iPhone SE (2022) SE 3 First Impression Thread

[janeauburn]

If you've received your SE 3, please post your first impressions here. Thanks.

My first impression: It's a keeper. I have a specific use case for the phone, though--primarily as an exercise companion.

One pleasant surprise: The white colored model is actually slightly gold on the sides, the kind of gold that was used for the iPhone 8 series, except lighter. There are light gold highlights, too, such as around the camera bump. So if you really would rather have a gold model, get the white.

Another pleasant surprise: The speaker is quite nice. Sound quality actually seems better than my 8 Plus.

Speed? Yeah. I'm not seeing speed improvements as that important these days, though, which is good. A lot of the iPhones are perfectly fine speed-wise.

 

[CrazyForCashews]

How’s the camera?

 

[LFC2020]

How's battery life holding up? ?

 

[Tunster]

First impression: The tuning they've done to the screen is pretty impressive considering I've had a larger OLED screen for 4 years. It pops. Seems brighter than my older iPhone X too. Not sure why. Maybe that's some weird perception or some subjective bias towards it. But will be interested to see the official screen tests run against it.

The Product Red colour is impressively classy. Will report back on photos when I get an opportunity to take some generic ones.

But vs a 4 year old iPhone, it's lightning. Maybe the A15 driving less pixels may give this phone some life. I'm an audiophile and have some new AirPod Pros that the iPhone X struggled to power over bluetooth without skipping when doing something else.

 

[LFC2020]

First impression: The tuning they've done to the screen is pretty impressive considering I've had a larger OLED screen for 4 years. It pops. Seems brighter than my older iPhone X too. Not sure why. Maybe that's perspective.

Tuning? ? Isn't it the same panel as the iPhone 6, 6S, 7, 8, SE2?

 

[LFC2020]

Hmmm. ?

 

[Tunster]

Tuning? 🤔 Isn't it the same panel as the iPhone 6, 6S, 7, 8, SE2?

I don't know. They may have sourced a different supplier of LCD screen or got same one amended so they can tune the colours available and how accurate they display. Will be interested to see the iFixIt break down vs SE2.

 

[mpavilion]

The various phones using that design have different max brightness specs (for example), so all things display-related are definitely not necessarily equal.

 

[NeonIbis]

I have an SE 3, coming from an SE 2. Only got the SE 3 yesterday so I don't have a feel yet for battery/camera, but the display is slightly different - slightly warmer tone, though that could be related to the age of the SE 2 I suppose. It seems fast but I haven't done anything taxing.

I have the starlight and I wouldn't describe the metal bits as gold. They look normal aluminium silver colour to me. But the glass is a warm white and so there's a bit of a golden hue effect overall.

 

[TazExprez]

I think the battery life is pretty decent. I charged it up to 100% on Friday in the afternoon. It is currently at 9% on Sunday evening. I am not a power user. I used it for taking several photos, watching several YouTube videos, sending messages, and browsing the web. According to Screen Time, I have used it for about 1h30m per day.

 

[sorgo †]

Thanks for relaying your impressions, everyone. I’m torn between Starlight and Midnight but will probably go with the latter because it feels safe and close to my goth 🖤 heart (also a song title from one of my all-time favorite bands).

 

[winxmac]

iPhone SE 2020 - 1821mAh
iPhone SE 2022 - 2018mAh [as per the teardown I just watched]

How's battery life with 5G connection?

 

[LFC2020]

Thanks for relaying your impressions, everyone. I’m torn between Starlight and Midnight but will probably go with the latter because it feels safe and close to my goth 🖤 heart (also a song title from one of my all-time favorite bands).

Can’t go wrong with either color, saw them both in store. 👌🔥

Starlight does hide fingerprints better though.

 

[jntdroid]

Had mine for a couple of days and love it so far. Anecdotally, the battery life has been solid, and improved over the SE2. I had about 4 hours SOT yesterday and still had 30% left late last night. And I did a little bit of everything... navigation, photos/videos, streamed a bit of YTV, and normal texting, etc. Left it on "5G Auto" as well, which means in and out of LTE, "5G", and 5G UW for me (I'm on Verizon).

The camera is good, the new HDR is noticeable. I haven't done any low light, but took some portrait shots in bright sun and they looked great, adding good exposure to the faces that were in the shadows.

Also, this is the first I've seen that actually shows the batter of the SE3 to be 2018 mAh, over 10% larger than the SE2 (if legit, which it appears to be).

Still have yet to see a battery comparison video that includes the SE2 and SE3 and Mini line... surprised nobody has done that yet.

 

[LFC2020]

Had mine for a couple of days and love it so far. Anecdotally, the battery life has been solid, and improved over the SE2. I had about 4 hours SOT yesterday and still had 30% left late last night. And I did a little bit of everything... navigation, photos/videos, streamed a bit of YTV, and normal texting, etc. Left it on 5G Auto as well, which means in and out of LTE, "5G", and 5G UW for me (I'm on Verizon).

Also, this is the first I've seen that actually shows the batter of the SE3 to be 2018 mAh, over 10% larger than the SE2 (if legit, which it appears to be).

Still have yet to see a battery comparison video that includes the SE2 and SE3 and Mini line... surprised nobody has done that yet.

