Review: Crazybaby Air 1S Wireless Earphones Offer Decent Sound, but Cheaper Air Nano Model Disappoints

As more and more smartphones ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack, the market for true wireless Bluetooth earphones has become increasingly flooded with numerous options for customers to buy. Apple has its own first-party earphones with the AirPods, which fit conveniently in the Apple ecosystem thanks to the W2 chip’s simple device pairing and a straightforward charging solution with the included carrying case.

Sony, Jabra, Bang & Olufsen, Anker, and more all provide similar true wireless earphones (a term that means there is no wire at all between each earbud), usually priced anywhere between $80 to $200. Now, wireless accessory company Crazybaby — which first made a splash with the introduction of a “levitating” Mars Bluetooth home speaker — has introduced a few AirPods-like products of its own with the Air Nano ($79 for MacRumors readers using code RUMORSNANO, $99 normally) and Air 1S ($129 for MacRumors readers using code RUMORS1S, $159 normally).

Air Nano

Starting with the cheaper Air Nano model, Crazybaby sells this pair of earphones in 10 bright colors and the company sent me the Volt Green option. While I typically enjoy having an array of colors to choose from for most products, I personally prefer something a bit more subdued for headphones. Air Nano definitely stands out when in your ear, and they pulse with a white glow in a breathing rhythm (red when charging in the case), drawing more attention to them.

Overall, the Air Nano earphones lack a feel of quality in day-to-day use. While the pill-shaped charging case is svelte, when it’s fully open the caps dangle off the sides. There is a helpful magnetic click once the case is closed, but it doesn’t seem like the case will stay completely closed in a purse or backpack since it doesn’t take much force to open it. On the outside of the charging case, you’ll find a very minuscule charging status light and a USB-C port, which I definitely appreciated since I charge my MacBook nearby and could easily swap out the cable for the Air Nano without digging for another cord.

When open, you’ll find the earphones themselves, charging inductively in tiny grooves carved out in the center of the case. Crazybaby says the Air Nano charging case supports eight to 12 hours of charge on the earphones, which themselves last for around three hours of listening time. I found this to be largely on point, but the information that Crazybaby feeds to the battery widget on iOS was far from helpful. The earphones stuck to percentage estimates before updating, so it would only notify me when it hit 80 percent, 60 percent, 40 percent, etc, with nothing in between.

As a major bonus to Crazybaby’s Air Nano earphones, I found them to have really solid in-ear stability, which has been a problem for me with past true wireless earphones, including AirPods. The device comes with a multitude of different sized ear tips for working out and running, and I found the sports-focused wing tips to be mostly favorable running companions, as long as my workouts remained around 30 minutes or shorter. With these on, however, the buds don’t fit in the charging case.

But that’s not to say the Air Nano earphones are particularly comfortable. Each earphone has a tiny “L” or “R” on it to know which ear to put them in, but even with that the buds can be a hassle to figure out the exact right positioning for in your ear. Once they are in, the circular outer edges of the earphones always hit the rim of my ear in a frustrating way, and any time I’d take one earphone out to fiddle with the positioning, when I put it back in I’d consistently activate one of the tap controls that reside on the outside of each bud.

In terms of power controls, the Air Nano definitely takes some getting used to. You turn on the earphones by holding each bud’s button for two seconds, and turn them off by holding the left bud for three seconds. Sometimes I’d only press the left bud for two seconds thinking this will activate both buds simultaneously, but this input instead activates a Bluetooth search for new connected devices. In terms of pairing with my iPhone X, I had no trouble finding the Air Nano for the first Bluetooth search, and they automatically paired each time after the initial setup.

Thankfully, playback controls are more straightforward: when music is playing, one tap on the right bud plays/pause the song, two taps skips the track, and three taps skips backwards in the tracklist. On the left bud, one tap answers or hangs up phone calls, and two taps brings up Siri — which responds well to voice requests, but oddly I only heard Siri’s voice in my left ear. You can’t control volume directly from the buds, so you will have to ask Siri or pick up your iPhone/Apple Watch for that — something that hindered the Air Nano’s usefulness when working out.

