iPhone XS XS to SE worth it?

[That-Guy]

What’s people’s thoughts?

Currently have XS in black but liking the look of the white SE.

Guess I would be losing Dual Lens Camera, OLED Screen and Face ID?

But SE would be faster (guessing), has WiFi 6, possible better camera optics?

Thoughts and opinions please..

 

[cambookpro]

I think it would be a downgrade in almost every department. A12/A13 doesn’t make a huge amount of difference currently, the SE will probably get one more year of iOS updates than the XS but that’s about it. Camera optics are the same as the XR (and therefore XS) but with only one lens. The A13 will probably make it slightly better, but I wouldn’t trade a telephoto lens for that.

Do you have a WiFi 6 router? If so you may see better WiFi performance, but I wouldn’t trade that for no OLED, no HDR, no edge to edge screen, no FaceID, no 60fps front camera, worse battery life (if Apple’s estimates are true), worse water resistance, worse speakers.

This is a phone for 6/6s/7/SE 1st gen users who don’t need the latest and greatest, or anyone on a tighter budget. It’s a great phone for the money, but not in the same class as Apple’s flagships of the past couple of years.

 

[ericwn]

Order one from a good retailer with return policy and test it. You nailed a lot of key differences but nothing to stop you from just giving it a go for 2 weeks.

 

[mattopotamus]

I have a similar thread going about making the jump from the X to the SE. I personally wouldn't go from the XS to the SE because you have an A12 and a much better camera (from my personal comparisons of X and XS). It seems like the consensus is it's a solid upgrade for everyone using the 8 and older. I just feel right on the fence with the X.

 

[snipr125]

I think it would be a downgrade in almost every department. A12/A13 doesn’t make a huge amount of difference currently, the SE will probably get one more year of iOS updates than the XS but that’s about it. Camera optics are the same as the XR (and therefore XS) but with only one lens. The A13 will probably make it slightly better, but I wouldn’t trade a telephoto lens for that.

Do you have a WiFi 6 router? If so you may see better WiFi performance, but I wouldn’t trade that for no OLED, no HDR, no edge to edge screen, no FaceID, no 60fps front camera, worse battery life (if Apple’s estimates are true), worse water resistance, worse speakers.

This is a phone for 6/6s/7/SE 1st gen users who don’t need the latest and greatest, or anyone on a tighter budget. It’s a great phone for the money, but not in the same class as Apple’s flagships of the past couple of years.

All good points, but a major pro for the Iphone SE is speed/snappiness. It will be faster than apples current flagship phones (which essentially makes the SE the fastest phone in the world) which cost more than twice the price.

 

[BenTrovato]

I was in this same boat but now that the specs are released, I'm surprised the battery life is not better. If I'm downgrading the screen which I really don't want to do, I would have needed better battery.

Was really looking forward to getting touchID back but the thing that will bother me - iPhones with a home button don't have the swipe up gesture for multitasking, or did they finally add this in?

 

[mattopotamus]

I was in this same boat but now that the specs are released, I'm surprised the battery life is not better. If I'm downgrading the screen which I really don't want to do, I would have needed better battery.

Was really looking forward to getting touchID back but the thing that will bother me - iPhones with a home button don't have the swipe up gesture for multitasking, or did they finally add this in?

I will be very interested in real world usage. I don't see how the battery cannot last longer when it dumped 3D Touch and has a more efficient chip. I don't exactly remember if the original SE battery claims by Apple were that much better, or once people started using them it was discovered light users could get 2 days?

 

[satchmo]

I'm thinking to upgrading from an iPhone 6 to an XS. This SE doesn't seem to be all that other than the processor and price.
Sure it'll be more money, but consider camera, RAM, display, and build quality.

 

[cambookpro]

All good points, but a major pro for the Iphone SE is speed/snappiness. It will be faster than apples current flagship phones (which essentially makes the SE the fastest phone in the world) which cost more than twice the price.

I think that might be correct in the future. It’s not now, unless you’re doing a lot of processor intensive tasks. Day-to-day tasks like opening apps is not noticeably quicker than an A12 device - check some side-by-side speed test videos. But do agree it’s an absolutely superb processor for the price.

 

[zipster]

Absolutely not.

 

[Ladybug]

Keep the XS unless you absolutely need a phone with Touch ID or a smaller device.