Apple iphone se 16gb which model. Review of the smartphone Apple iPhone SE: bigger is not better. The big advantage of iOS is that the system requires a minimum of memory

4 inches, YEAH! What could be better?

Why I Wanted an iPhone SE

Arthur: when i sold in 2014 year iPhone 5s and bought an iPhone 6, I realized I made a big mistake going from 4 to 4.7 inch display... I do not strive for large diagonals, I like compact gadgets.

I was not used to the huge "six", so I did not update for the next S-generation.

Then Apple announced iPhone SE filled with iPhone 6s, but in a 5s case. And my joy knew no bounds. I decided to buy myself one by all means.

I went to France. But you can take it in Moscow

I figured that if you take the phone at the start of sales in France, then I save 7000 rubles. after Tax Free refund. At that time, no one in Moscow offered to pre-order the iPhone SE, so I didn't lose anything.

But in fact there was a second reason to take a plane ticket: I had never been to Paris.

So it was necessary right away two SE.

And finally, our daughters study French at school, so speaking practice will only benefit them. It was decided to travel with the whole family, renting an apartment through Airbnb near the Apple Store.

While I was in Paris waiting for the start of sales, Nikita Goryainov also took SE - but in Moscow.

Most noticeable experience: they improved the camera

For those who do not believe, I made a direct comparison - below.

I activated the iPhone right in the store to take pictures on the way home with a 12 megapixel camera and compare with the iPhone 6, which has only 8 megapixels. See the results below.

Sliders in pictures can be moved. Unfold iPhone to a horizontal position.

It's hard to tell the difference on the web, although it is. Definitely in favor of SE.

Both smartphones shoot at their best, but the SE has five advantages.

At first The SE has Retina Flash for selfies when the face is illuminated by the screen: the controller increases the brightness of the screen three times compared to normal. At the beginning of the process, the screen lights up in a bright white color, after which it changes its hue to amber.

In the end, you get perfect shot with realistic color reproduction and natural skin tone.

Secondly, high-speed focusing system (Focus Pixels) made it easy mega-piece! Focuses five times faster than iPhone 6. The difference is enormous.

Thirdly, the SE camera produces less noise. It can be seen in direct comparison, as below.

Fourth, SE camera does not stick out !!! YAHOO! Down with humps.

What was in the box: charging, lightning cable, paper clip, 3.5-pin headphones. Standard set.

What about performance: I can see the difference with the iPhone 6, it cannot be denied. No wonder that in iPhone tests SE even beat the iPhone 6s.

With the same hardware, a smaller SE diagonal consumes less processor resources. This means that everything works a little faster than on Apple's flagship smartphone.

My only quibble: it is a pity that Apple did not provide a 128GB version. I had to take 64. The maximum memory size is available only on board the 6s / Plus flagships. Market laws!

Love is when 5s + 6s

How I missed a 4-inch phone! It's hard to understand until you can match it. It's one thing when you compare it to an old pipe. And it is completely different when both work at the flagship level.

This is my new iPhone, and now I say goodbye to the six.

In my opinion, SE is perfect phone with . If you want something more, I get it iPad mini 2.

There seems to be no excitement, but in fact, everything is much more interesting. The new iPhone is primarily followed by real Apple fans, and not bystanders. There are fewer of us, but we know what's what.

iPhone SE in Moscow. Five impressions

Nikita: picking up the French mouthpiece from Arthur while unboxing my own iPhone SE.

He came to me literally 10 minutes ago, so I quickly finish writing these lines and go to test. The guys from Onlyphones brought it - mega-aspect.

I want to say right away that this phone is not intended for those who bite into golden 12-inch MacBooks, buys 100,500 dull straps Apple Watch and generally takes "epl" only because it is fashionable.

This smart one is for those who remember what Apple was like under Jobs. No shovels, Samsung killers. Only really handy smartphone who can absolutely all.

1. It is very small. Whoa.

As a 6s Plus owner, I'm shocked. What a miniature keyboard, it's easy kick-ass... How to print on it? Though…

Muscle memory can not be fooled, in the end I never missed while entering personal data with the initial setting. The screen, by the way, due to its size seems to be clearer than that of sixes.

I used it for about 20 minutes at the time of this writing. So I take Plus in my hands and think. Still, it was good when there were no shovels. But for two years we have no choice, if you want a "top" -smart, you have to take a huge one.

Thank you, Apple is now the choice there is.

2. He flies. Because inside the "flagship"

I have an iPhone 5s next to me for comparison. So, the difference is cosmic. It was best described by my colleague Mikk:

After the iPhone SE, the "old" iPhone 5s seems to be a Chinese counterfeit on a crooked Android.

It turns out that the animation of the desktop, including the search bar, may not slow down. All menus open without a single hint of lag. Apps fly no"Pensive" screens.

The difference is obvious. No need to look at back panel to see which of the "five" is new: you just take it, unlock it and understand everything without unnecessary movements.

2 gigabytes of RAM do their job. I predict the iPhone SE's life cycle of 3-5 years without big problems for the owner. Give this term to current iPhone 6 users, and you will hear a sob and a crunch in response.

3. One hand is enough.

First world problems, right? It’s funny how it happened: at first Apple taught us to love shovels, and now it reminded us that life was no worse before.

When you can do absolutely everything on a smart phone, without "tossing" it in your palm, without moving, without stretching your fingers to the far corner, you understand why Jobs fought so hard for small screens and did not let Apple release Plus during his lifetime. This is great, and there is nothing to add here.

I do not pretend to be true, but it seems to me that SE is doomed to become a hit not only among connoisseurs of Apple technology, but also among practical girls. A small smartphone is fucking convenient. And if also pink... well, you get the idea.

Unlike Arthur, I have not dared yet to take and make SE my main phone. The screen is half the size, it will take some getting used to. It would be another matter if I hadn’t taken Plus initially, but stayed on my once-beloved "top five". Then, sorry, now would be pure ecstasy.

