Consumer Reports is out with its detailed testing of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max where it praises the devices for their noticeably improved battery life. It also found a slight improvement in the camera performance on the new iPhones compared to the iPhone X.

Consumer Reports lab testing shows that the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max can far outlast Apple’s official battery life claim for these devices. The testing involved using a programmed robotic finger to put the two devices through a variety of tasks aimed at simulating real-life use. This includes browsing the internet, taking pictures, using navigation, and more. All devices run this test with their display brightness set to 100 percent.

In the battery life test, the iPhone XS lasted 24.5 hours while the iPhone XS Max lasted for 26 hours. That’s a staggering improvement from the 19.5 hours posted by the iPhone X. The results do contradict the previous report from Tom’s Guide which claimed the iPhone XS offered inferior battery life than iPhone X. When compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 though, the new iPhones were still a bit short.

There’s a catch here though. The report notes that the devices come with a slow 5W charger due to which the iPhone XS takes more than 3 hours for a 0-100 percent charge.

The iPhone XS Max was even slower and takes almost 3.5 hours. This is far slower than other Android flagships out there which come with both, fast charging capability and a fast charger. The Galaxy Note 9, for example, despite coming with a massive 4,000mAh battery that’s bigger than what is found inside the iPhone XS Max is able to charge from 0-100 percent in just under 2 hours (105 minutes).

In the camera department, Consumer Reports found the iPhone XS series to offer slightly better performance than the iPhone X, with the improvements to the Portrait mode being the most evident.

Lastly, to put Apple’s claims of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max coming with the world’s most durable glass, the Consumer Reports team put the devices through its tumble test. In this, they place the devices inside a rotating chamber where they are continuously dropped from a height of about 2.5 feet. They are then checked for damages after 50 drops and again after 100 drops.

The iPhone XS could not survive the brutal test as it showed signs of heavy damage after 50 drops itself. By the 100th drop, two out of three iPhone XS units were in even worse states. The iPhone XS Max fared a bit better as one of the units made it through the entire tumble test without breaking, while the second unit had its rear glass panel broken. This is far worse than Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 which emerged from the tumble test with its rear and front glass panels intact.

The iPhone XS series received an overall rating of 82 from Consumer Reports which puts it ahead of the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and OnePlus 6, though it was still a wee bit behind the Galaxy Note 9 (83).

Source: iphonehacks