Most of the Air Nano’s negatives would be easier to overlook if the audio quality was good, but I also ran into issues here. The best aspect was the range, which stretched through about two rooms in my apartment before one of the buds began popping in and out. Unfortunately, problems emerged over longer periods of listening, when Air Nano’s connection to my iPhone would waver in one bud before fixing itself. I also found that songs playing from my iPhone sounded more tinny with Air Nano than the headphones I most often use (like BeatsX), and had difficulty adjusting the volume to hit a more comfortable level.

As it stands, the Air Nano are not the earphones you’re looking for if you enjoy deep bass. Even trying out the alternative ear tips didn’t much improve the experience. I live next to a relatively busy street, and for all of the tips provided with the Air Nano, a faint trace of low rumbling came through my music when it was at a safe and manageable volume. The workout-focused wing tips were also the most uncomfortable of the bunch, so even if they had helped a lot I probably wouldn’t have been able to listen for very long.

Air 1S

In essence, the Crazybaby Air 1S are the Air Nano earphones with a slightly more premium feel and enclosure. Instead of plastic, the Air 1S have an aluminum finish that only comes in Star Gray (which is the color I received) and Space Silver. Apple’s influence is apparent in the Air 1S, from the all-white packaging that has a subtle outline of the product on its top, to the use of the “S” terminology marking this version as the update to Crazybaby’s original Air earphones.

I found the Air 1S to perform better and feel better than the Air Nano in all categories, but in some areas it was only nominal improvements. The charging case feels sturdier, and it has a useful (if somewhat finicky) locking mechanism to ensure that the ear buds won’t escape into a bag.

The stainless steel finish of the case and the buds themselves is quite nice, coming in as a darker shade when compared to the Space Gray finish of a 2015 12-inch MacBook. The Crazybaby logo also blends in better than it does on the Air Nano case.

Continuing the theme, Air 1S fit better in my ear than the Air Nano and were more comfortable for longer periods of time, which appears to be because the buds have a far more comfortable oblong shape that molds into your ear better than the Air Nano’s awkward circular build. You also get the same array of different-sized ear tips if the ones they come with don’t work for you.

Similar to Air Nano, you’ll get three hours of listening time on one charge of Air 1S, and the case can provide up to 12 hours of backup time. I’d average about 30 minutes of listening time on the earphones per day for the few weeks I tested them, and one thing I never had an issue with was battery life (save for the ongoing iOS battery widget annoyance). With average use you can easily get three to four days of charge out of the Air 1S before you would need to place the buds back in the charging case.

One problem that remains with Air 1S is the poor user controls while you’re wearing them. The buttons on the side of the earphones require so much force to press them that it can be downright painful in certain positions. There are also still a few leftover connectivity hiccups that Crazybaby hasn’t ironed out, resulting in only one bud waking up when you turn the devices on.

Fortunately, the Air 1S sound better than the Air Nano, solving the annoying tinniness of the cheaper headphones with deeper bass and a clearer soundstage. I still wouldn’t put these earphones up to task against competitors in the market, but their improvements upon the Air Nano were definitely welcome.

Final Thoughts

If you’re on the hunt for true wireless earphones, Crazybaby has a bit of a mixed bag to offer customers with the Air Nano and Air 1S, one that turns up enough negatives that I couldn’t recommend the former device. My overall experience with the $79 Air Nano was fraught with uncomfortable listening sessions and poor quality music playback, so even though they stayed in my ear I never quite enjoyed my experience with them.

The $129 Air 1S fared better, staying in my ear as well as Air Nano, but feeling more comfortable and with better sound while doing so. Because of this, the Air 1S could be positioned as a decent entry-level pair of earphones for anyone who wants to try out true wireless earphones for the first time, as long as they’re okay with a few concessions in the overall user experience.

Still, the price causes some apprehension. At $129 for the Air 1S, you’re about $15 under the average sale price of Apple’s own AirPods, and Crazybaby’s price is even slightly more expensive than the AirPods can be in certain sitewide sales at Rakuten, when they’ve been priced at $127. It’s obvious Crazybaby wanted to be seen as a potential competitor in the true wireless earphones market, but with this generation at least the company still has a ways to go.

Note: Crazybaby provided MacRumors with a pair of Air Nano and Air 1S earphones for this review. No other compensation was received.