4. He seems to be weightless.

I usually wear the 6s Plus along with the branded silicone case. So, I picked up SE now and realized how much the shovel is heavy in comparison with the novelty.

This is how to compare fluff and a kilogram of potatoes... Yes, you can carry potatoes at least all day without problems, but if they weighed like a fluff, no one would be upset.

The difference between the iPhone SE and 6s Plus (in a case) is exactly twofold. But at the same time, SE can do everything that 6s can. As they said in a well-known advertisement, if the result is the same, why carry more?

5. The design is not outdated. I missed.

All iPhones in the "five" case look like jewelry. Jonathan Ive directly spoke about this at one time: they say, we made this body, trying to give it the features of precious jewelry.

Gold does not age, and neither does silver. This aluminum brick does not seem thick, does not seem uncomfortable. It only bumps into the hand a little - an unusual feeling after 2 years of owning a "six".

But when you put both on the table, you instinctively think: after all SE looks more expensive... No more expensive than gadget like a "fancy thing" - but more expensive, like a good thing.

It is clear that all these are purely visual moments, and the design of the "six" is still awesome. But jewelry magic is absent in it. Whether SE.

My final opinion

This is the number one smartphone for those who stopped believing in Apple and remained on the "five". The rest will begin to think the same when they hold it in their hands - and will remember with nostalgia how it was comfortable more recently.

iPhone SE can be taken simply for the fact that it personifies the best what the Cupertinians have managed over the years. Breakthroughs in hardware, metal in the case, stylish and slightly elite design.

Yes, lovers of fashionable new spillikins will not fall for it. Another celebrity will not be able to show them social networks... You will not flaunt them at every step, showing that you are "a fashionable person with a new Apple product."

Because this smart - for those who are in the subject... I wiped away a tear and went to use it. Good luck to all.

P.S .: how Arthur "stood in line" in Paris

Remembering my standing in the Munich line, I decided to spend the night at home, and in the morning go to the very opening of the store.

After going through the security of the Carrousel shopping center, turning out all the pockets, showing that I was not wearing belts, grenades, RPGs, promising not to wear hats, hoods, bandanas, scarves on my head, I stood on the escalator and became sad.

A line of several hundred people zigzagged around the hall between the columns, leaving in the direction of the Apple Store. Well, I think they did. Okay, at least I'll write a report, talk to the sellers, take pictures of the happy owners of the iPhone SE.

And suddenly it turns out that this line is at one of the entrances of the Louvre.

At the Apple Store no one... Maybe I got the wrong date?

I go inside, I ask, do you sell new iPhones? Yes, yes, they answer me, how old are you?

The purchase took me exactly 5 minutes. They brought me checks for Tax Free and told me where the nearest refund point was.

Sellers have payment terminals on their belts with iPhones as a computer... You can insert a card into this thing, it is also a barcode and QR code scanner, and special software allows the seller to quickly drive in the data of the new owner, a passport and send the information for printing.

And where queue, I ask? They answer me: it will not be, because the iPhone SE allegedly " not big launch". Indeed, not a single poster with the image of the novelty hangs on the windows or on the walls.

Apple, what are you doing? Doesn't sound like you.

With the release of the iPhone SE, Apple played into the hands of 5 / s accessory makers. It is difficult to imagine how many previously unsold goods immediately appeared on the shelves, including covers, bumpers, and batteries.

Accessories for "fives" are much cheaper than for subsequent generations of iPhones - what a profit to everyone!

For some reason, the iPhone with the filling from 2015 and the design of 2012 was greeted surprisingly warmly. In the comments to publications about the new device, there is a sudden census of potential buyers and people who have been waiting for such a device from Apple. And amid all this delight, one can hear the screams of those who are almost tearing their hair out because of the purchase of the terrible iPhone 6s instead of the improved "five". To be honest, I don't believe all this excitement will be converted into purchases. Whoever says anything, but in our country the image component is very important - many will not want to pay 38 or 48 thousand rubles for a smartphone and in the eyes of others look as if they have not saved up money for a six in three years.

However, these are my abstract judgments. It is much more interesting to pay attention to the fact that the iPhone SE is nowhere near as cool as it seems to quickly appeared fans of this model. Fundamentally wrong is the thesis that this smartphone is the filling of the current flagship, packed in a time-tested convenient and compact body... More precisely, the iPhone SE got a smaller part of the new technologies used in iPhones. lineup 2015 year. Read on and stop regretting that you bought an iPhone 6s before the iPhone SE comes out.

1. Design

My main gripe with the iPhone SE is design. Such a smartphone case was presented three and a half years ago, in September 2012. Assuming that new model will be relevant for another year, and after that for six months or even a whole year it will remain on sale as the most affordable Apple smartphone or will be sold as refurbished models, the life cycle of this design will be at least five years. This is too much for the mobile market. Of course, Apple is forgivable a lot, and the design of the iPhone is rightfully considered one of the best in the mobile market, but this is not a reason to abuse the position. If we draw an analogy with models from other manufacturers, the situation seems absurd. At five years old life cycle design now "at the end" could be sold Samsung Galaxy S2, Nexus S and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc - all under Android 6, with an updated processor and a quality camera. But it’s unlikely that you would line up for them.

2. Screen

You're wrong if you think the iPhone SE has the same cool screen as the 6s, but without a pressure sensitive layer. Apple has not changed the screen at all compared to the iPhone 5s, so the image quality is inferior to current models. The display contrast of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus is 1400: 1 and 1300: 1, while the iPhone SE is only 800: 1. In addition, there are no dual-domain pixels for wider viewing angles and no extra strong protective glass new generation.

