Apple iPhone XS Max deals and reviews

Pocket-lint | Cam Bunton, Stuart Miles

As an overall experience, the iPhone XS Max is hard to fault. It's fluid, fast and effortless, and is a premium package that looks and feels great in the hand...If you want the biggest, baddest iPhone in town, the XS Max is the one for you. It's glorious.

AnandTech | Andrei Frumusanu

The value proposition aside, the new iPhone XS and XS Max are, as always, extremely polished devices, and the best phones that Apple has released to date.

RosemaryOrchard.com | Rosemary Orchard

All in all, I'm very happy with the Xs Max and don't regret getting it at all. Was my X good? Definitely! And I wouldn't recommend this move to most people, but for me it definitely resulted in benefits so was definitely worth it.

The Sun | Sean Keach

Apple has taken everything that's good about the iPhone X, and improved on it. It's not perfect, but it's the best phone you can buy today.

IT PRO | Jonathan Bray

Apple's biggest phone yet is an absolute corker, but it's best if you ignore the price...The new iPhone is, without question, the best phone Apple has ever produced.

Stuff | Craig Grannell

A premium phone with a premium price tag. But for Plus fans who couldn't commit to iPhone X last year, it's worth the outlay.

ZDNet | Jason Cipriani

iPhone XS Max sets the bar for iPhone and Android smartphones.

What Hi-Fi?

The iPhone XS Max is simply the best smartphone for movies and music that you can currently buy.

T3 | Matthew Bolton

Apple's most advanced phone gets even more advanced. iPhone X owners won't find a lot here to tempt them other than the camera, but coming from an older iPhone will be a revelation. If you want the most premium handset possible, you've found it.

phoneArena | Rado Slavov

The iPhone XS and XS Max are your best choice if you're looking for a no-compromise smartphone experience (and money's not an issue). They are not perfect, but their few imperfections are vastly outnumbered by the many, many things they get just right.

OtherGadgetGuy | Ray Shaw

It is indeed a very impressive, cutting edge phone that offers just about the best of everything: looks, performance, camera quality, features, screen, smarts, speakers and more.

Tech.co | Tom Fogden

The iPhone XS Max is a device that confounds. It's a fantastic selection of components, squeezed into one very nice package. However, in practice, it's too big, too heavy, too expensive, and far too similar to the iPhone XS for us to wholeheartedly recommend. It's not bad, but we'd buy the regular XS.

The Indian Express | Nandagopal Rajan

The best phone has to come at a price but if you can afford it, the chances are you will not regret it one bit.

Macworld | Roman Loyola

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are most compelling for users of iPhones that are older than the iPhone X... If the price is a big consideration you might considering waiting a few days for the iPhone XR.

Neowin | Rich Woods

If you buy one, I don't think you'll regret it, as long as you considered the price point and discussed it with your spouse before purchasing it. As I said in the title, it's bigger, better, and faster, and that's about it.

PCWorld | Roman Loyola

The iPhone X was a smartphone that re-energized the iPhone line after what seemed like a long period of stagnation. If you don't want to wait-either for the iPhone XR or next year's phone-go for the iPhone XS. You'll be very happy.

Wired UK | Jeremy White

If you want value, check out OnePlus.

Phone Scoop | Eric M. Zeman

The Xs Max is a solid contender against class leaders the Note9 and Pixel 2 XL. If you're using an older iPhone Plus, the Xs Max is the no-brainer, wallet-drainer upgrade you've been waiting for.

PC Mag

The iPhone XS Max is the best expression of Apple's smartphone philosophy so far, with a giant, gorgeous screen connecting you to everything.

NotebookCheck | Florian Wimmer

The Apple iPhone XS Max, not really new but still good: The XS Max is a fantastic large flagship. However, you must truly want and be able to afford it as the XS Max is ridiculously expensive.

Tom's Guide | Mark Spoonauer

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are among the best phones you can buy, and if you've been holding off on upgrading your iPhone 7 or iPhone 6s, either one of these handsets will feel like a huge leap forward.

The Economic Times

If you're coming from anything older than an iPhone X, or seeking to switch from Android, now is a great time to upgrade.

TechRadar | Gareth Beavis

For movie-watching, game-playing fans the iPhone XS Max is an exciting new addition to the range. It certainly costs a lot, but if you can get past the price (which many won't be able to) the XS Max offers up a super, supersized experience.

Mashable | Raymond Wong

Don't be fooled by the "S" label - the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are the best and most powerful iPhones Apple's ever made.

CNET UK | Scott Stein

The supersize iPhone XS Max crams a 6.5-inch screen and all of the same great features of the iPhone XS into a Plus-sized body -- but it's not as huge a leap up as you might think.

AVForums | David Phelan

The iPhone XS is a decent, if identical-looking, upgrade to the iPhone X. If you like a larger-build phone, the XS Max is an amazing upgrade to the iPhone 8 Plus and a significant improvement on the iPhone X.

