The iPhone SE Review
by Brandon Chester on May 16, 2016 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone
- iPhone SE
Going Back To A 4-Inch Smartphone
The Android world left the 4-inch smartphone behind long ago. While Apple was still playing the 3.5-inch smartphone game, Android phones moved from 4 inches, to 4.3 inches, to 4.5 inches, and so on. Nowadays, your standard Android flagship phone has a display that is a little over five inches in size, and a 4.5-inch display is what’s considered a tiny phone. Of course, there are other factors related to device size like whether you have physical or on-screen buttons and how large your bezel is, but the screen size is still what defines the limits of your window into the internet and all your applications. A couple of years ago I used the iPhone 5s, and nowadays I use the Nexus 5X and the iPhone 6s. Devices that really bring total device size up a notch like the Galaxy Note 5 and iPhone 6s Plus are simply far too large for me to use comfortably. Even with that, going back to a 4-inch smartphone definitely takes time to get used to, and it’s given me some interesting insights into what you gain and what you lose by moving to a larger device.
My first point about the iPhone SE seems patently obvious, but it’s really worth stating that when you move from a 5-inch smartphone to a 4-inch one it really feels small. I’ve actually been having some interesting thoughts on this subject as I’ve juggled between various iPads for the upcoming 9.7-inch iPad Pro review. If you use the iPad Mini for a long time, a 9.7-inch iPad feels absolutely enormous by comparison. Similarly, when you use the 12.9-inch iPad Pro for a long time, the 9.7-inch iPad feels like an iPad Mini in comparison, and the Mini itself feels absurdly small. In all these cases there’s an adjustment period where one has to get used to the size of the device, and after that time passes it becomes your reference point for what is normal.
I don’t expect that too many users will actually go through this adjustment period if they buy the iPhone SE, as I would imagine that many prospective buyers are people who are still holding on to their iPhone 5 or 5s and have been hoping for an updated 4-inch iPhone. After getting used to the SE, I’ve found myself enjoying the one-handed usability. Say what you will about features like reachability and one-handed modes; the 4-inch screen is simply much easier to use with one hand. I never worry about dropping the phone, and I don’t find myself having to shift my hand to reach the upper left area of the display.
On the flip side, the 4-inch form can feel quite cramped, even after adjusting to the smaller display size. With the default settings the information density is absolutely laughable, and I can’t use the phone without the text size setting set to the smallest value. I use the smallest text size on all my devices, but for users who need a larger font due to aging eyes I would honestly rule out the iPhone SE immediately unless you’re comfortable with doing a lot of scrolling. Even with that changed, you simply can’t fit near as much on the screen. You get one fewer row of home screen icons, fewer emails in the Mail app, no avatars in the Messages app, and similar reductions throughout the rest of Apple’s apps as well as third party ones. Features like Control Center which just goes past the halfway point on the 6s takes up nearly the entire screen, and it makes me wonder how it ever even fit on the 3.5-inch iPhones.
All of these changes are just a function of the display size, and while they seem obvious, it’s difficult to understand the extent to which they change the experience of using the phone. While I’m not someone who is sold on phablets, I certainly see the value in them for many people, and for me the sweet spot is something in the 4.5 to 4.7-inch range. I’ve used the iPhone SE as my primary device for a month now to see how it works for me, and when I returned to the Nexus 5X and iPhone 6s they both felt absolutely enormous. However, I find myself really valuing the additional information that I can see in the larger display while still having the phones be relatively usable with a single hand. The 4-inch screen isn’t the right size for me, but I recognize the benefits of it. With Apple having sold 30 million 4-inch smartphones last year despite the fact that their offering was a phone from 2013, there’s clearly a market for such a device, and I think the iPhone SE will make those users quite happy.
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Impulses - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
Ehh, there's other places you can place a fingerprint sensor and have it be just as effective... The on screen button argument is valid tho, but it's kind of subjective... For video, where they hide away, they're a better choice, for general use it's less advantageous, etc.The biggest rationale for a physical home button continues to be that it allows you to easily wake up the phone while it lays flat, IMO... Though tricks like the "knock on" pioneered by LG can offer an alternative to that.