3. Touch ID

The iPhone SE didn't get the second-generation fingerprint scanner. This means that the speed and accuracy of recognition, which seemed cool in the iPhone 5s, now feel mediocre compared to the competition. It is difficult to say why Apple decided to use an outdated component, but the fact remains: there can be no question of unlocking a smartphone at lightning speed.

4. Front camera

The main camera on the iPhone SE does not lag behind the iPhone 6s, but the front-facing module has not been improved. If you often take selfies, you will have to be prepared for a resolution of 1.2 megapixels versus 5 in sixes and aperture of ƒ / 2.4 versus ƒ / 2.2. And also the front iPhone camera SE does not support automatic switching on HDR when filming.

5. Network connection

Modules wireless(LTE and Wi-Fi) in the iPhone SE have become better than in the iPhone 5s, but they still fall short of the “sixes”. The new smartphone did not get support for LTE-Advance, as well as multi-streaming Wi-Fi data MIMO. This cannot be called a significant omission, but the fact remains.

As a result, I can say this about the iPhone SE: this is an excellent smartphone for almost all markets except for the Russian one. It is suitable for the undemanding older generation, budget-conscious students and conservative users who do not want to get used to large screens. But because of the course in our country, the cost of the device starts at 37,990 rubles, which is indecently expensive for a model with a design in the fall of 2012. If Apple made the iPhone SE look like a "six" or mixed design decisions from different generations, it would be much easier to accept the high price for itself. But since we have to put up with the new economic reality, I recall more than a dozen excellent Android smartphones that deserve attention and are cheaper than the iPhone SE. We'll talk about this soon.

Like many of Apple's announcements over the past few years, the announcement of the iPhone SE has become both expected and unexpected. Expected - in terms of a general idea: everyone was ready for Apple to release more cheap smartphone with a small display diagonal. The surprise was that the body of the novelty turned out to be exactly identical to the iPhone 5s, and the hardware characteristics, on the contrary, were inherited from the iPhone 6s, the current flagship of Apple.

Let's take a look at the characteristics of the novelty.

Specifications Apple iPhone SE

• SoC Apple A9 1.8 GHz (2 x 64-bit cores, architecture based on ARMv8-A)
• GPU Apple A9
• Apple M9 motion coprocessor including barometer, accelerometer, gyroscope and compass
• RAM 2 GB
• Flash memory 16/64 GB
• No memory card support
• Operating iOS system 9.3
• Touch display IPS, 4 ″, 1135 × 640 (324 ppi), capacitive, multitouch
• Cameras: front (1.2 Mp, 720p video) and rear (12 Mp, 4K video)
• Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n / ac (2.4 and 5 GHz; MIMO support)
• cellular: UMTS / HSPA / HSPA + / DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41
• Bluetooth 4.2 A2DP LE
• Touch ID Fingerprint Scanner
• NFC (Apple Pay only)
• 3.5mm stereo headset jack, Lightning dock
• Li-polymer battery 1624 mAh, non-removable
• GPS / A-GPS, Glonass
• Dimensions 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
• Weight 113 g (our measurement)

For clarity, let's compare the characteristics of the novelty with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 5s (since it is he who is being replaced by the novelty), as well as with the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact - this is perhaps the main iPhone competitor SE for now.

* according to the manufacturer's information
** our dimension

The table clearly shows that, with the exception of the screen, dimensions and battery capacity, the characteristics of the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE are identical. But there is no option with 128 GB of internal memory, which, of course, is a minus (especially considering the possibility of shooting in 4K). In turn, the dimensions and screen make the new product akin to the iPhone 5s, but all other parameters have become much more advanced. Even the battery capacity has increased, although the case is the same.

When it comes to comparison with the Android rival, things are not so simple here. In almost all specifications, Apple devices lag behind, but as we have seen many times, this may not be directly reflected in actual performance and other user qualities. So let's proceed directly to testing.

Packaging and equipment

The packaging of the iPhone SE is much closer to the iPhone 6s than to the iPhone 5s. This is evidenced by the overall light color scheme and the picture on the smartphone screen.

The complete set of Apple smartphones has not contained any surprises for a long time. The novelty is no exception. Here are EarPods, enclosed in a beautiful box, leaflets, Charger(5V 1A), Lightning cable, stickers and SIM cradle eject key.

Design

Now let's look at the design of the iPhone SE itself. The first emotion when you take it out of the box: my God, how small and, at the same time, plump!

In fact, the dimensions of the novelty are exactly the same as those of the iPhone 5s. Down to a millimeter. However, in the two and a half years that have passed since the release of the iPhone 5s, we have become accustomed to the thinner and, of course, to the significantly larger screen. No wonder the same Sony model Compact has a diagonal of 4.6 inches. And the Chinese have already stopped releasing smartphones less. So four inches looks like a frank throwback.

But this is exactly the case when the opinion of technologists does not coincide with the opinion of many ordinary users among which the iPhone 5s is still popular. And while some of them have this due solely to financial reasons, others simply prefer compact models. The iPhone SE is focused on them.

As a matter of fact, there are only three design differences from the iPhone 5s. The first is the new color Rose Gold. We have seen this color in all the latest generation of Apple's mobile innovations, but now it is available on a compact smartphone. The girls will surely be delighted. Not only is it beautiful in itself, it also emphasizes that you do not have some old iPhone 5s, but the very novelty. That being said, three other color options (gold, dark gray and silver) are also available.

The second design element that has undergone changes compared to the iPhone 5s is the branded bullseye. Now it is not pressed into the metal of the surface, but is made of glossy metal as an independent block, inserted into the body and slightly recessed - like in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. It looks exquisite, but, in essence, this is such a trifle that you can hardly catch your eye, if you do not look carefully.

