Apple iPhone SE test: the new price-performance standard

A completely renovated iPhone 8 Can that work? In any case, Apple seems to think that and offers the latest technology in the old aspect. Read more here!

First: who is it for iPhone SE?

The reasoning for this iPhone is very clear: the smallest physical size, superior performance, the well-known Touch ID system, years of updates without any buts, all this at a reasonable price. If you have one iPhone X (here is the proof) or newer used, this is iPhone SE somehow even a step back. But if, like me, you tire of the ever-growing smartphone trend, this device is a step in the other direction. Because: Motorola announces giant smartphones over 6 inches, OnePlus offers its flagships between 6.55 and 6.8 inches, and the best of Huawei is 6.58 inches. Is bigger always better?

Than iPhone SE it is vehemently opposed to this trend and is based on the “small but powerful” statement. In any case, processor performance revolves around the competition, but more on that later. So far, devices have gotten bigger and bigger, and in my opinion, handheld smartphones have long since caught on again. Maybe the time has come now? It doesn’t hurt that the current iPhone SE It is available from 479 euros. That all other flagships start from 800 euros (and more) is a welcome sight! The smartphone comes to you in black, white, or red (Red Product).

Source: apple.at

As a iPhone 8 on steroids

This differs externally iPhone SE only marginally from the two and a half years iPhone 8. This only affects the back, the iPhone word is now completely missing and the Apple logo is moved further towards the vertical center. Other than that, everything is as it was back then: a 4.7-inch screen, a thick frame underneath the second-generation Home button and Touch ID, and a thick frame above the screen due to symmetry. There is protection against water according to IP67 (30 minutes at a depth of up to 1 m), water splashes in the pool or rain is like that of iPhone 8 no problem, and due to identical hardware, all old iPhone accessories are supported.

The highlight of this device? Got the A13 chip, which makes the processor 40% faster than that iPhone 8. The graphics unit can even run up to twice as fast, and the newer version has a few tricks in the store, too. Therefore, you can now take portrait photos, even with a single camera sensor, and this with the front camera and main camera. LTE should be up to 60% faster, WiFi up to 38% and thanks to the eSIM function, two numbers can be used at the same time. Oh, and there was the price: what iPhone 8 was considered a flagship at the time, and that iPhone SE there are from 479 euros.

The first impression

This low price for Apple only came with the original iPhone SE in 2016. Even then, the premise was “high-performance hardware in a small package at an affordable price,” and this strategy is now repeated four years later. If you’ve ever used an iPhone 6, 6S, 7, or 8 or just held it, nothing new is waiting for you here. The feel and one-handed use continues to be successful, and after years with relatively large smartphones, it is extremely pleasant for me personally to use a “smaller” device again. That here the same processor as in the iPhone 11 ProModels, I think it’s great!

This is particularly noticeable when used. Starting with installation, it quickly turns out that performance doesn’t match price, in a positive sense. Although he had to look for protection against water, inductive charging, a good camera and the ultra-fast performance of the A13 chip only in the flagship area of ​​more than 800 euros, since April 24 he can survive with 479 euros. There will be several benchmark results, especially compared to the Android competition, but first I’d like to dedicate myself to everyday use. After all, this is much more important than the synthetic results of the test applications, right?

iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone SE

Than iPhone SE in daily life

Anyone with such a smartphone Iphone 6 until iPhone 8 he had to do what he knows what to do with. The 4.7-inch screen diagonal feels a bit tight after years of using bigger smartphones, and you get used to it slowly. Of course, this is not a problem if it comes from a smartphone with the same or smaller screen size. No matter what you do with that iPhone SE don’t sweat 4K video exports, the occasional benchmark test in the middle, games on Apple Arcade, or hours of FaceTime video telephony didn’t reveal any stuttering.

Due to the smartphone’s smaller design, only 1,810 mAh can fit in the battery. It can get through the day even at high usage, but it may be in short supply depending on your screen’s brightness settings. Power saving mode with 20% battery level is your best friend! Besides that, that iPhone SE both with the Lightning plug, inductive charging and faster (it gets hot!). So if you have Qi charging pads or stronger power supplies, you can always charge a little in between. However, with my personal use, I basically get along pretty well with the battery.

