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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137ben - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
You don't get spyware with a Purism Librem 5 phone. Although, there are other drawbacks compared to iOS or Android.Oxford Guy - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
You get spyware with everything. Open source software may, in rare cases, be free of intentional spyware but the hardware will be compromised as well as the networks.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
but those drawbacks are it's a steaming pile of ...808Hilo - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
Correct and its from Apple.yeeeeman - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
This makes most iphone phones look bad, because Android has a lot of very good midrange phones in this price segment.Take Xiaomi Redmi K30 pro. 450$. SD865. 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage. 5G. OLED display, bezel less. 64MP main camera. In display fingerprint sensor. This iphone is a joke compared to that. Still this iphone is starting to look like a decent proposition from apple compared to the rest of the lineup.
Fulljack - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
that's no mid-range, that's budget flagship.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
not with that peasant resolutionflyingpants265 - Sunday, May 10, 2020 - link
That's what makes it budget..cha0z_ - Wednesday, July 29, 2020 - link
Dimensions 163.3 x 75.4 x 8.9 mm (6.43 x 2.97 x 0.35 in)Weight 218 g (7.69 oz)
Nothing more to say, some people want smaller phones. Got a friend of mine who is like that, he switched from HIGH END RECENT android and it's his first ios device, could not be happier with his decision to switch. Not just because ios and the superior apps + running smoother + more features + exclusives, size was a big factor. My point is - each one have it's personal taste and on the smaller phone segment there is no equal to that new iphone se, especially if one is after more premium experience.
Also the SE will be fully supported for 6 years with day one major/minor/beta as the most expensive current iphone. How about that Xiomi? I have a second hand iphone 6s from 2015 running rn ios 14 beta 3 - fast, smooth, can use it as daily without any complains. Also ios 14 added the few last missing things from android (app drawer, widgets on your home page, caller notification instead taking the whole screen, picture in picture for videos, to name a few).
heffeque - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Personally I'm impressed on how big the phone is in comparison to the screen size. It's almost as big as an iPhone XS! ...yet the screen is a whole inch smaller!The battery is also tiny and not up to par with phones from this day and age.
I don't really see what you see that's so impressive, other than CPU performance.
A very lacking phone for almost $400.