Finally, the last detail to avoid confusing the iPhone SE with the iPhone 5s is the letters SE right below the word iPhone on the back of the device. However, obviously, this in no way affects the perception of design. The rest of the smartphones are absolutely identical: the material, location and shape of the buttons, connectors - everything is exactly like the iPhone 5s. As a plus, we note that although the camera is much better here, it does not protrude above the body at all (as it is implemented in all iPhones with a six in the name).

An interesting question is which version of the Touch ID fingerprint scanner is installed in the smartphone. As we remember, the iPhone 6s / 6s Plus debuted a new version scanner that works faster and more accurately. The owners of these models know that it is enough just to quickly touch your finger and immediately pull it back, so that the smartphone has time to recognize the owner. Since Apple does not provide details on the Touch ID version in the iPhone SE, we tested this with a simple comparison - pressing the Home button on the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone SE at the same time. The result is unambiguous: the fingerprint scanner in the iPhone SE is slower. That is, apparently, here it is the same as in the iPhone 5s.

In general, the design of the iPhone SE can be called a time-tested classic (although it looks somewhat archaic against the background of modern devices, even in the middle segment). Two cosmetic innovations - a new color and a differently executed logo - do not affect the overall impression. In terms of looks, we are just looking at the iPhone 5s. No more and no less, no better and no worse.

Screen

The screen parameters of the iPhone SE do not differ from those of the iPhone 5s: 4-inch diagonal, IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1136 × 640. By modern standards, it is very small: both the diagonal and the resolution (it is difficult to find less than 720p even in the mid-budget segment).

It is also important that iPhone screen SE does not support 3D Touch technology.

However, specifications and the presence or absence of additional technologies is just the tip of the iceberg. Alexey Kudryavtsev, editor of the "Projectors and TV" section, conducted a comprehensive examination of the quality of the iPhone SE screen.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface, resistant to scratches. Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are better than those of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected in the turned off screens (on the left - Nexus 7, on the right - Apple iPhone SE, then they can be distinguished by their size):

The screen of the Apple iPhone SE is slightly darker (brightness in photographs is 104 versus 110 for the Nexus 7). The doubling of reflected objects in the Apple iPhone SE screen is very weak, which indicates that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen (more specifically, between the outer glass and the surface of the LCD matrix) (OGS type screen - One Glass Solution). Due to the smaller number of boundaries (such as glass / air) with very different refractive indices, such screens look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in case of cracked outer glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be changed. On the outer surface of the screen there is a special oleophobic (grease-repelling) coating (effective, but still not better than the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are much easier to remove, and appear at a slower rate than in the case of regular glass.

With manual brightness control and with the display of the white field on the whole screen, the maximum brightness value was about 610 cd / m², the minimum - 6 cd / m². The maximum brightness is very high and, given the excellent anti-glare properties, readability even on a sunny day outdoors will be ensured. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable value. In the presence of automatic brightness control by the light sensor (located to the left of the front speaker). In automatic mode, when the ambient light conditions change, the screen brightness both increases and decreases. The operation of this function depends on the position of the brightness adjustment slider - the user can try to set the desired brightness level for the current conditions, but we cannot predict what brightness will be in other conditions and simply when changing and returning the ambient light level back. If nothing is touched, then in complete darkness, the automatic brightness adjustment function reduces the brightness to 6 cd / m2 (too dark), in an office illuminated with artificial light (about 400 lux), the brightness rises to 100-140 cd / m2 (normal), in in very bright environments (equivalent to bright outdoor daylight, but no direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or slightly more) is set to 500 cd / m² (this is sufficient). We were more satisfied with the variant obtained after several attempts to correct the brightness in various conditions, while for the three conditions indicated above, we got 8, 115 and 600 cd / m². It turns out that the automatic brightness adjustment function works more or less adequately, and there is some opportunity to adjust the nature of the brightness change to the user's requirements, although there are not obvious features in its work. At any brightness level, there is no significant modulation of the backlight, so there is no screen flickering (or rather, at the minimum brightness there are very narrow peaks with a frequency of 50 Hz, but the flicker was still not noticed even with great effort).

V this smartphone a matrix of the IPS type is used. The micrographs show the typical IPS subpixel structure:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of photomicrographs of screens used in mobile technology.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift, even with large gaze deviations from the perpendicular to the screen and without tint inversion. For comparison, we present photographs in which the screens of the Apple iPhone SE and Nexus 7 display the same images, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to about 200 cd / m2 (along the white field in the entire screen, on the Apple iPhone SE this corresponds to 60% brightness at using third-party programs), and the color balance on the camera is forcibly switched to 6500 K. Perpendicular to the screens is a white field:

Note the good uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field. And the test picture:

Color balance differs slightly, color saturation is normal. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen:

It can be seen that the colors did not change much on both screens and the contrast remained at high level... And a white box:

The brightness at an angle at the screens decreased (at least 5 times, based on the difference in exposure), but in the case of the Apple iPhone SE, the drop in brightness is slightly less. The black field, when deviated along the diagonal, is lightened weakly and acquires a light red-violet tint. The photos below demonstrate this (the brightness of the white areas in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the screens is about the same!):

And from a different angle:

When viewed from a perpendicular view, the uniformity of the black field is good:

Contrast (approximately in the center of the screen) is normal - about 760: 1. The response time for the transition black-white-black is 20 ms (11 ms on + 9 ms off). The transition between gray tones of 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes 25 ms in total. The gamma curve, plotted using 32 points with equal intervals in terms of the numerical value of the shade of gray, did not reveal a blockage in either the highlights or the shadows. The exponent of the approximating power function is 1.93, which is below the standard value of 2.2, so the image is slightly lightened. At the same time, the real gamma curve deviates little from the power dependence:

The color gamut is almost equal to sRGB:

Apparently, the matrix filters mix the components to each other to a moderate extent. The spectra confirm this:

As a result, the colors visually have a natural saturation. The balance of shades on the gray scale is good, since the color temperature is slightly higher than the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of the absolute black body (ΔE) is less than 10, which is considered an acceptable indicator for a consumer device. At the same time, the color temperature and ΔE vary little from shade to shade - this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of the color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since the color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Like in, the iPhone SE has a feature Night shift, which makes the picture warmer at night (how much warmer - the user indicates). The graphs above show the values ​​obtained with the middle position of the parameter slider Color temperature(by the way, correct - "color temperature"), when shifting all the way to Warmer and to Colder(charts are signed in the appropriate way). Yes, the color temperature drops, which is what is required. A description of why such a correction can be useful is given in the referenced article on iPad Pro 9.7. Anyway, when having fun with mobile device looking at night, it is better to lower the screen brightness to a minimum, but still comfortable level, and only then, to calm your own paranoia, turn the screen yellow by setting Night shift.

