iPhone XS (Max) vs iPhone X: In-Depth Camera Test Comparison

Hi guys, it's KJ the MiTechGuy here, and today will be the first of many videos involving the iPhone XS Max that I'll be releasing in the next couple of weeks. During its launch event, Apple put a lot of emphasis on the XS Max's camera, so I wanted to see how it compared to the iPhone X's. In this video, I'll be comparing the cameras in various lighting conditions, both indoors and outdoors, and I'll take a look at the video and audio quality of both phones. Make sure to stick around to the end of the video to see how both phones perform in low lighting conditions, and huge shout out to Taurus for sponsoring this video. As always, everything was set to automatic. Let's get right into it. The iPhone X has a dual 12-megapixel camera system, with a wide-angle and telephoto lens at f1.8 and f2.4 apertures, respectively. The telephoto lens means the X also has 2x optical zoom, and can also take depth-effect portrait pictures. The cameras can record up to 4K at 60 frames per second, and 1080p at up to 240 frames per second. They have dual optical image stabilization. The X's front, true-depth camera is 7 megapixels with an aperture of f2.2. It can take portrait mode pictures, and can record video at up to 1080p at 30 frames per second. The iPhone XS also has a dual 12-megapixel camera system, with a wide-angle and telephoto lens at f1.8 and f2.4 apertures, respectively. The main camera sensor is now larger, captures larger pixels, and has a bit of a wider angle than before. Using its new smart HDR capabilities, the iPhone XS is able to take multiple pictures instantaneously, and stitch together different exposure levels to create a more well-rounded image. The iPhone XS has the same video quality specs as the iPhone X on paper, but along with the better image processing, expect to hear improvements because of the fact that it now captures stereo sound. The front, true-depth camera is the same on paper as well, but the new A12 Bionic should help with those front portrait shots and overall image processing. As always, I'm going to start off with pictures shot in great lighting. In this image, we can see that the iPhone X already has a very quality camera system. We can also see that the XS is able to capture a wider image. Things I notice right away are the fact that the XS seems to have more natural levels of saturation than the X, and the clouds in the sky in the XS's picture are better exposed and show more depth. Again, both images are great, and both show great dynamic range. But the smart HDR capabilities of the XS allow the XS to have a brighter foreground with better preserved colors and detail. This image shows similar trends as before. Because of the new smart HDR feature of the XS, it just does a better job with exposure in my opinion. Couple this with the natural looking colors make the improvements pretty substantial already. If we look at this telephoto shot, we can see that the XS was just able to make everything crispier, with better defined details and better preserved colors in things like the buildings. This goes without saying that I noticed these things because I placed the pictures side by side. The iPhone X is capable of some amazing pictures. Looking at the portrait modes of both phones, I will say that the XS is able to take the overall brighter images, while still capturing an incredible amount of detail. The XS also improved with its edge detection and dealing with hair in general. As I shift into video, I know that both phones are capable of shooting 4K at up to 60 frames per second, but I set them both to 4K at 30 frames per second because that's what this video is uploaded at. The XS really impressed me in terms of its 4K video capabilities. I was walking through shadows, and the XS was able to not only keep the foreground properly exposed and clear, but also the sky was perfectly exposed. I really don't like it when manufacturers oversaturate their phone's 4K video, and Apple used to with the iPhone X. Now with the XS, iPhones goes back to their trends they used to have with having crisp, color accurate videos. In terms of image stabilization, the XS seems to have improved, although it still seems to jitter in some occasions. That being said, the iPhone X still has one of the best smartphone video cameras to date. Now I'm testing the front two cameras of both phones. It's not too windy outside, but there are cars coming by, so I'm wondering how the microphones pick up my voice. Let me know in the comment section how the image stabilization turns out on both phones. And let me know overall which phone's front facing camera you prefer. In terms of the front video qualities of both phones, the first thing I really noticed was the audio quality differences. The XS finally records stereo audio, and it just creates a fuller sound that sounds more natural, especially if you listen to the audio using headphones. I actually prefer the saturation levels of the iPhone X's video because I have an orange tint in the XS's video. But overall, the stability and crispness of the iPhone XS's video coupled with the stereo microphones give the clear advantage to the new XS. Everything shot so far was shot outside in great lighting conditions, so I wanted to see how both phones performed in more challenging lighting conditions. This image was very challenging because of all of the light coming in through the giant windows. Both phones did surprisingly well. But the XS was able to do a lot better with not letting the light overpower the image. This is clear in the higher parts of the window. Here we can see just how much the image processing improved. There is a strip of light, but on the X's image, it was not able to contain it and really overexposed the area. The XS, on the other hand, was able to properly expose the light while keeping the rest of the foreground nice and clear. This portrait mode shot actually came out really well on both phones given the challenging lighting. But the XS was able to keep the subject of the picture brighter overall, and again did the better job of exposing the lights in the background. Here we can see clearly what I meant about properly exposing light sources and how this could affect an image. In the XS's image, every light source and computer monitor is exposed nicely, but the same can't be said for the X's image. As it got even darker, the larger pixel size and sensor size of the iPhone XS's camera system started to shine. In this image, the XS was able to pick up so much more detail throughout the image, from the floor to the entrance in the background. Also, the image is less noisy and again dealt with the lighting fixtures a lot better. Here we can see how much more of the colors of the scene the XS can pick up as opposed to the X. Somehow Apple was able to pick up all of these colors while still keeping noise to a minimum. This last image shows that even in generic shots like this, the larger sensor size is able to really improve just the overall clarity of the image. The iPhone X's image is actually not bad at all and is very solid, but there's a level of clarity in the XS's image that the X simply cannot achieve. Now before I give my final thoughts and channel updates, I wanted to talk a little bit about a case company that I was really excited to have sponsor my channel. I use Taurus Cases on a day to day basis, and I really admire their approach to the case market. They make clean, minimal cases without any blatant branding, which I really appreciate. They're easy to clean, durable enough for the occasional drop, and are just as high quality as the official Apple cases for about half the cost. On top of all this, they work perfectly fine with wireless chargers, like Taurus' new Quick Charge 3.0 charger. Check them out in the link below and there will also be some giveaway information. You won't be disappointed. The iPhone X was already one of the best smartphone camera systems out right now, and Apple really did make some improvements with its iPhone XS and XS Max. The XS's smart HDR capabilities really allow it to take photos that are able to not only keep everything properly exposed, but also maintain natural colors throughout the image. That being said, there's more to a smartphone than just its camera system, so stay tuned for my full iPhone XS Max review coming in a couple days. Stay tuned for a special day in the life of an MIT student video coming next Wednesday, and subscribe and have the notification bell clicked to stay up to date on my latest iPhone XS Max videos. As always, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.