Our test of the new iPhone SE: 20/20 in the compact category

Before talking about the iPhone SE device itself, let's quickly review its history. The arrival of a new edition of the iPhone SE, which was originally released in 2016 in its very first version, was anticipated for many months, the original rumors dating back to 2019. It was then called iPhone SE 2 oriPhone 9, and for good reason: it modeled many of its technical characteristics on the iPhone 8, its “budget” equivalent at the time.

But this time, the sauce is even better: the iPhone SE (2020) indeed benefits fromsameinternal components than those assembled within the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, however costing more than 1,000 euros in certain configurations. However, there is no Face ID or triple photo sensor on the back, but this is also what allows it to be much more affordable for the general public.

Unboxing of the iPhone SE: fast and efficient

Before I could get my hands on the iPhone SE (2), I received a package directly from Apple, which I had to unpack. In the iPhone SE box, we find among other things:

• two stickers with the brand's white apple logo, stuck immediately on my fridge and my 15-inch MacBook Pro
• a red notice informing about the positive impact of our versionPRODUCT (RED), part of the profits of which are normally donated to the fight against COVID-19 (but it was always specified on this paper that the operation is rather linked to AIDS as before)
• three tutorial sheets to learn the iPhone SE buttons
• a small metal tool to trigger the opening of the slot dedicated to the nano-SIM card, located on the right edge of the iPhone SE
• complete manuals to learn how to use the iPhone SE (2020)
• wired headphonesEarPods(Apple does not providewireless version, but the Sony WF-1000XM3 still work very well with this product)
• a white male Lightning to USB cable about one meter long, which is reallytoo shortfor everyday life or travel!
• a USB to mains adapter for wall charging

Note also that unlike certain manufacturers such as the Chinese Oppo, Apple does not provide hereno shellprotection. However, the iPhone SE (2020) seems at first glance really very fragile, with its thickness of 7.3 mm, and you will therefore have to pay around fifty euros to obtain a real official shield against falls. A considerable investment, but necessary especially for the clumsiest among us.

Buy an iPhone case

A surprisingly pleasing design

We have known this since the rumors coming from various subcontractors or analysts suggested it, and Apple confirmed it in the press release which announced the new iPhone SE: it looks like aiPhone 6, or an iPhone 6s, or an iPhone 7. It has exactly the same dimensions as the iPhone 8, to the nearest millimeter. Of course, it's recycling, but the consequences for the environment are probably less disastrous, and you can also reuse your accessories from your old iPhones.

For several years now, I have switched tophabletswith only smartphones over six inches. But I always remembered regretting the small laptops of the early 2010s for a long time. With this iPhone SE, I found thisnostalgia: no more clutter, but at the cost of much wider borders. The return of the home button, on the other hand, is a major advantage: it is in fact much more practical on a daily basis than the all-touch one, even if the feeling of not using a real push mechanism is very strange. Furthermore, I find that Apple could still have made an effort to respect the tradition of the bright red of the PRODUCT (RED) range which stands out here, with apinkish redvery different from my iPhone XR. Oh, and… you can still see the screws at the bottom of the phone. It's a real shame for a company like Apple, known for itsdesign thinking.

For the rest, the iPhone SE (2020) is overall very beautiful, notably with a shiny and smooth glass back, shiny edges where we find the famous bands for the antennas and fewer inscriptions above the port of reloading. The camera is finally a little less protruding than on an iPhone XR, with less perpendicular edges, while the Apple logo is found this time in the middle of the case, which makes it moresymmetricaland harmonious to my taste.

Screen: small but perfect

The iPhone SE is most likelythe last iPhone to adopt IPS LCD technology. Most hypotheses thus ensure that its manufacturer has abandoned its dedicated service providers, to turn solely to OLED from the next iPhone 12 family. And the quality, then? It's flawless for viewing angles, the sixteen million colors reflect very well on the Retina screen, while the tactile responsiveness shows no slowdown, even with the abandonment of 3D Touch in favor ofHaptic Touch.

With this iPhone SE (2020), we can clearly see that the incredible 120 Hertz refresh rates offered by the competition are in fact really useless on a day-to-day basis, for typical use. These 4.7 inches will be too small for most professionals anyway, but for a size like this, you couldn't ask for more in terms of experience. Even the pixel density remains good,with 326 ppi on the meter, so much so that you don't really notice the difference with an iPhone 11, equal on this point.

The only downside perhaps comes from the diagonal, which with less than 5″ is absolutely not suitable for large hands. I had to install a virtual keyboard app to mess with accessibility, and my iPhone SE now looks like a Doro. The basic iOS keyboard indeed offers well-designed keys.too small, and it is sometimes difficult to decipher “fly’s paw” writings. Not to mention the times when you have to select text in a received message... More complicated, you might as well switch to Mac as soon as a little office work is required. But Handoff mode, which connects the iPhone SE to the macOS dock, allows you to open the relevant app on your computer in one click: practical, the continuity of the Apple ecosystem.

iPhone SE (2020) performance

Obviously, with a phone for less than 500 euros, we don't expect anything heavy.And yet. The iPhone SE (2020) is equipped with the A13 Bionic processor, engraved in seven nanometers and which with its six cores, including four Thunder cores clocked at 1.8 GHz each, is as powerful as that of the iPhone 11 Pro Max. On the other hand, we can only count on 3 GB of RAM, but honestly who needs more, especially on an iPhone? We know that Apple has the ability to optimize both its OS and its chip, and the result is there even with less RAM than an equivalent Android in terms of pricing.