Let's summarize. The screen has a very high maximum brightness and has excellent anti-reflective properties, so the device can be used outdoors without any problems, even on a sunny summer day. In complete darkness, the brightness can be lowered to a comfortable level. It is also permissible to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works more or less adequately. The advantages of the screen include an effective oleophobic coating, no air gap in the layers of the screen and no flicker, high stability of black to deviation from perpendicular to the plane of the screen, good uniformity of the black field, as well as sRGB color gamut and good color balance. There are no significant shortcomings. It is arguably the best display among small screen smartphones at the moment.

Performance and heating

The iPhone SE runs on the same Apple A9 SoC as the iPhone 6s. This means that there is also an Apple M9 coprocessor, which provides support for the voice unlock function (with the command “Hey Siri!”).

It is important that the CPU frequency of the iPhone SE is not reduced. We described the SoC details in the article about the iPhone 6s, so we will not repeat ourselves and go straight to testing. In addition to the main hero of testing, we included the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 5s in the table, since our main tasks are to understand whether there are any differences in performance of the iPhone SE in comparison with other smartphones based on Apple A9, and also how much faster the new product is than iPhone 5s. As for the comparison with Android rivals, then, as we found out earlier, Apple A9 is still the leader, so there is simply no point in such a comparison in the case of the iPhone SE.

Let's start with browser benchmarks: SunSpider 1.0.2, Octane Benchmark, Kraken Benchmark, and JetStream. We used the Safari browser everywhere.

The result is predictable: we see an approximate parity of the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s Plus, as well as a huge superiority (three to four times) over the iPhone 5s. We emphasize that some error could be given by different versions operating systems and browsers, so the slight difference between the two Apple A9 smartphones shouldn't be confusing.

Now let's see how the iPhone SE performs in Geekbench 3 and AnTuTu 6 - multi-platform benchmarks. Alas, we do not have results for the iPhone 5s, because at the time when we had it for testing, AnTuTu did not support iOS at all, and Geekbench was available in previous version... Therefore, you will have to be content with the results of the latest smartphones.

Here is a stranger result: a slight, but still present, superiority of the iPhone SE over the iPhone 6s Plus in Geekbench, as well as, on the contrary, a lag in AnTuTu, draws attention.

The last group of benchmarks is dedicated to GPU performance testing. We used 3DMark, GFXBench Metal (in the case of the iPhone 5s, the results are from a simple GFXBench) and Basemark Metal.

Recall that Offscreen tests are displaying a 1080p picture regardless of the actual screen resolution. And Onscreen tests are displaying an image in the resolution that matches the device's screen resolution. That is, the Offscreen tests are indicative from the point of view of the abstract performance of the SoC, and the Onscreen tests - from the point of view of the comfort of the game on a specific device.

As we can see, even the most resource-intensive 3D scenes do not cause any problems for the iPhone SE. Here, of course, it's not only the SoC, but also the low screen resolution. Hence the difference with the iPhone 6s Plus in Onscreen modes. Curiously, in Offscreen mode, the larger model is slightly superior to the compact newcomer. But the user doesn't care about that. The main thing for him is that any games on the iPhone SE will just fly.

Next test: 3DMark. Here we are interested in the Sling Shot Extreme and Ice Storm Unlimited subtests.

The significant superiority of the iPhone 6s Plus over the iPhone SE in the most severe Sling Shot Extreme test looks rather strange. It would be logical to assume that the GPU of the cheaper iPhone runs at a reduced frequency. And this looks like a completely logical decision, since at a significantly lower screen resolution, the load on the GPU becomes lower.

Finally - Basemark Metal.

And here is a similar picture, which reinforces our assumption made above. But despite the small loss of the iPhone 6s in points, the iPhone SE demonstrated significantly higher frames per second during the test - from 38 to 45, while the iPhone 6s Plus barely jumped over the border of 30 fps. Therefore, even a game of this level will not be a problem for the iPhone SE.

One more thing to note: during testing in Basemark Metal, the iPhone SE got very hot. Below is a thermal image of the rear surface taken after two consecutive runs (approximately 10 minutes of operation) of the Basemark Metal test:

It can be seen that the heating is localized in the upper right part of the device, which, apparently, corresponds to the location of the SoC microcircuit. According to the heat chamber, the maximum heating was 44 degrees (at an ambient temperature of 24 degrees), this is already very noticeable.

The iPhone 6s Plus has significantly less heating in the same test (more precisely, it is localized in one place, so the smartphone can be comfortably held in your hands). Consequently, although the performance of the iPhone SE is more than enough for any games, and will be enough for another two years, playing really resource-intensive applications may not be entirely comfortable due to the high heat.

Cameras

The main camera of the iPhone SE is exactly the same as that of the iPhone 6s. We decided to check if the photo capabilities of the iPhone SE are really not inferior to the current Apple flagship! The examination was carried out by Anton Soloviev.

Like the iPhone 6s, the iPhone SE can shoot 4K video. And the quality of daytime shooting is very good. With night shooting, things are, of course, worse, but still it's not entirely horrible.

