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
First Thoughts & End Remarks
This very much has been a light-speed review for a phone that at the time of writing I’ve only received 23 hours ago now, but the iPhone SE is also a phone which many of us should actually be plenty familiar with.
There’s no doubt that Apple's choice of recycling the iPhone 8 design and housing is related to achieving the super low $399 cost of the iPhone SE. This is a manufacturing chain that has been pumping out hundreds of millions of these phones over the years and I imagine that re-using that machinery very much helps the affordability of the phone.
It’s a very familiar design, but it’s certainly no longer a modern one. Besides the actual price of the phone, I can imagine that for some the biggest selling point of the phone is that it’s so a small device compared to other contemporary options. Particularly for people attached to the iPhone and iOS ecosystem, the iPhone SE is the only option going forward if you’re after a small form-factor phone.
The iPhone SE’s display is in line with that of the iPhone 8, meaning it’s an excellent LCD panel with outstandingly good color calibration, although it’s no longer keeping up in terms of brightness and resolution with newer generation OLED phones.
Performance of the iPhone SE is arguably the very best part of the phone, and Apple’s choice to go with the new A13 chipset is an outright disruptive move in the $399 sector. In essence, Apple’s lowest-end phone right now outperforms all other Android flagships on the market, painting quite the stark contrast of the competitive situation of the silicon playing-field.
Camera performance of the iPhone SE was the biggest question mark for the phone, and the new SE delivers on its promises. In daylight pictures, there’s much better HDR and dynamic range characteristics, and Apple here is mostly able to match the compositions of the iPhone 11 in the vast majority of scenarios. Detail-wise, the phone is also extremely strong although slightly lagging behind the class-leading iPhone 11 cameras. Meanwhile colour temperature is still on the warmer side, similar to previous generation iPhones.
Low-light capture, whilst not explicitly tested in this piece today, is significantly improved for the new iPhone SE, massively upgrading the quality of shots compared to the iPhone 8. Whilst it doesn’t quite match the low-light ability of the iPhone 11 series, it’s a very respectable performer here given the lack of computational photography.
Overall, at the end of the day what the new 2020 iPhone SE represents is a $399 iPhone – and that’s a selling point all by itself. It’s a significantly better device than the now discontinued iPhone 8, for a cheaper price. You’re getting the best performance of any mobile device out there on the market – and the compromises in the screen, battery life and cameras are reasonable given the price of the phone.
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crimson117 - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
More than decent, this is stellar value.Best performance on the market, perfectly good camera (though not mind blowing), for like 1/3 the price of high end iPhones and Android flagships.
And a smaller screen, which is preferred by many, though not all.
duploxxx - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
best performance when you just look at benchmarks on an optimised benchmark OSIOS made for dummies, where you cant change anything besides what has been defined by marketing nerds.
dont count the time that the device will be on charger (because of the fake real stats) everywhere in the world, most device i see on chargers in congress around the world…. IPHONE
DeLorean alike design with large beezels and stupid home button. Broken screens and beezels everywhere.
sure it will sell, perhaps now 20% off all the IPhone users running around with a broken screen that can't afford a fix can finally have the budget to buy a new one and want to stay with the fame of the Wannabee vendor.
Peskarik - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
my mom has older small iPhone, it is enough for her and she is used to the platform. I have an iPhone XR at home, got it for free. I tried, but I rather stay with my old Pixel XL Android 10, much easier to operate and customize.trparky - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
Most people don't customize their phones though. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that most people don't even change their ringtone for God's sake. I can tell what carrier they have just from their ringtone.Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
Wait, you can change the ringtone?haukionkannel - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
A phone that gets douple to triple time os updates compared to Android... Yes sir, very impressive indeed. This will easily last useable 6 to 8 years! It is ingredible good for cell phone!sonny73n - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
You and your dumbass updates. Every time I open AppStore, there’s always updates for the apps that already got updated a week before.And iOS update. Give me a f**king break. I have iPhone 6s which I accidentally updated to iOS 11. You know Apple always nag and trick you unlocking iPhone with passcode and update with passcode. Give me back iOS 9 that I bought the phone with. Scam!
justareader - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
Updates for 6 to 8 years? I have 2 ipads and a macbook that say you are wrong.cha0z_ - Wednesday, August 5, 2020 - link
Really? What macbook? As my 2015 macbook air is receiving the next macos. There is the list for you:MacBook: Early 2015 or newer
MacBook Air: Mid 2013 or newer
MacBook Pro: Late 2013 or newer
Mac Mini: Late 2014 or newer
iMac: Mid 2014 or newer
iMac Pro
Mac Pro: Late 2013 or newer
Developer Transition Kit
So dunno, but even some 2013 models are supported (7 years old) + my 2015 model is already at 5+ years old and as it will receive all the big sur updates - that makes it atleast 6 years full support, so the statement is true. Dunno about tablets tho, but we are talking about iphones anyway.
Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
and invariable one of those updates sets the date it will die.