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For those attracted to the SE based on wanting a small iPhone, I suggest waiting til iPhone 12 and the rumored 5.4” model is announced. I think the SE former and current are more a price point phone than Apple addressing the small size phone user market. That may change with the 5.4” model.
 
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For those attracted to the SE based on wanting a small iPhone, I suggest waiting til iPhone 12 and the rumored 5.4” model is announced. I think the SE former and current are more a price point phone than Apple addressing the small size phone user market. That may change with the 5.4” model.
It sounds like it. I realize, though, that the prior SE model touched on both things: a lower-priced iPhone (general wish of many people) and a smaller iPhone (specific wish of some people). It's unfortunate that in this case a buyer will have to choose one or the other, s/he can't get both (assuming the purported 5.4" model is a flagship phone at a flagship price).
 
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When I pick up my wife's 8 and have to double click the thing, a button that, mind you, is barely a button anymore since it does not move, I cringe. I was very skeptical when Face ID came out, but I am 100% sold now on it, and the gestures. The only think I am not thrilled about is not seeing battery percentage on the home screen and having to remember which side of the notch to pull down for notifications vs. settings.

When I pick mine up I only rest my finger (without clicking) on the home button and it unlocks and shows me my notifications, then if I want to get into it I click it once to send it home. You can set it to where just resting your finger will send it home instead of waiting for the click. It's normally unlocked (or on the home screen) before I even get my eyes on it. I'm not sure why you would ever have to double click it (unless you were referring to the multi-tasking windows).
 
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I think it remains to be seen. The biggest advancements since iPhone 8 are Deep Fusion, Night Mode, and fast auto-focus. Those all rely on an improved sensor. Smart HDR is nice but I don't think it's as great a leap as the previously mentioned features.

Agree, I think it's more likely Macrumors is wrong and it's a newer sensor than 8. Unbox Therapy says it's from the 11 and John Prosser and the maker of Halide camera app say XR (because no Night Mode). That makes more sense.
 
Agree, I think it's more likely Macrumors is wrong and it's a newer sensor than 8. Unbox Therapy says it's from the 11 and John Prosser and the maker of Halide camera app say XR (because no Night Mode). That makes more sense.
Somewhere (I am losing track of all the sites, lol) I saw an indication of the specs of the sensor itself, and it showed the iPhone 8's spec (something very specific) to be different than the XR's, and that the SE matched the 8 and not the XR. If that's the case, it must still be that the image processing made possible by the A13 more than makes up for it.

I'm coming from a first edition SE, so the 6S camera, and I'm hoping for better photos than that. I was really hoping for Night Mode, hoping that the chip was all that was necessary, but it is not, it needs a sensor that only exists right now on the 11 series. I would call that my only real disappointment in this new SE. Oh, well.
 
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Somewhere (I am losing track of all the sites, lol) I saw an indication of the specs of the sensor itself, and it showed the iPhone 8's spec (something very specific) to be different than the XR's, and that the SE matched the 8 and not the XR. If that's the case, it must still be that the image processing made possible by the A13 more than makes up for it.

I'm coming from a first edition SE, so the 6S camera, and I'm hoping for better photos than that. I was really hoping for Night Mode, hoping that the chip was all that was necessary, but it is not, it needs a sensor that only exists right now on the 11 series. I would call that my only real disappointment in this new SE. Oh, well.
I don't think anyone actually has the sensor specs yet--hence all the speculation. I also think it's still an open question whether Night Mode depends on the 11 sensor, or the multi-cam set up (it doesn't appear on any single cam phone), or is purely a software feature Apple is reserving for its high end models. (Night Mode seems essentially to be stacking multiple exposures, something photographers have done for a long time now without special sensors or multi-cam setups. Except that Apple automates it.) Third-party app NeuralCam looks like a decent alternative to Night Mode for the SE2.

Any notable difference on the front camera between the new SE and 7, 8 or XR?
The minimal hardware specs of the SE2 front camera we have so far are the same as the 8. But SE2 adds software effects like video stabilization, portrait lighting, bokeh that 8 doesn't have. XR has a better front camera and/or features than both: Smart HDR, extended dynamic range on video, and a TrueDepth depth sensor for FaceID that allows for animoji, etc., which are all absent on SE2 and 8. (SE2 has Smart HDR v2 and extended DR in video, but that is rear cam only.)
 
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Obviously a false comparison. The iPhone SE is designed for people who had an iPhone 8, 7, 6s, etc. People who already bought an XR would be looking for an iPhone 11.

Not if they found the XR a tad too big for toting around as a phone, which was the case for me.

My solution was just to revert to using the SE as a cellphone (and actually to purchase one with larger storage off the refurb shelf) while keeping the XR for a very well liked and constantly used WiFi device which I call "my narrow tablet".​

However, had the SE 2 been around sooner, I'd probably have chosen that over the XR had the two co-existed when I went looking.

Bottom line I do prefer a smaller iPhone than the XR but I certainly don't consider the SE 2 (which is a bit larger than the SE) too big to use as a phone. I'm only sorry I'm currently more in need of a new laptop than a phone replacement so soon again after my XR and 2nd SE purchases.
 
I am glad I held off until the SE 2. I dropped the ball on the last SE when I replaced my dud 6s with 7+, so it is nice to finally go back a smaller iPhone again. The SE 2 has features I need at a size and price that made it worth it (especially since it's mostly a work phone now).
 
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So, I switch from the XR to the SE (gave the X-RAY to my son). I got in on the $200 WalMart deal, so it was an opportunity to downsize my phone. Lately, I have been hiking and walking a lot, and the smaller size is more pocketable for me.

I miss the XR’s amazing battery life, but otherwise I am quite happy with my new SE. It’s a nice phone for the minimalists and a pretty good value. Kind of like the iPad 7 of the iPhone lineup.
 
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