Here is a freeze frame from the first video taken during the day (you can click on a screenshot in its original resolution). And it even shows the number of a passing car, not to mention the details in the background!

As a minus, we note the lack of optical stabilization (it is still only in the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus), as well as the fact that the front camera of the iPhone SE has a resolution of only 1.2 megapixels and matches the quality of the iPhone 5s.

Autonomous work

Although the iPhone SE has a larger battery than the iPhone 5s, it is still inferior to the iPhone 6s and, even more so, the 6s Plus.

However, since the screen resolution of the iPhone SE is lower and the screen area is smaller, then the duration autonomous work The iPhone SE is roughly identical to the iPhone 6s. That is, with everyday rather active use, the device will have to be recharged every day, with moderately active use there is a chance that by the end of the day there will still be some charge left.

conclusions

The iPhone SE is arguably Apple's most boring smartphone, in both good and bad ways. There is no innovation here - neither in terms of design, nor in terms of features and hardware platform. In addition, there is nothing new here at all: it is just a hybrid of the previously released devices - iPhone 5s and iPhone 6s. From the first they took the design, screen, fingerprint sensor and front camera, from the second - SoC, RAM, communication capabilities and the main camera. Well, they added a new color - Rose Gold.

However, for those who are not buying innovations, but a device for everyday use, the iPhone SE may be the best choice, in an amicable way predictable. In the sense that when you buy this smartphone, you know exactly what you will get in the end. There are no pitfalls here, no surprises. Except that the overheating of the device in the most difficult 3D tests upset us a little, but, in fairness, we note that on the iPhone 5s, these tests, in principle, would not go well. So do not want to overheat - do not load the iPhone SE with games of this level (although they do not exist yet, the benchmark developers are ahead of the game developers).

And the main question that you need to answer to yourself before buying - are you ready to use a smartphone with a small (by today's standards) screen? Some will say: definitely not - let it be at least a super-flagship inside. Obviously, the iPhone SE won't work for these users. And someone will say: yes, I have always dreamed of a compact flagship! It is for such people that the iPhone SE is made. Considering that the price of the iPhone SE is 37,990 rubles for the 16GB version, while the iPhone 6s with the same memory will cost 19,000 more (a difference of one and a half times!), Such an offer seems really attractive. For comparison, the official Sony store sells the Xperia Z5 Compact for the same 37,990 rubles, despite the fact that its performance is lower, the screen is worse (see our testing), the design is less attractive (the body is noticeably thicker, plastic is used as the material, not metal). So for lovers compact smartphones and everyone who, in principle, does not mind a small screen, should pay close attention to the iPhone SE.

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review Apple smartphone iPhone SE:

It so happened that the company uses the same body and design for the third time. Perhaps this is not so bad, for the same iPad tablets and MacBook laptops this has been working for years. Although the margins around the screen are not very narrow, and in general, the phone does not look original, but its design still looks attractive, besides new iPhone All old cases and accessories from iPhone 5 and 5s will do.

As already mentioned, outwardly, the iPhone SE is similar to the "old" iPhones of the previous generation. Therefore, it looks a bit outdated - rather wide side frames, large margins at the top and bottom, which makes the phone seem stretched and too high. Together with the small diagonal of the display, this leads to the fact that the screen occupies 61% of the total surface area of ​​the device. On the front panel, you can note a round button with a fingerprint scanner and a peephole front camera- it is located exactly in the middle of the case. On Android smartphones, it is usually found in the corner, which makes it a little tricky to take selfies, at least close up. The only difference from the iPhone 5s is the SE letters on the back at the bottom of the case.

IPhone SE dimensions - 123.8 × 58.6 × 8 mm, weight - 113 grams. The smartphone seems just tiny after the giants with screens of 5 inches or more. But it is really convenient for one-handed operation, which is a rarity today. In this regard, the iPhone SE simply has no competitors among the top models, except for the larger Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and Sony Xperia Z5 Compact. So, the phone will be good for the gym or for getting it out of your pocket or bag on the subway, but inconvenient for movies, games and those who work on a smartphone a lot.

The design of the model, although not new, is quite attractive and self-sufficient. But still, because of the old case, the phone does not feel like a novelty, but as a bonus iPhone version 5s.

The Apple iPhone SE is available in four colors: Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold.

Display

The screen of the iPhone SE can be called clear and of high quality, but it has not undergone any significant changes compared to the same iPhone 5, so it no longer pulls the maximum rating.

This is the same famous Retina display with IPS-matrix and a resolution of 1136 × 640 pixels (pixel density - 326 per inch). Although its competitors on Android have long been an order of magnitude higher, but the screen is already clear enough, more, perhaps, is no longer needed. The display collects fingerprints, but not so actively, moreover, they are easily rubbed off. At the March presentation, everyone was surprised that the screen did not receive 3D Touch (pressure recognition), but we do not regret it very much. This is an interesting feature, but its absence can be easily survived. But what looks a little annoying is the display contrast of 920: 1, about one and a half times less than the larger iPhone models. This is a decent indicator, but it is comparable to the results, for example, of the budget. The color gamut is wide, covering 98% of the standard sRGB. The brightness range is impressive - from 8 to 540 nits. Color reproduction is fine, everything looks as it should be. The viewing angles are good, but AMOLED displays are wider, and the screen turns a little yellow at an angle. Another disadvantage is that it is not so convenient to watch movies, read books, work with mail, surf the Internet and play with toys from a small screen - in general, doing everything that many are already accustomed to doing on large screens.

Camera

The iPhone SE has an excellent 12MP rear camera, we can't call it the best, but it can easily replace your inexpensive camera on the go, what more could you want? Maybe a good front camera, but that's just a snag - it remains at the level of the iPhone 5s with a resolution of 1.2 MP.

