The iPhone SE is Apple’s most affordable iPhone, and it’s also one of the most popular. It offers a compact and durable design, a powerful A-series chip, and a good camera, all at a relatively low price.
Design
The iPhone SE has a classic iPhone design, with a thick bezel around the display and a Touch ID home button. It’s available in three colors: Midnight, Starlight, and Red. The SE is also water- and dust-resistant, with an IP67 rating.
Display
The iPhone SE has a 4.7-inch Retina display with a resolution of 1334×750 pixels. The display is sharp and bright, but it’s not as high-resolution as the displays on some other iPhones. The SE also doesn’t have a high refresh rate, so animations and scrolling may not look as smooth as on other devices.
Performance
The iPhone SE is powered by the A15 Bionic chip, which is the same chip that’s in the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. This makes the SE one of the fastest smartphones on the market. The SE can handle even the most demanding tasks with ease, and it can also play games at high graphics settings.
Camera
The iPhone SE has a single 12MP rear camera and a 7MP front-facing camera. The rear camera is the same one that’s in the iPhone 11, and it takes great photos in most lighting conditions. The front-facing camera is also good, and it’s capable of taking sharp selfies.
Battery life
The iPhone SE has a relatively small battery, but it still lasts for a full day of use on a single charge. If you’re a heavy user, you may need to charge your SE more than once a day.
Software
The iPhone SE runs on iOS 16, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system. iOS 16 is packed with new features and improvements, including a redesigned lock screen, new Focus modes, and a new Live Text feature that lets you extract text from images.
Overall
The iPhone SE is a great smartphone for people who want a compact and powerful device. It has a classic design, a good camera, and long-term software support. However, the SE’s small display and average battery life may not be for everyone.
Pros:
- Compact and durable design
- Powerful A15 Bionic chip
- Good camera
- Long-term software support
Cons:
- Small display
- Average battery life
- No high refresh rate
- No Face ID
Who should buy the iPhone SE?
The iPhone SE is Apple’s most affordable iPhone, and it’s also one of the most popular. It offers a compact and durable design, a powerful A-series chip, and a good camera, all at a relatively low price.
SPECIFICATIONS
Network Technology:
- GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE support.
2G Bands:
- GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
CDMA Bands:
- CDMA 800 / 1900
3G Bands:
- HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
- CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
- TD-SCDMA (specifically for the A1723 model)
4G Bands:
- Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29 (for A1662 model)
- Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 38, 39, 40, 41 (for A1723 model)
Speed:
- Supported HSPA and LTE-A Cat4 for mobile data.
Announcement and Status:
- Announced in March 2016, released at the end of March 2016.
- The device is now discontinued.
Body:
- Dimensions: 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm, weighing 113 grams.
- It has a glass front, aluminum back, and aluminum frame.
- Uses a Nano-SIM and supports Apple Pay.
Display:
- It features a 4.0-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 640 x 1136 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio).
- The screen-to-body ratio is approximately 60.8%.
Platform:
- Initially ran on iOS 9.3.2 and was upgradable to iOS 15.7.
- Powered by the Apple A9 chipset with a dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister CPU and PowerVR GT7600 GPU.
Memory:
- No card slot for external storage.
- Available in various internal storage configurations: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB with 2GB of RAM.
Camera:
- Rear Camera: 12 MP, f/2.2 aperture, with PDAF and dual-LED dual-tone flash. It can record videos in 4K at 30fps.
- Front (Selfie) Camera: 1.2 MP with f/2.4 aperture and 720p video recording.
Sound:
- It has a loudspeaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
- Supports 16-bit/44.1kHz audio.
Connectivity:
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, and NFC (for Apple Pay).
- GPS and GLONASS for positioning.
- No FM radio.
- It uses a Lightning port for charging and data transfer.
Additional Features:
- Features include a front-mounted fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity sensor, and compass.
Battery:
- Equipped with a non-removable Li-Po 1624 mAh battery with a stand-by time of up to 240 hours (3G) and talk time of up to 14 hours (3G).
Colors and Models:
- Available in Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold.
- Models include A1662, A1723, A1724, and iPhone8,4.
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate):
- SAR values: 1.17 W/kg (head) and 1.19 W/kg (body). SAR values are a measure of the rate at which the body absorbs RF (radiofrequency) energy.
Price:
- The device was priced at about 140 EUR at its release.
Tests:
- Performance: Basemark OS II score of 2163.
- Display: Contrast ratio of 804:1 (nominal), 3.681 (sunlight).
- Loudspeaker: Voice quality measurements of 66dB for voice, 65dB for noise, and 69dB for the ring.
- Audio quality: Noise -93.0dB and Crosstalk -72.9dB.
- Battery life: Endurance rating of 73 hours.
