I came from a Samsung Galaxy S5 Active that got water damage from a broken battery cover seal (go figure). After my third [and final] phone that was supposedly water proof from Samsung, I decided to drop Android all together because of the myriad of issues that they have (lagging bluetooth, poor speaker quality, failure of the water gasket seals, power port failures, buttons sticking, the list goes on and on). I asked some of my colleagues which iPhone they preferred and they all had fallen in love with the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5, but neither had lasted well for them. As a result, many of them owned the iPhone 6, 6S or 7. One friend said he hated how big they all were - and I agreed. My S5 Active was quite the brick, especially with a simple case around it to protect from falls.
Seeing that the overwhelming majority of people I knew loved the 5, I started looking for a 5. Super cheap, most phones were used, but reviews online that I read stated the battery life suffered and the speed was sub par on newer iOS's. "That's no good", I thought. Then it was onto the 5S. Same deal as the 5, but marginally better in battery and speed. Yet, the price was significantly higher! "There has to be another option!"
So I went to Apple's website to get a grasp of the iPhone 6. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as everyone said it was - just like the iPod Classics. I love mine, despite lot's of people preferring the older generations.
Then it hit me - the iPhone SE. Form factor of the iPhone 5/5S with the internals of the 6. "Perfect. This is exactly what I need. Simple, long battery life, none of the extra bells and whistles."
I then proceeded to see the price tag and I was distraught. $450 is a lot for a phone all at once (I am one of those people that hates making payments, even if there is no interest attached - call me old-school). So I searched on Amazon for a used one in mint condition - and that was supremely easy - as always. Found a seller that had pictures, the nice price of $350, and Prime shipping. I ordered the day after Christmas and it arrived a day later! How cool is that?!
Anyway, onto the iPhone SE. It's stellar. It's small enough that you can easily type with one hand, but big enough watching a YouTube video isn't straining. It's sleek and it fits in any pocket. I bought a Lifeproof FRE to protect my investment and my digital connection to the world, and it was the right decision.
Furthermore, it's FAST. And I mean FAST. Not to mention the battery lasts 2 days...without low power mode. I ran it down deliberately after the first full charge and it took just under 49 hours to die. That's with Bluetooth, Wifi, and several phone conversations too. That's on a USED phone. Absolutely incredible (granted, I turned off features I won't use, like Siri, location services, and background data, which I'm sure makes a huge difference to the life of a battery, as that's what Low Power mode does).
Bluetooth is snappy to my car's JVC XD-320BTS receiver and ALAC files sound great from the 3.5 mm jack. As with any device, streaming audio from Bluetooth to speakers is compressed. It is quite noticeable if you compare it with a hardwired source, but I digress. the iPhone SE's wireless audio quality is still sufficient if I had people over for a party and needed ambient noise.
Call quality is a tad on the quiet side for my liking. Perhaps it's the case or some setting I need to fidget with, but nonetheless, it is super clear and crisp. Recipients of my calls say my voice has both range and volume, which is all I can ask for. I've been on several conference calls since my induction to the Apple iPhone clan and the interface couldn't be simpler. Trying to do a conference call on my S5 Active was like trying to coddle a TI-89 to solve a differential equation with several decimal-plagued polynomial bits about it - and that's Android for you (regardless of version). Some will disagree, but I believe Apple got it right with the iPhone.
There are only two things I can say I do not like about the iPhone SE. (1) The way AirPlay works and (2) The lack of two apps in App Store.
1. I've been so used to coming home after a long day, switching on my Xbox One, and using my phone to stream music to the stereo. With the S5, screen mirroring made it super easy. When I got the SE, I had to buy an app on Xbox that just...sucks. And it was like $16. That's stupid. Microsoft and Apple need to get along.
2. There is no WiFi Analyzer app on the App Store like there is on Google Play. There is also no high quality Sleep as Android equivalent. I enjoy waking up to doing math problems. It gets my mind in the problem solving state when I wake up - which is what I do for a living. A developer from UrbanAndroid needs to adopt a version for the App store. It would sell. I'd pay a premium for it.
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Compare with similar items
This Item  Apple iPhone SE 32 GB Unlocked, Gold |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $438.99 | $249.00 | -8% $413.92 List Price: $450.00 |
| Delivery | — | Get it May 2 - 3 | Get it May 1 - 3 | Get it May 1 - 2 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||
| Fingerprint reader | ||||
| Touch Screen | ||||
| Battery life | ||||
| Face recognition | ||||
| Value for money | ||||
| Sold By | — | A4C Online | The Cellular Resource | ELECTRONIC DEALS |
| display size | 4 inches | 6 inches | 6.5 inches | 6.5 inches |
| memory capacity | 32 GB | 512 GB | 64 GB | 512 GB |
| model name | iPhone SE | iPhone 11 Pro Max | iPhone XS Max | iPhone 11 Pro Max |
| operating system | iOS 15 | iOS 16 | iOS 14 | iOS 14 |
| connectivity tech | Wi-Fi | Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| display type | LCD | OLED | LED | OLED |
Reviews with images
Good Phone from Apple
Very great performance in operation system from Apple, the touch screen & camera are look great, also there is the ID touch sensor which unlock the phone when you press the home button everything is perfect I guess but If you like big screen this is not your phone it is not small but also not big with 4 inch screen
Top reviews from other countries
Sarah
Excellent Phone with Starter Accessories
Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2018
Sarah
Reviewed in Canada on December 13, 2018
Images in this review
