till, it would be cooler if the second generation iPhone SE were released in the same body as the first. Give me a four-inch display in 2020! But no, we were reinsured, we managed in half measures, it's a pity. But still, this is the most compact iPhone, a rare representative of an endangered species of non-frameless smartphones. It loses to almost any Android device with a similar price tag. Still Apple's most affordable new smartphone. And modern in its own way. See why.
What is it?
The second generation iPhone SE is a smartphone with a 4.7-inch non-bezel display, Apple A13 Bionic processor, single main camera and a front-mounted fingerprint reader. Supports fast charging, wireless charging, dust and water resistant, no headphone jack.
Why is it interesting?
Because it is the most affordable new iPhone equipped with the same processor as the flagship iPhone 11 Pro. And the smallest of the new iPhones. And quite controversial. Because for $ 400,550 you can buy an Android smartphone with more impressive specs. But you can't buy another new iPhone. But you can buy an old iPhone, namely the iPhone 8, from which the new product looks no different. Here is the plot.
By the way, what is the real difference between the iPhone 8 iPhone SE 2020?
- CPU. In the " eight " is the A11 chip, which is 1.5-2 times inferior in performance to the A13.
- Camera, or rather, a portrait mode, a new scheme of " light " and stabilization when shooting video.
- Support for e-SIM, that is, in fact, dual-SIM.
- Future-proof wireless speed headroom: Gigabit LTE and Wi-Fi 6.
What's in the box?
The smartphone itself, a charger, a charging cable and a wired headset with a Lightning connector. Nice pieces of paper and a paper clip to remove the SIM card tray.
What does it look like?
Exactly like the iPhone 8 or 7. Well, almost. the location of the apple logo on the back panel allows you to immediately distinguish the novelty, here it is placed in the center, and not closer to the camera, as before. And if you do not take into account the materials of the case and the presence of a headphone jack, then the 2020 iPhone SE is easy to confuse with the iPhone 6 / 6s. In front - for sure. By the way, did you know that the iPhone 6 (based on version " plus " ) is in third place in the list of best-selling phones of all time, second only to knopochnikam Nokia 1100/1110? The next " apple " in this rating is already in 16th place, and this is the iPhone 8 (86 million of them were sold against 222 million " sixes "). So it goes.
How good is the screen?
As much as its predecessor - the screen in the iPhone 8. The same 4.7 inches, IPS with a resolution of 1334 by 750 pixels, which corresponds to a pixel density of 326 ppi (this is the same as the iPhone 11, but less than 458 ppi in iPhone 11 Pro). 625 nits nominal brightness, 1400: 1 contrast ratio. In general, the same screen as in the " eight " . There is a Haptic Touch vibration effect, but they did not dig up 3D touch, starting from the 11th generation of iPhones it is not and, apparently, will not be.
What about performance, autonomy?
Here is the most interesting thing. The most affordable model was equipped with the same processor as the most expensive one. Nobody except Apple allows himself this. But no one except Apple optimizes the operating system to such an extent that the smartphone runs smoothly enough on the old hardware. Moreover - on the new one. In theory, the processor's performance should increase 2.4 times, and the GPU - as much as four times. This is me comparing the new product with the closest ancestor - iPhone 8 with a chip of the last generation. In practice, with the naked eye, this is not particularly noticeable. Any new iPhone is subjectively fast. And it heats up moderately if you heat it up with difficult tasks.
The A13 processor, which I first encountered in the iPhone 11 Pro, was then more impressed with its impact on battery life. Maybe here he will show himself? Unfortunately no. With the same battery capacity (mAh modest 1821) " eight " and SE 2 show similar results: " 12 hours of Internet use " . And this despite the less gluttonous processor. It's kind of offensive. On the other hand, you can use your smartphone normally all day, and if you use a little, it will be enough for the second. But with active work, it is not difficult to put the battery down by lunchtime, especially if you are involved in such work from six in the morning. In any case, the new SE-shka will last longer than your old G8 with an already tired battery. And it will be quite at the level of the average competitor on android with twice the battery capacity. By the way, even a slow, complete 5-watt charging gives a completely dead device 28% charge in 30 minutes, 81% in an hour and 100% in a little less than two hours. So there is energy efficiency, just not much progress is noticeable.
Wireless charging is also supported. Among other disadvantages of the glass back panel of the smartphone (not only this, but in general any) is the tendency to slide off some charging stations with a smooth finish. Of course, the station itself is not included in the kit.
The smartphone will be available in versions with 64b 128 and 256 GB of memory, as always, there is no slot for its expansion.
If to this place you are sad from the not very impressive parameters of the iPhone SE 2, then listen. I mean, listen to its sound! The built-in speakers sound very good, and they (that is, main and spoken) play in pairs and create good stereo. This makes the iPhones stand out in the dull android world of mono speakers.
Oh, and even the most inexpensive new iPhone is not deprived of dust and moisture protection. Like the " eight " , it can be immersed to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes. But you don't need to.
In terms of communications - a modern set at the level of older models. This is the newfangled Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0, gigabit LTE useless in our latitudes and already practically applicable e-SIM in addition to a regular nanoSIM card. There is NFC that works with Apple Pay. The safety of this entire economy is ensured by a classic fingerprint scanner: there is no face recognition, as in frameless iPhones.
What about the firmware and interface?
Like what, it's an iPhone! IOS 13 is preinstalled here, and since this is a new model, updates will take a long time. There are no fundamental differences from the already seen iOS many times, except that the absence of a cutout for the front camera dictates minimal differences in the design of the interface. Like the good old days.
How are things with the camera?
The second generation iPhone SE has the same camera as the iPhone 8. Single, moderately wide angle lens and 12MP sensor. Aperture f / 1.8, optical stabilization. Of the new - only software chips that appeared with the platform update: different options for " portrait lighting " and improved algorithms for " smart " HDR. The front camera is 7-megapixel and uses the display as a flash. It records videos in resolutions up to Full HD, supports stabilization, but cannot shoot slo-mo.
