TEST: Apple iPhone SE (2020): Best Mobile Purchase of the Year

Still little by today’s standards. According to Apple, this is its most popular size with more than 500 million units sold.

The first iPhone SE was an iPhone 5S exterior, so it had flat, sharp edges. The iPhone 8 design also comes with more rounded edges. The design has little to say and fits well in your hand.

Having preferred the larger Plus / Max model since it was released, I will admit that there is a certain transition that drops from 6.5 to 4.7 inches.

It’s also unusual to have a thick frame at the top and bottom of the screen instead of the screen going almost along the edge (minus the “bus pocket” at the top).

but herremin How good it is to have a smaller mobile. And not least: so Easy to use with one hand. I can stretch my thumb across the screen without having to change the grip. My arms, shoulders and neck thanks, iPhone SE.

Not as advanced screen

In addition to the screen size of the iPhone SE being smaller than the aforementioned iPhone 11 Pro Max, it also uses another lower resolution display panel. Particularly interested: 1334 x 750 pixels LCD versus 2436 x 1125 pixels OLED.

The screen is still sharp enough. Most notable is that it is not as good when it comes to, say, gloss. The iPhone 11 Pro Max, which we have compared here, is better for looking outdoors.

Unlike its cloned iPhone 8, the new iPhone SE lacks support for something called “3D Touch.” This was a display function that allows additional functionality when you press more on the screen. Among other things, by opening shortcuts to icon functions on the home screen.

Instead, and like the other newer iPhone models, the iPhone SE has what is called the “touch touch.” It works relatively similarly but is not pressure sensitive. Instead, press Haptic Touch longer.

It may be a bit unfamiliar to you that you’re used to 3D Touch, even if you soon find out what’s new. Oddly enough, Haptic Touch doesn’t work on notifications in Notification Center or on the lock screen, so you can’t, for example, tap a notification to reply to a message or manage notifications, for example.

Back to start button

In 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X without a home button, and we haven’t looked back since then. Now we unlock the phone with our face and use swipe gestures to get to the home screen or switch between apps.

But because the iPhone SE is an iPhone 8, it also has the good home button.

I have to admit a slight change, but for those in the target group for this model, which likely comes from an iPhone 8 or earlier, there will be nothing different than before.

I admit that I’ve gotten a bit lost, mainly because face unlock doesn’t always work at night when I’m sleeping because it’s too dark (after all, then I should have put away my cell phone and stuff, but you know). On the other hand, I’ve been waiting for the iPhone SE to unlock when I lift my finger from the bottom of the screen, but then nothing happens.

Sufficient horsepower

What makes the iPhone SE so good despite its old packaging is because it’s equipped with the same A13 Bionic chip as the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Apple doesn’t usually go into details about the specs, but it’s also rumored to have slightly less RAM than the better models; 3 GB versus 4 GB.

Otherwise, the iPhone SE supports the latest generation of wireless network, WiFi 6, but it doesn’t come with Apple’s U1 11 chipset which, among other things, provides better AirDrop swapping.

It also doesn’t have 5G support, but there are no iPhone models to date.

Although the performance tests tell a slightly different story, we experience that the iPhone SE is quick to use. To be honest, I don’t notice much difference between it and the iPhone 11 Pro Max, at least for everyday use.

However, the most important thing about this is that with the new internal processor you are guaranteed iOS updates and new functions for many years. This is not usually the case with Android phones in the same price range that expire after a few generations.

But the battery doesn’t last that long

One area that the iPhone SE doesn’t follow with older siblings is battery life. We quickly notice that the iPhone SE does not have the same resistance as the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

According to Apple, the SE should have roughly the same battery life as the iPhone 8. The battery should be at 1,821 mAh, up from 3,110 mAh on the iPhone 11 Pro.

For the undersigned, this means that the iPhone SE needs to be charged a few times a day against once on the 11 Pro Max. With normal use, it is likely to be quite durable.

However, our biggest frustration, and many other reviewers we’ve observed, is that Apple chooses to keep the slow 5-watt charger in the box. IPhone SE supports fast charging, but you must pay an additional $ 329 for the Apple 18-watt charger; the same that comes with the iPhone 11 Pro models.

“Only” one camera

One of the biggest differences between the iPhone SE and the more expensive models is the camera. It has just one rear camera, versus two and three cameras on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max, respectively.

According to iFixit, it should be the same camera as the iPhone 8. Thanks to the more powerful Bionic A13 processor, however, the iPhone SE should take better photos. For example, it offers Smart HDR and portrait mode (the latter, however, only works with humans).

A camera for the SE is a 12-megapixel wide-angle. So you don’t get telephoto or ultra wide-angle like the iPhone 11 Pro models. This gives you less flexibility in zooming in and out on your designs.

The iPhone SE also does not offer night mode, so images taken at night and in low light conditions will not be as good as 11 Pro models.

Still, we think iPhone SE does a good job as long as the lighting conditions are right for it. Snapshots in normal and portrait modes are shown below:

The iPhone SE can also shoot in 4K, and while we don’t get the continuous zoom that impressed us on the iPhone 11 Pro models, the video quality is top-notch.

When it comes to the front camera, this is 7 megapixels, compared to 12 megapixels on iPhone 11 models. It still has portrait mode, and the result is pretty good:

conclusion

The 2020 edition of the iPhone SE offers no technological innovation and is therefore not an exciting mobile. The nerds in the spec will hardly be impressed.

However, Apple has taken the best of its old mobiles and combined it with some of the best of the new ones, and the sum is a useful mobile that is more than enough for most people. With a nice Touch ID home button, you won’t have any trouble unlocking if you wear a blindfold if there is any argument on what to choose.

Priced at NOK 5500, there’s a good chance the iPhone SE will be the best-selling phone of the year. Dropping such an affordable mobile in the midst of the crown pandemic can be a chess move. When it works as well as it does, we quickly talk about this year’s best mobile shopping.

Therefore, it must be said that with a lower price the best of the most expensive models is lost; Higher resolution OLED screen, more flexible camera system with proper night mode. Not forgetting the most powerful 18-watt charger.

However, if you upgrade from an older iPhone 5 or 6, and that’s probably what users are aiming for, not living for so many pixels and nanometers, however, the iPhone SE will feel like a definite upgrade.

Overall, we hit a fifth like that, but at a price it’s a clear six.

Do you want to argue?