Since I received the iPhone SE, I honestly haven't noticedno slowdown. Okay, the product hasn't been used for several years yet, but it is relatively fluid, and you can easily run very energy-intensive games thanks to its CPU and GPU: the gameplay will be just as successful . For the rest, whether it is the connection speed or the multitasking mode, there were no incidents to report during this test either. And it's not for lack of having completely forgotten to turn off my iPhone SE since I bought it. (Who still turns off their phone?)

Benchmarks

With AnTuTu, my iPhone SE (2020) achieved an overall rating of483 943 points. In detail, we find:

• 123,433 for the processor, including 45,007 in multi-core mode
• 175,774 for the graphics chip
• 58,449 for RAM
• 81,287 for UX, including 6,135 in image processing

With Ice Storm Unlimited on the 3DMark app, I achieved the following scores:

• 97 200 points (global)
• 208,752 (chart)

On the surface, it is on the same level as the iPhone 11 Pro, which reaches around 500,000 points in general score. When we say thatthe iPhone SE is as powerful as its big brothers, it is therefore true and verified, both on paper and by measuring it with dedicated tools. Well done.

Sufficient autonomy?

We can choose to see the autonomy of the iPhone SE (2020) as reduced, because the battery of this smartphone does not even exceed 1,850 mAh capacity. While most models at the same price are sold with more than 4,000 mAh. But what we forget… Is that the screen of this iPhone SE is so small that itconsumes much less! Apple has also optimized its A13 chip to be energy efficient, and I felt it throughout the day. So of course, the black pixels are lit with the LCD, but with typical use, you will be able to make it to the end of the day without a power outage. At worst, you'll be charging the iPhone SE on the way home each evening, and it won't last until the next morning with heavy use, but that's normal, and there are external batteries for that.

As an example, playing Asphalt 9 for 10 minutes at maximum brightness and with the sound activated at three-quarters of its maximum power, I lost 4% of battery life. The iPhone SEheatedmoreover quite quickly, but it is increasingly rare to see the opposite in 2020. Regarding the wired charging provided, it is quite fast and whether from a socket in my apartment or a high external battery Anker brand capacity, I never had to complain about it, as long as my standard was at the same USB 3.0 level). It only took one hour to obtain 42% of the full autonomy offered by the iPhone SE. But Android users who risk being won over by the iPhone SE will regret the lack of even more efficient throughput as with Vooc. Here, the 18W charger which allows you to obtain 50% in thirty minutes must be purchased separately.

Audio

Let's quickly move on to the sound quality of the second-generation iPhone SE's built-in speaker. Unfortunately, thebass are almost non-existent, but if you want to listen to music more seriously you know that investing in a dedicated speaker: it's much more judicious. Otherwise, the number of decibels reached is relatively high for this size, but will not create a noisy dishwashing session either.

The other audio flaw on this iPhone SE concerns the position of the speaker: it is located on the lower edge of the device, and you will therefore havehand on it while playingor by watching an episode, which can drastically hinder listening in the long term, where we will then prefer headphones. Finally, and this is good news, the sound seems soomnidirectionalthat you really have to look at where it comes from to guess it.

iOS with iPhone SE

The iOS controls are a little different with the iPhone SE (compared to iPhones with Face iD): for example, you have to press both the home button and the power button to record ascreenshot. But in general, all apps work in a very similar way to usual, with Apple Pay for contactless transactions or iMessages synced with a Mac for example.

It is obviouslyiOS 13.4which powers the iPhone SE, this time with thecontrol center stored at the bottomof the interface. Locking is done with the fingerprint sensor ofTouch ID, which is very fast and works better than most of the Android alternatives I've tested before, except perhaps since some products offer this technology under the screen.

iPhone SE photos don't match those of the 11 Pro

I tested the iPhone SE's photo sensor in multiple situations, starting with an outdoor image. This is enough to immortalize family memories, but obviously not enough if you need a professional result or one that must then be viewed on a TV or computer screen, much larger and with better definition. This is what the roofs of the southwest look like, compared to aiPhone XR, a Pixel 2 XL and an Oppo Reno 2, captured around 4:30 p.m. during a cloudy afternoon:

Same thing for a close-up photo, taken withinteriorwith natural light coming from open shutters:

Finally, in case oflow light, especially inside, we note a clear difference with the night mode of certain smartphones like that of Google:

For thevideo, the evaluation is roughly similar, while the front camera benefits from a rather practical advantage: the “portrait mode“. It is also more provided on the iPhone SE than on the iPhone XR, with additional options “natural lighting“, “studio lighting” et “contour lighting“,the new choices “stage lighting“, “mono stage lighting” and finally “mono high-key lighting“. Certainly, grain is still present with only 7 MPx, but few people are looking for more here. Only a wider aperture could have been desired, for example to take better photos of several people.

Conclusion: my opinion on the second iPhone SE

Switching from my iPhone XR to the iPhone SE was very easy thanks to the iOS migration assistant, a program used to perfection with this new mobile. Pay400 euros less than an iPhone 11is then the ideal solution, if you are not afraid of asmall screen, a choice in fact well considered for those who opt for this generation.

If you always wantedtest iOS from Android, this is probably the easiest way to change. Small budgets, like students, or those who only need a phone to communicate, like our elders, should also be very satisfied with thisunprecedented price/performance ratio at Apple. Following my test, I highly recommend the iPhone SE to anyone looking for a reliable, more affordable and easy-to-use laptop.

The real difference of the iPhone SE compared to other high-end phones is precisely that it is “first” in much fewer categories (such as wireless charging, screen definition or even the number sensors available). But withonly 489 eurosfor the 64 GB version (or 539 euros for 128 GB and 659 euros for 256 GB), it is a feasible sacrifice for many. And which in the end, should only disappoint a minority of users who need a truly professional device, and will therefore choose a model followed by this suffix to be more productive.

Here are the tables ofprixupdated in real time for the iPhone SE (2020), from different resellers: