You’re thinking, “This design looks all too familiar, right? Well, you are. It’s an older-generation chassis with revved up inner workings – is this a smart move by Apple? Let’s take a look.
Let’s establish this from the beginning – yes, the design hasn’t changed, but that’s Apple’s intention. The SE is all about the revved up inner workings; and let’s be honest; the design is iconic and looks great.
The 4” Retina display is identical to the iPhone 5, but there’s nothing wrong with that; however, if a screen with a higher pixel density is what you’re after, consider the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus.
The battery is a bit bigger than the one in the iPhone 5s and with iOS 9, you have Low-Power mode; when the charge gets below 20%, it will prompt activation.
While the outside may look dated, Apple has packed the SE with the latest hardware. It is driven by an A9 chipset and a dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister processor.
The SE is fitted with the same camera used in the 6s, but unfortunately the front-facing shooter is a duplicate of the one in the 5s.
It seems that Apple’s thought process was “the past meets the future, creating a great phone, now!” Barring a few feature omissions, they have achieved what they set out to do.
Key specs
- 4.0” LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen
- Resolution: 640 X 1136 pixels
- 12 MP, f/2.2, 29mm, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
- 1.2 MP, f/2.4, 31mm, 720p@30fps, face detection, HDR, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or Cellular
- Operating system: iOS 9.3.2, upgradable to iOS 10.1
- Apple A9 chipset
- CPU: Dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, hotspot
- iCloud Cloud service
- No card slot
- 2 GB RAM
- 16/64 GB storage capacity
- Bluetooth: 2, A2DP, LE
- USB: v2.0, reversible connector
- Up to 14 h (3G)
Pros: Excellent build; impressive sunlight legibility; iconic design; 4K video; camera is a duplicate of the one in the 6S
Cons: No 3D Touch feature; No wireless charging; No memory card slot; No extra protection against liquid and dust; Old-generation chassis; small screen
Verdict: 8/10
