I Still Love My iPhone SE Months Later

[CYKBC]

To me the SE is more future proof than the 7. Once the 8 comes out, 7 with its aged chassis is going to feel aged regardless of its innards.

SE still attractive with it being markedly more mobile than anything else in today's lineup.

 

[Thor_1]

To me the SE is more future proof than the 7. Once the 8 comes out, 7 with its aged chassis is going to feel aged regardless of its innards.

SE still attractive with it being markedly more mobile than anything else in today's lineup.

To be honest, I don't care about the chassis. Would I love for Apple to make it a little thicker and add battery, yes. That would be amazing. But for me it's what the phone does. If they have a proven chassis, I say run with it. They had issues with the first iteration of this chassis, bending, and are still having issues with the touch disease on that chassis.

 

[CYKBC]

To be honest, I don't care about the chassis. Would I love for Apple to make it a little thicker and add battery, yes. That would be amazing. But for me it's what the phone does. If they have a proven chassis, I say run with it. They had issues with the first iteration of this chassis, bending, and are still having issues with the touch disease on that chassis.

This post just lost all semblance of reason and logic. Good luck pal.

 

[Thor_1]

This post just lost all semblance of reason and logic. Good luck pal.

?

 

[yep-sure]

I've had my SE for about 2 months now and it's easily the best phone I've ever owned. Prior to the SE, the last iPhone I truly enjoyed was the iPhone 5. I loved the design and how fast that thing was on iOS 6. Since then, I had a 6 and a 6S before switching to the SE.

The 5/SE design is the best Apple have ever released. Obviously appearance is subjective, but durability, feel in hand, one handed use, and other simple things like the fact you can stand it on it's long side and watch a video, make the chassis superior to both the 6 and 7 series phones. The smaller form factor make it so much more portable, and having the power/lock button on top just feels so much more natural.

The speed of the thing is incredible. It's hard to imagine it ever going slow, although I'm sure it'll start to with iOS 11. On both 9 and 10, the thing flies.

The battery life is truely amazing. I feel like I finally have a phone that I can use however I want without having to worry about the battery. I listen to music on my phone a lot, e.g. the commute to work, and probably about 4-6 hours at work, then the commute home. I use it for emails, messages, phone calls, and heavy-medium internet browsing also throughout the day. Following this usage pattern, my 6S would be at about 30% by 11.30am. I had to have the bastard plugged in practically all day. With the SE, following the same usage trend, might be on 30% at 10.30pm at night without plugging in at all. On Thursday, I used it for 9.5 hours and had 16.5 hours of stand by at 10.30pm, and it was still on 27%. That anxiety of either not being able to use your phone much if you were going out afterwork, or finding a way to charge it before leaving the house/work just doesn't exist with the SE. You can rely on it 100% of the time to have enough battery to use it however you damnwell want.

When I now pick up a 6 or 7 series phone, it feels like a cheap, slippery toy. Which is exactly how the 6 first felt when I held one on launch day coming from an iPhone 5. It also feels comically large. When you re-adjust to the smaller device, you realise how you didn't need the large screen at all.

The only complaint I have about it is that it doesn't come in a size greater than 64gb. I really dislike having to be cautious each time I want to download an album off Apple Music.

I'll echo the comments of others in this thread that state that the SE is the only iPhone that's given me that "Apple" feeling since the iPhone 5 was released. I plan on using it until it dies, as I simply can't forsee any reason that I'll have to "upgrade" from it.

I also feel the same about my iPad Air 2 and 2013 Retina MacBook Pro. I dislike the direction Apple is taking with their recent product releases, and I feel lucky that I have, what seems like, some of the last remaining devices of the "old Apple" that I loved.

 

[thadoggfather]

The 9.7 pro is a good successor to air 2 in my opinion ^ but I see what ya mean overall

 

[addamas]

The same goes to me.
I use my 64GB Silver iPhone SE and will stay on 9.3.5 probably forever (thanks Apple for tvOS profile ).

Small factor beast with good battery stats (same as 3000mAh Xiaomi Mi2S I had - yup 1600mAh iOS works fine).
iOS 10 for me killed this battery and some functions prevents me to update(like faces in gallery or multimedia shortcuts in text message compose at first - small text box to click ).

There is no Android phone with these stats, maybe Z1 compact will well cooked custom rom can be compared(with more bugs probably ).
I laugh when people compare 4/4,5 inch phones with 5-5,5 . These are two different sizes and handles.
SE is king of the hill all the time.

 

[thadoggfather]

The same goes to me.
I use my 64GB Silver iPhone SE and will stay on 9.3.5 probably forever (thanks Apple for tvOS profile ).

Small factor beast with good battery stats (same as 3000mAh Xiaomi Mi2S I had - yup 1600mAh iOS works fine).
iOS 10 for me killed this battery and some functions prevents me to update(like faces in gallery or multimedia shortcuts in text message compose at first - small text box to click ).

