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Power and software
Now, finally, let’s get to the real reason that we’ve given a 5-year-old design such a high score: it’s what’s inside that counts.
While I do strongly feel that the price of the iPhone SE 2022 is a little high for the average tech you’re getting on the outside, the innards tell a very different story.
As the camera samples show, there’s a whole heap more power being directed to the snapper and it’s giving far greater-quality photos as a result.
The battery life, while basically the same as before, is actually longer when you factor in that this phone can now run 5G.
And as you can see by the benchmark above: this is an iPhone 13 in all but frame, with a power rating that’s four times that of the phone from two years ago.
All this means that the new iPhone SE slips along with not a hint of slowdown – in fact, the hardest thing I found was just how cramped the screen and keyboard was to use, not that I couldn’t bounce between apps with ease.
Combine that with iOS 15.4, which is one of the easiest interfaces to use and master (and now I’ve really got to grips with the widgets and extra spaces to find your apps) it really feels like one of the best UIs for a smartphone out there.
I still don’t like the home button any more though.
Display
Right, let’s talk about how the screen on this new phone looks – it’s a 4.7-inch LCD that’s had very little change made to it since it was launched five years ago – if not earlier with the iPhone 7.
It’s a 760 x 1334 resolution, which is plentifully sharp enough, but it lacks the top-end features and vivacity of the OLED screens in the higher-end iPhone range.
It’s more washed out, lacks the high dynamic range (HDR) that really makes video pop and is also squished in by the big black borders top and bottom.
As you can see here, when comparing watching Avengers: Endgame on the two devices, you can see that there’s just more detail, brightness and color in the latter – plus you can fill more of the screen to get an immersive feel.
Right, commute home all sorted, bedtime completed, and a half hour phone conversation to Mr Beavis Snr who had all manner of things to talk through. Slack and a couple of spreadsheet looks also munched through the battery.
Battery life is down to 7%.
Good start to the live Tweet replies: until we get the teardown, we don’t know as Apple doesn’t publish this… but I expect the iFixit unveiling to happen soon.
I do expect it to be bigger than 1,821mAh, which the iPhone SE 2020 had, as Apple has increased the size of battery space inside the phone.
I’m currently on the train home, doing a spot of hotspotting. Down to 33% battery.
It’s time for Touch ID to die
I’m pretty sure I’m going to be quite unpopular for this opinion, but I think it’s time for the iPhone to lose Touch ID in its current form.
I know there are some people out there who just love the fingerprint scanner, but I’ve gone back to it in this test and I just don’t like it.
Firstly, the way one has to angle their fingers means that – especially if the phone is resting on the desk – you can’t always easily see your notifications.
Any wet fingers will mean you frustratingly can’t get into your phone. And if you’ve not set up all your fingers and thumbs (which, I admit, I could do if I wasn’t so lazy) you have to hold it in the right hand to unlock it. If you’re holding a baby, that’s not easy, let me tell you.
Face ID, on the other hand, is more secure, it allows you to just look at the phone on a desk and unlock notifications, and it’s far more easy to use.
I’ve not extensively tested iOS 15.4, which adds in face mask unlocking (although, a little bit later than needed), but if that works fine, then there’s not reason for the fingerprint scanner.
By all means, Apple, add it as an in-screen option as well as Face ID. That would be nifty and would keep things up with the top Android phones.
But as a standalone feature? I think it’s time for it to go.
Although it’s not really a useful comparison for most, I’ve pitted the iPhone 13 Pro Max camera, which has a three-sensor array for ultra-wide, normal and optical zoom photography (all 12MP) against the iPhone SE 2022, which has a single 12 MP sensor – but both are using the same chip to process photos:
That little bout of iPhone photography, which took around 25-30 mins, ate 10% of the battery. Since the last update, we’re down to 45%.
OK, I promise this is the last one as it’s become a little self-indulgent. This is some leafy-things at the bottom of a trough – I used the max digital zoom and you can see it’s not quite as impressive as on other cameras – but then again, they cost a lot more than $429.
Annoyingly I can’t remember if this filter was ’Vivid Warm’ or ‘Dramatic Warm’. It’s a pretty dramatic photo, so I assume the latter.
Best photo I took from my lunchtime walk, using the Vivid filter. Probably could sell this for hundreds.
Rate this picture of my Meal Deal over on Twitter.
This scene is with the sun shining directly on the sensor – the iPhone SE 2022 does a good job of trying to minimize it while keeping the cloud definition intact.
OK, this is more ‘look what smartphones can do’ rather than this camera – a Noir filter with the exposure turned down.
Sharp lines and high-contrast light levels are all captured easily – as you’d expect from a 12MP sensor with this much computational capability, really.
Biiiig metal thing. Good cloud definition in the background.
The iPhone SE 2022 has a pretty strong 7MP sensor on the front, and combined with the power of the A15 chip, it can take some decent selfies, even if the subject matter is just terrible. This is the phone in Portrait Mode first and then ‘standard’ selfie after:
One of the cool things that the iPhone SE 2022 takes from the higher-power iPhone series is the ability to use the Photographic Styles feature, which is like a filter but actually alters the image from the sensor itself, allowing users to create a warmer, cooler or higher-contrast filter and use it regularly.