The cameras

Due to the lack of a second camera, for which it is used iPhone 8 Plus there (here is the proof), a “native” portrait mode is also missing. However, thanks to the A13 processor, there is also the software solution (and Smart HDR), offering you a total of six options. Compared to my iPhone 8 Plus, photos are almost always better, and if you’re using an older device or a weaker sensor iPhone SE changes, the difference is even more extreme. Zoom is up to 5x, but it works digitally with all its downsides. The optical zoom of iPhone 8 Plus and other multi-camera systems are still superior.

Photos behave proportionally to your lighting conditions – the brighter the better. In daylight, the results are barely distinguishable from iconic photos, the processor-compatible portrait photos also look great. But the further you go into twilight or even the night, the weaker the results. But video recording is completely convincing: 4K video recording at 60 frames per second is really fun. Just be sure to think of enough free space before recording. In general, that belongs iPhone SE The best smartphones in the category of less than 500 euros, also for cameras.

What else stands out?

Speaking of storage space: that iPhone SE It costs 479 euros in the 64GB variant and only 50 euros more in the 128GB variant. The jump from 128 GB (529, -) to 256 GB (649, -) is an additional 120 euros! Go back to portrait photography again: Thanks to Smart HDR and processor-supported depth calculation, it always takes a second feel before you actually see your portrait photo. The viewer only provides an estimate that has little to do with the actual result. Here’s a little wait time: if you take just a few portraits, you’ll hardly notice.

IPhones generally receive updates for a long time, four years are completely realistic at Apple. That makes the cheapest model of the iPhone SE interesting for companies, but also for bargain hunters. After all, it’s not just about how much money you spend on a smartphone, but also how often. Thanks to new LTE and WLAN 6 technology within the device, you can also achieve higher throughput rates or lower latency. In general, there is an image here that fears mid-range competition: why spend more than 500 euros?

Where is it definitely cut?

Here opinions differ, because it depends on which smartphone you come from. Of course it is iPhone 8-I design that she will be five years old soon because of that Iphone 6 It looked the same in September 2015. If that doesn’t bother you, that’s not a negative point. It’s the same with trustworthy Touch ID: If you’re used to the Face ID unlock method, the actual fingerprint unlock is almost old. If you’re coming from a smartphone with a fingerprint sensor, you won’t notice it. Even the much-cited 1334 x 750 pixel “low resolution” with 326 ppi is really not a problem, everything is sharp and the LCD is great.

For the low price of 479 euros there is a well-proven hardware design. This also means you have to cope with a single camera sensor instead of having to use a double, triple, or even quad camera. Thanks to the A13 processor, the images are very good in good lighting conditions, even better than in the iPhone 8Serie. Due to the lack of its own night mode, low-light photos just can’t get to those on flagship devices. Of course, this is due to the physical size of the device: the battery life cannot be compared to large smartphones, but it is still enough for a day.

Technical data

We come to the data sheet of the iPhone SE. The 4.7-inch (1334 x 750 pixels, 326 ppi) LCD screen is powered by the six-core Apple A13 processor (2x high-performance, 4x power-saving) and 3GB of RAM. There are 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB of storage space, and the main camera has a 12-megapixel resolution. The Selfie-Cam offers a resolution of 7 MP, and both sensors support portrait photos (only for humans). The dimensions are 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 millimeters with a weight of 148 grams. The only iPhone that comes close to this size is that iPhone 11 Pro. But it is 6 mm higher, 4 mm wider, 1 mm thick, 40 grams heavier and 670 euros more expensive.

It has to be compared to other smart phones iPhone SE at least don’t be shy. In Geekbench 5 with 1330 points (solo) it far exceeds its own predecessor series and Android competition (maximum flagship: 836). This number is particularly important for typical smartphone use where the processor demands the highest performance in the shortest amount of time. Incidentally, even desktop processors like the Intel i9-9900K “only” score 1,338 points. So: According to Android Central, the smartphone cleans the ground with competition below 500 euros and is guaranteed to be fun for the next four years.

Source: apple.at