Tag: Crazybaby
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Hands-On With the New Depth Control Feature in iPhone XS and XS Max

Apple’s iPhone XS, XS Max, and upcoming XR come equipped with a new Depth Control feature enabled through camera upgrades that include a new image signal processor, an improved sensor, and the A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine.

Depth Control, which we’ve featured in the video below, lets you adjust the amount of blurring in the background of your Portrait Mode images, giving you more control over how your images come out.

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Depth Control can be accessed after you take a Portrait Mode image by tapping on the “Edit” button of a Portrait Mode photo in the Photos app. At the bottom of the editing interface, you’ll see a new Depth slider, which is what you use to adjust the blurring or depth of field of the image.

In a traditional camera, a larger aperture means more background blur and a shallower depth of field, while a smaller aperture results in less background blurring. This system is what Apple is mimicking with Depth Control.

No background blurring with Depth Control set at f/16
If you’re new to photography, it’s a bit confusing, but a larger aperture is represented by a smaller number, while a smaller aperture is represented by a larger number. So in the Depth Control slider, which ranges from f/1.4 to f/16, f/1.4 is the maximum amount of blur while f/16 essentially eliminates all background blur for an image that’s sharp throughout.

Default/medium Portrait Mode background blurring with Depth Control set at f/4.5
By default, all Portrait Mode images on iPhone XS and XS Max start at f/4.5, and from there, you can move the slider along the bottom to the left or the right to add more or less background blur. Being able to adjust the depth of field is useful because you can tweak exactly what you want blurred, and it can save some photos that otherwise would have had key details (like the edges of hair or fur) blurred out by Apple’s Portrait Mode software.

Maximum background blurring with Depth Control set at f/1.4
Depth Control is limited to Portrait Mode images taken with the front or rear-facing cameras because there needs to be blur to adjust in the image. Right now, editing the depth of a photo is limited to images that have already been captured, but starting in iOS 12.1, it will work in real time too.

In the iOS 12.1 beta, when capturing a Portrait Mode image with the front or rear facing camera, you can tap on the little “F” in the upper right hand corner of the display to access the Depth Control slider to see how more or less background blur looks in real time before taking an image. The camera app will also remember your preferred Depth Control settings from photo to photo, so you can always set it at the depth of field that you like best.

Live Depth Control lets you get the perfect angle and the perfect amount of depth for the portrait that you want to capture so you can make all of your real-time adjustments before snapping the photo.

What do you think of the Depth Control feature in the iPhone XS and XS Max? Let us know in the comments.

Related Roundup: iPhone XSBuyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now)
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Apple iPhone XS Max vs. HTC U12 Plus: Does more expensive mean better?

Apple has finally taken the wraps off the latest and greatest set of iPhones, including the ultra-premium iPhone XS, the massive iPhone XS Max, and the so-called “budget” device, the iPhone XR. Featuring a new processor, improved camera features, and more, the new iPhones have a lot going for them. In particular, it seems like the iPhone XS Max is a great phone — considering its huge display and top-tier specs.

But how does the iPhone XS Max fare against other flagship phones for the year? The HTC U12 Plus is HTC’s best phone so far, boasting premium specs, a dual-sensor camera, and more. In case you’re considering buying one of these phones, we’ve put them head-to-head to find out which is better.

Specs

HTC U12 Plus
Apple iPhone XS Max

Size
156.6 x 73.9 x 8.7 mm (6.17 x 2.91 x 0.31 inches)
157.5 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm (6.20 x 3.05 x 0.30 inches)

Weight
188g (6.63oz)
208g (7.34oz)

Screen size
6 inch Super LCD
6.5 inch Super Retina OLED

Screen resolution
2880 x 1440 pixels (537 pixels per inch)
2688 x 1242 pixels (458 pixels per inch)

Operating system
Android 8.0 Oreo
iOS 12

Storage space
64GB, 128GB
64GB, 256GB, 512GB

MicroSD Card slot
Yes
No

Tap-to-pay services
Google Pay
Apple Pay

Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Apple A12 Bionic

RAM
6GB
4GB

Camera
Dual 12MP + 16MP rear, dual 8MP + 8MP front
Dual 12MP + 12MP rear, 7MP front

