Apple iPhone SE review I never liked holding the giant iPhone 6 Plus. I could live with the iPhone 6, and its 4.7-inch screen. But Apple's most comfortable phone was the 5. It had a slightly larger screen than its predecessors, and could fit in a pocket. I remember calling it a "discreet smartphone." The iPhone SE looks like an old iPhone. Sounds boring, huh? But this isn't a phone to show off. It's a phone to go undercover with. It's got nearly all of the same upgraded specs as 2015's top-end iPhones -- the 6S and 6S Plus -- jammed into a body that's identical to the old iPhone 5S, which it replaces. It's a mighty mini phone. Just know this: the iPhone SE isn't " The New iPhone." That -- the rumored iPhone 7 -- will come later on this year, with near certainty. This, the SE -- Special Edition, Small Edition, whatever you want to call it -- is really just an iPhone 6S Mini. That alone is actually an impressive achievement, and it' s great that, finally, Apple has made all three phone sizes run equally well -- you just get to choose between small (SE), medium (iPhone 6S) and large (6S Plus). The iPhone 6S -- which is better than the SE in a few key areas -- is six months old. And in another six months, it'll get a price drop when the new 7 and 7 Plus models emerge. In the meantime, the SE is for anyone who still owns -- and prefers -- the smaller screen iPhones like 2013's 5S and earlier. When you're making that decision, It all comes down to screen. Can you -- or can I -- live with a smaller screen? Maybe you already have a small-screened phone and don't want anything larger. I lived with the SE for a few days between Cupertino, New Jersey and Manhattan, trying to go back to a smaller size. But I realized that, maybe, the SE isn't meant for me. It's meant for those who didn't want a larger 6S in the first place. The list of 6S features you're not getting is comparatively small: Except for the obvious screen downgrade --it's smaller, with lower resolution and less contrast -- the SE has a lower-resolution selfie cam, no 128GB storage option, and no 3D Touch. I like where my fingers fall on the screen, and the home button. This is a one-handed, as-you're-running-to-the-train phone. This is a standing-in-a-crowded-subway phone. It's a slip-your-phone-out-and-sneak-a-picture phone. It's a gym-friendly phone. It's not a good sit-on-a-plane-for-seven-hours phone. Or an I-do-all-my-work-on-my-phone phone. I don't care about 3D Touch, which offers you contextual menus depending on how hard you press the screen. If it mattered more to iOS, I would. But it's not useful right now. I forget about it. Losing it in the iPhone SE doesn't feel like a loss. Battery life, according to Apple, is better than the iPhone 6S: in particular, better Web-browsing time (12-13 hours versus 10-11 on 6S) and video playback (13 hours versus 11). We're still running battery drain tests, but in my everyday use it worked as well as I'd hoped for a small phone, and lasted an average day really well. As I keep using the iPhone SE, I realize how good the camera is. Its speed and features are identical to that of the iPhone 6S -- which remains, with the exception of the newer, far more expensive Samsung Galaxy S7 line, the best smartphone camera out there. The old design is still attractive -- self-contained, and maybe even easier to hold than the newer, curvier iPhone designs. The battery life is solid, too. But if you find it lacking, the good news is that you can pick up a battery case for as little as $30. That's right: the SE will work with all those old iPhone 5/5S cases and accessories. In fact, I'm having a hard time finding anything wrong with the SE -- except, of course, the screen size. Typing on that small screen is weird again. Were the onscreen keys always this narrow on the iPhone 5S? I'm missing keys, making typos. And for apps, I'm squinting. The display's sharp but not quite as vivid as the larger 6S and 6S Plus. It feels, mostly, like I got some magician engineer to gut and upgrade my old phone to premium processing. But that screen size shock only applies if you're moving from the comparatively spacious screens of the 6 and 6S -- which no one buying the SE is likely to be doing. If you've been hanging on to your existing small-screen iPhone, waiting for an alternative, this is exactly what you want. Anyone moving from a 5S or earlier is going to find the SE far zippier, and with a far better camera, and -- if only because it's a fresh battery -- longer battery life. Not to mention all those nice little upgrades -- always-on Hey Siri, Live Photos, Apple Pay, selfie screen flash -- that don't work on older iPhones.

• published: 05 Apr 2016
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