iPhone SE vs iPhone XR vs iPhone 11 — Buy This One! By Rene Ritchie

- Sponsored by Skillshare. The first 1000 of you who click on the link in the description will get two months of Skillshare premium for free. Okay. Real talk. I left my old corporate channel and started this all new indie channel where I make videos about Apple and related technology and culture almost every day. Because it's a new channel though you will have to subscribe again.

But just this once, thank you. Now Apple's got a brand new iPhone SE and it starts at just 399. That's way less than any of the current flagships including the iPhone 11 at 699. And even the previous generation, iPhone 10R at 599. But as anyone who watches this channel knows price is not the same as value.

So if you really do need to buy an iPhone right now, which new iPhone will give you the best value? I am Rene Ritchie, and this is the iPhone SE versus 10R versus 11. The original iPhone debuted a big screen, big forehead and hella big chin with a home button cleft right in the middle. And it stayed that way from 2007 to 2017, when Apple debuted the first full screen iPhone 10, no forehead, no chin and no home button like at all. The iPhone SE represents that previous decade of design. It looks classic, nostalgic, old and some people like things to look just exactly that way.

Because it's also familiar, almost comforting. Anytime you get lost in iOS or an app you can just press the home button and instantly jump back to the home screen. The iPhone 10R, iPhone 11 both have the new modern design. Full screen with the display stretching much closer to the edges and with a full on gesture navigation system that you can't really see. But if you get used to it, can be incredibly fast, fluid and flexible.

Now, this is gonna be one of the most subjective categories because some people hate change and others hate being bored. Some want the same, others want different, some want a place on the phone to rest their fingers without worrying about touching the screen and a visible home button. They cannot only feel but see. Others just wonna watch the world burn. And by world, I mean as much of the bezels off the front of the phone as absolutely possible.

So if you want that classic home button navigation and don't care like at all about the forehead and chin, you want the iPhone SE. But if you want that modern design and gesture navigation and the more expensive display you want the iPhone 10R or the iPhone 11. The iPhone SE uses touch ID. A biometric fingerprint identification system for more convenient authentication. That means when you've put your finger down on the home button, the capacitive ring triggers a photo of the ridges and swirls on your finger.

Turns that into math, sends it to the secure enclave compares it with the registered prints on file. And if it matches releases a token that unlocks your phone or app or approves your transaction. As long as your finger can reach the sensor, you can unlock it. Even if you're not looking at it, but you can't be wearing gloves. And it can be sensitive to moisture levels if your finger is excessively damp or dry.

The iPhone 10R, iPhone 11 use face ID. A biometric facial geometry scanner for the same convenient authentication. In this case, when you look at the front facing camera a dot projector, illuminator and infrared sensor combined to take a 3D snapshot of your face. Convert that data into math, sends it to the Secure Enclave uses a neural engine to compare it with the facial geometry on file. And if they match, releases the same kind of approval token.

As long as the front-facing camera can see your open eyes and nose, you can unlock, even if you're not touching it. But you can't be wearing polarized sunglasses or a master covers your nose. And it can be sensitive to direct sunlight blinding the sensor. All of these things on touch ID and face ID can be worked around, of course. But depending on how you live your life, one could be much more convenient and way less of a pain than the other.

When everything goes right face ID can seem almost invisible. You just pick up your phone or trigger Siri and it's already unlocked. But if something goes wrong and it can't clearly see your face, it can be frustrating. Touch ID always requires you to touch and press but when you do, it almost always just works. So if using a fingerprint is easier you gonna wonna use the iPhone SE.

But if scanning your face feels just effortless you gonna feel the iPhone 10R or 11. You just gonna stick it in a case anyway. No, you are just going to stick it in a case, anyway. I'm gonna keep my iPhone naked the way nature and Steve jobs intended. But yeah, I'm gonna stick it in a case at least sometimes.

And you know what? I'm still gonna see the actual phone color flashing me around the camera and ports. And damn if it's not gonna be in actual phone color I like. So the iPhone SE comes in white, black and product red. The iPhone 10R comes in those three core colors plus sky blue, yellow, and coral orange. The iPhone 11 again comes in the same core colors but the other options are yellow, lavender purple and mint green.

So if you're happy with white, black, or red you'll be happy with any of these iPhones. SE, 10R or 11. If you really, really want blue or orange you gonna have to add a few ticks in the iPhone 10R column. But if you're all about that purple or green then those ticks gotta go in the iPhone 11 column. Okay, so here's where things start to get interesting.

As classic as a new iPhone SE is on the outside it's all new under the hood. In other words, it has the exact same A13 bionic system on a chip, the same custom processor, graphics, neural engine, accelerator blocks and controllers as the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro. Not clock down, not cut out, not in any way. The same performance you get from the iPhone 11 you'll get from the iPhone SE, almost. The iPhone 11 has four gigabytes of memory.

