iPhone XS Camera Review
The iPhone XS is finally here, and your most Apple-obsessed friend is probably cozying up to a brand-new phone (or waiting anxiously for the mailman) right about now. Announced only a little over a week ago, Apple's newest phone takes all the features of last year's iPhone X and upgrades them with their new A12 bionic chip, meaning the phone is more efficient, faster, and has even more of that all-important battery life.
But let's be honest, when it comes to our iPhones, one of the most important questions will always be: How's the camera? The iPhone camera is, as Apple often touts, the most popular camera in the world, so it makes sense that we'd be fixated on it, especially when we spend so much time documenting our lives through photos (whether on the 'gram or just for ourselves).
While the details on the new XS and XS Max camera are available for anyone to read—and just a recap, that includes, a 12MP dual-camera system on the rear of the phone that combines wide-angle and telephoto cameras; Portrait Mode with Depth Control which allows you to actually adjust the depth of field (or how blurry the background is) while you're editing; and Smart HDR that takes advantage of that new chip to bring more highlight and shadow to your photos without you having to do anything—it's always better to get a hands-on look at the camera, which is exactly what I did earlier this week.
The first thing you notice about the XS is how much better your photos look than the iPhone X. While sometimes it seems like all the talk about a faster chip and more sensitive sensors won't be noticeable to the casual user, if you've been using an earlier iPhone, you'll definitely see right away how the XS improves on features you already loved.
In Portrait Mode, the distinction between person and background has gotten even better, meaning things like wisps of hair blowing in the wind won't just fade into the background any more. And speaking of background, the highly satisfying Depth Control makes your images way more customizable. I predict you'll be taking a lot of Portrait Mode photos just to be able to move the slider back and forth and watch your background go from blurry to crystal clear and back again—because I've been doing just that. How much time will the iOS 12 Screen Time app tell me I've been spending in Photos by the end of the week? We'll see.
Smart HDR is also a game changer, especially if you, like many of us, enjoy taking photos of particularly beautiful sunsets. Users of prior iPhones may notice, when taking photos that involve bright sunlight or back lighting that you either get a completely blown out background or a very dark foreground. And don't get me started on those bright blobs that are supposedly the sun. This is where the "highlight and shadow detail" element of Smart HDR comes in handy. Even though the day we went out to snap photos was a bit cloudy for it to be an ideal sunset day, the XS showed how much more capable it is. There was no fiddling around, pressing on the sun, then the foreground, then the sun again to get a color balance that looked true to life. Instead, the camera did all that for me, making it much easier for an amateur (me again) to get a IG-worthy photo without too much stress.
Which is probably the biggest plus of the XS and XS Max's new camera system. They make everything so easy. As someone who can't claim to have a great eye, or any idea what goes into a good photo other than what I've learned from people much more accomplished than me, this camera makes it simple to capture great content. And isn't that what all of us want?
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