Let's be honest tho, Apple AND Samsung probably just stick to their guns on the buttons at this point as a sign of pride and/or because it's a recognisable design. They sued the stuffing out of each other in large part over the button and how it ties the design together!
name99 - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
I suspect the way Apple gets away from the home button (and the area it consumes) is by copying ideas from the Apple Watch.IF they can get ultrasound based fingerprint detection to work well (so that it can work anywhere on the screen) that's REALLY helpful in terms of making the various lockscreen swipes work so much better --- right now it's kinda lame that you swipe on a notification or text message or whatever but then have to go through the unlock screen.
So if they can solve the "no need for a fingerprint button" problem, then, IMHO, the logical way to move forward is to adopt ideas from the Apple Watch. These ideas could include (along with screen lights up on orientation) having a crown sticking out the side of the phone. I don't know how well that would work --- maybe it would be too fragile? --- but it seems like it could be useful in a number of ways, and the sort of UI element that Apple could (at least attempt to) patent the hell out of and fairly aggressively and accurately claim that no-one had done anything like that until they implemented it. If you had a crown like button, apart from the rotating to scroll like on the watch, it could also (like on the watch) act to
- light up the screen
- bring up springboard
- bring up Siri
- bring up the list of previous apps (on watch, at least right now, just the last app) used.
Doing something like this would allow the iPhone to kinda reset. Apple could get off the naming treadmill (so like Macs new ones get released when they are ready, and have names like "iPhone late 2018"), and even change other things they might want to change (maybe it's worth actually switching to USB-C?). Like I said, a reset allows for lotsa things to change all at once, and allows the inevitable bitching and "I'll never buy an Apple product again" idiocy to flame out over one glorious three month period of non-stop internet ranting.
Ratman6161 - Wednesday, May 18, 2016 - link
"So if they can solve the "no need for a fingerprint button" problem". Well, on my Galaxy Note 5 fingerprint recognition works great. And it has a button too. And the ratio of overall size to screen size is better too. All it took to do that was to have an oblong button instead of a big round one. What's the big deal.Ratman6161 - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
I guess I'll have to hold an SE in my hand to see how they feel relatively speaking. But 12.4 mm Vs 12.7 mm = a difference of .3 mm in height. Same math, .6 mm different width and .13 mm in thickness. From the numbers, its hard for me to visualize there being any significant difference in real world feel. And 4.2 is still > than 4.0, though I guess it all depends on what's important to you.To me, overall the form factor seems essentially the same and as with all these endless debates, in the real world it comes down to personal preference.
name99 - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
I use both (6 vs 5) frequently. The difference in height, and the difference in edge curvature, are both noticeable, but I would not call one worse or better than the other (though I suspect the width of the 6 with hard edges would be noticeably unpleasant).For me at least, as a guy with big enough pockets and hands, Apple made the right call with the size of the 6. I remain curious as to whether the primary draw of the SE if the smaller screen size (or, more precisely, the smaller area for pockets and handbags) or the lower price --- I've never seen anything definitive either way.
qap - Tuesday, May 17, 2016 - link
Thickness stopped being a limiting factor (for users, not for designers) some time ago. Thicker phone can even be more comfortable in hand. So there is no point in comparing volumes.That leaves footprint and 10% difference means they are direct competitors. In fact (as an example) I am thinking about buying one of them as they are closest to my ideal phone.
Iphone SE is perhaps closer, but display and everything about display is really off-putting. You can fit 4,5" in the same footprint. Even 4,3" and it would be in my pocket already (it can be done - you can look at galaxy s4 mini). But 60% screen-to-body in 2016? And by 2016 standards it's not even a good display (low res, poor blacks).
Eden-K121D - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
They didn't even post a S7 review part-2 which was released much earlier than the iPhone SE yet the SE review comes first.Yawn. It has nothing new.michael2k - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
The review they did was sufficient to show you how much faster the SE is than the S7:http://www.anandtech.com/show/10120/the-samsung-ga...
Impulses - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
Different writers tho, IIRC, not that it's an excuse but it's not like they're purposely prioritizing the SE.whiteiphoneproblems - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link
I love mine! Only (minor) issues are a rattling power button, and a funky auto-brightness that doesn't like turning on to lowest setting in a dark room (never had that problem in an iPhone before).