iPhone SE - what is it? Should I buy an iPhone SE?

The iPhone SE smartphone, despite the fact that it was known long before its release, caused many to be surprised and caused a lot of questions. Is anyone else buying 4-inch iPhones? Does Apple play with fire by introducing such a design? It can be argued that the answer to both questions is yes, but after getting to know the phone, it becomes clear that this does not matter. Regardless of the reasons that forced the company to create this device, iPhone SE (the photo is placed later in the article) is equally a great smartphone for both beginners to get acquainted with iOS, and for users with small hands.

Summary

The fact that the new iPhone SE looks like an old-fashioned device does not mean that it functions the same. Apple managed to squeeze flagship-level performance and the best battery life that the iPhone has demonstrated over the years into a familiar and relatively inexpensive form. The device lacks some of the subtleties of 6s, and its screen may be too small for some, but SE is the best compact smartphone the company has ever made.

IPhone SE phone: what is it?

If you answer quickly, then this is the iPhone 6s in the body of 5s. On this, in principle, we can stop. Although this statement is greatly simplified, but it is true. Almost all the things that make the 6s model the way it is are present here, only now they are compressed into a case whose dimensions, it seemed, were not destined to be seen again. Apple could go the economic way and offer a sixth smaller iPhone, in which case we can only rejoice that this did not happen. The phone’s performance will be discussed below, but the A9 chipset with the M9 motion tracking processor used in SE is an exact copy of the company's flagship models, starting with its clock frequency of up to 2 GB of RAM, with which it is paired. In short, the SE does not give the feeling of a second-class device.

This applies to its design. The iPhone SE 64 GB is just as light and well built as the 5S two years ago, with slight differences. In fact, in addition to the appearance of the pink gold color on the iPhone SE Rose Gold, which was not the case with the 5s, there are only two changes: the SE logo on the back and matte chamfers around the flat edges of the phone. If someone liked the design of the iPhone 5s of the old school, then he will feel at home. And if not, then he was not going to purchase this smartphone in any case.

There is a third camp: customers who liked the 5s design, and then they opened a generation of large screens. And for them, returning to a small phone after two years with the sixth family would be strange. They wonder how they could use small screens for so long. Even after a week, customers cannot type text messages on the cramped on-screen keyboard, as they did before. In addition, there is a feeling of frustration at how little text can fit on a smaller display.

Better less, but better.

However, size has its advantages. According to the owners, after months of using large smartphones (iPhone 6s Plus, Galaxy Note 5 and Nexus 6p, etc.), the right hand is in quite a tense state. She quickly gets tired and starts to hurt, especially when trying to reach with the little finger to the bottom edge of the phone or when stretching the thumb on the screen to press something in the corner. Weekly use of SE is like a mini vacation for the hand. The small-sized display may not be suitable for everyone, but it cannot be denied that the SE is a very convenient small device.

The tested iPhone SE 64GB Space Gray phone has 64 GB of internal memory. Almost 64, since iOS 9.3 takes up some space, and 55.7 GB remain available. It is not surprising that the entry-level model comes with 16 GB of memory, but I hope that this is the last time the company leaves so little space for user data and programs. This is just one of the compromises that you have to make when switching to such a form factor at such a price. For example, none of the modifications, including the iPhone SE 64GB Gray, has a 3D Touch. The fingerprint scanners on the home screen buttons belong to the first generation, which is not as fast as in the 6s. And the front camera is a 1.2 megapixel step back to the fifth model.

In addition to the gray and pink-golden colors of the case already mentioned, Apple iPhone SE Gold is produced in gold and Silver in silver.

