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Apple iPhone XS

 & Sascha Segan Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Apple iPhone XS

The new iPhone XS looks a lot like the iPhone X, with a similar 5.8-inch OLED screen.

Back

The phone comes in silver, gray, or gold. This one is gold; the surround is gold, but the back looks beige.

Comparison

From left, here's the iPhone 8, X, XS, and XS Max.

SIM Slot

You won't need a physical SIM after Apple turns on its eSIM function later this year. The eSIM function will also let you have two subscriptions in your phone at once.

Gold

The gold color is gold, not rose gold.

Volume Buttons

All of the buttons and switches are in the same place as on the iPhone X.

Speaker Grille

There's a change in the speaker grille, though: The grille on the left is shorter to make room for the new 4x4 MIMO LTE antennas.

Headphones

Remember, there's still no headphone jack. The phone doesn't come with a dongle, either. You need to use Lightning or wireless headphones, or pay for a dongle.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

  • US and Canadian mobile networks
  • Mobile phones released in the US
  • iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
  • Mobile hotspots
  • Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services. 

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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