iPhone SE

[casiofx]

I guess you are one of the few people who prefers less contrast and washed out black levels. You could probably emulate it on an AMOLED screen by rendering dark gray instead of black. Maybe Samsung should offer an LCD fanboy video setting.

I'm not the only one who had that problem. And also, I'm very sensitive on noticing things especially on hardware.

https://m.reddit.com/r/tablets/comments/3ub86x/do_amoled_displays_cause_more_eye_strain_than_lcd/
https://m.reddit.com/r/oneplus/comments/3sitcc/amoled_screen_eye_strainheadaches/
http://forums.crackberry.com/blackberry-z30-f401/weird-screen-makes-my-eyes-suffer-930712/
Instead of insulting people please be civilized and contribute to the thread

 

[Obsy]

I'd like to make a return to the 4" form factor, but having the same display as the 5S would be awful. Here's to hoping that it has 2GB of RAM and faster NAND.

On Android side, here is what $400 got me last year:
-Galaxy S6 (32GB + best screen in the business)
-Samsung Wireless charger from B&H
-Samsung External battery from B&H
-Samsung bumper case from B&H
-Level on ear headphones (nice) from Samsung offer
-2nd Samsung wireless charger from Samsung offer
-2nd Samsung external battery from Samsung offer
Did not get the $50 Samsung Pay rebate that I was supposed to get, but still, that's quite a haul compared to getting a 4 year old design tiny screen phone for same price.

And of course this wouldn't be an iPhone thread without someone citing an unpredictable, short-lived deal on competing phone x. I'm not hating on deal hunting -- I had my eye on the Nexus 6 and pulled the trigger when it hit $250. But come on, dude.

 

[Skurge]

Not that I am interested in the slightest (5S user), but will these come with NVMe storage like the 6S?

 

[gorcorps]

I'd like to make a return to the 4" form factor, but having the same display as the 5S would be awful. Here's to hoping that it has 2GB of RAM and faster NAND.


And of course this wouldn't be an iPhone thread without someone citing an unpredictable, short-lived deal on competing phone x. I'm not hating on deal hunting -- I had my eye on the Nexus 6 and pulled the trigger when it hit $250. But come on, dude.

why do you have to hope? It's already known it has 2gigs of ram.

 

[KeithP]

Someone posted earlier that AT has stated 2 GB of RAM.

AT did state 2GB but every other site I have read says it is 1GB or they say they don't know. At this point, I don't think anyone knows for sure.

-KeithP

 

[ericlp]

MEH!!!

What the hell happened to apple? Oh well... I was hoping they would have something of excitement to show an one or two things new. Nope nothing. Sigh... C'mon. Could have done "ANYTHING" ... Like wireless charging ... Could have added that in for the same price.

Or even a better camera... Dunno, I don't buy apple products because I prefer a different OS, but the hardware is always nice to see the innovation that comes from them. This is a step backwards, word has it most people are not impressed and I think it's a bad move for apple. We'll see.

 

[isekii]

Everything says this is a 6S in the 5s form factor without 3D Touch. Makes me wanna trade my 6+ for it. It's too big. You think VZW will give me $500 for a 128gb 6+?��

Doubt it~ you'll have to sell it on swappa or craigs if you want $500 ish

 

[openwheel]

so Apple is back to making the "perfectly sized" phone again?

Nice!

also, glad to know that force touch is useless gimmick that even Apple thinks is unnecessary.

 

[Kaido]

I've got a 5S now. I'll probably get the 64GB SE. Only thing I am disappointed in is no 128/256GB option. 4K and still stuck on 64GB? Does it at least have USB 3.0 like the iPad Pro for faster transfer speeds?

 

[Oyeve]

I wonder how many scammers are gonna sell 5s phones as 5se?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Or even a better camera...

From what I understand the rear camera is the 6S (non-plus) camera right? That is way better than the 5s.

If you love small phones this is the best one on the market period. This isn't like phablets or something where the 6P and Note series give Apple a run for its money. Its this phone or bust if you want flagship specs at four inches.

Hell for all the "variety" Android offers here is an entire product category Apple dominates alone. Android has gotten to the point where just five inch options (real five inch, not 5.3, 5.4, 5.5) are pretty shallow at the top too. I applaud Apple for launching this, and I am interested to see what the response is. Maybe Android will come back from that Nexus 6 ledge.

Oh and now that this phone exists and it called the "SE" and its all metal can we all agree on something finally?

The iPhone 5C was a flop. There is no way to deny it now, the C concept flopped. Apple customers want premium products.

 

[antihelten]

did you look at the ratios? It is not "about right".

The iPhone se has a 60.8% screen-to-body ratio while the z5c has a 68.9% screen-to-body ratio. For reference the 6s has a 65.6% screen-to-body ratio and has a virtually identical screen with the z5c.

The 6s is 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm vs 127 x 65 x 8.9 mm for the z5c vs 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 for the SE while the screen sizes are 4.7" ,4.6" and 4" respectively (Note the height differences).

EDIT:
You can see the difference here:
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/si...Sony-Xperia-Z5-Compact/phones/10001,9611,9501
The z5c and the iphone 6s basically have the same screen, while the z5c is much closer in size to the iPhone SE.

Screen-to-body ratio has and always will be a poor way of determining whether or not a phone has an "optimal" size. The reason for this is that the height of the phone (which obviously affects the body size), is affected by things other than the screen size, such as the presence of hardware buttons or dual front facing speakers.