Picture and sound

We can confidently say about the screen of the iPhone SE that this is a full compliance with the 5s display. It still works with a resolution of 1136 x 640, which also means the previous pixel density of 326 dpi (the same as for 6s). If you look not at the numbers, but at the screen itself, you can see that it is as bright and saturated as in the old days. Nevertheless, 6s buyers will need some time to get used to the display. The screen is slightly darker than the 6s or 6s Plus, and the color temperature is slightly warmer. In any case, the biggest difference here is the loss of 3D Touch, which some will feel more sharply than others. But some buyers, enthusiastically accepting 3D Touch gestures with the advent of 6s, now rarely use them. Therefore, the owners of an iPhone with the experience may not worry because of the lack of this function, and beginners will not even notice its absence.

Meanwhile, one speaker located at the bottom of the SE is much louder than you might expect, especially at high and mid frequencies. For any long-term listening, you still need a pair of headphones, but the speaker is powerful enough to sound YouTube videos and add charm to your favorite soundtrack.

Software

The Apple iPhone 5 SE comes with iOS 9.3 firmware, which does not add many critical features. In any case, the most notable addition is Night Shift, a feature that can automatically lower the color temperature of the screen to ease eye strain at night. This is not a completely new idea. Applications such as f.lux have been able to do this on the desktop for many years. Compared to plain white, warm colors really make evening reading easier. Instead of setting a specific schedule for switching to night mode, you can manually adjust the warmth of the screen. Theoretically, a color change should help ease the sleep cycle, but as a result, the user gets an annoying orange display. According to customer reviews, it doesn’t help them fall asleep faster, but there is hope that there are those to whom this function is useful.

In addition, it has now become possible to lock certain notes in the Notes application. Opening them requires a password or fingerprint on the fingerprint sensor. And Verizon subscribers finally got the opportunity to make Wi-Fi calls to their friends (others had the opportunity to use this for some time). The Health app now takes nutritional data into account. This program is especially nice to have on SE: the smaller size of the device allows the phone to be a more pleasant training companion.

Yes, and the News app has become a little better to determine which topics users prefer. Although it still overestimates the demand for Donald trump, but it is probably a symptom of a larger problem. With iOS 9.3 firmware, 3D Touch has become more diverse, but it is obvious that not a single gesture works here. That is life.

Oddly enough, but some phone owners are faced with the strange work of Siri after turning on the voice activation setting. When listening to an audio book in the Audible application, excerpts from it with phrases that are not at all like “Hey Siri” brought to life a virtual assistant, puzzled by a puzzle of random fragments of dialogue. The same book on 6s did not cause a similar effect.

Camera

The iPhone 6s camera is great. And since it is exactly the same in SE, there is no doubt in its quality. In fact, it is even slightly better for the following reason: Apple iPhone 5 SE is slightly thicker, it does not have the uncomfortable bulge present in the sixth generation. Here is the argument for thicker phones.

In any case, one can talk for a long time about how deeply layered defense of the company does not allow shedding light on the neighboring photodiodes covered with darkness, but this is not necessary. All you really need to know is the phone is capable of making amazingly detailed, beautiful color photographs. Pictures on SE and 6s Plus are almost identical. True, the latter is leading when it comes to photographing in low light conditions, as it has optical image stabilization.

In low light, the smartphone copes perfectly, maintaining a minimum noise level, although buyers prefer the Galaxy S7 camera. The SE is also capable of shooting 4K videos that look smooth and evenly exposed, even when tracking moving objects. This feature, of course, is good to have, but with 16 GB of memory - and many will agree with this - users probably will not want to shoot video of such high quality.

There are two other things worth mentioning. First of all, iPhone SE supports shooting “live photos,” moving images that add a little bit of sense and context to the shots. Since there is no 3D Touch, a long press on the Live Photo button will start the program. Secondly, selfies are not as good as on 6s. Apple did not bother to improve the 1.2-megapixel front camera at the top of the device, although the 5-megapixel sensor in 6s does not take up much more space. As a result, the photos are noisier. Although they are suitable for Instagram, they are devoid of the liveliness that a high-resolution matrix is ​​capable of. At least SE is equipped with a Retina flash, which uses the phone screen to provide extra brightness.

