s previously been used in the iPad and Apple Watch.
Carrier support’s still scattergun, but you can see how this will be useful if you often travel to an overseas destination where it’d cost a small fortune to use data or call home, but don’t fancy swapping SIMs all the time.
The verdict
So is the iPhone XS Max the perfect travel companion? If you want a mix of top-notch camera, gorgeous screen, and excellent apps, it is. But there are some downsides.
Bar Apple’s ongoing hatred for the headphone port, the most obvious are the iPhone XS Max’s size, weight and price. If those bug you but you like Apple, the iPhone XS saves you 100 quid and comes in a smaller, lighter frame. And unlike with the iPhone 8 series, the specs of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are identical, bar the latter’s larger display and battery.
The best alternatives
If you remain unconvinced and/or wedded to Android, Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ is your best bet – and a couple of hundred quid cheaper (more if you buy the smaller S9). Also, you can increase storage using cheap SD cards, and turn your phone into a sort-of PC by way of Samsung’s DeX Pad tech.
Should even the thought of an S9 make your wallet scream, go for a OnePlus 6. At £469, the camera can’t match the iPhone’s (nor the Samsung’s), but the AMOLED screen is gorgeous, and the phone’s innards give you plenty of bang for your buck.