Video
4K at 60 fps, 1,080p at 240 fps
4K at 60 fps, 1,080p at 240 fps

Bluetooth  version
Version 5.0
Version 5.0

Ports
USB-C
Lightning

Fingerprint sensor
Yes
No

Water resistance
IP68
IP68

Battery
3,500mAh

Quick Charge 3.0 (QC 4.0 supported but requires separate charger)

3,174mAh

Fast charging (requires separate charger)

Qi wireless charging

App marketplace
Google Play
Apple App Store

Network support
T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon

Colors
Translucent Blue, Ceramic Black, Flame Red
Silver, Space Gray, Gold

Price
$800+
$1,099+

Buy from
HTC
Apple

Review score
3 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5 stars

Performance, battery life, and charging

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Under the hood, the two phones are pretty different devices. While many Android flagships feature the latest Qualcomm processor, Apple makes its own mobile processors for its smartphones. The iPhone XS Max features Apple’s all-new A12 Bionic chip with 4GB of RAM, while the HTC U12 Plus boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM. Both chips are very powerful, though when it comes to sheer performance, it seems as though the A12 Bionic is ahead of the pack, based on early benchmarks.

The actual battery capacity on the two phones is similar, but the HTC U12 Plus comes out ahead, with its 3,500mAh battery — versus the 3,174mAh battery on the iPhone XS Max. That, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the HTC U12 Plus will last longer on a charge, especially considering the improvements Apple has made in the processor to boost power efficiency. On top of that, the iPhone features wireless charging, something that the HTC U12 Plus does not offer.

Because of the better performance and the addition of wireless charging, the iPhone is the winner here.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

Design and durability

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Both the HTC U12 Plus and the iPhone XS Max are relatively well-designed, but the iPhone simply seems a little more modern. Part of that has to do with the fact that the iPhone boasts an edge-to-edge display, while the HTC U12 Plus has a small forehead and chin. Both phones have a metal frame and a glass back. The U12 Plus has a fingerprint sensor on the back below the camera module, while the iPhone XS Max relies on the front-facing camera for FaceID.

While both phones feature IP68 water resistance, which safeguards against drops into shallow water, they won’t cope well with drops, so cases are a good idea. Neither of the two phones feature a headphone jack. The HTC U12 Plus features a USB-C port, while the iPhone XS Max, as you’d expect, has a Lightning port.

The iPhone XS Max is the more modern and attractive of the two.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

Display

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The HTC U12 Plus and iPhone XS Max have pretty different displays. For starters, the HTC U12 Plus features a higher resolution, thanks to its 2880 x 1440-pixel display. But in almost every other metric, the iPhone wins out. The iPhone’s display, for example, is larger, and it’s an OLED display which offers much higher contrast and inky blacks you just won’t find with LCD.

While the resolution is slightly higher on the HTC phone, considering the fact that the iPhone’s display is better in every other metric, it’s the winner here.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

Camera

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Both the HTC U12 Plus and the iPhone XS Max feature dual-sensor rear-facing cameras, but they’re not necessarily created equal. The HTC U12 Plus features a dual 12-megapixel and 16-megapixel rear-facing camera. The main lens has an aperture of f/1.75, which should be fine for many low-light shots. The secondary lens on the HTC U12 Plus offers 2x optical zoom and a Portrait Mode, which we found to perform decently well in our review.

The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, offers dual 12-megapixel lenses with an aperture of f/1.8 in the main lens. Like the U12 Plus, the iPhone XS Max’s secondary lens offers 2x optical zoom, and also supports things like Portrait Mode, with the option to adjust background blur after capturing the shot. There’s also a new sensor and software in the iPhone XS Max, compared to last year’s iPhone X, enabling it to combine frames for perfect exposure.

The cameras are similar, but ultimately the image processing and software of the iPhone beat out the camera on the HTC U12 Plus. At this point, if you’re an Android user and want the device with the best camera, the Google Pixel series is probably the way to go.

The front-facing cameras are also relatively different on the two devices. The HTC U12 Plus offers dual 8-megapixel lenses on the front, while the iPhone XS Max instead offers a single 7-megapixel sensor. The iPhone, however, boasts features like Face ID — something the HTC U12 Plus doesn’t have.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

Software and updates

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

We’re not going to do a deep dive into the Android vs. iOS debate — but we will go through a few main points. Android, for starters, is generally a little more customizable. You can add widgets where you want to add them, install apps from third-party app stores, and so on. With iOS, on the other hand, you get a slick, accessible platform that’s a little more organized. Everything is pretty much where you expect it to be, and it’s generally pretty secure.