There is no Android phone with these stats, maybe Z1 compact will well cooked custom rom can be compared(with more bugs probably ).
I laugh when people compare 4/4,5 inch phones with 5-5,5 . These are two different sizes and handles.
SE is king of the hill all the time.

you had SE on iOS 10 and rolled back to 9.3.5 while you could? and loaded tvOS profile to kill OTA ? AWESOME!

I had iOS 10 beta on SE before jailbreak came along then stayed put on 9.3.3, and really happy with it

well played,

 

[addamas]

you had SE on iOS 10 and rolled back to 9.3.5 while you could? and loaded tvOS profile to kill OTA ? AWESOME!

I had iOS 10 beta on SE before jailbreak came along then stayed put on 9.3.3, and really happy with it

well played,

You played even better with jailbreak - only thing I miss now However where I can I type about this way and even my fiancée old 5c (87% battery capacity ) will stay on good 9.3.5 (God Bless Slide to Unlock for non-TouchID phones )

 

[dominiongamma]

To me the SE is more future proof than the 7. Once the 8 comes out, 7 with its aged chassis is going to feel aged regardless of its innards.

SE still attractive with it being markedly more mobile than anything else in today's lineup.

Sorry it's not, it's using out dated tech

 

[Kumiko]

Sorry it's not, it's using out dated tech

I wouldn't say its out dated. Its using most of the 6s tech so it's only still a generation behind. How long have people used there 5 or 5s? I think with proper care the se will go just as long. Is the 7 or 7 plus really that great, yes its nice but if you already own a 6s or 6s plus are you really gonna jump ship just because it's water proof , better camera and faster? Why not wait for the iPhone 8? And if your sastfied with your se and it's meeting all your needs that's all that matters.
[doublepost=1478553687][/doublepost]

I think best color is subjective

Love my
Gold SE

had a slate 5 for a long time and a matte black 7+ I like seeing Touch ID in front easily and spotting small phone on my
Couch or bed easily.

I also just love the gold
Look on this form factor personally. To me space grey looks too business professional for lack of a better description

I know exactly what you mean I wish I had gotten the gold se instead I got rose gold. Rose gold pretty and different but the gild just pops.

 

[EvoXOhio]

I just don't understand how anyone can type on a phone so small. I have a 5s for work and the keyboard is just so small I can't type worth a damn. On my 7+, I can type so fast with both thumbs its amazing. I do have sausage fingers, but I don't see how anyone can type at a decent speed on such a small keyboard.

 

[SarZ]

I just don't understand how anyone can type on a phone so small. I have a 5s for work and the keyboard is just so small I can't type worth a damn. On my 7+, I can type so fast with both thumbs its amazing. I do have sausage fingers, but I don't see how anyone can type at a decent speed on such a small keyboard.

The reason why you can't type on a small keyboard is because you have sausage fingers.
Sausage fingered people keep away from the SE

 

[JustJoshua]

Auto correct lets my huge fingers type like a 13 year old texting freak. The SE is a great option for anyone who doesn't like phablets. I simply got tired of my phone overtaking my pockets. And one hand phone usage is underrated.

 

[SarZ]

Auto correct lets my huge fingers type like a 13 year old texting freak. The SE is a great option for anyone who doesn't like phablets. I simply got tired of my phone overtaking my pockets. And one hand phone usage is underrated.

You are absolutely correct about the auto correction & it really doesn't matter how big your fingers are.
I also agree one handed use is underrated.
Most of the time I have my briefcase in one hand & texting with the other.
A phablet sized phone would actually make me less productive !

 

[yep-sure]

I just don't understand how anyone can type on a phone so small. I have a 5s for work and the keyboard is just so small I can't type worth a damn. On my 7+, I can type so fast with both thumbs its amazing. I do have sausage fingers, but I don't see how anyone can type at a decent speed on such a small keyboard.

I think it could be because you're constantly switching between the two different sized phones. When I changed from the 6S to SE, it took me a couple of days to adjust to the small keyboard, and now I actually type more accurately on it than I did on the larger phones. Although that could be due to pre-iPhone6 muscle memory kicking back in. After all, I used the smaller keyboard on the iPhone's 3,4,5 from 2008-2014.

 

[Kumiko]

Its hit or miss you can improve and adjust if you want to. There's so many options now with the keyboard you can use anther keyboard and be able to swipe your texts. Auto correct is awesome. Sometimes your case can even be the problem. I found I text faster and better when I don't have a three layer case on, since I have full access to the screen with no case sides on the edge. Yes it can get cramped and be a pain. But I feel you can eventually found a way that works for you.

 

[dj1891]

I recently bought an SE after returning 2 iPhone 6S phones, I returned them as signal was dire, OK I live in a weak signal area but I couldn't get 1 bar on either 6S, The SE I have at least 2 bars anywhere in my house and as high as 4 in some rooms so well pleased with that. Add to that battery life is amazing, no matter how hard I hammer it I have at least 40-50% battery left at the end of the day, thats it off the charger from 6am to 10pm

 

[Mrbobb]

I couldn't get 1 bar

Resolved my low signal situation by downloading a VOIP App.

