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NewBench

Cancelled
Original poster
Jun 24, 2010
620
696
Over here in the UK a new SE starts at £419. I am able to buy an 8 month old 64GB XS for pretty much the same price in mint/pristine condition with 4 months Apple warranty remaining.

I don't want to spend close to 1k on a phone and <£500 really is where I'm at. 64GB is more than enough storage as I use the cloud mostly.

Which should I go for?

SE

Positives: Brand new, full warranty, latest A13 chip, easier to carry/use
Negatives: Old '8' design, home button (no FaceID), smaller battery

XS

Positives: 4GB RAM, more premium look, larger display with thinner bezels, no home button, larger battery
Negatives: Several months old, less warranty, will be a two year old model in September

Thanks.
 
Last edited:

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
If the phone is mint, you are only losing out on 6 months.. but the cons are that repairs are expensive if you don’t have it. Battery replacement cost is reasonable..
 

MandiMac

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2012
1,433
883
This should have been a poll. That said: I'd go with the SE because of the better chip and the smaller footprint. You didn't specify any of your behaviour - are pictures important to you? Do you prefer Face ID? And so on...
 

maerz001

macrumors 68030
Nov 2, 2010
2,531
2,444
This should have been a poll. That said: I'd go with the SE because of the better chip and the smaller footprint. You didn't specify any of your behaviour - are pictures important to you? Do you prefer Face ID? And so on...
Unless you play some of the few very graphic demanding games on it I don’t see the need for A13.
 

1rottenapple

macrumors 601
Apr 21, 2004
4,756
2,774
XS

I had XS since launch and it still works like new. Will definitely serve you great for another 2-3 years. Play around with both of them if you have opportunity
Agreed. I don’t see the xs phones having issues keeping up. It’s still feels as fast as when I got it. A12 vs A13 you will not feel a difference. I’d rather go with what’s noticeable which is the screen that’s larger, better speakers, better battery life.
 

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,258
1,954
XS way better. Slightly older chip, larger and no touch ID are the main downsides. The pros outweigh the cons in my book.
 

JPack

macrumors G5
Mar 27, 2017
13,498
26,133
Get the Xs. If possible, check to ensure the display is OEM. Forget the SE2.
 

oVerboost

macrumors 68000
Sep 17, 2013
1,565
1,039
United Kingdom
The choice largely depends on your usage, what do you normally use the phone for? And what would you benefit with your usage from the XS over the SE? If your not going to make use of the larger screen and like Touch ID etc now (if you have an older iPhone already) and want a slightly smaller device, albeit not by much but also a fair bit lighter, then the newer device is the one you should get. However if you think you'll like the XS and make use of the screen, dual camera setup and it is as mint as you describe then the XS is still a fantastic phone which likely will be supported just as long with updates etc.
 

Lucas284

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2018
279
255
Netherlands
I would say XS but.. you have mentioned it is refurbished. I’m not a big fan of “refurbished” products, especially if it’s not from Apple itself.
 
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