Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
It ’s long preceding time for Apple to move the iPhone SE past this dated iPhone 8 design and all the old computer hardware that goes along with it . Together with a $ 30 price salary increase , it ’s not the bargain it used to be .
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For some, the Home button is archaic. For others, it’s the whole reason to buy an iPhone SE.
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Best Prices Today: Apple iPhone SE (2022)
The iPhone SE is sort of a brilliant concept . Recognizing that there ’s a huge market for people who ca n’t afford the typical price of a new iPhone ( or just do n’t require to spend that much ) , Apple take a somewhat outdated model , replaces the processor with the latest one , and sell it at a greatly reduced price .
In 2016 , the original iPhone SE put the latest processor ( A9 ) in the trunk of a two - generation - old iPhone 5S for just $ 399 . It took four days for Apple to free a 2d - propagation iPhone SE , which once again put the former processor ( A13 ) in a two - generation - former iPhone 8 , still for just $ 399 .
Now two years after , Apple has abandon this winning iPhone SE convention . It ’s still the latest C.P.U. ( A15 ) , but instead of lay it in the two - contemporaries - old iPhone 11 , or even the iPhone XR , Apple is once again using the physical structure of the ancient iPhone 8 . And the price depart up , to $ 429 .
For some, the Home button is archaic. For others, it’s the whole reason to buy an iPhone SE.
This is still the least - expensive new iPhone you may grease one’s palms , and it ’s not defective , but it ’s disappointing to see Apple bursting charge more while not come along its budget phone in the most of import manner .
What that A15 processor gives you
The A15 is fast than the A13 in the second - genesis iPhone SE , that much is sure . you could have a bun in the oven CPU and GPU carrying out around 20 - 30 percent better , though it can be more or less depending on the exact job . Whether you ’ll really notice that form of performance in workaday use is another matter .
I obtain that , in most benchmarks , the iPhone SE is right on equality with the iPhone 13 , within a humble margin of error ( but not the iPhone 13 Pro , which has a fifth GPU heart and soul ) . This makes it by far the fastest phone in this Leontyne Price range . But was performance really an issue that needed treat in the iPhone SE from two years ago ? The A13 already outpaces most other $ 400 phones today .
The A15 also includes a better image processor , which means it can do more with the data from those ancient iPhone 8 sensor and eye ; none of the camera sensing element or optics are upgraded from that five - class - old example . You have the new Photographic Styles feature determine on the iPhone 13 , for exercise , along with splendid 4 K 60Hz picture recording , Deep Fusion , and Smart HDR 4 does a nifty chore in vivid outdoor scenes .
You also get 5 yard support , with a caveat : you’re able to only connect to the sub-6GHz 5 gravitational constant ring , not the unexampled super - high - frequency millimeter wave ( mmWave ) bands . That ’s where the fastest f number are , but mmWave is extremely brusk - image and not all that prevailing yet , so you ’re not missing out on that much .
Battery life is still disappointing
One of the spoilt drawback of the second - gen iPhone SE was its painful battery life sentence .
Apple says the more tycoon - effective A15 work with the iPhone SE ’s updated battery interpersonal chemistry to rescue better barrage life . The good word is , the battery does indeed last longer . The bad word is , it ’s still pretty bad .
In my tests , running the Geekbench 4 mental test in a loop with the show at a changeless 200 nits , the shelling lasted 5 hours and 13 min . That ’s a big improvement over the 3 hours 37 minutes of the 2d - gen iPhone SE , but it ’s still the bad barrage fire life-time of any iPhone you’re able to grease one’s palms ( more than an 60 minutes short than the not - great iPhone 13 miniskirt ) . A standard iPhone 13 ran three hour longer using the same test .
In my testing , I found that I had to reload in the evening to make it through the 24-hour interval . It ’s been a few years since I ’ve used an iPhone that did n’t reliably last all daytime .
It ’s good that electric battery life has improved in Apple ’s most low-cost iPhone , but it has n’t meliorate enough . If it could last 15 - 20 percent longer , it would meet our anticipation of falling just short of the iPhone 13 miniskirt .
In many ways, a five year old iPhone
While the A15 upgrade carries with it some literal benefits , it ’s disappointing that the rest of this $ 429 phone is a circa 2017 iPhone 8 .
The presentation is the same old LCD that does n’t get quite as promising as you ’d hope for in the sun , has huge bezels above and below , and does n’t display HDR . It ’s one thing to be trance of smaller phones , but this ancient design only hand you a 4.7 - inch display . view the iPhone 12 miniskirt and 13 mini , though well littler , have bigger 5.4 - inch displays because there ’s not all this wasted blank space .
Some of that space is used for the Home button with Touch ID . There are some users who just turn down to get with the times with Face ID , but even so — Apple could make a telephone set with Touch ID in the side clit as it does on the iPad Air and iPad miniskirt , allowing elbow room for a much larger showing that gain further to the boundary of the phone .
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That erstwhile iPhone 8 television camera ironware is n’t doing Apple any favors , either . The superior mental image processing of the A15 does a singular business of producing salutary photograph in bright light , but the 12MP rear camera struggles in dimly - lit situations , producing images with dozens of metric grain and poor contrast .
The 7MP front camera occupy bad photos than we ’re used to , with less contingent and contrast , and frequent problems like blown - out skies and crush shadows . It gets the Book of Job done for FaceTime Call , and I ’m always surprise by how salutary this old ironware can perform in very bright - lit scenery , but you ’ll want well if you take a lot of selfies .
You also do n’t get any of the lineament coarse to raw iPhones , like multiple rearward cameras ( there ’s no telephoto or ultra broad television camera ) , MagSafe , or the U1 chip to do things like precisely locate AirTags .
Apple still sell the iPhone 11 for $ 499 , and I think most users who are considering the iPhone SE would behappier overall spending the extra $ 70 for it . It does n’t have 5 G , and its A13 chip is n’t quite as fast ( not that you ’d notice ) , but it has a bigger and better show , human face ID , skillful weewee resistance ( IP 68 vs IP67 ) , higher - quality cameras , and much long shelling life .
The 2020 version of the iPhone SE was already enough fast and did n’t really call for a immobile processor . What it needed was a new figure , upgraded photographic camera ironware , a modern display with a better covert - to - body ratio , and dramatically beneficial battery life , none of which it contract . Apple upgraded the part that ask it least and did n’t touch any of the thing that are now hopelessly out of day of the month . The display is tiny with huge despicable bezels , battery living is just acceptable , and the photographic camera hardware is implausibly dated and limiting . And while top - tier up image processing from the A15 really elevates your photos , you ’re still missing tabular array - bet features like Night Mode .
This is just such anunevenproduct . The processor is overkill , way of life more than any budget phone needs . It’sfaster than Android phonesthat be over $ 1,000 ! This form of bleeding - edge carrying into action is rarely the top concern of people who select the most affordable telephone set . In other area , it’sso far behind the time , even for a $ 400 - ish phone .
iPhone history
The iPhone 16 range and the iPhone SE 3 are the current - propagation simulation available from Apple . In addition to a newiPhone SE 4 modelwe’re also expectingiPhone 17to launching in 2025 . Below you may find links below to our review of all iPhone model , including the latest generation . check more about all thenew Apple production add up this yearandwhen is the next Apple event . You might also want to retard out our advice onwhen is the estimable time to buy a fresh iPhone , ouriPhone buying guide , and ourcomparison of every iPhone that is available to buy today .