The novelty perfectly shoots with the main camera. Along with the new resolution, new features have also appeared - this is support for "live" photos, shooting 4K video, Focus Pixels technology (fast focusing), automatic HDR and even a protective sapphire glass on the camera lens.

Using the camera is just as easy and simple - turn it on, point it and press the button. Although the interface still pleases with the transfer of the names of the modes (PANO-RAMA and SLOW-NO), nothing was done with this translation into Russian. Customization lovers will miss manual mode... Actually, like the settings as such - they are there, but there are few of them, and you cannot get into them directly from the camera application. So, to shoot 4K video, you need to go into the general settings of the phone and find the camera and resolution there - that's really, everything is easy and intuitive.

As for the photo quality, it is excellent, on the level of the iPhone 6s - the image looks natural, including skin tones. Shooting in low light is good, but it can't be called one of the best anymore.

One of the disadvantages of working with the camera is the small screen. Sometimes you need to look closely to see what exactly gets into the frame, and then poke around and look at what eventually turned out in the photo.

The front camera has remained without much improvement, it is needed, rather, for video calls or simple selfies with a low level of detail. However, the camera now supports Retina Flash - backlighting by briefly flashing the screen brightness.

Photos from the camera iPhone SE - 4.7

Photo from the front camera iPhone SE - 4.7

Working with text - 3.0

The phone has its own comfortable keyboard, it is easy to work with it, it is very responsive, but the screen is very small to easily and quickly type a lot of characters. There is no continuous input of text with a stroke (Swype), as well as markup of additional characters. There is a separate key to switch between languages, but after pressing it, you need another selection action from the list (for example, selecting a panel with emoticons). A predictive set and voice input... Unlike the iPhone 6s, the keyboard does not expand in landscape mode - there are no additional icons (for comma, period, and so on). If such a keyboard is not convenient for you, you can download another one from third-party developers.

Internet - 3.0

The Apple iPhone SE uses the proprietary Safari browser. It has quite typical functions, for example, an analogue of the private mode (the visited pages are not saved in the log, the search history and filling in the fields are not remembered), viewing full version site, bookmarks - nothing out of the ordinary. Note the convenient mode of reading pages (only text and a minimum of images) and the lack of auto-fitting of texts to the width of the screen. In the browser settings, you can select a default search engine, quick search for sites when typing an address, block pop-up windows, and save pages for reading them offline. If desired, Safari can be synced with desktop version browser for Mac.

Communications - 5.0

The Apple iPhone SE smartphone has received a top-end, but standard set of communications for the company:

• dual band Wi-Fi 802.11ac with Wi-Fi calling
• LTE with Voice over LTE support
• Bluetooth 4.2 with A2DP profile and energy saving
• NFC chip (only for Apple Pay)
• А-GPS with GLONASS support.

The phone supports one Nano SIM card. Fans of dual-SIM phones will have to settle for Android devices. A proprietary Lightning connector is used for charging and connecting to a PC.

Battery - 3.3

The battery life of the iPhone SE cannot be called high, but, as a rule, the phone is enough for a day of work without recharging. In addition, during the tests, it showed a noticeable increase in battery life compared to the iPhone 5s.

Purely nominally, the battery capacity was increased slightly - from 1560 to 1624 mAh. Nevertheless, the smartphone performed better in tests compared to the iPhone 6s. So, in the video test, the novelty lasted 7 hours and 30 minutes, comparable to the Huawei Honor 5X and an hour and a half more than the iPhone 5s. In music player mode, the iPhone SE ran out in 66 hours, a little longer than the Huawei P9, but less than most Android flagships. In other tests, the iPhone SE scored slightly above average. For example, an hour of work the benchmark GeekBench 3 put the battery down by 20% (during the same time it loses 15%). Shooting a 10-minute clip consumed only 6% of the battery. In 3D games, the result is average - minus 25% per hour. In reality, the device was enough for us for one day of work in an average load mode (an hour of video, browsing, working with mail, always-on Wi-Fi, several calls). It seems that such autonomy is enough, but many competitors work quietly the same day, even if they are very seriously loaded.

The bundled charger fully charges the phone in about 2 hours, not a bad result, but not surprising with such and such a small battery capacity. The iPhone SE has a power saving mode, but there are no such chips like wireless and fast charging, unlike many Android smartphones.

Performance - 4.7

The iPhone SE performance point could be one of the shortest in this roundup, it's the same as the iPhone 6s. It can be rated as the maximum - everything works quickly and without delays, it looks amazing for a small 4-inch phone.

The smartphone received 2 GB random access memory and a dual-core Apple A9 processor with a frequency of up to 1.84 GHz (like the iPhone 6s Plus). Formally, these characteristics look low, but in practice it faster than smartphones with eight or ten cores. In various benchmarks, the iPhone SE earns the following points:

• in GeekBench 3 - 4 407 points (iPad Air 2 got 4 529)
• in AnTuTu 6 - 120,507 (iPhone 5s is almost half the size)
• in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited - up to 29,349 (iPhone 6s was rated at 28,259)

It's funny, but in some tests it scores even better than the iPhone 6s due to the lower screen resolution.

Memory - 3.5

The internal storage of the iPhone SE is either 16 GB or 64 GB. At a time when all Android flagships have already switched to at least 32 GB, Apple is still stuck at 16. This is annoying, given that the system itself can take up a substantial share of the memory of the younger model. And if you shoot 4K video, then free place will clog very quickly.

As has always been the case with all iPhones, the storage capacity cannot be expanded with a memory card.

Peculiarities

Apple iPhone SE runs iOS 9.3. Features include a compact metal case, a fingerprint scanner, its own proprietary Lightning connector, an NFC chip (only for Apple Pay), 4K and slow-motion video shooting, as well as the absence of a memory card slot. Siri voice assistant now always listens to you, and the screen can flash as a backlight for selfies. We also call a singularity high speed and the reliability of the phone. Separately, we note the closed nature of the system - in order to download music or video to the iPhone SE, you will have to install proprietary software on your PC. Yes, the obligatory presence of such an intermediary seems like an inconvenient extra step, but it is not so long and difficult.

