What is the iPhone SE?
The iPhone SE is no longer Apple's latest phone, that honour goes to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. They might not be radical redesigns, but new features are plentiful. Both are water-resistant, have stereo speakers and a wider colour gamut screen. You'll have to say bye to the headphone jack though, as it's been ditched.
Phones getting bigger and bigger, but the iPhone SE totally bucks the trend. This is a phone that's easy to use with one hand. Yes the the Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC 10 and iPhone 6S Plus are great handsets, but for many of us they’re simply too large.
How can a phone with a three year old design do it? Apple has given people a choice with the iPhone SE. The compact body is rare these days, but even though it's small it packs a mighty punch. This is a very powerful and capable phone. It can boast the same top-notch internals as the iPhone 6S, a snazzy pink (sorry, Rose Gold) hue and support for Apple Pay. Normally small phones are hamstrung, the iPhone SE isn’t.
Design and display
The iPhone SE is an exact clone of the older 5S. It is difficult to spot the differences as there's hardly any. However, it is slightly slimmer and lighter. The comfort of a smaller phone is something only stubborn users of iPhone 4, 4S, 5 and 5S users will reckon. There is still a substantial percentage of such users in the country and especially globally. Also, there are several iPhone 6 users who wants to go back to the smaller version. For them, the prowess of latest iPhone 6S in the body of 5S is indeed a special edition. However, this might put off many first time buyers, especially for the price.
On the display front, again there is no major difference. Everything looks good in the small screen with a resolution of just 1136 x 640 pixels. 3D Touch is absent in the iPhone SE. Overall, the display is crisp with good contrast and viewing angles.
The new Night Shift mode makes a huge difference in darkness. It puts less strain on the eyes. Night Shift is introduced in the latest iOS 9.3 update, the feature is not supported on all older 4-inch iPhones. While 5S supports it, 5 and 5C doesn't.
The SE version has a solid build and is sturdier than the newer versions. It is compact, lightweight and is made exclusively for one-hand usage. It is also available in Rose Gold colour.
Camera and Performance
This segment is a major upgrade for older iPhone users. The iPhone SE has the camera of the 6S along with Live Photos. The 12MP rear camera is capable of shooting 4K videos along with slo-mo and time-lapse videos. There is a dual tone LED Flash at the back and on the front screen flashes to lighten selfies, like in the 6S.
Under good lighting conditions, the camera shoots good photos, but images shot under low-light without Flash will leave users desiring for more. While camera quality is good, it is not at par with the 6S or the older iPhone 6.
If you are into gaming on small screen, apps like Asphalt 8: Airborne run with ease. In short, it has the horsepower of the iPhone 6S.
The fingerprint scanner or Touch ID is included in the SE and it is fast. The phone is backed by a 1,624mAh battery. The battery life is slightly better due to a smaller low-resolution screen of the SE. Users can squeeze in one day in a full charge easily.
Verdict
The iPhone SE is the cheapest phone Apple has launched in recent years globally. However, Rs 20,200 for 16GB version and Rs 21,999 for 64GB variant are obviously over-priced. While the smaller iPhone makes perfect sense, the current pricing is a deterrent. Once, the re-imported iPhone 5S goes out of stock in India and also with the iPhone 7 launch, the prices of SE is bound to drop. The iPhone SE prices in India will simply help Apple to boost sales of the other existing iPhones for now.
The SE is just a matter of choice for people who prefer to use small screen and Apple doesn't want them to use old hardware to run new apps.
Few Unboxing Images for Golden Color 32GB version of iPhone SE which I've purchased 2 weeks ago from Flipkart for 21,999 are as below:
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