Had both XS and Max. Thing about iOS is standby is very good but on use dan see signifikan drain.
My use WA, FB, occ Waze. No games. Navigation saw a huge  drain.

I was dissapointed with the Max battery life. Could and should have been better. Would have tolerated the size if batt life had been good, so sold off after 6 weeks of use.

yup got it during launch here then sold. not impressed. went back to 6S. small form, accepted poor battery life and of course 3.5mm jack

XS family is good. also last of the 3D touch so if that's important get it. it's just I expected better battery life with the Max. in the end it was just a supersized XS same camera. bulky phone. more expensive.

i really liked my 6S. form factor pocket fit. battery while not great accepted it. 3.5mm jack very important. was the last one in that family. sadly this year Jan battery would last less than 10 mins after full charge. took it to IT world. irreparable and I would have to buy a refurb. so then jumped to 6S plus. (2nd hand from a friend who went to the 11)

waiting to sell the 6S to anyone buys broken units

again, this one my experience. see what others say. you may like it lots.

not using the 6S anymore. waiting to sell. now using 2nd hand 6S plus. waiting for the 12 family

if budget permits go for XS esp if 3D is important and if you can ignore the notch

XS - 15months 88%, kau2 game

Not bad deal. Given that it is a brand new set.

if the price is 40% or lower for a new conditioned iphone, it may still be worth if one does not want to spend the 100% price for the same grade of iphone 12 pro max. A12 is still a beast even my A11 on iphone x too. if it is second hand then i will say it is not worth it.

even i can use my iphone 6 plus as a secondary still with no issue. it is a A8 chip. A12 is 4 gen ahead.

iphone xs max comparing to iphone 12 pro max (if assume it is selling at the same starting price this year)
rm2799 vs rm5299
52.82% vs 100%

one brand new condition iphone can easily be used for 5 years. now iphone xs max is only 2 years old so the depreciation should be 40%, while now the depreciation is 47.18% which is actually more than this. it is almost half of the price only and they are only 2 years difference.

if one is buying for their family members such as kids or elderly, it is really not bad deal becos they won't need the latest flagship iphone. and this kind of price can buy two instead of buying iphone 12 pro max. and iphone xs max is still not a bad phone even at now. only bummer here is probably the 64gb storage which can limit the capability of the phone in long run. but if it is for elderly or kids, i think 64gb should still be sufficient for basic usage.

if one is buying for ownself, like myself i am upgrading my iphone x to iphone 12 pro max. then of course i will be better off just buy the upcoming iphone 12 pro max instead.