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So who switched from a 4.7" to the SE?

JerTheGeek

JerTheGeek

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 15, 2014
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Hello all!
It's been over a month since the SE was released. Now that everyone has had time to use it over a long period of time, I'm wondering how those who switched from a 4.7" iPhone feel now about the SE. I thought about pre ordering one, but then decided that I like my 4.7" 6 too much.
Still, I'm curious to hear about those who have switched, and whether they'd recommend it or not.
 
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I have used an older 4,7 android phone before I had chosen the se to be my new mobile phone.

I had absolutely no issues losing that 0,7 inch. I can type a little faster, the feeling when using it one handed is way more comfortable and even surfing the web is no big difference. Text size is the same.

Even when watching videos there is no problem.

I would not take a smaller phone, but for mobile usage in my opinion 4-4,5 inch is perfect. However, that doesn't mean that this perfect is so relevant when using a mobile phone. It depends what a person uses it for.

A tablet good enough for web surfing and email is cheap nowadays, so I for myself don't see a reason for a bigger phone.
 
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I never had a 4.7+" iPhone, but I do have a 5.7" Moto X and 5.5" Galaxy S7 Edge.

My iPhone SE didn't replace my bigger phones, but I have absolutely no issue using the iPhone SE after using much larger phones. In fact, my iPhone SE is the phone I use the most.
 
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My wife went from a 6 to the SE and has not regretted it for a second, in fact, she was champing at the bit to replace the 6 with the SE the moment her contract was due since I stayed with the 5S and she has been jealous of the screen size ever since then. We both have the SE now and love them.
 
I went from a 6 to an SE also, and there was never a question of regret: I hated the size of the 6 from the moment I got it. Not only the size, but the shape and thickness made less comfortable to make calls or pick up from the table. Coming from a 5, though, I had to initially upgrade to the 6 to get the features I wanted. Now with the SE I can have my cake and eat it too. :D

Please, Apple...... please keep the SE form as option in the future!
 
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I plan to switch from 6S to SE, especially after I got Kindle for my reading now. No need 4.7" for book reading with tired eyes.
 
I had an iPhone 6 since release. I loved the new screen size and even the design, but always missed my 5.

Yesterday I finally bought the SE, mainly for the battery life but also for the nostalgia of having the older, "more iPhone" design. I don't regret a thing. Being able to reach every icon without stretching my hand or using reachability is wonderful. On top of that, this thing is a monster. Definitely smoother and faster than my 6.

TL;DR - I love the SE and have no regrets at all.
 
Isamilis said:
I plan to switch from 6S to SE, especially after I got Kindle for my reading now. No need 4.7" for book reading with tired eyes.
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You raise an excellent usage point. If I only wanted and/or could afford one device to make calls, text, email, read, surf the web, and watch TV and movies like most Millennials, I would probably want a phone that was larger than the SE. But for me my 60" plasmas are for watching movies and TV, I have a iPad Mini 4 for reading, web browsing, and my on-the-go consumption, and my cell phone is merely for texts, music streaming to my carkit, and making calls. That's it. The SE works perfectly for my needs, but others will have different needs.
 
I had a 6s, ended up passing it along to a family member who highly preferred the larger display, and went with an SE.

I too preferred the larger display, 4.7 was a sweet spot for me, and the 6s was probably my favourite phone I've had overall thus far.

That said I also like the SE quite a bit. Was like reuniting with a long lost friend, takes some adjusting to go back to the 4 inch screen, but when you do, you appreciate everything great about a small phone. I love how light it is and how pocketable it is. I go hiking frequently and the SE is what I bring with me due to it being an excellent, lightweight point & shoot. It is also a less distracting phone, something I do like quite a bit.

My primary phone now however is a Galaxy s7 and that has a larger display, so although the smaller phone has strong merits for me, I am still prone to the larger display in the end.

Others will prefer the smaller display but that is up to the user to decide in the end. I would give the SE a go and see if it is ideal for your preferences.
 
I've had them all and when I got my SE I had been rocking my Note 5 for quite a while. The typing on a smaller keyboard was a bit uneasy at first but I'm comfortable with it now. Love my SE and have loved it since I got it on Launch or so. If they were going to do a "gen 2" SE I would ask for smaller bezels with a 4.3" screen. I'd even pay an extra $100 for a better screen, but honestly it works just fine for what I need. Playing games like Godus and the like sort of sucks, but after having numerous large phones 6, 6S, 6+, 6S+, Note 1-5, all of the Nexus phones, the LG G3 and G4....it's nice to be on a "today's spec" small phone. It just is, and at this day in age, it definitely stands out in a crowd of phablets.
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nordique said:
I had a 6s, ended up passing it along to a family member who highly preferred the larger display, and went with an SE.

I too preferred the larger display, 4.7 was a sweet spot for me, and the 6s was probably my favourite phone I've had overall thus far.

That said I also like the SE quite a bit. Was like reuniting with a long lost friend, takes some adjusting to go back to the 4 inch screen, but when you do, you appreciate everything great about a small phone. I love how light it is and how pocketable it is. I go hiking frequently and the SE is what I bring with me due to it being an excellent, lightweight point & shoot. It is also a less distracting phone, something I do like quite a bit.

My primary phone now however is a Galaxy s7 and that has a larger display, so although the smaller phone has strong merits for me, I am still prone to the larger display in the end.

Others will prefer the smaller display but that is up to the user to decide in the end. I would give the SE a go and see if it is ideal for your preferences.
Click to expand...

Fiance went from the S6 Edge+ to the 6S to the S7 and she says she will never go back to iOS. And that tells me a lot. She has always been a fan of iPhones but man does that S7 really shine. A lot like my old Note 5 with the best screens and cameras in the biz.
 