Updates, however, are another issue — and one that iOS far excels in. With an iPhone, you’ll get the update as soon as it’s available, as long as your phone is compatible. With an Android phone, that’s really only true for Pixel phones — HTC phones will likely take a few months to get new Android version updates, if they get the update at all. Because of that, the iPhone’s the winner here.

Winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

Special features

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Both the iPhone XS Max and HTC U12 Plus offer a few interesting features. For starters, the iPhone XS Max features Apple’s Face ID — and while some will prefer a fingerprint sensor, it’s still an interesting bit of tech that enables other features, like Animoji.

The HTC U12 Plus offers a few special features, but not all of them will be considered advantages. For example, we found that the digital buttons, while interesting, were overly sensitive and didn’t really work the way they should. One thing that the HTC U12 Plus does offer over the iPhone is the inclusion of Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa — so you can use your digital assistant of choice when you want to.

Winner: Tie

Price

The iPhone XS Max and the HTC U12 Plus come at very different prices. While the HTC U12 Plus starts at $799, the iPhone XS Max costs $300 more than that at $1,099. Safe to say, if you’re on the fence between these two phones and money is a concern, the HTC U12 Plus may be a better choice.

Overall winner: Apple iPhone XS Max

It’s hard to get around the fact that the Apple iPhone XS Max is simply a better device — but it’s also a whole lot more expensive. The iPhone is more powerful, has a better display, a better camera, and will get updates nice and quickly. You do, however, pay for those advantages — so if money is an issue and you’re not too concerned about the special features the iPhone XS Max has to offer, then the HTC U12 Plus may be for you.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Apple iPhone XS vs. iPhone XS Max vs. iPhone XR
• Apple iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR: All the hands-on photos you could ever need
• Apple iPhone XS: News, release, specs, and more
• Apple iPhone XS Max vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Powerhouse face-off
• Apple iPhone XS Max vs. Huawei P20 Pro: Clash of the titans

AMD RX 500 graphics card refresh may launch in 2019 with die shrink, clock boost

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AMD may not wait until next year to debut its next-generation graphics cards, according to a series of rumors from different sources. They seem to point to a launch for some refreshed RX 500-series graphics cards, using a die-shrunk 12nm core called Polaris 30. If true, this could lead to AMD offering a slightly more competitive midrange product, which those intrigued by the possibility of a still-unannounced GTX 2060 or 2050 could find an attractive alternative.

In the aftermath of Nvidia’s rollercoaster ride of a graphics card launch with its new RTX series, the question remained as to whether AMD would respond with a big GPU reveal of its own. The red team is expected to debut a new range of cards code-named Navi in 2019, but it may be that before then we see a refresh of its capable RX 500-series. If it was high-end only, we could see an RX 590 or RX 585 appear, but it’s equally possible such a range could be designated the RX 600-series.

The first hint of a stop-gap GPU generation from AMD appeared in a recent Linux driver release where a new Polaris ID was spotted by Phoronix. The ID, “0x6FDF” doesn’t correspond to any existing AMD graphics chip, but it is listed as being part of the “Polaris 10” family of graphics cards. That rules out it having anything to do with AMD’s planned 7nm die-shrink of its Vega technology, which is slated to be an enterprise-only product.

Backing up this rumor was a source on Chiphell, which WCCFTech translated, highlighting that Polaris 30 would be built on the 12nm process, a slight shrink of the 14nm process used in the RX 500 series. Such a rumored range could improve performance over the RX 500 series by around 10-15 percent, we’re told. That would hardly make them competitive with the RTX series of Nvidia cards, but if there is a significant delay in launching midrange GPUs from that generation, it would make such rumored AMD cards more attractive than the GTX 1060 and 1050 GPUs.

The Chiphell rumor suggests that the new range of cards will debut in October, too, so if any of this turns out to be true, we won’t have long to wait for it to be confirmed.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Everything you need to know about the Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs
• Nvidia vs. AMD
• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2060 might launch next year without ray tracing
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile sighting hints at more powerful gaming laptops
• No games will support ray tracing when Nvidia RTX graphics cards launch

The next big Windows update could launch as soon as October 2

Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

The upcoming fall update for Windows 10 may arrive sooner than expected. New rumors suggest that the October 2018 Update could arrive at the start of the month, potentially as soon as October 2. Such a release would coincide with the Microsoft event set to take place in New York City where it is expected to reveal a number of new Surface products.

