Apple’s reputation has been built up over the years for bringing out pricey-premium smartphones to the market but now Apple seems to have been trying on capitalizing the budget flagship category as well with the latest addition of iPhone SE 2020. Smartphone manufacturers have been trying to exaggerate the names of the smartphones by adding Pro, Plus, Ultra while Apple has done something really crazy and named its latest iPhone as the iPhone SE 2020 where the SE stands for Special Edition. But is this Special Edition iPhone really special? Let’s find out that in our Full Review of the iPhone SE 2020.
Design and Build: New Hardware, Old Body
On the first look, you won’t realize something new in the Design section of the iPhone SE 2020, its basically new and updated hardware in the nutshell of the iPhone 8. But on noticing carefully, you’ll find that the Apple Logo now has been moved to the center to align with the iPhone 11 series. So if you have used any of the iPhone until the iPhone 8, you’ll find it comfortable to hold. The side frames are made out of Aluminum and the phone weighs just under 150g, making it extremely lightweight for daily usage.
The back is made out of glass and the phone feels solid in hand, completely giving the feel of holding a premium iPhone back from 2017. Being a glass back, a feature that was expected and is provided by Apple is Wireless Charging, that’s interesting as its a rare feature to see at this particular price point. The phone is also IP67 rated, meaning the phone can handle splashes of water and has the ability to resist dust to some extent. Similar to the iPhone 8, the iPhone SE 2020 has the Touch-ID and skips out on Face-ID. The Touch-ID is as fast and as accurate as of the Face-ID, we never faced any issues while unlocking the phone even for once. During this pandemic, with all our faces covered with Masks, the Touch-ID could be a better and easy way of unlocking than Face-ID
Unlike other smartphones in 2020, this new iPhone has comparatively bigger sized bezels, I would have personally loved if Apple would have fit in a larger display within the same chassis of the iPhone 8, shrinking down the bezels. Overall, if you are a sucker for small and compact phones, the iPhone SE 2020 could be the best choice for you.
Display: Old is Gold?
The iPhone SE 2020 has one the of smallest displays I have ever used in the past couple of years, and it feels refreshing shifting back down to a 4.7-inch display from the 6.5-inch display on the OnePlus 7T. Unline new smartphones with a 20:9 or even an 18:9 resolution, the iPhone SE has a 16:9 Display with a 720p resolution. While some of you might complain as its a 720p display, but trust me its lot better than what the specification sheet reveals.
The thing that concerned me, in the beginning, was the huge black top and bottom bezels, but after using it for a couple of days, I got used to it. This may be also one of the main reasons for How Apple Managed to price the iPhone SE (2020) under $399. The Display has great colors and decent contrast, but taking this smartphone out in direct sunlight, the brightness felt quite low and we had issues while viewing it outdoors. We tried consuming content of Netflix and Prime Video, and the experience wasn’t great. Wait, let me explain, With the Industry standards being set to 6.7-inches for a normal these days, and the S20 Ultra sporting a 6.9-inch display, watching content on the 4.7-inch display of the SE felt like a disguise.
For users, worried about playing PUBG on this phone, the screen size felt quite small and using a four-finger claw on the phone covered almost the whole screen, and the gaming experience then wasn’t commendable. Also, a small point to be kept in mind before purchasing the SE would be, the size of the keyboard and the typing experience: the keyboard is small in size and took a little extra time to get adapted to.
Also Read: Realme X3 Series Launched in India, Check Specs and Pricing!
Performance: Tell me something I don’t know!
When it comes to benchmarks, the SE 2 nails it as well, as expected from a smartphone running Apple’s most powerful chipset. Gaming on the smartphone felt like a breeze, even high-end games such as PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile run easily on the maximum settings without any hiccups. With Apple keeping updated the iPhones for a minimum of four-five years, the SE wouldn’t face any issues for the next couple of years. The SE 2020 runs on iOS 13 out of the box and can be updated to iOS 14, you get all the usual iOS features including Airdrop, iMessage, Facetime, and more. But do note that, the SE gets a little warm while performing intense tasks like gaming and the battery takes a hit massively.
Camera: Lights, Camera Action!
Another key important highlighting feature of the SE 2020 would be its single rear camera. While brands like Xiaomi and Realme are hyping their 108-megapixel and 64-megapixel cameras in their latest smartphones, Apple has silently used the same sensor 12-megapixel that they used on the iPhone 8. But wait before judging it in terms of megapixels, the SE 2020 with the latest A13 Bionic has the new ISP which can bring out much better results from the same sensor on the iPhone 8.
The 12-megapixel shooter clicks some amazing photos with good amount of details, natural and pleasant looking colors with great dynamic range. The color temperature and white balance are on point and in simple words, the SE 2020 can capture some really good looking shots. Where the iPhone SE’s camera lacks is, on Apple’s Night Mode. So when it comes to capturing photos with less amount of light, the SE struggles in a manner. Overall, the image quality is excellent, with great colors and dynamic range.
0 Comments