iPhone SE overview: Traditional iPhone design, however with 2020 processing energy – CNET

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The brand new $399 iPhone SE seems to be like an iPhone 8 however works like Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone 11 Professional.
Patrick Holland
Senior Editor
Patrick Holland has an eye fixed for pictures and a ardour for every thing cell. He’s a colourful raconteur who will information you thru the ever-changing and fast-paced world of telephones. He additionally is without doubt one of the hosts of CNET’s I am So Obsessed podcast.
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There are a number of methods to consider Apple’s new $399 iPhone SE. One is that it is a extra inexpensive possibility than the iPhone 11, with surprisingly related digital camera specs, which it’s. Or that it is the 2020 sequel to the authentic SE from 2016, which it is also. Or, at 4.7 inches, that it is the smallest and least expensive iPhone you possibly can at present purchase (although it is not that small). Or — and that is my favourite means to consider it — that it is an iPhone 8 with the brains and energy of an iPhone 11. In actual fact, the brand new iPhone SE is all these items and that is why I am enamored with it.
The brand new iPhone SE has the traditional design that outlined the iPhone for its first 10 years. The design, the physique and the digital camera lenses are all the identical as 2017’s iPhone 8. However Apple carried out a intelligent mind transplant, changing the practically 3-year-old processor with the A13 Bionic processor used within the iPhone 11, 11 Professional and 11 Professional Max. This goes effectively past a easy spec bump by majorly bettering issues just like the cameras and battery life. The brand new processor not solely runs sooner, however it’ll probably future-proof the telephone via years of iOS updates.
Learn extra: iPhone SE 2020 is proof that Apple will not really deliver again the tiny telephone
However a $399 (£419, AU$749) iPhone comes with compromises, which Apple selected correctly. The SE has solely a single rear digital camera, it does not have Face ID and it lacks digital camera options like Evening Mode, Slofies and Deep Fusion processing. The selfie digital camera is OK however not as wonderful because the one discovered on the iPhone 11, 11 Professional and 11 Professional Max.
Once you take a look at the whole image, the iPhone SE represents probably the most worth in your greenback of any telephone Apple sells. It has a beautiful worth, unbelievable battery life, nice rear digital camera, A13 processor, water resistance and help for wi-fi charging. The SE shouldn’t be solely an exquisite iPhone, however among the best price range telephones you possibly can at present purchase.
Bodily, the SE is an iPhone 8. The back and front are manufactured from glass, the chassis and sides are aluminum. The one bodily distinction between the iPhone SE and iPhone 8 is that the Apple emblem is now centered on the again to match current-generation iPhones.
The brand new telephone has Apple’s old-school brow and chin bezel above and beneath the display screen. This makes the SE look, effectively, outdated. That is the one of many few issues that I am not too thrilled about. It isn’t ugly, it is simply dated. And that may enchantment to some folks, however not me.
Welcome again, massive bezels.
Having used Face ID for the previous couple years, it is a unusual and acquainted feeling to arrange and use Contact ID. It is like going from an automated transmission again to a stick shift. However in the best automotive, stick shift generally is a blast.
I forgot how a lot I missed the house button and the way it makes interactions and navigation much less fussy than swipes and holds. I faucet and maintain to pay for purchases as a substitute of angling my telephone to get Face ID verification. A speedy double-tap reveals latest apps. Although Face ID has its personal advantages, the house button continues to be as satisfying to make use of because it was again within the day.
For tiny telephone lovers, the iPhone SE’s 4.7-inch LCD show is not as small as the unique SE’s 4-inch display screen. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless smaller than most telephones out proper now and is sufficient to be moveable and comfy for most individuals.
The display screen on the SE is much like the one on the iPhone 11, particularly when it comes to high quality and backbone. Textual content seems to be sharp, colours are correct and it is vivid in sunny circumstances.
The iPhone SE is rated IP67 for water and dirt resistance.
The iPhone SE is rated IP67, that means it could face up to being submerged for half-hour at a depth of 1 meter (about 3 ft). I wasn’t capable of take a look at this declare, although I did submerge it in a liter of water for half-hour and every thing labored advantageous. This degree of water and dirt resistance is not one thing you usually discover on telephones beneath $400, so it is significantly noteworthy that the iPhone SE has it.
The SE is available in three colours: black, white and crimson. The iPhone 8 had its personal crimson model too, however it had white bezels and rattling if the iPhone SE does not look extra putting in crimson with black bezels.
Apple’s web site says that the iPhone SE’s battery lasts about the identical because the iPhone 8, however my testing confirmed it lasted for much longer. I performed a looped video on Airplane mode at 50% brightness and the iPhone SE lasted 15 hours, 45 minutes. That is hours longer than what the iPhone 8 and iPhone SE lasted in the identical take a look at once they had been new. Anecdotally, it made it via a day and a half with out a downside, and a pair instances it went two days straight with out a cost.