I thought long and hard of going from my iPhone 6 to the SE. At its current price point it's a really appealing package.

The 5S was the best design of all iPhones, if you ask me, so I would have liked to revisit it, while gaining a better camera and additional RAM in the process.

...However, seeing how I actually use my phone, I don't think I can back to a 4" model. Examples:

- I browse the web plenty
- I sometimes watch videos on the go
- I use my phone as a GPS in the boat, this is a really useful tool and I couldn't get by with the smaller screen again. I know I have an iPad, but it's WI-FI only so no GPS built in.
- In the same spirit, I use it for navigation in the car.

Oh, and Instagram looks an awful lot more fun on a bigger display.
 
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Ended up returning it and I'm sticking to my 6S. But I am looking forward to the next SE if there will be next. The dealbreaker: Facetime cam and touch ID. I also missed the 3D touch which I just mainly use for previewing pics and links. But this is not really important.
 
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Azzurro said:
Ended up returning it and I'm sticking to my 6S. But I am looking forward to the next SE if there will be next. The dealbreaker: Facetime cam and touch ID. I also missed the 3D touch which I just mainly use for previewing pics and links. But this is not really important.
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Did you have trouble with the SE Touch ID? I was expecting to, since I always had a horrible time with Touch ID until I got my 6S Plus. But so far Touch ID has been working perfectly on my SE. Fast, but not quite as fast as the one on the 6S Plus which is almost too fast sometimes.

I took a selfie with the SE cam and it was fine. I don't know how much a difference it will make to do FaceTime on it. I'm going to look no prettier or no uglier on the SE FaceTime camera than I would on the 6Plus FaceTime camera. What Apple needs to do is invent a FaceTime Camera that makes us all look like supermodels. Now THAT would be innovation! :D
 
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GrumpyMom said:
Did you have trouble with the SE Touch ID? I was expecting to, since I always had a horrible time with Touch ID until I got my 6S Plus. But so far Touch ID has been working perfectly on my SE. Fast, but not quite as fast as the one on the 6S Plus which is almost too fast sometimes.
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The only problem is when my palms get sweaty or my home button is dirty or oily, I would sometimes have to insert my passcode. Other than that, it is fine. But like what I said I'll definitely keep an eye on the next SE because I love the battery life too and the portability. When I had the SE, I had two people asking me if I downgraded from my 6S. I had to explain that it was SE - a 6S trapped in a 5S body.
 
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Azzurro said:
The only problem is when my palms get sweaty or my home button is dirty or oily, I would sometimes have to insert my passcode. Other than that, it is fine. But like what I said I'll definitely keep an eye on the next SE because I love the battery life too and the portability. When I had the SE, I had two people asking me if I downgraded from my 6S. I had to explain that it was SE - a 6S trapped in a 5S body.
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Lol, good answer. I do find if my hands get chapped or if the sensor gets dirty or oily on my 6SPlus it will give me trouble, too. Definitely have to keep the home button clean no matter which model you have.

The 6S is actually a very nice phone in terms of ergonomics. I have tried it out in the store and found it to be the easiest of the three models to type on. I can, oddly enough, type one handed on the 6s perhaps a bit easier than I can on the SE. I can even do so on the 6S Plus with a grippy case in an emergency, but of course I can't do that for a prolonged amount of time. Anyway I am surprised because I am a petite female and my hands are not very big so I am puzzled when some people say they had trouble using the 6S one-handed.

I just found the SE to be such a great value for the money and easy to pocket. I could not resist it to supplement the use of my 6S Plus, which is now becoming like a Galaxy Note type device to me. I don't know if I can ever think of the phablet as a phone anymore. It was so large for that purpose.

I'm a bit sad because I have lost all interest now in IPhone 7. I will have to see what they do with the camera technology to get me interested again. Maybe if they give all the deluxe features to the 6/6s sized phone this time, I will be lured to upgrade my 6S Plus to the new model. If not, I don't know. I will probably wait for the 2017 models.

The 6S is a nice size phone, aesthetically, too...not a big slab like my Pluses have been. I'm surprised so many people found it still too large to carry. I guess it is a bit too much for front pockets inside of a case.
 
I moved from iPhone 4s to 6s+. I tend to make far more use of the latter; web access etc. However, frequently and when it suits, I swap the sim to the old 4s and appreciate the more convenient, pocketable size. Somewhere around 8s I'd consider an SE style replacement.
 
JerTheGeek said:
Hello all!
It's been over a month since the SE was released. Now that everyone has had time to use it over a long period of time..
Click to expand...

Um.. well thanks. My Apple Store is still sold out of SE's.

I was ready 7 weeks ago to trade in my 5S for an SE but now I'm so tired of waiting I'm just going to keep my phone.

Guess you either get iPhones on launch day or wait months for a new shipment.
 
TantalizedMind said:
Um.. well thanks. My Apple Store is still sold out of SE's.

I was ready 7 weeks ago to trade in my 5S for an SE but now I'm so tired of waiting I'm just going to keep my phone.

Guess you either get iPhones on launch day or wait months for a new shipment.
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Bummer, that sucks, always annoying waiting for a new device when it's back ordered.
 
TantalizedMind said:
Um.. well thanks. My Apple Store is still sold out of SE's.

I was ready 7 weeks ago to trade in my 5S for an SE but now I'm so tired of waiting I'm just going to keep my phone.

Guess you either get iPhones on launch day or wait months for a new shipment.
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That sucks. I had to wait a while for the Apple Store to get some in as well. Luckily I didn't have to wait as long as you have though. Sorry to hear that.
 
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