The New iPhone Xs/Xs Max vs iPhone 8: Which iPhone is Better?
The iPhone XS/XS Max/XR now takes center stage. iPhone XS vs iPhone 8, what are the headline features of the brand new flagship iPhone Xs/Xs Max/XR? Is iPhone Xs an exciting new model or a big let-down? We've checked iPhone pros, then compared the new iPhone XS/XR and iPhone 8 & Plus specs, camera, battery, design, display, new features, performance, price and others here for your reference.
iPhone Xs/Xs Max vs iPhone 8/Plus Comparison Review
After a comprehensive understanding of iPhone 8 and iPhone 9 reviews, we get a detailed comaprison between them on design, display, camera, battery, chip, processor, perfrmance, price etc. Keep reading...
Design
We are looking for a big redesign in the upcoming new iPhone XS. iPhone XS/Max vs iPhone 8 design, iPhone XS has full-screen display with the same glass body that is compatible with wireless charging. Home button and Touch ID fingerprint scanner would completely miss on iPhone XS and new Face ID facial recognition is retained. The new flagship iPhone XS properly comes with IP68 waterproof rating as highly as competitors from Samsung and other Android mobiles. What to note is, compared with iPhone 8, iPhone XS has a dual-SIM model vis DSDS especially designed for Chinese users.
The latest: compare iPhone X vs Samsung Galaxy S9
Display
iPhone 8 - 4.7 inches, 11.94 cm, Retina HD display
iPhone 8 Plus - 5.5 inches, 13.97 cm, Retina HD display
iPhone XR - 6.1 inches, LCD Retina HD display
iPhone XS/Xs Max - 5.8 and 6.5 inches, OLED display
Apple introduces high-end OLED display in the new iPhone XS and XS Max. OLED display has become a standard since it can produce richer colors, deeper blacks, and more impressive contrast. But the cheaper iPhone XR still uses LCD display. 2018 iPhones are much bigger than iPhone 8, 5.8 inches for iPhone XS, 6.5 inches for iPhone XS Max and 6.1 inches for iPhone XR.
Camera
iPhone 8 - 12MP rear camera, 7MP front camera
iPhone 8 Plus - 12MP winde-angle and telephoto cameras
iPhone XS - 12MP dual-camera, 2x faster sensor, Smart HDR, increased pixels
iPhone XS and XS Max house dual camera while the less-expensive iPhone Xr has single camera lens. iPhone Xs/Xs Max feature the 12-MP dual camrea f/2.4 aperture with improved TrueDepth flash on the back. Up front there is a 7-MP camera with neural engine for face and body detection and red-eye reduction. A new Smart HDR is able t shoot more details and light frames. It will also deepen or reduce the depth of the field after users take photos.
Battery
iPhone 8 - 1821 mAh, talktime (14h), video playback (13h), wireless charging
iPhone 8 Plus - 2675mAh, talktime (21h), video playback (14h), wireless charging
iPhone XS - last 30 min and 90min longer than iPhone X, wireless charging
Apple improves it's battery in three iPhone models in 2018 as a fix on how to improve the iPhone battery. iPhone XS/XS Max both adopt L-shaped battery this time supplied by LG while iPhone XR has a rectangular battery. Compared to 2675mAh in iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR can last for 1.5 hours longer. Phone XS and iPhone XS Max can run half and hour and 1.5 hours longer compared to iPhone X.
Chip, Processor, Performance
iPhone 8/8 Plus - A11 Bionic chip, M11 motion coprocessor
iPhone XS - industry first 7nm A12 Bionic chip
We see a big difference between iPhone Xs/Xs Max/XR and iPhone 8 in terms of processor. iPhone XS is equipped with 7nm processor, a much powerful and battery efficient processor than previous ones. In particular, iPhone XS/XS Max/XR have a 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU, which is 15% and 50% faster than A11. Plus a new 8-core neural engine, iPhone XS opens apps 30% faster than iPhone 8.
iPhone vs Android - compare iPhone XS vs Galaxy S9
Features
iPhone 8/8 Plus - Wireless Charging, A11 chip, new gold color
iPhone XS - Gigabit LTE, Dual-SIM model
Compare iPhone XS and iPhone 8, which model should you buy? In short, the new iPhone Xs/Xs Max/XR have eveything you have on iPhone 8. But 2018 iPhones have better and more. For example, iPhone XS is equpped Gigabit LTE, which has a download speed of 1000 megabits per second. Though Apple uses Intel chip instead of Qualcommn, 2018 iPhones still have a data speed that is close to 5G network. And there is a dual-SIM model, a 18W charger and more.
iPhone 8 related: When will iPhone support 5G?
Price
iPhone 8 - 64GB ($699), 258GB ($849)
iPhone 8 Plus - 64GB ($799); iPhone 8 Plus - 256GB ($949)
iPhone XS - starts from $999
iPhone 8 starts at $699, and iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone with a price tag $999. The new iPhone XS starts from $999 and the higher-end iPhone XS Max starts from $1099. The lower-end iPhone XR has a cheaper price, starting from $749. The price goes higher when storage is doubled. Compare iPhone XS vs iPhone 8 price, iPhone 8 would be a budget if new features from iPhone XS are not appealing to you.
The New iPhone XS vs iPhone 8 - Verdict
The main difference between iPhone XS/Xs Max/XR and iPhone 8 is the performance - the new iPhone XS is no doubt much faster and powerful thanks to the A12 chip and new iOS. All of these rumored enhancements found on iPhone XS, like the A12 chip, AMOLED display, better camera, new design, seem to be wonderful. But will you pay $999 for the new iPhone? Should you buy the new iPhone XS or iPhone 8? Comment below and let us know.
By Abby Poole to iPhone, Apple Resources | Last Updated on Dec 18, 2018