 

[TouchedByAl]

I've had the SE since late August. I had the 5,6 and 6S. I initially joked about the SE but I realized how much I missed the screen size and flat back. I've been very pleased with this phone overall. Great battery life, good speed, great size. I always felt like like the 6 and the 6S were just slightly bigger then I preferred and I know it's small but the camera bulge just bugs me. I'm one of the brave souls who travels naked..the phone not me . I'm planning to hold on to this as long as long as apple supports it.

 

[mattysmith118]

I've had the SE since late August. I had the 5,6 and 6S. I initially joked about the SE but I realized how much I missed the screen size and flat back. I've been very pleased with this phone overall. Great battery life, good speed, great size. I always felt like like the 6 and the 6S were just slightly bigger then I preferred and I know it's small but the camera bulge just bugs me. I'm one of the brave souls who travels naked..the phone not me . I'm planning to hold on to this as long as long as apple supports it.

I got the 7 but I got a 360 degrees case which got rid of the camera buldge and feels good in the hand. I tried going back to the 5s for a couple of days but couldn't get used to it since it was so small. I suppose it's okay for simple tasks but surfing the net was a pain in the ass plus keyboard was far too small.

My mum has the SE though and her battery life is impressive tbf. She gets at least 2 days usage out of it and plays candy crush most of the time shes on it lol.

Shame the SE doesn't have 3d touch though since using it it does become handy. Would be nice to see an updated version of the SE in the future though

 

[Channan]

The sharper edges of the iPhone 5 series design does have its advantages. Grippier and easier to take photos. The 6/7 series design has got to be most slippery iPhones since the 2G. Rounded sides, flat back and matte finish doesn't help especially for the Plus models which is harder to grip in one hand.

My perfect size is about "4.5-"5 but just trim the bezels. Motorola since 2013 with the first Moto X and G probably is my most ideal dimensions and ergonomics. If Apple could increase the display about an half inch, give the sides a slight angle, curve the back, and lower the bezel with 130mm in height, that would close to the perfect iPhone size for me.

Some design aspects of the 5 & 6 design/ergonomics aspects and being the midpoint for each of their height would simply be perfect. Improve the Touch ID, display, and front camera too. But knowing Apple, they probably return similar to the 4 series if glass but edge-to-edge..

Whatever we see in some aspects from Android now (Xiaomi Mi Mix, Mi 5s), that's what Apple will go for but glass. You still want 3.5mm headphone phone jack and don't want camera hump? Do you want less smudges on the back? Then SE might be your only and final iPhone option with more than good enough specs.

Just live with the "4 display for a little more typing mistakes, fairly mediocre 1.2MP cam from 3+ years ago, and older Touch ID. But design-wise, gripping it with one hand, and snapping photos, it is close to perfect. The perfect iPod-like iPhone for running and working out.

I see the matte black iPhone 7 for the first time and just went "meh".. The so-called Batman iPhone looks like any other black phone that attracts smudges like crazy.

^ Most beautiful iPhones ever made.. Space gray 5s & SE. Slate 5 is also up there bur the Scuffgate. I like the lighter shades of gray from the SE because the lighter the color, the less smudges will show. And it matches a little more to the silver MacBooks.

The space gray 5s and SE would look so much better if the color of the glass matched the metal more. I don't like the light gray metal and stark black glass.

That would increase the price I bet and make the phone not worth it compared to the 6s.

I would be if Apple also updated the processor.

 

[got556]

Here's to hoping the make an SE2 or gen two SE! I still don't care if they don't add 3D Touch, but a better camera would be nice and they can even keep (or rather upgrade) to Gen 2 Touch ID instead of the stationary haptic home button.

 

[Retired Cat]

I recently upgraded from a 5 to an SE. The SE is fast, easy to carry, and has superb battery life. It's easily the best value in the iPhone lineup.

A few thing I noticed: did Apple change the Home Button? The SE's Home Button feels more like the Button from 6/6s than from a 5s. Power/Sleep switch still rattles a bit, just like my iPhone 5, haha. TouchID is instantaneous, even though it is 1st Generation.

 

[mpavilion]

I recently upgraded from a 5 to an SE. The SE is fast, easy to carry, and has superb battery life. It's easily the best value in the iPhone lineup.

A few thing I noticed: did Apple change the Home Button? The SE's Home Button feels more like the Button from 6/6s than from a 5s. Power/Sleep switch still rattles a bit, just like my iPhone 5, haha. TouchID is instantaneous, even though it is 1st Generation.

Yeah, I honestly notice very little difference in speed between TouchID on the SE and on the 6S (which I owned for a while first).

FYI, my power button rattled a lot, and Apple switched out the phone (they tested the button in-store and it came up defective). My original unit also had an autobrightness issue.