IPhone SE Review 2020: The middle-class iPhone that we were waiting for

4 min read

IPhone SE is back, although it is still new called iPhone SE-no model number or suffix “2.0 ” here. Four years after “Special edition ” First debuted, Apple once again rocked the market with a cheap iPhone, and we’ve tested it to see exactly where it sits on the smartphone market in 2020.

If so far you have avoided the news of iPhone SE 2020, this phone has much more in common with iPhone 8 than 2017 than the original SE iPhone from 2016. Many parts are very similar to the iPhone 8 (as confirmed by iFixit). ), and the design is more or less identical, which doesn’t mean a problem.

What has changed is the addition of the Apple chip A13 Bionic, the same super-fast, top-of-the-line processor in the iPhone 11 handset that was launched in September. This is essentially an iPhone 8 with a seriously enhanced internal, and a cheaper price-the iPhone 64 GB SE will make you return the US $399 while the iPhone 8 64 GB is available at $449 just before the new iPhone SE appears.

It’s a smart move from Apple, there are a few reasons not to buy an iPhone, but the price of admission is the main one, with the cheapest iPhone 11 starting at $699. IPhone SE is not the lowest budget model, but it is reasonably priced for gadgets that you will use every day for at least a few years.

The factor in iPhone XR is still on sale ($599 and higher), and Apple has more price points covered with the iPhone than a few years ago. IPhone XR debuted in 2018, and it does give you a bigger screen and ID face (which we have to admit now we generally prefer than fingerprint based alternatives).

Upgrading the Aion Bionic processor really shows. The phone flies without any problems you do, from editing the video to playing the game (remember having fewer pixels to push as well, with a smaller screen). This is a phone that will last for years in the performance department, and is also eligible for iOS updates for many years.

As the cheapest iPhone in 2020, iPhone SE certainly made a compromise, especially among those that look old-fashioned: The thick bezel and the Touch ID Home button. Sure, this is a well-constructed smartphone, looks good, but doesn’t have the wow factor of the iPhone 11 or Samsung Galaxy S20, even if it’s probably the exchange of most people willing to make substantial cost-saving.

The LCD screen rather than OLED is found in the premium iPhone, which makes no big difference but is sometimes seen with movies and games. The brightness and contrast is just a little lower compared to the iPhone 11 screen, and getting the best look in business is one of the reasons why you would rather pay the expensive.

The screen is also small on the standard 2020. Small hand and price conscious will no doubt fully embrace the screen of 4.7 inches, but the word of caution – if you are familiar with the screen 6 inches and above that is common on mobile phones nowadays, it takes some time adjusting. Videos, webpages, text chats and documents seem narrow, especially at first.

Again, it’s probably a compromise you’re willing to make for the iPhone for $399, but it’s still a compromise. If you already use a small phone, or indeed an iPhone 8, then of course the skip will be much less. IPhone SE does offer True Tone, so the warmth of the screen can automatically adjust to fit ambient lighting.

As for the camera, once again it’s basically the same module that we saw on the iPhone 8, a single 12-MP camera lens with optical image stabilization but no optical zoom. Perhaps here you make the biggest sacrifices on a budget according to your iPhone options. You’ll expect a three-lens iPhone, top-end to take a better overall picture, and that’s the problem.

We were not very discouraged because iPhone SE managed to take our time with him. Iphones have always gotten high scores in the camera department, and iPhone SE rear cameras are very capable of getting some good shots, especially when the lighting is good. The days of phone cameras are really disappointing, either from Apple or others, luckily well and completely behind us (more examples of shots can be found in the gallery).

Thanks to a faster processor, iPhone SE can do some fancy photo effects, including augmented reality filters, blurry backgrounds for portrait mode, and enhanced HDR. It’s also more convenient to record 4K video than iPhone 8, and it’s actually a very good little video camera.

When lighting is dim, the camera begins to struggle and shows some noise in its photographs, although we still have some images that can be used, just not the extraordinary. It may be here that Pixel 4a (and maybe Night Sight) may still have an advantage at this price point, if Google rerelease it as expected at some point over the next few months.

Battery life is a major concern for most of us, and Apple says iPhone SE will play video for 13 hours straight before it runs out of juice. After an hour watching Netflix, we noticed the battery dropped from full charge to 90 percent, at full brightness and medium volume, indicating something close to 10 hours.

As for regular use, iPhone SE usually has a lot of battery life left in the tank at the end of ordinary days – sometimes as much as 30-40 percent – although new phones tend to have excellent battery life. Whether it will start to go down as the months pass still have to be seen, because there is only a 1,821-mAh battery packed here.

Another point worth noting is the IP67 waterproofing, so it will require some splash but only a full immersion is short, and support for wireless charging. Fast charging is supported, but not with the 5-W charger You receive, so you’ll need to upgrade your charger for the fastest charging time. There is no 5G here, but the latest 6 Wi-Fi standards are supported.

Every smartphone is a balance between price and everything. Fair enough to say the iPhone SE will feel like a downgrade for anyone accustomed to bringing the flagship phone in their pocket. It is also fair to say that if you have $400 to spend on the phone, then the iPhone SE is one of the best ways to spend it in 2020.

Some phones at this price can rival the Polish and of course the performance of the iPhone SE, although whether it can win users who commit to Android is another problem, and that’s the other big factor here: the operating system. Switching between Android and iOS is not entirely easy, so the iPhone SE will have a greater appeal for those who want to replace an outdated iPhone than someone who currently uses an Android handset.

Taken on its own, iPhone SE offers a very well made phone, fantastic for $400, with some compromise that we can definitely go through. Unless you connect to Android, this is the best at this price.

IPhone SE is sold directly from Apple now, costing $399 (storage 64 GB), $449 (storage 128 GB), or $549 (256 GB storage). Your choice of color is black, white and red.

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