OK, you got me, I didn’t take the stairs. But this is proof I’m using the phone.
What’s that? Can I do art? Can I do satire? Yes I can, and I can do it in the side kitchen while I eat an apple.
OK, you’ll all be incredibly excited to hear that I’ve just been on my lunch and have been using the trip to the local supermarket to do some snappy snapping photography to show how using the iPhone SE 2022 in the real world works.
Here’s the first picture – if this was a normal review I would have spent more time finessing the conditions to get a more useful set of photos, but this is raw, not-very-good-at-photography Gareth here for you.
Battery life down to 66%, last charged to 68% an hour ago. Has been sat in my pocket for that entire time during meetings, though.
Battery charging speed
OK, this isn’t going to surprise many of you, but I compared the iPhone SE 2022 with the iPhone SE from two years ago – same shape, different chipsets, likely different battery size.
As you can see, using the same 2.1A charger, I got the same uptick on both – a fast initial boost of power and then a slower charge to the full 100%.
Both of the phones will get to around 55-60% charge in 45 minutes, but it doesn’t appear that you’ll get a huge amount of power for 10 minutes’ charge, like you do with some current phones.
A little sojourn from the iPhone SE 2022, perhaps, but I’ve been sent the two new green iPhones (the 13 in the darker, almost ‘wet’ green, and the iPhone 13 Pro in Alpine green) and they look fairly smart.
Lance has gone in a bit more depth with them – check that out here to get a sense of how these new colors look.
Not necessarily relevant to the live blog, but here’s (from left to right): the iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. The iPhone 13 green still feels a bit much – but the Alpine 13 Pro is the best of the mix. pic.twitter.com/t8Esbd8mq2March 14, 2022
Design
There’s something quite… divisive about the iPhone SE 2022. My feeling is that any phone that doesn’t update in design in two years is falling rapidly behind the curve, and that’s the lingering feeling here.
However, there are many people that still aren’t in love with the idea of having an iPhone with an all-screen display, that they don’t like the notch, that they miss the fingerprint scanner.
To many, those that aren’t willing to explore the rich and varied world that Android devices have to offer, they don’t want to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a new iPhone – they just want familiarity that works.
That’s clearly what Apple is offering here, a throwback design in a familiar shape – but I feel like there could have been some design tweaks to make it better. It’s not enough to just call it a ‘familiar’ design and be done with it – making it a little thicker wouldn’t have been the end of the world and the battery life could have increased as a result.
Or maybe we could have seen the industrial design of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series – that might have given people a reason to upgrade.
Of course, if it sells well, then Apple won’t really care if the design is too dated – but I think people are going to be interested in the size of this phone, rather than the shape – and that means it’s a missed opportunity.
It is very thin and lightweight in the hand – perhaps almost too light, one might say, given the comforting weight that more glass and battery can offer.
But the screen – which I’ll dissect at more length in a moment – is easily reachable with a thumb across the whole display, and I think that’s worth celebrating.
An easier way to get into the Twitter-sphere if you want to join in with this live blog:
I’m currently live-blogging my findings with the new iPhone SE 2022 – if you’ve got any questions, ping me here and I’ll answer in the piece:https://t.co/3VVq9gbRdOMarch 14, 2022
Battery life
So let’s begin with the battery – the new iPhone SE doesn’t, outwardly, have any changed characteristics. It’s the same shell as before.
However, there’s a lot of hope that things are improved inside, as it appears that things have been redesigned to allow for more battery space, which is a must as this phone comes with 5G.
As we saw with the iPhone 12, this can be a real problem for battery life – Apple solved this in the iPhone 13, but the battery space needed to increase for the new iPhone SE, otherwise any 5G usage would have sucked down too much power.
Lance managed to get around 12 hours’ usage on the iPhone SE in his review, and I largely agree with that finding – and it’s a shame. The iPhone 13 series has really given us an iPhone that can last longer than 24 hours (especially the iPhone 13 Pro Max).
I’ve been experimenting with charging the iPhone SE (2022) at different times – for instance, I left it overnight on 52% charge, and 8 hours later it was down to just 47%.
That’s good, efficient power sipping on Wi-Fi.
Then I left for work, using it to stream audio, take a couple of pictures, download a video on 5G, (attempt) to watch said video if the ads hadn’t got in the way, and do some small spreadsheet viewing.
Four hours later, it had dropped around 35% of battery life through realtively hard usage – this, to me, is about right.
Over the course of my time with the phone, I definitely felt like I’d returned to ‘old iPhone’ battery, where it’s a bit slippy and makes you wonder where the charger is – it makes me feel like the iPhone 13 mini is a better buy (or even the larger models) if you care about longevity.
Initial thoughts
So, welcome to the live blog – let’s get cracking. I’ve been using this as my main device for the best part of the last week – here are my initial thoughts, and as I mentioned, do tweet if you’ve got anything you want to know:
- The design is super thin and lightweight
- Touch ID is nice to have, but actually feels a bit archaic
- Pictures are much improved over the SE 2020, despite no new hardware
- The screen is just… fine for the price
- Incredible power on board
That’s just a flavor though – I’ll have plenty more to say over the next few hours.