Engadget | Chris Velazco

For better or worse, the iPhone XS Max is just a massive iPhone XS. That's great in some ways: its 6.5-inch display is fantastic for watching videos and lining up photos, and there's a much better battery here, too. That said, only a few app and services so far make meaningful use of all this extra screen space. Beyond that, it's simply going to be too much phone for some people to use comfortably with one hand.

inews.co.uk | Rhiannon Williams

If you were considering buying the iPhone X anyway, the iPhone XS offers solid improvements for the same price, albeit an incredibly high one. The iPhone XS Max is, I'd argue, the better phone on virtue of its superior screen, but not everyone wants such a large handset or to pay an extra £100 for a bigger screen.

Ubergizmo | Hubert Nguyen

A solid user experience that one expects from a high-end smartphone. The iPhone XS clearly leads only in performance. For now.

Mobile Syrup | Patrick O'Rourke

The XS and even more so, the XS Max, are high-end, luxury smartphones designed for those that expect the absolute best out of their devices.

The Verge | Nilay Patel

Really, both iPhone XS models are fundamentally spec-bump updates to the iPhone X, with a new main camera sensor, a new processor, and a bunch of small updates that add up to a much nicer device than the X.

Pickr | Leigh Stark

it's a big price for a big phone, but if that doesn't bother you, Apple's best iPhone yet is one that you'll fall for easily. It's bigger, brighter, better, and recommended despite the cost.

Mr Phone | Ershad Kaleebullah

The iPhone XS Max's camera is a big jump in low light and Portrait photography from the iPhone X. No doubt. And, if you love shooting a lot of videos or taking portraits, the iPhone XS and XS Max should provide you with the best flagship camera performance.

TechPP (Technology Personalized) | Nimish Dubey

... if you have the budget and are looking for a phone with a big display and great performance, the iPhone XS Max is pretty much a no-brainer.

Ars Technica | Samuel Axon

The OLED displays on the iPhone XS and XS Max are superior to the LCD displays on Apple's previous phones by almost every metric...They are not just the best displays yet seen in a smartphone; they are among the best displays ever included in a consumer product...among the best phones Apple has made, lightly iterative as they may be on last year's iPhone X. At these prices, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple's biggest hit with most buyers is still around the corner with the iPhone XR.

Gadgets Now | Aabhas Sharma

The iPhone XS Max is a solid upgrade on the iPhone X and easily the best iPhone Apple has ever made.

New York Times | Brian X. Chen

It's important that you find the right fit. You might assume you will dislike a bigger screen and then change your mind - just as I did.

Expert Reviews | Jonathan Bray

The iPhone Xs Max may be the most expensive mainstream phone money can buy, and it may not truly justify its price tag. However, it's the best phone Apple has ever made and, for millions of people, that will likely be enough.

Know Your Mobile | Damien McFerran

The biggest and most powerful iPhone yet, and the perfect phone for on-the-move media consumers.

91mobiles | Deepak Dhingra

If you already own an iPhone X, buying the XS Max may not make much sense, but for others, it could work out to be a purchase they won't regret, considering everything it brings to the table. That's provided you can afford one of course.

Trusted Reviews | Max Parker

It's expensive and won't be for everyone, but the iPhone XS Max is a great phone in just about every area.

Alphr | Alan Martin

I think you know what I'm going to say here: the iPhone Xs Max is a phenomenal smartphone, and one that doesn't put a foot wrong along the way.

Wired | Lauren Goode

I still think you shouldn't feel like you have to upgrade if you invested in last year's phones-or even if you have a slightly older phone, like an iPhone 7.

VentureBeat | Jeremy Horwitz

The challenging reality of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max is that both are very good phones that are nowhere near as exciting as they could or should have been for their price tags.

The Telegraph | James Titcomb

Should you buy this phone? Well, you definitely don't need to. But is the XS Max a great phone? Undoubtedly.

The Guardian | Samuel Gibbs

If you want the biggest iPhone, and can stomach the eye-watering asking price, then this is it. Just try not to drop it.

Digital Trends | Julian Chokkattu

You'll find it hard to stop gazing into this beautiful, 6.5-inch screen. If you want the best from Apple and the biggest screen available, go for the iPhone XS Max.

SlashGear | Chris Davies

Apple's new flagships look and feel great... That doesn't, though, make them the right smartphones for everybody.

CNBC | Todd Haselton

If you have an old iPhone, like an iPhone 7, and want the best new iPhone, you should upgrade to the XS, or the Max if you want a giant screen. You might even consider upgrading if you have an iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus, since Apple is clearly moving away from the home button and these offer better cameras, stronger glass panels, faster processors and more. But if you have an iPhone X, you don't need these new phones.