Its not big, its not bulky, it doesn't look that new, but packs lots and lots of power!
- 7/10
- 349.00
- Buy iPhone SE from Apple
What we love...
- Great to have a small iPhone again
- Specs are amazing for small phone
- New Rose Gold colour
What we don't love...
- Screen isn’t the best
- Lack of 3d Touch
- Rubbish front facing camera
So Apple have given the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S a bit of a shuffling and managed to get the spec’s of the iPhone 6S into this little frame. It doesn’t look any different to the old iPhone 5, can’t tell much weight difference however it is pretty quick and the camera is spot on.
The iPhone SE or Special Edition as they like to call it has been born, with Apple realising that there is a market for smaller phones but the phone still needs top ack the punch.
Build and Design...
Its a design we are already familiar with, the iPhone 5 chassis has been around now for 3 ish years? Apple have been clever enough to recycle stored parts to build this phone and helping them keep their costs down. It feels solid, slips in your pocket to the point that you don’t think its there, especially if you are used to the bulk of the iPhone 6S plus and it works.
Slip on a plastic case and everyone thinks you’ve still got the old phone, yet its much quicker.
Display...
The display is exactly the same as the iPhone 5S, but as always crystal clear and difficult to spot the pixels. I’ve literally got an iPhone 5S and the iPhone SE on my desk now and cannot see the difference whatsoever, and rightly so… Its recycled!
Operating System and Apps...
iOS9 runs like a dream on this machine, quick nimble and works everytime. No stalling, no screen lag and plenty of apps from the app store to choose from. We are already testing out iOS10 so it would be nice to try it on this phone and compare the difference, our iPhone 6S Plus on iOS10 stalls a little but it is in beta.
Performance and Speed...
As quick as the iPhone 6S, I’m almost think its a smidge faster to be honest. Camera loads straight away, Mail loads straight away, switching apps is quick and taking 4k videos is a breeze.
Camera & Videos...
By squeezing in the iPhone 6S spec’s, you now get the fantastic 12mp iSight sensor at the back! As well as 4k video recording. Side by side with an iPhone 6S there is no comparison whatsoever. Top Marks from us.
Battery Life Thru The Day...
Whilst the iPhone SE has given a vast improvement on battery life over the 5 and the 5S, but it doesn’t quite match the 6S for me. Its very difficult to compare battery life, I used this phone as my main phone for three days before writing this review, however there is still an element of quiet days and busy days for me. The 6S usually has 19% by the time I walk in the house after work, this had 16%.
Would I Swap it for my iPhone...
It is an iPhone, but would I swap this for my iPhone 6S or 6S Plus, no way. However, I will be demoting my iPhone 6S to Mazuma and using the SE as my work phone, purely for pocket or laptop bag space.
Overall..
A great upgrade if you have got the iPhone 5 or 5S, going backwards if you have the 6S and the 6S Plus. No 3D Touch but the camera is fantastic and the fact that it all fits in this small chassis is a bonus. Quite reasonable on contract, bit expensive on Sim Free.