The SE three gigabytes. The iPhone 10R has a previous generation A12 bionic. It's still one of the best chips that's on the market because Apple is still way ahead of the market. But it's just not quite as high performance or high efficiency as the iPhone SE or iPhone 11. So if you really don't care too much about one chip set generation the iPhone 10R will do you just fine.

But if you want not just maximum performance right now, but for that performance to last for as many years as possible you'll want the iPhone SE or the iPhone 11. And if RAM really, really matters to you you'll want the iPhone 11. Even though the chip set in the iPhone 10R is a year older and the chip sets in the iPhone SE and iPhone 11 are the same the battery life is a totally different story. Now, Apple doesn't give out milliamp hour data for their devices. Because like Yoda they just hate being "judge me by my size, do you?" They wonna be judged by the performance because if two devices have the same battery size but one last twice as long as the other that's the part that really matters.

So we get workload numbers instead. And according to Apple, the iPhone SE will tap out after about 13 hours of video playback. The 10R will go for up to 16 hours, the 11 all the way up to 17 hours. So if you're always close to a charger don't drive your phone too hard or battery life simply isn't a big stressor to you. iPhone SE should still see you through most of your day.

But if you do everything on your phone, including a lot of social networking and gaming, you need it to last as long as possible between charges and battery life is a big concern you'll want the iPhone 10R or the iPhone 11. And here's where it gets complicated. Because the iPhone SE cameras are all kind of complicated. Instead of throwing a ton of numbers at you, numbers you could just as easily read off a spec sheet I'm gonna try to keep things as simple as possible. The iPhone 10R has a really good single camera on the back.

Just not as good as the dual cameras on the back of the iPhone 11, which adds an ultra wide angle option. And probably not as good as the iPhone SE. Okay, the iPhone SE is a hybrid Kymera in terms of sensors and optics the physical parts that make up the camera hardware. It's like the wide angle on the iPhone eight but the image signal processor which is what applies everything from auto white balance to smart HDR is exactly like the iPhone 11 because A13 bionic. It's also got some new bits all its own, including and especially how it handles portrait mode on the front facing selfie camera.

It does quick video, but because of that sensor and those optics, it's also missing some things from the 11. Like slow feeds and yeah, sadly night mode. It does extended dynamic range video in 4K, but only up to 30 frames per second like the 10R Not 60 frames per second like the 11. My guess is, the iPhone SE will end up producing as good as if not slightly better photos and video than the iPhone 10R but not as good or as ultra wide as the iPhone 11. If you mostly just post on social media, Insta all the grams and tick all the talks or take photos and videos of your family and friends, but aren't too fussy about them you'll be fine with either the iPhone SE or iPhone 10R.

But if your phone is your primary camera and you know you can never go back in time and get better memories of your most important moments or you shoot professionally you gonna want the iPhone 11. Yes, the iPhone SE doesn't have the modern design. It doesn't have all the colors. It doesn't have the same battery life and it sure doesn't have the latest camera hardware but it does have the best chips that money can buy and a price tag that starts at just 399. that's $200 less than the starting price on the iPhone 10R and $300 less than the starting price on the iPhone 11.

Sure, you get what you pay for. Those extra few hundred bucks will buy you a more modern design, more color options, longer battery life, and on the iPhone 11 better camera systems front and back. Plus a few bells and whistles like the U1 ultra wide band chip that might be way more useful in the future. But sometimes you really don't have to pay a lot for what you really need. Those extra few hundred dollars could stay in your pocket or pay for other things that are even more important to you right now, like food or shelter.

So here's my bottom line. If you really can't decide or you really want the iPhone 11, but it's just out of reach the iPhone 10R is an okay middle ground. It's not as cheap as the SE or as good as the 11 but that's why it's still on the lineup. If you want a modern iPhone but you don't wonna pay anything more for it than you absolutely have to. But really, if you want the modern design, prefer face ID, want the best camera possible to go with the fastest chip set and longest battery life possible and still get one of the best deals available on that kind of package basically anywhere it's worth taking the iPhone 11 starting at 699.

And if you can throw in just 50 bucks more for the 128 gigabyte version. But if you prefer the classic design really want touch ID, are willing to compromise just a little on battery life and cameras but still want top-notch performance and future-proofing and the price really, really matters to you. The starting at 399 iPhone SE is the best or certainly one of the best deals in phones today. And again, if you can manage just 50 bucks more go for the 128 gigabyte version. Then use the extra money you saved on an Apple watch series three, 10.2 inch iPad or a set of AirPods and top any or all of them off with Skillshare. That'll get you Michael Phillips Director of Training at Blue Bottle showing you what it takes to brew an amazing cup of coffee right at home.

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So now hit like if you do, subscribe if you haven't already ring that bell guys if you want YouTube to actually tell you when new episodes go live and then hit the comments and let me know. iPhone 11, iPhone 10R, or brand new iPhone SE which one are you considering and why? Thanks for watching, see you next video.

Source : Rene Ritchie