The Windows 10 October 2018 update is the next big update for the operating system since the 2018 April update and brings with it a number of improvements. Swiftkey will allow for typing with onscreen keyboards by swiping, rather than tapping; added support for Microsoft’s “Your Phone” app, which lets you sychronize your mobile device with Windows; a Clipboard history that lets you go back to things previously cut and copied, and updates to Windows 10’s theme, as well as how it handles screenshots and HDR.

All of that has been expected to release in October — as its name would suggest — for some time, but an exact date has yet to be confirmed. The new rumor of an October 2 debut stems from a user on the MyDigitalLife forum, as per WindowsLatest. They claim that they have discovered electronic software delivery — digital product keys — images for Windows 10 build 17763. Considering those tend to only be sent out for a release build of an operating system update, as happened with the April update, this would suggest that 17763 is the final Windows build for the October update.

In the supposed XML file that contains the ESD images is a release date, stated as “20181002,” which equates to October 2. Considering Microsoft is already hosting a large event on that date, it could choose to announce the rollout of the new OS update at that time. As TechRadar points out, this is hardly verifiable information and October 2 is a very quick turnaround for an update as major as this one. It would give little time for Microsoft to discover any bugs, considering the 17763 build only became available to Slow Ring Windows Insiders on September 20.

If bugs were discovered, it could delay things. The Windows 10 2018 April update was pushed back several times due to large issues which needed to be fixed before a general release.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Microsoft confirms Redstone 5 as Windows 10 October 2018 Update
• Refreshed Surface Pro 6 could arrive at Microsoft’s October 2 event
• What to expect from Microsoft’s October 2 Surface event
• Microsoft could debut transparent Surface Dial sequel at October event
• Microsoft may go back to black with 2018 Surface Pro and Surface Laptop

eSIM Functionality Available in iOS 12.1, But Carrier Support is Required

Apple’s iOS 12.1 beta introduces support for the eSIM, aka a digital SIM that lets you activate a cellular plan from your carrier without needing to use a physical SIM card. In the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, the eSIM pairs with the included nano-SIM to enable dual-SIM functionality.

The eSIM in the new iPhone XS and XS Max was not available at launch, with Apple promising to activate it in a later update, which appears to be iOS 12.1.

eSIM settings are available by going to the Cellular section of the Settings app and choosing “Add Cellular Plan,” which is the method used to add another cellular provider via the eSIM.

All contacts in the Contacts app also now list a “default [P] Primary” setting in iOS 12.1 which lets you change the default phone number that you contact each person with if you have multiple phone numbers.

According to German site iPhone-Ticker.de, some Deutsche Telekom users are able to use the eSIM feature in iOS 12.1 to add two SIMs to their iPhones. Carriers need to implement the eSIM feature before it will work, and Apple offers a list of carriers that plan to offer the eSIM it in a support document.

In the United States, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon plan to offer eSIM support, but the carriers likely won’t roll out the feature until iOS 12.1 launches to the public.

Dual-SIM support with the eSIM is useful for people who use two cellular plans at once, such as for home or work, and it is also beneficial when traveling.

As Apple outlines on its website, both numbers used with a dual-SIM iPhone can make and receive voice calls and SMS/MMS messages, but an iPhone can only use one cellular data network at a time. That means if one number is on a call, a call to the other number will go to voicemail.

Both networks are active at once, however, and with dual-SIM enabled, you will see two carrier signal readings in the Control Center.

eSIM support will be available to everyone with an iPhone XS, XS Max (and future XR) when the iOS 12.1 update launches to the public. We’ve only had one beta of iOS 12.1 so far, so there is still a ways to go.

The iOS 12.1 update also includes support for Group FaceTime for up to 32 people, a new real-time Depth Control slider that can be used when taking Portrait Mode photos, and, with watchOS 5.1, new color watch face options in the Apple Watch app.

Related Roundups: iPhone XS, iOS 12Buyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now)
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