4 hours SOT with 30% 🔋 left is impressive, considering you used navigation and was on 5G the whole time.

 

[jntdroid]

4 hours SOT with 30% 🔋 left is impressive, considering you used navigation and was on 5G the whole time.

To clarify, it wasn't on 5G the whole time. In my area, I have some spots with 5G (the original version which is basically LTE rebranded), some with 5G UW (C-Band, which does use a bit more power), and some with LTE. So my actual connection was a mixed bag of all of the above.

I would imagine if I turn off 5G completely it will be more than manageable (I'm coming from a 13 Mini as well).

 

[LFC2020]

To clarify, it wasn't on 5G the whole time. In my area, I have some spots with 5G (the original version which is basically LTE rebranded), some with 5G UW (C-Band, which does use a bit more power), and some with LTE. So my actual connection was a mixed bag of all of the above.

I would imagine if I turn off 5G completely it will be more than manageable (I'm coming from a 13 Mini as well).

Still impressive numbers for such a small battery.

Looks like that efficient A15 bionic chip is putting in work. 👌

 

[LFC2020]

 

[LFC2020]

Impressive stuff, he was playing all the games at full brightness.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Saw this tweet earlier. Impressive battery life.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1505605192053579777

 

[1369281]

Picked up an SE (3rd generation) 128 GB today. Previously had the SE (2nd generation). I like it quite a bit. It does feel faster. I feel like the speakers are louder/better, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I 100% recommend this phone. It's a winner.

SE2 vs. SE3

A13 to A15
3 GB to 4 GB RAM
5G support
More battery capacity
Less weight

 

[LFC2020]

Anyone have the starlight model?

How well does it hide fingerprints?

 

[sorgo †]

Can’t go wrong with either color, saw them both in store. 👌🔥

Starlight does hide fingerprints better though.

Thanks, it’ll have a case slapped on it before long. Also I am such an outwardly understated (poor) person that I usually find anything other than neutrals too flashy, while I do think colors are nice for/on others.

[Sorry, tried resizing on iPad and it simply refused to work. And now the text justification is messed up and won’t go back—great. ]

Anyway, just placed an order for a side-grade from my black 256 GB 12 which has long suffered from frankly crappy battery life (overall battery capacity has already decreased to 85% which I believe is due to MagSafe [yes I always use official Apple chargers] + no A/C in hellish Seattle Summer ‘21) plus a Silicone Case in Midnight. The Abyss Blue is so subtle and pretty but again—just a tad flashy for my taste.

I will indeed miss the inky black, full-coverage OLED, slim bezels, and iPhone 5-esque chassis, but I am looking forward to ironically longer battery life—safe to assume in my specific case, trust me—and the pared-down, still-tried-and-true “vintage” feel that will help get me off the Apple FOMO Ladder at an attractive price including AppleCare (without the case the total with trade-in was $308). [The 12 has been without any warranty since early 2021 when I closed my T-Mobile account].

Also although I no longer get PWM headaches from OLED, my eyes definitely prefer the more fluid appearance of motion on a 60 Hz LCD. Yeah, I know, ProMotion is amazing, but I can‘t afford it. Also I’m sick of big phones (including the regular 12/13).


EDIT: Even Longer Edition:

Forgot to mention that I never use 5G, instead opting always for LTE, which hopefully should help extend battery life. I’ll update with actual first impressions when it arrives sometime next (?) week.

 

[maerz001]

Anyone have the starlight model?

How well does it hide fingerprints?

Imho same as iPhone 13. its better than the darker colors

 

[LFC2020]

Thanks, it’ll have a case slapped on it before long. Also I am such an outwardly understated (poor) person that I usually find anything other than neutrals too flashy, while I do think they’re nice for/on others.

View attachment 1977595​

[Sorry, tried resizing on iPad and it simply refused to work. And now the text justification is messed up and won’t go back—great. ]

Anyway, just placed an order for a side-grade from my black 256 GB 12 which has long suffered from frankly crappy battery life (overall battery capacity has already decreased to 85% which I believe is due to MagSafe [yes I always use official Apple chargers] + no A/C in hellish Seattle Summer ‘21) plus a Silicone Case in Midnight. The Abyss Blue is so subtle and pretty but again—just a tad flashy for my taste.

I will indeed miss the inky black, full-coverage OLED, slim bezels, and iPhone 5-esque chassis, but I am looking forward to ironically longer battery life—safe to assume in my specific case, trust me—and the pared-down, still-tried-and-true “vintage” feel that will help get me off the Apple FOMO Ladder at an attractive price including AppleCare (without the case the total with trade-in was $308).

Also although I no longer get PWM headaches from OLED, my eyes definitely prefer the more fluid appearance of motion on a 60 Hz LCD. Yeah, I know, ProMotion is amazing, but I can‘t afford it. Also I’m sick of big phones (including the regular 12/13).


EDIT: Even Longer Edition:

Forgot to mention that I never use 5G, instead opting always for LTE, which hopefully should help extend battery life. I’ll update with actual first impressions when it arrives sometime next (?) week.

Looking forward to the full review.

25th-29th delivery date. 😳

What’s the hold up? Every model is still available over here for In store pick up, or 2 day delivery.