Performance

The SE is more powerful than it might seem in its old-fashioned appearance. The combination of Apple’s modern A9 chipset with 2 GB of RAM is enough to make the device work effortlessly, from scrolling through home screens and switching between applications to launching graphically intensive games. When the company released the budget 4-inch phone the previous time (it was a second-rate iPhone 5c), it seemed outdated from the very beginning. But the ability to squeeze the stuffing of its flagship mobile phone into a small 399-dollar iPhone is impressive. For the first time in many years, it was possible to become the owner of a 4-inch model without sacrificing performance for the sake of size.

Below are the results of testing the phone. Its performance more or less corresponds to the speed of the most expensive Apple models.

Test table for iPhone SE vs 6, 6s, 6s +.

Battery life

When Apple refused to disclose battery capacity data in SE, some users became excited. But there was no need to worry. You can be calm, because the phone is able to withstand all day, and then some more time. After charging at nine in the morning after 11 hours of operation, 30-40% of the charge still remains. According to the owners, the device can remain without recharging for more than 24 hours, which they are very happy about.

The video test, which consistently plays high-definition video with Wi-Fi turned on and the screen brightness set to 50 percent, showed 13 hours and 40 minutes of iPhone SE functioning. Differences with the manufacturer’s claimed 50% increase in battery life are evident, but the model is still the best indicator of all iPhones. It is amazing that in such a miniature case there is so much energy.

Price and quality

In iPhone SE, differences from other top models become noticeable when evaluating the combination of cost and power - the 16-gigabyte model is the cheapest new phone that Apple has ever released. Therefore, it occupies a special place in the line of mobile devices of the company. There are no reasons to buy 5s, so the question is whether potential smartphone owners should buy SE or 6s. You could have included the iPhone 6 here, but 6s costs only $ 100 more. As already mentioned, 6s shares the power of SE, but has a large 4.7-inch screen. This is quite convenient, but the battery life is reduced.

If someone has a desire to spend about $ 400 on a smartphone and there is no attachment to Apple, then you can consider the option of LG and Google Nexus 5X. It also provides good performance at a reasonable price, but its plastic casing can not stand any comparison with the first-class appearance of the iPhone SE. What kind of phone it is, it becomes clear when you get acquainted with the enormous power of the Snapdragon 808 chipset, which will work in Google Android N, which supports multi-screen multitasking.

Conclusion

The biggest drawback of the iPhone SE is its size, and this is obvious. But if it weren’t for the fact that it’s easy to operate with one hand, it would be impossible to understand why Apple went to its production. The smaller size certainly feels great in the hand and pocket when walking. The power that the phone is endowed with is impressive. Given the performance of the processor that Apple managed to insert into a smaller phone, it is surprising that it does not overheat or reduce battery life. Although not the best in the industry, it’s an iPhone with good battery life that many will enjoy. SE does not hold charge as well as other iPhones when viewing media files, but compared to 5S, this is a step forward. The camera is powerful and crisp, and many will be surprised at changes in the quality of pictures.

Phone design is outdated. It is impossible to find another explanation for the fact that Apple did not create a smaller version of the iPhone 6s, except for reasons of economy. Also, users do not like the outdated screen technology. In addition to small changes, this is the old display of the iPhone 5 2012 almost four years ago. And the image on the phone plays an important role. The owner of the phone should not compare the screen with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, for example. He will be very upset.

We can confidently say about the iPhone SE that this is a smartphone that does not suit people who welcomed the appearance of more spacious screens, even despite the strange bulges created in their pockets. If you look at SE as a new Apple product, everything makes sense. The phone is relatively cheap, which will be tempting for people who want to finally get rid of their old clamshell phone. Its small size is suitable for those who stopped upgrading iPhones when they got too big. But most importantly, it is powerful. Fans of Apple should wait for the start of sales of the seventh model in September, since this device was not intended for them. If you want to get a first-class smartphone that does not empty your pockets or hurt your hand, then iPhone SE deserves a place in the list of applicants.