While Apple hasn’t shared specifics about how the iPhone XS and XS Max offer the best iPhone displays ever (particularly over the iPhone X), DisplayMate has put the XS Max through rigorous testing to find out how the new Super Retina OLED display performs. After the iPhone X received an A+ rating for its display last year, the XS Max has received the highest A+ rating DisplayMate has ever given out and earned its “Best Smartphone Display Award.”

Apple gives a generic description of the XS and XS Max display improvements.

But DisplayMate tested the XS Max Super Retina display in exhausting detail for all the specific improvements. Here are the aspects covered in the review:

  • Larger Full Screen Display
  • 2.7K High Resolution Display
  • Industry Standard Color Gamuts
  • Automatic Color Management
  • Very High Absolute Color Accuracy
  • Color Accuracy and Intensity Scales Independent of APL
  • High Screen Brightness and Performance in High Ambient Light
  • High Dynamic Range Mobile HDR Display
  • Night Shift mode for Better Night Viewing
  • True Tone Viewing Mode
  • Diamond Sub-Pixels
  • Viewing Angle Performance
  • Viewing Tests Performance
  • Display Power Efficiency
  • Display Related Enhancements

Some of the record results earned by the XS Max display include:

  • Highest Absolute Color Accuracy (0.8 JNCD)  –  Visually Indistinguishable From Perfect.
  • Smallest Shift in Color Accuracy with the Image Content APL (0.4 JNCD).
  • Highest Full Screen Brightness for OLED Smartphones (660 nits at 100% APL).
  • Highest Full Screen Contrast Rating in Ambient Light (140 at 100% APL).
  • Highest Contrast Ratio (Infinite).
  • Lowest Screen Reflectance (4.7 percent).
  • Smallest Brightness Variation with Viewing Angle (25% at 30 degrees).
  • Highest Visible Screen Resolution 2.7K (2688×1242)  –  4K Does Not appear visually sharper on a Smartphone.

While the 6.4-inch OLED display of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 also earned an A+ rating, the XS Max scored higher with its nearly flawless display.

DisplayMate’s testing was specifically with the XS Max, but the majority of the records apply to the 5.8-inch XS as well. For all the details, check out DisplayMate’s full report.