The September 2018 Apple event is all about the iPhone X, as the company reveals not one, not two, but three versions of the smartphone-- the "standard" iPhone XS, ultra-large iPhone XS Max and the more affordable iPhone XR.
While more iterative than revolutionary, the three iPhone X models run on the A12 Bionic, the first Apple SoC built using a 7nm processor. It promises a 15% increase in speed when running CPU tasks over the A11 Bionic, a 50% boost in GPU tasks and 50% less power consumption. Also seeing an increase is the number of cores (from 2 to 8), with a "Neural Engine" allowing features such as smart HDR, expressive Memoji and front/rear camera AR experiences.
Customers can hide the stylus inside the Q8 until needed, before use with a memo feature for drawing or creating own emoji. One can even use the stylus when the display is switched off, allowing for quick note taking, and the phone produces appropriate sound effects to make writing on screen feel like a selection of writing instruments.
The big IPS LCD display handles 2160 x 1080 resolution and has slim bezels, making for a fairly slim device considering the size. Being a mid-range smartphone, the Mi Max 3 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 CPU, with 4/6GB RAM, 64/128GB storage (expandable via microSD card) and a hefty 5500mAh battery complete with QuickCharge 3.0 allowing it to charge from empty to 71% in an hour.
As an update of the XA2, the XA2 Plus offers improved internals with a Snapdragon 630 processor, 4/6GB RAM, 32/64GB internal storage, 23MP rear-/8MP front-facing cameras and a 3580mAh battery. As for further entertainment-friendly features, the fact the handset retains the humble headphone jack should prove a relief to at least some customers.
The camera array pairs a primary 19MP sensor with a 12MP monochrome sensor to improve low-light performance. The two sensors feed image data to a AUBE fusion image signal processor to enable what Sony describes as "ultra sensitivity with clean, noise-less images." Video recording is also improved, with a "Motion Eye" system enabling 960fps recording with ISO 12800 sensitivity.