Best phone in the world? Yeah, of course. Results of the long test Apple iPhone SE

Apple iPhone SE - long-term test, experience of use

The smallest iPhone remains one of the best-selling devices for Apple. What exactly is the Apple iPhone SE and should you consider buying it? Here are the impressions after almost a year of using the smartphone.

The arrival of the Apple iPhone SE in 2016 was greeted with enthusiasm by fans and with a grin by skeptics.

The first ones were delighted with Apple's concern for those who remember the precepts of the great Steve Jobs and believe that the smartphone should be operated with one hand (which is impossible in the case of large screen diagonals).

The latter shouted that the future lies with large screens and that the attempt to “republish” the iPhone 5s with a new filling is doomed to failure.

Two years later, statistics show that the first were more likely to be right. The Apple iPhone SE remains one of the company's top-selling models in the world and therefore one of its key revenue streams.

Hence such a duration of life.

In 2017, the model received a minor upgrade. Versions with 16 and 64 GB of internal memory have disappeared from sale (only 32 and 128 GB are available). And the model is still on sale. And fans of small diagonals are promised Apple iPhone SE 2, according to rumors, there will be a design similar to a smaller copy of the Apple iPhone X.

In a word, the company intends to continue releasing a “small” smartphone, as it is in demand on the market.

It would seem that this is a paradox. In an era when all manufacturers (including Apple itself with a “ten”) strive to squeeze a screen of the largest possible diagonal into smartphones, why do you need a device with a frankly small screen?

Fans of the model have a simple answer to this question - Apple iPhone SE is the perfect dialer.

Jobs was right, they say, you need a smartphone that can be fully operated with one hand. And you can put up with a small diagonal, for serious work there are other devices, for example, tablets and laptops.

I have been using the Apple iPhone SE for about a year now as one of my mainstream smartphones. And here are the conclusions I came to.

Apple iPhone SE - what you liked

Dimensions (edit)

Well, of course, the most important feature of the Apple iPhone SE is the compact size of the smartphone. It seems like a toddler compared to typical modern smartphones.

At first, I often caught myself thinking that I was nervously feeling my pockets - “where did I put it” - because the smartphone is not felt on the go. Not like the usual "six" or "seven", which you unmistakably feel in your pocket.

The smartphone is really comfortable to use with one hand. This, in particular, allows you to type SMS while driving (just shhhh, don't tell anyone that I sometimes do that).

Connection quality

Seems like a strange point. The times when such a parameter as the quality of communication occupied an important place in phone reviews have passed ten years ago. Today, everyone seems to be making phones in which the interlocutor is well heard in any conditions.

But I can still note that the iPhone SE has a large headroom of the earpiece speaker and just excellent voice transmission. You can feel it when I return to the iPhone SE after a week with some mid-range “android”. Every day I talk several times with the same interlocutors (daughter, wife, etc.), the difference in voice transmission is felt.

Performance

The iPhone SE has the iPhone 6s stuffing, which seems to be not new hardware, but there are no complaints about the speed. Nothing slows down, does not lag.

Perhaps this impression is due to the fact that the iPhone SE does not really want to run "heavy" toys or do something complicated at all (see below).

Design

Especially left this item as a snack among the pluses. The design of the “five” is a classic. The smartphone looks great from any angle, it looks familiar (after all, it hasn't actually changed since 2012), but not overused. This is something akin to a Mercedes, although in the case of the iPhone SE - a very compact Mercedes.

The same game looks slightly different on iPhone 6s Plus (left) and iPhone SE

Apple iPhone SE - what did not like

Screen

It's funny, but the main plus of the Apple iPhone SE is its compact size, which is also its main drawback.

After any modern smartphone with a screen diagonal of more than 5 inches (which is 99% of modern smartphones), the 4-inch screen of the iPhone SE seems like a funny misunderstanding for any task other than choosing a number from the phone book.

The photo is not very convenient to view (you have to zoom all the time). When watching a video, you almost poke your nose at the screen to see everything. And I'm already silent about games, for example, my favorite Mahjong on a 4-inch screen is just torture for the eyes.

Of course, if you only use the iPhone SE and do not take other smartphones in your hands, then you get used to the size. But as soon as you pick up a phablet, you immediately understand what you are missing with a small screen diagonal.

Camera

The iPhone SE's camera is pretty average by today's standards.

Its main advantage is the speed of launching the camera application and being ready to shoot, as well as the speed of autofocus. The rest of the camera is not particularly happy. Photos taken with the iPhone SE have an unmistakable sense of "soap", in the sense that even the most successful shots do not raise the question "what was it taken?" The pictures are very "telephone".

Battery life

I do not want to say that the Apple iPhone SE does not work well. No, this is a typical "iPhone" that survives from morning to evening with fairly active use.

But if someone says that Apple iPhone SE is an ideal “dialer”, then I would like the battery life to be more.

Charging just a “dialer” every evening is a bit bummer.

Playing games on the Apple iPhone SE is also not very convenient. And the camera is downright mediocre by today's standards.

And typing on a small keyboard on a small screen is not very convenient.

In a word, Apple iPhone SE is suitable only for those who are really fixated on using the smartphone with one hand, and at the same time mainly use the telephone function in the smartphone. And nothing else (well, maybe another player).

But for those who only call, there are regular dialers that are much cheaper and last longer on a single charge. True, of course, they do not have sync with iCloud and "apple" on the back.

In general, to summarize, I can criticize the iPhone SE for a long time ... but I do not plan to part with it. And I'm waiting for the iPhone SE 2.

Here's a paradox. The Steve Jobs name paradox.