The IPhone SE (2020) // The Budget King of iPhones
If you are looking for a new iPhone but want to save as much money as possible then the iPhone SE is the best choice for you. Let me explain why.
On this video I’m going to show you my personal experience of using the iPhone SE for over a month now as my main phone. And as a matter of fact, I haven’t changed to a different phone. It is still my main phone. We are going to see how it works in everyday use, what is like taking pictures and videos with it, if it can hold up as your only camera because as you have already heard by now the best camera is the one in your pocket, what I like about this phone what I don’t like and if that phone is a good choice for someone who wants to enter the Apple ecosystem in a budget.
I want to tell you from the beginning that this is not going to be your ordinary tech phone review video. I know by now you have already seen many many (lasard many) videos for the detailed specs, and there are awesome youtubers out there who are Experts in this kind of videos. So I will try to cover my experience with the phone as a creator, and of course you are going to see some specs along the way.
The iPhone SE looks like an iPhone 8 but works like Apple’s top of the line iPhone 11 pro. Released on April 24 of 2020, it has a 4.7 inch display, with a comfortable and compact grip. It has a Retina HD LCD display with resolution of 750x1334 pixels, protected by a custom-made glass by Corning and has oleophobic coating for additional resistance. Also we see available the TrueTone color-correction adjjustments which by the way is something that I didn’t really like as I want to see the colors as they are. The screen can be very bright at around 650 nits. Does that mean that you can see as bright as the iPhone 11 Pro on a sunny day…NO. But its bright enough to see. Also we have the return of the home button. I know that for many users Face ID was a revolutionary feature, but now that Apple is discontinuing the iPhone 8, the iPhone SE is the only iPhone Apple will sell with a physical home button. And personally, I love this feature. It comes in three colors. White, Black and Red and you can find it with three storage options the 64GB, 128GB and the 256GB. It has dual-SIM capabilities with one nan-sim and one e-sim and also supports wireless charging. It weights only 148grams and it is 7.3mm thick.
In the box you will find the normal stickers, papers, the charger, the earpods with lighting output and not the case, which by the way you will need if you want to have the back of your iPhone which is made by glass as well protected and scratch free. And as for the case I went with the original Apple silicon case, and not the leather one, as I read that the leather one is scratching very easily.
So let’s see what Apple Thought about this phone. When you want to create a phone that is tending to be the iPhone budget King you need to make some cuts in hardware. So here we have a smaller display, a single rear camera, and an older body design. But the iPhone SE does have some amazing features such as the same A13 Bionic processor as the iPhone 11 series, wireless charging, better camera specs and water resistance. This also the reason why we see a huge improvement to the camera and the battery life. In real life the A13 Bionic processor means that apps launching in a super fast speed, you can edit photos, videos and play your favorite games on your phone without any limitation.
The front and back of the iPhone SE are made of glass, the chassis and sides are aluminum. Keep in mind here that getting a case for the phone is going to be a great move if you want to protect that glass. The only visual difference between the iPhone SE and the iPhone 8 is that the Apple logo is now in the center on the back to match the current generation iPhones.
Now, it’s July 2020 and I know. The phone looks old-school. The front and the bezel on top and below the screen makes the SE looks old. But, do you want a phone because its pretty or because it get’s the job done? Now if you want the prettiest phones, you already know that you have to pay them. So for me I can sacrifice the appearance for a couple of hundreds of dollars.
The iPhone SE is rated IP67. What does that mean? That it can withstand for 30 minutes under water at a depth of 1 meter. Keep in mind here that this level of water and dust resistance is not something you normally find on phones under $400 so we need to give a huge applause to the Iphone SE for having that.
Battery Life. Now let’s see a subject a lot of videos mentioned as this phone’s biggest vulnerability. The battery of the iPhone SE as apple says lasts about the same as the iPhone 8. Now consider that this phone has the a13 bionic processor, and even that it has a small battery of only 1,821 mah the processor makes it manages battery life better than the previous models with the same body. To be honest, it can’t compare with the iPhone 11 Pro or the iPhone 11 but after all this is something that we can all agree that is pretty normal, when Apple wants to keep this as much budget friendly option as possible they need to make some sacrifices. For me personally, I was used charging my phone every day so that didn’t make any difference. The Iphone SE ships with a regural 5V/1A charger plug that goes from dead battery to 27& in 30 mins, while a full charge will take about 2 and a half hours.
It has two speakers — one dedicated at the bottom and the other one is the earpiece. The bottom one offers more bass then the earpiece, but other than that their loudness seems balanced enough. Don’t wait miracles though. It’s not something special after all we are talking about the budget friendly iPhone here.
The Iphone SE rear 12 megapixel camera with the 28mm 1.8 lens has the same specs as the iPhone 8, but when you combine this camera with the A13 chip and the iOS 13, the camera is being transfored into something that can compete with the best phone cameras in the market. It has portrait mode, even though keep in mind that it only recognized human faces, not pets or flowers. It has SMART HDR, quick take filming and more. In good light, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the photos of the iphone se and the iPhone 11. The differences will appear on the field of view, because of the lack of wide camera and of course in night photos since the iPhone SE doesn’t have any night mode. The front 7 megapixel camera is not wide, but it can take very nice selfie photos that in my opinion simply get the job done in capturing the moments or sending a message. Remember here that the front camera shoots 1080p only and no Slofies.
As for video, the Iphone SE can shoot 4k 60 fps video, but has extended dynamic range for video only up to 4k 30 fps. Now let me tell you something. I was skeptical at first, but if you know how to composite your shots, this little thing can do miracles. And yes you might see some dots when you are looking at the sun, or lights in night, but I don’t think you won’t forget that when you are able to catch the moments, when they happen with a camera you carry everyday with you, the camera of your phone.
If you are looking for a new iPhone but want to save as much money as possible then the iPhone SE is the best choice for you. The price for the iPhone SE is $399 for the 64GB, $449 for the 128GB and $549 for the 256GB. It is the smallest and more budget-friendly iPhone money can buy at the moment and if you don’t need the wide camera, the bigger screen, and the night mode then it’s the phone that in my opinion you should consider for your next phone if you want to enter the Apple ecosystem.
