The iPhone SE (2020) Review: A Reinvigorated Classic
by Andrei Frumusanu on April 24, 2020 6:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Apple
- Smartphones
- iPhone SE
- Apple A13
- iPhone SE 2020
Display Measurement
The screen of the iPhone SE shouldn’t be much different to that of the iPhone 8. It’s still an LCD IPS display, but it’s also one of the best on the market, even though the resolution is quite low.
We move on to the display calibration and fundamental display measurements of the iPhone SE screen. As always, we thank X-Rite and SpecraCal, as our measurements are performed with an X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer, with the exception of black levels which are measured with an i1Display Pro colorimeter. Data is collected and examined using Portrait Display's CalMAN software.
In terms of brightness, the iPhone SE comes in at a maximum of 675 nits, which is in line with Apple’s previous generation LCD devices. It’s not quite as bright as the OLED iPhone 11’s and this can be noticeable in bright daylight, but it’s otherwise a very acceptable result.
In terms of greyscale calibration, minus a gamma that’s slightly too high and by a bit off with slightly darker tones, the color accuracy of the iPhone SE is dead-on. Whites come in at 6492K is almost perfect, and in general the color error is below a dEITP of 1.
Saturation calibration is also extremely good, with only a quite larger overshoot towards the higher saturation reds.
In the GMB test, the display is incredibly accurate with a color error of only 0.99 dEITP, only slightly worsened by the very slightly off gamma and darker tones for a total of 2.12 dEITP.
Overall, the iPhone SE’s display is in line with what we’ve seen on the iPhone 8. It’s amongst the best LCD screens in the market, even though by now it’s been outpaced in terms of brightness output and evidently resolution.
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trparky - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
And yet if you ask the average person on the street, they couldn't give a rat's behind about having access to the file system. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that if you tried to explain what a file system is, you'd lose their interest in less than five seconds.Outside of the tech enthusiast crowd, most people don't care about this kind of stuff. They just want it to work and that's what iOS does, and it doesn't brilliantly.
trparky - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
> Outside of the tech enthusiast crowd, most people don't care about this kind of stuff. They just want it to work and that's what iOS does, and it does it brilliantly.I hate the fact that we don't have an edit button.
eastcoast_pete - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Thanks Andrei! Here an interesting teardown+rebuild that shows just how similar the iPhone SE and the 8 are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBNdm0XBIfA(in Chinese, but subtitles are available)
euskalzabe - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I was ready to buy the Pixel 4a, then this SE came out. There is no point paying the same money for a third of the performance, just to stay on Android. I've been very frustrated with the software update situation, stuck on Android 9 on my Moto Z2 Play, and that's after I had to manually force the update (because Moto was inexplicably not seeding it in the US, 4 months after it was ready) which broke the OS's trust in the phone and disabled my NFC payments. This is not serious, no longer acceptable. Google has had 13 years to figure out updating all Android users. I'm done. For $399, the same price of a Pixel Xa series, I deserve day 1 updates for the next 4 years. I'll be damned if I don't choose the phone that has triple the performance over a Snapdragon 6xx/7xx.I was a Windows Phone user from 2010-2015. I've been an Android user from 2015-2020. I guess it's only fair I give Apple the same 5 years now.
Alistair - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I bought an iPhone for one reason, my 1 year old Android flagship phone stopped working properly with Android Auto, full of bugs (voice control in particular outright stopped working). The manufacturer and Google can't be bothered to keep software working for 12 months (worked perfectly on launch day)? No thanks.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
That is a short between the ground and the device.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
Sure you were, sure you were.tipoo - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Apple was vague on the optics used in this, first it was hoped to be the XR sensor, then was said to be identical to the 8 on the sensor and optics, but then this regression is weird. Hope that's just software, because a regression in optics from the 8 would be a letdown on an otherwise great value.NICOXIS - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I think this will bring much-needed competition to the mid-range market, this probably means we will get features like wireless charging on cheaper phones. The only thing that seems odd it the meager improvement in battery life from the iPhone 8 even though the SE is using an SoC that's built on a much smaller node.Altema22 - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Right phone at the right price, combined with Apple's marketing, will ensure this is a hit.It's ideal for those with an older iPhone that is lagging, like the 6S and earlier.
It also makes a good entry point for those on a budget who want to jump to iOS.
But, aside from the SoC, the SE is a downgrade in everything for someone with a good two year old flagship.