In our early battery assessments, the iPhone SE simply outlasts the iPhone 8 and authentic 2016 iPhone SE.
I ought to observe that I’ve extra battery assessments to run (together with streaming video assessments), so examine again once I’ll replace the outcomes.
The iPhone SE has wi-fi charging, which is one other characteristic not discovered on most price range telephones. There’s additionally help for fast-charging, which replenishes the battery to 50% in half-hour. However the iPhone SE does not include the required 18-watt charger and as a substitute contains the slower 5-watt one. Once more, that is more likely to hold the price of the gadget low.
The longevity of Apple’s iOS help for “older gadgets” is a quiet however vital enchantment of proudly owning an iPhone. The iPhone 8 and its A11 processor at the moment are two-and-a-half years outdated and can probably cease receiving iOS software program updates a pair years earlier than the iPhone SE and its newer A13 Bionic processor.
In efficiency assessments, the iPhone SE was persistently higher than the iPhone 8 and (no shock) the unique iPhone SE. It scored related outcomes to what we acquired on the iPhone 11, 11 Professional and 11 Professional Max.
In actual life that meant app launches had been peppy, taking part in video games like Sky: Kids of Mild and Doomsday Vault had been a breeze. Enhancing pictures was simple and I may even use graphics-heavy AR apps resembling Wonderscope, which remodeled my bed room right into a coaching floor for ghosts.
The rear digital camera on the SE has the identical specs because the iPhone 8, however when mixed with the A13 chip and iOS 13 it transforms the digital camera into one thing that may compete with the greatest telephone cameras, and even go toe-to-toe with the principle rear digital camera on the iPhone 11. It has a slew of options, together with Sensible HDR for pictures, Fast Take filming and Portrait Mode — these are spectacular options and a primary for a $399 iPhone.
The iPhone SE has a single rear digital camera that has SmartHDR and Portrait Mode for pictures.
The rear digital camera on the SE has a 28mm f1.8 lens whereas the iPhone 11 has two rear cameras: a foremost wide-angle digital camera with a 26-mm f1.8 lens and an ultrawide-angle digital camera with a 13mm f/2.4 lens. I do benefit from the ultrawide-angle on the iPhone 11 however I did not miss it throughout my time with the iPhone SE.
After I examine pictures taken with every telephone, it is laborious to tell apart between them until you deliver them onto a bigger display screen and even then the variations are refined.
In good gentle, pictures from every are related when it comes to picture high quality. Have a look at the images beneath of a tree I took in my yard. Are you able to inform the distinction? You see my level. The obvious distinction is that the iPhone SE picture is framed tighter than the iPhone 11.
Listed here are a number of different pictures from the iPhone SE.
The iPhone SE is nice at capturing correct colours.
Sensible HDR is spectacular in protecting the sky from blowing out and the shadows comparatively freed from picture noise.
On this picture of wooden slats, take a look at the quantity of element and texture the iPhone SE captured.
A pleasant snap of my breakfast taken beneath medium lighting.
Each telephones have portrait mode and produce glorious outcomes. The 11 can seize portrait mode pictures of each folks and pets. The iPhone SE, just like the iPhone XR, can solely do folks. It isn’t till you look very carefully on the pictures beneath you could see that the iPhone 11’s portrait mode captures only a bit extra element and fewer noise.
Within the image beneath of my shoulder, you may discover the standard of the falloff from in-focus to out-of-focus areas seems to be extra pure on the iPhone 11 than on the iPhone SE.
Beneath are pictures of my bike coach taken indoors in medium lighting. The obvious distinction right here is the framing is tighter on the iPhone SE. However the iPhone 11 captured extra element, which you’ll see on the wall outlet. And in case you take a look at the underside proper facet of the coach, you may discover the iPhone SE suffers from noise within the shadows. That mentioned, there is not an enormous distinction between the pictures. For indoor and medium gentle pictures, the 11 has a skinny edge.
As for video, each telephones are related. The iPhone SE and 11 can shoot 4K 60fps video, however solely the 11 takes benefit of the prolonged dynamic vary at that decision and body price. The SE has prolonged dynamic vary for video, however solely as much as 4K 30fps. Check out my iPhone SE overview video to see samples of movies captured with the iPhone SE.
The one place the place there is a huge distinction between the 2 telephones are the selfie cameras. The iPhone 11 has a wider front-facing digital camera, and it is able to taking pictures 4K and slow-mo movies. The iPhone SE solely shoots 1080p video and no Slofies. Each have Portrait mode for selfies, however pictures from the iPhone 11 present extra element in my pores and skin.
From left to proper: iPhone SE (2016), iPhone 8, iPhone SE (2020).
First printed on April 22.

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