iPhone SE Reviews

Well-built and with a top camera

Apple has doubled the storage making

Longer Battery life than iPhone 5 / 5S

Specifications:

• Processor: Dual-core 1.8GHz Apple A9
• Screen Size: 4 inch, Screen resolution: 1,136x640
• Rear camera: 12 megapixels
• Storage (free): 16GB/64GB 
• Wireless data: 4G, Size: 124x59x7.6mm 
• Weight: 112g
• Operating system: iOS 9.3

Design:

Apple hasn't drawn in any design elements from the iPhone 6S , keeping things like the 'battery-like' + and  icons on the volume keys, the larger drilled holes of the speaker grille at the bottom of the phone and the power button living on the top of the handset. It's also lightweight at only 113g, making it 25g lighter than Apple's 138g flagship iPhone 7. Essentially, if you are looking for a small and lightweight smartphone, the iPhone SE looks to be a good option. Apple ditched the 3.5mm jack on the iPhone 7 to make its flagship smartphone thinner than ever, the 3.5mm jack is present on the iPhone SE at the bottom of the device situated alongside the Lightning port and speaker grilles.This phone has been put together although I wish it wasn't just one mono speaker firing out the bottom of the phone.

Display: 

The new iPhone is the screen like the chassis, it's straight out of 2012, coming as it did with the iPhone 5. While you could just think that it's simply a smaller version of what's on the current iPhone duo. It's a Retina display, Apple's shorthand for a phone that hits a certain sharpness at a certain distance from your eyes  but in a 4-inch display, there's a noticeable lack of sharpness here. Apple's always focused more on the quality of the display than pixel density its iPad range is industry leading when it comes to having a great looking screen, rather than shoving in more pixels for the sake of it. Sure, there are downsides to having a smaller display: text fills up more of the screen, less information is displayed at once, pictures are a little harder to see and, in our opinion, a lot of games aren't as enjoyable. But there's something about the 4in smartphone that makes it a joy to use. It could be the reachability, as we're easily able to reach every button using our thumb, or it could just be that a smaller smartphone feels more secure and comfortable in the hand. 

Camera:

The iPhone SE features a 12Mp rear facing camera, the iPhone SE does have the same 12Mp sensor and fast image signal processor as the flagship iPhone, providing SE users with higher resolution images.Jumping up to a maximum of 63Mp compared to 28Mp photos possible with the iPhone 5s. 

capturing a small video clip from before and after the photo was taken which can be played back at any time with audio. It provides users with a snapshot of a moment or memory and is a great feature to have when you are feeling a little nostalgic. The iPhone 6s, you can also take 8Mp stills while recording. Of course, if that's not your style then you can record 1080p HD at either 30 or 60 frames per second, as well as having access to 1080p@120fps and 720p@240fps for slow mo action. The 1080p@60fps video option provides gorgeous, smooth video but due to the higher frame rate, it falls flat on its face in dark environments. The video isn't completely static, it has this beautiful smoothness to it that when combined with the 60fps frame rate looks close to gorgeous.

Performance:

The 9.7  and 12.9 inch iPad Pro models, where each has a different A9X processor with different speeds and RAM allotments. Benchmarks show that both devices are running at essentially the same clock speed, and have the same 2 gigabytes of embedded RAM. Real life use backs this up: In a side-by-side comparison, we found no real difference between the performance of the iPhone SE and the iPhone 6s. Whether opening apps or closing them or scrolling, each was comparable to the other. It's the power of the iPhone 6s in a classic design.

The same can be said for the rear iSight camera: It's identical to the 12-megapixel shooter found on the iPhone 6s, and it also includes the Live Photos capability that was previously exclusive to the 6s series. The iPhone SE can even shoot 4K video, chalking up a number of ways it's actually a more capable phone than the 2014 iPhone 6. The iPhone SE also includes support for Apple Pay, features 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2, and supports Wi-Fi calling with compatible carriers, most of which will be upgrades for prospective buyers who own older phones. But the most impressive part of all of this is battery life: Apple says that you'll get up to 13 hours of Internet use while on LTE, which is a full three hours more than with the iPhone 6s. In our limited tests, using both an iPhone SE and iPhone 6s throughout the day on both LTE and Wi-Fi, this was absolutely the case.

If you want longer battery life, the iPhone SE is actually the best performing handset in Apple's lineup. While 3D Touch was touted as a hallmark feature of the iPhone 6s, it's absent from the iPhone SE. Opinions on 3D Touch, and adoption amongst both users and developers, have varied widely. Safe to say at this point that we don't feel the omission of 3D Touch should be seen as a dealbreaker for most users. The iPhone SE also lacks high speed LTE Advanced cellular data found on the iPhone 6s. This is only available in select markets, and frankly we didn't notice any difference in speed when using the SE.

Finally, the iPhone SE doesn't have a barometer for measuring how many flights of stairs you climb during the day, marking one category where it's actually outperformed by the iPhone 6.

Battery:

Battery life is impressive on the phone, especially when you consider there are only a few mAh added in here, from 1560mAh to 1624mAh, and with no increase to the size of the chassis at all, this is a really impressive feat and addresses one of the key concerns I had with the iPhone 5S. While it's hard to truly remember how much battery I used to get through on an average day with the iPhone 5S, I do remember it being rather terrible a lot of the time. It's fair to say these are the higher usage days, with things like tethering an iPad and a couple of hours of video watching at full brightness in the mix, but the new glut of flagship handsets are all capable of easily lasting a day with such pressure put on the battery life, and it puts the performance of the iPhone SE into the spotlight. If you are upgrading to this phone from the iPhone 5 or 5S, you'll be in dreamland with the battery life, trust me.

Pros :

• Great performance
• Great battery life
• Gorgeous build quality

Cons :

• Touch ID is slower than on the latest iPhones
• No 3D Touch

Verdict: 

 Needed a new design for this to be seen as the next step in the 4 inch phone cycle. And it's not like Apple doesn't have a perfectly brilliant design just waiting there to be retooled, rounded edges combined with a more palm-friendly shape. Man, that would have been amazing. he iPhone SE is a brilliant phone for those that want something smaller in their pocket and don't care about tired design

If you are good with how much the iPhone SE costs, arguably its only unappealing trait, then you are looking at a very attractive handset that is, for the time being, completely unparalleled in the mobile space. This is the best 4in smartphone on the planet now bar none hence the premium price tag.