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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yeeeeman - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
This phone is LAME. Other than the chipset, everything is just 2016 at best...Screen is pathetic. My 100$ chinese phone has better resolution. Also it is oled.
The battery is just laughable. My Sony erricson from 2011 has a 1700mah battery lol.
It is just amazing how little iphone users are willing to get for their money.
toyeboy89 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
I think 5 years of updates and excellent performance more than make up for some of it's shortcomings.justareader - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
Who uses a phone for 5 years? You are suggesting someone will still be using this retro phone in 2026. No way they will have cracked the screen way before 5 years go by. Updates are not that important unless they lock out features. I have old devices sitting in drawers and they aren't getting hacked.Tilmitt - Monday, April 27, 2020 - link
Phones last longer now as CPU progress has slowed. I went 4S -> 5S -> 6S and only plan on upgrading my 6S when the next generation comes out, so that'll be 5 years on a 6S.FakThisShttyGame - Monday, April 27, 2020 - link
Dude I literally used my 6S for 5 years and iPad Air 2 for 6 years...You hurt my feelings :(toyeboy89 - Monday, April 27, 2020 - link
Yes, someone could very well use this phone until 2026 with a couple of battery replacements along the way (like any phone)Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
who the hell keeps a phone for 5 years? 1 year and it's in the junk drawertrparky - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
I had an iPhone 7 Plus for three years and it was still fast as the day I bought it. Those of us who don't have bottomless money pit hang onto our phones longer.ThreeDee912 - Monday, April 27, 2020 - link
Every time somebody brings up resolution and OLED, I bring up this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcFXEXJicgc
The old iPhone XR uses LCD and is only 828p but everyone prefers it over the 1080p budget OLED.
trparky - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Chinese phone? How do you like the fact that everything that you have on your phone is being transmitted back to China?Not only is Android spying on you but when you add China to the mix it becomes even more of a toxic hellstew of spying.