iPhone SE Review: 5 More Years Of Yesterday By MrMobile [Michael Fisher]

- Sponsored by ESR. Folks, when I say in that headline that the iPhone SE is five more years of yesterday, you might interpret it as a snipe or a criticism and it isn't. Instead of it's a recognition that this phone wasn't built for people like me. It was built for people like my dad whose five-year-old iPhone 6S has such a short battery that he has to carry a power pack everywhere he goes. And dad being the industrious guy he is, he teamed up with my aunt to build a custom belt to hide the power cord. The point is, everyone's talking about how the new iPhone SE is the affordable iPhone or the only small iPhone left and both those things are true, but what's more interesting to me is that this is a lifeline.

For all those people who never wanted to give up the home button. People who never needed a bigger screen or face ID or more cameras, but do need a new iPhone. (bright music) If you've been a little deja vu looking at the iPhone SE, that's because it's physically almost identical to the iPhone 8. I made a video last week directly comparing the two, which also explains why you're better off buying an SE. Be sure to subscribe to the channel if you missed it.

Along with the looks of the iPhone 8 come the perks of this device. Obviously, it wasn't built to cater to the Android audience, but context is important. It's very hard to find a new Android phone priced similar to this that gives you IP67 dust and water resistance and wireless charging in a package with this degree of fit and finish. And for my fellow Android users out there, this isn't something we should feel insecure about. In fact, we should rejoice because of the price pressure this is gonna put on Android manufacturers to make better phones at lower prices.

See now, try not to get too hostile down in the comments. Of course the recycled components from the iPhone 8 that help make it so affordable, they inevitably import some penalties as well. Screen size is the one that jumps out. In 2020, a 4.7 inch screen does feel claustrophobic. Not in terms of the software so much.

Remember iOS was born on a three and a half inch screen, but in terms of the content. Even with near perfect eyesight, I had a hard time reading some specially formatted emails on this screen. And thanks to the low maximum brightness of this LCD, editing photos wasn't much fun nor was relearning how to type on this smaller keyboard. Some things like gestures are easier on the smaller canvas though and the SE preserves some paradigms that I think make more sense anyway, like swiping up from the bottom edge for the control center instead of down from the top. Now other things like notifications that give you no indication they're there unless you drag down the shade.

Ugh, unless you wanna put up with all these badges on your screen or an unalterable grid of icons for that home screen. Well, they're as frustrating now as they have been for the last decade or so. Oh, and for those of you upgrading your older iPhones, to keep your home button and fingerprint sensor, you're gonna have to sacrifice the headphone jack. In that vein, I've been using Apple's AirPods Pro during my week with the iPhone SE and despite not being a big fan of the way they look, I gotta say they're very impressive. Part of the reason why is that vaunted Apple ecosystem.

You get instant pairing and system level integration with accessories like the AirPods and the Apple Watch. You can share photos or files with iPads or MacBooks using AirDrop. You get iMessage, which personally I can't stand, but I'm clearly in the minority. And if you break the phone or it's battery wears down, which it will, you've got over 500 Apple Stores around the world to take it to for service. Oh, and software updates, yeah, those annoying things that mess with your UI and make changes for the sake of change, it seems like, but they also keep you updated with new features and safe from security flaws.

Apple regularly offers five years worth of updates for its phones, whereas Google's Pixel phones, pretty much the longest supported Android phones, only get three years of security and two years of platform updates. Let's talk about the quote unquote Apple Tax. This notion that you're paying extra just for the status symbol of a fruit on the back of your device. And you know, for things like $700 computer wheels, renaming its stores Town Squares, I get it. Apple can be a parody of itself.

But even if you're buying a $700 iPhone 11 or $1,000 11 Pro, the fact that you're getting all the support behind it and the fact that it's gonna hold its value longer than any other smartphone, more than justifies the cost. So getting all of it for $400 is just insanity. I'm gonna close with the three biggest compromises or considerations you should have before hitting buy on this thing. But first, a word from my sponsor on how to avoid shattering that glass back and how to win an iPhone SE for yourself. The iPhone SE might not cost as much, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't protect it, right? Well, a good way to do that without robbing it of personality is with a case from today's sponsor.

ESR has something for everyone. Go minimalistic with a slim clear or subtle gradient case that let the phones look shine through, or if that's too conservative for you, you can glitz it up with a glitter or marble finish instead. And my favorite ESR case brings back one of the best features that never should have left the smartphone world, the kickstand. Pop it out, prop it up and do your thing all without making the phone much thicker than with the standard case. Best of all, you can get any of these without spending a fortune.

Check out the description below to get your case and also enter to win an iPhone SE that ESR is giving away. Thanks to ESR for sponsoring this video. Finally we come to the compromises and considerations. Camera, battery and storage. Camera first, this is basically the camera from the iPhone 8 buttressed by some new capabilities thanks to the newer A13 processor.

So you can do things you couldn't do on the 8 like portrait modes with lighting effects. And as with most phones today, photos taken with adequate lighting will be perfectly fine. Also with the maximum resolution of 4K at 60 frames a second, the video performance is quite good. From my Pixel Buds review to my Moto Edge Plus review, I've used this phone all week for B-roll and it's done fine. That said, this would not be my first choice for a mobile camera.

I can get more dynamic range and better selfies from the even cheaper Google Pixel 3a not to mention night mode, which is totally absent on the iPhone SE. Also, there's no wide angle here, no telephoto, no macro, no toys, no versatility to speak of really. If a camera is at all a priority for you and you do things like, I don't know, take photos at night, yeah, this isn't your phone. Onto battery, after seeing some of the fad online, I was worried I'd be similarly disappointed but using the SE with my typical quarantine workload of heavy Bluetooth audio streaming, frequent phone calls and basically constant social media, email and Slack and Telegram usage, it actually got me through a 15 hour day. About five of which were spent with the screen on.

Guys, that's really not bad for a phone this small. It's substantially better than the Pixel 4 was, even at launch. And now that endurance will of course go nowhere but down over time, especially as you wander out in the real world between varying levels of cell coverage and I do wish Apple included a fast charger here. But folks, it's a $400 phone. Actually, let's call this a $450 phone.

Yeah, my last consideration is storage and I joined my buddy, Rene Ritchie, in recommending that you spring for the middle of the road model if you do buy the SE. Because the kind of people who hold onto yesterday, they're the kinda people who need a phone to hold up for a long time and 128 gigs of storage will do that a heck of a lot better than 64 gigs. So if all the foregoing sounds good to you and what you need is a replacement for your iPhone 7 or older, one that frees you from your battery belt umbilicals, the new iPhone SE is your absolute best option. Even if what we're really talking about is a $450 iPhone. For more on the iPhone SE, let me point you to Rene Ritchie's videos for the kind of in-depth Apple analysis that only he can provide.

Also my buddy, David Imel, over at Android Authority has a nice examination of the camera tech at work here. Full disclosure, he's also one of my roommates. Would you shut up I'm on the phone! - No you're not. - Um, you're? I don't know. - It's true I'm faking it.

- You are not on the phone. - More important disclosure, this review was produced following one week with an iPhone SE purchased by MrMobile. Now, I don't do paid reviews and I don't allow the subjects of those reviews to preview or alter my copy in any way. That means Apple is seeing this for the first time right alongside you. Please subscribe if you'd like to see more videos like this on YouTube.

Until next time, thanks for watching. Stay safe, stay home and in spirit if not in practice, just yet. Stay mobile my friends. (whimsical music).

Source : MrMobile [Michael Fisher]