The proper measurement is the screen width to phone width ratio.

The 5se has a screen width of 49.8mm and thus with a phone width of 58.6mm the ratio is 0.85

The z3c has a screen width of 57.3mm and thus with a phone width of 64.9mm the ratio is 0.88

0.85 versus 0.88 is pretty damn close to "about right", however it is worth noting that the z3c is actually somewhat wide for it's screen size (it's the same as the 6s plus, which people often point to as an oversized phone) and there are similarly sized phones with slightly bigger screen (and thus better ratios), in particular the galaxy alpha and the moto x (2013). The moto x (2013) has a ratio of 0.9 for instance.

If the 5se had a ratio similar to the z3c it would be 56.6mm wide (2mm less, or 1mm on either side), if it was similar to the moto x (2013) it would be 55.3mm wide (3.3mm less).

btw, the s7 edge has a ratio of 0.94 if anyones curious (best I could find with a quick search).

Finally it is worth noting that smaller phones almost always have worse ratios, since there is a limit to how thin a bezel can be and thus the smaller the phone the bigger the bezels will be relatively speaking.

 

[Commodus]

also, glad to know that force touch is useless gimmick that even Apple thinks is unnecessary.

It's probably excluding 3D Touch due to space constraints and/or cost, not because it's a "gimmick." You can make that argument if the iPhone 7 mysteriously drops the feature, but not for a small, relatively low-end device.

 

[openwheel]

Commodus: Yes Sir!!! It is not a gimmick. It's #@%ing AWESOME!!

 

[poofyhairguy]

It's probably excluding 3D Touch due to space constraints and/or cost

And yet iPhone SE customers can still access its best feature (Live Photos) via a long press.

In fact, this release makes me question exactly when Force Touch is appropriate but long press isn't. I now suspect 3D Touch exists to not have to teach iPhone users a new way to uninstall apps, because that is the only place long touch wouldn't work in the current iOS.

 

[beginner99]

BTW, why are Apple's phones so BIG?

The 4" iphone SE is 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm, while the 4.6" sony z5c is 127 x 65 x 8.9 mm. They're almost the same size, while the z5c has an iphone 6s sized screen.

Note that while the z5c is a bit thicker, it also has a significantly larger battery - 2700mAh vs 1652mAh.

Yeah which is the reason I never buy this one. 4" in general is a little too small but I could live with it but then please also use a form factor of a 4" phone and not a 4.5" or bigger one. And $100 price for 48gb more NAND is typical rip-off. It cost about $5 more...

 

[Kaido]

The iPhone 5C was a flop. There is no way to deny it now, the C concept flopped. Apple customers want premium products.

You know, I think you're right - I don't think I know a single person IRL who owns a 5C.

 

[linkgoron]

Screen-to-body ratio has and always will be a poor way of determining whether or not a phone has an "optimal" size. The reason for this is that the height of the phone (which obviously affects the body size), is affected by things other than the screen size, such as the presence of hardware buttons or dual front facing speakers.

The proper measurement is the screen width to phone width ratio.

I disagree. Ignoring the height of the phone is wrong. Yes, the width is OK, but the height is where the problem is at (and I specifically stated the height before). The phone could have been much more compact and much smaller.

Just look at the S7, it also has hardware buttons but it is 142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm vs 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm of the 6s, however the screen sizes are 5.1" vs 4.7".

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/si...,Sony-Xperia-Z5-Compact/phones/9501,9817,9611

 

[Commodus]

You know, I think you're right - I don't think I know a single person IRL who owns a 5C.

I've seen quite a few people using the 5c in the wild. Not as many as other models, to be sure, but they're out there. I don't think it really hit its stride until it became the free-on-contract phone that you picked up when you just wanted the cheapest possible entry into the ecosystem, and that didn't last long.

To put it mildly, the iPhone SE should do much better... it's not only using high-end hardware, it costs less than any previous budget iPhone.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

As my wife's 5S is getting old this thing came at a perfect time. $500 isn't too bad (for Apple). I was dreading spending $800 on a new phone for her when she's almost fine with a 2 year old one to send text and read the internet

 

[vi edit]

Yes, the SE is really what the "C" should have been. Assuming it's not gimped at 1GB of RAM, the only compromise it makes is screen size. Which there are still A LOT of people that heavily prefer that smaller form factor. There's still millions of people that really do use their phone as a phone and texting device primarily. My wife is one of them. She doesn't want a big, clunky phone hogging pocket or purse space. If this really is the "guts" of the 6s complete with 2GB of RAM it's going to be a very nice little high-end compact smart phone.

 

[Commodus]

Thanks to some checks with apps, it's confirmed that the iPhone SE uses 2GB of RAM.

I suspect Apple had no choice, especially if it plans to keep the SE around for a long while, but this is still good news. 2GB of RAM goes a long way in iOS, especially on a 640p screen.

 

[vi edit]

Yep I saw that on MacRumors a bit ago. That's awesome news. The $100 premium to go to 64GB is still a cash grab and annoying. But..whatever. There's a ton of horsepower in that little case. The 5s is still one of the best looking cases Apple has made.

 

[Oyeve]

And yet iPhone SE customers can still access its best feature (Live Photos) via a long press.

My S7 edge does that. In fact, didn't the Note 3 have something similar? Or was it the s4? Either way, it's been around for a while.

 

[dainthomas]

My S7 edge does that. In fact, didn't the Note 3 have something similar? Or was it the s4? Either way, it's been around for a while.

Nothing counts until Apple does it.