ZTE Blade A34

Apple iPhone XS

The Apple iPhone XS price in Kenya is Ksh 29,000 for the 64GB version and Ksh 37,000 for the 256GB. It has the following specifications:

• GSM (2G), CDMA, HSPA (3G), EVDO, LTE (4G) network technology
• Nano-SIM and e-SIM
• IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 2m for 30 mins)
• Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified)
• 5.8 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen
• 1125 x 2436 pixels resolution
• Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating protection
• iOS 12, upgradable to iOS 15.4.1
• Apple A12 Bionic
• Hexa-core (2x Vortex + 4x Tempest)
• Apple GPU (4-core graphics)
• 64 GB, 256GB Storage + 4 GB RAM
• Dual 12MP + 12MP primary camera
• Quad-LED dual-tone
• 2160p@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, HDR, stereo sound rec.
• 7MP selfie camera, 1080p@60fps
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot
• Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE
• NFC
• USB 2.0, proprietary reversible connector
• Face ID
• Non-removable Li-Ion 2658 mAh battery
• Fast battery charging: 50% in 30 min
• Qi wireless charging
• Available in Space Gray, Silver, or Gold

Design and build

So really, looking at them side to side, iPhone XS looks everything like the iPhone X. except for size may be, every other detail has been maintained. It is okay to check for pictures online but I’ll try to paint it for you. First, it has these dimensions of 143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm and its choice of build materials sees it weigh about 177 grams.

Speaking of material, the front and back of the iPhone XS are made purely and entirely from the scratch-resistant glass while the frame is stainless steel, other manufacturers go for aluminum here but hey, this is an iPhone. This build allows for water resistance IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 2m for 30 mins), good thing you need not worry about those almost never occasion of your phone dropping in water. It is exciting to know you can have this phone function fine even in the rain.

The back has a dual camera (vertical placement) in the top left corner. We see a shiny apple logo on the back still and iPhone branding at the bottom. Notable on the front is that notch at the top that has a selfie camera, sensors, call speaker, and all those details included by Apple.

Display and camera

Display

The display of this phone is a Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen that stands relatively tall at 5.8 inches. Safe to say this is a phablet device and that 82.9% screen-to-body ratio supports this claim. With an 1125 x 2436 pixels resolution you should expect a very detailed, clean, and crisp panel. A 19.5:9 aspect ratio and ~458 PPI density are what it has to offer this display.

Impressive? Yes, also safe to say so. It is with great relief we learn that it is scratch-resistant glass with an oleophobic coating for protection. You don’t want to walk around with a broken iPhone XS display, leave alone go through the cost of replacing it. Other details listed under the display for this phone include Dolby Vision/HDR10 compliant, Wide color gamut display, 3D Touch display, True-tone display, and 120 Hz touch-sensing.

Camera

I have always loved camera performance on Apple smartphones. This time here and again the company hasn’t let me down. Primary camera(s) is an impressive dual 12 MP, f/1.8, 28mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, OIS, PDAF, and 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1.0µm, OIS, PDAF, 2x optical zoom, as impressive as its 7MP front-facing ‘say cheese’ lens. I love to see overlooked Optical Image Stabilization on board here. A feature that comes in so handy especially when it comes to video recording which by the way is 4k for the primary lens and 1080p@60fps for the front-facing camera. Superb cameras on this phone my people, 9 out of 10 my verdict.

Performance and memory

It runs iOS 12 of course. Another thing I love above iPhone again is how timely updates are rolled and received for almost all their smartphones. iOS 12 has been hyped all 2018 and now, with a new release comes it. An Apple A12 Bionic chipset, Hexa-core (2x Vortex + 4x Tempest) CPU, and Apple GPU (4-core graphics) power this beast of a smartphone.

There is no support for SD cards here, we are already used to that so, nothing new about that. All three versions of this Apple iPhone XS run on 4GB of RAM with 64 GB of internal storage up to 512GB. Typical iPhone, expect no stutter while operating your phone friend, even with tens of applications running in the background.

Battery

Don’t we just love fast battery charging on smartphones these days? Here we get Fast battery charging: 50% in 30 min. Kudos! Don’t we fancy wireless charging on smartphones these days? Thanks to the glass back of XS, we have wireless charging for its Non-removable Li-Ion 2658 mAh battery that should give up to 6-7 hours of screen-on time. That’s about a whole day of mixed usage. With up to 20 hours of talk time and 60 of music play, you can never go wrong with it.