With the exception of the iPhone 5C, Apple’s strategy to launch an ‘affordable iPhone’ has been to discount the price of older models. When a new iPhone is launched, the price of an older iPhone drops to $99 (Rs 6,500) in the US, while the phone was previously sold at an on-contract price of $199 (Rs 13,100). The company has used this strategy to continue selling three-year-old iPhones at lower prices in countries like India when sales of the device have stopped in the US and other markets. An older iPhone model can be bought today at a price of Rs 17,000 without any exchange offer.
From left to right – iPhone SE, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
The cost of making the iPhone, which is being launched at a price of $399 (Rs 26,300), is $150 (Rs 9,900). This cost is the lowest ever on the cheapest new iPhone. Apple’s goal with the low price is to reach as many users as possible. Increasing the number of users is of utmost importance in view of the company’s continuously falling sales of iPhones.
iPhone SE has been designed for users who like compact phones. When Apple launched iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, these phones sold very well due to their large screen size. But not everyone likes smartphones with large screens. Apple says that in 2015, the company sold more than 3 crore iPhones with 4 inch screens. But one of the major reasons for the high sales of these iPhones is their low price, but it would be correct to say that smartphones with 4 inch screens have a significant market share.
If iPhone SE finds buyers in India and other countries, then the intention of making iPhone SE can be successful. Today we will review Apple’s new iPhone SE and know what is special in this phone.
Design and display
As is obvious, the iPhone SE looks exactly like the iPhone 5S. If our review unit wasn’t in rose gold colour, we could have easily mistaken it for the iPhone launched in 2013. We are not fans of the antenna lines on the larger iPhones, so the iPhone SE is a good vintage design earphone without any complaints.
iPhone SE can be used with one hand on all sides of the screen. But if someone uses iPhone SE after using iPhone 6S Plus as their primary phone, typing on the smaller screen may seem a bit difficult initially but with the help of iOS autocorrect, one will soon get used to it. With a small screen and weighing just 113 grams, iPhone SE feels very light in hand and can easily fit in your pocket.
Just like the iPhone 5S, the 4-inch iPhone does not have an HD display but you will never feel that way while using the device. Text looks sharp and the display is bright enough. We did not face any issues while using the phone in sunlight. But if you watch a lot of videos on the phone, you will not get a great experience on the small screen.
Performance
The iPhone SE is powered by the same Apple A9 chipset that powers the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. The phone has 2GB of RAM, although Apple’s website does not mention this. As expected, we were able to use everything on the phone quite smoothly. In areas with low network connectivity, the iPhone SE performed better than the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, but apart from that, the overall performance of the phone is similar to the iPhone 6S.
There are some big differences in iPhone SE like 3D Touch is not given in iPhone SE, due to which the user will not be able to enjoy things like Quick Action and Peek-Pop. During the review of iPhone 6S and 5S Plus, we had described 3D Touch as a technology with immense potential.
iPhone SE comes with a slow Touch ID which may cause problems for some people but we think it is a good feature. The fingerprint scanner provided in the phone is quite good and works fast. Barometer is also not provided in iPhone SE. Barometer feature was available in iPhone 6 and subsequent models.
The biggest difference that users will feel is the 1.2 megapixel front camera (FaceTime camera) given in iPhone SE which comes with f/2.4 aperture. Whereas iPhone 6S was given a 5 megapixel camera equipped with f/2.2 aperture. As expected, you will get less detailed photos from iPhone SE. However, you will feel this difference only when you zoom the pictures on a big screen. The camera supports retina flash. We found this to be our most favorite feature in iPhone SE. Apart from this, iPhone SE will also support live photos.
Talking about the rear camera performance of the iPhone SE, most of the time you will get good camera reproduction in all kinds of lighting. But in low light, the phone does not give as good results as the recently launched Samsung’s old and latest flagship smartphone Galaxy S7.
Like its previous generation, the iPhone SE comes with a 16GB storage as the base variant. This is not ideal but it is a compromise considering the target audience of the phone and the current range of smartphones from Apple. Let’s hope this is the last iPhone launched by Apple with 16GB storage.
In our battery loop test, the iPhone SE was able to watch videos continuously for 12 hours, which is 20 percent more than the iPhone 6S. One reason for this can be attributed to the smaller and lower resolution display of the iPhone SE. However, for normal use, we did not notice much difference between the iPhone SE and the 6S. The iPhone SE can be used for up to a day without needing to charge it.
Our verdict
The price of iPhone SE in India has been kept at Rs 39,000 which is by no means a price that will suddenly increase the number of iPhone users. But this iPhone product can be considered important for the Indian market.
Apart from the front camera, the iPhone SE is a complete package and has everything that is expected from an Apple product. The iPhone SE is every bit as good as the iPhone 6s but with a smaller screen size.
If you are thinking of buying a phone and your budget is fixed but you don’t care about the brand then Samsung Galaxy S6 is available at the price of iPhone SE. Galaxy S6 is the most liked smartphone among the ones launched last year.
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