The iPhone SE (2020) Review: A Reinvigorated Classic
by Andrei Frumusanu on April 24, 2020 6:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- Apple
- Smartphones
- iPhone SE
- Apple A13
- iPhone SE 2020
Display Measurement
The screen of the iPhone SE shouldn’t be much different to that of the iPhone 8. It’s still an LCD IPS display, but it’s also one of the best on the market, even though the resolution is quite low.
We move on to the display calibration and fundamental display measurements of the iPhone SE screen. As always, we thank X-Rite and SpecraCal, as our measurements are performed with an X-Rite i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer, with the exception of black levels which are measured with an i1Display Pro colorimeter. Data is collected and examined using Portrait Display's CalMAN software.
In terms of brightness, the iPhone SE comes in at a maximum of 675 nits, which is in line with Apple’s previous generation LCD devices. It’s not quite as bright as the OLED iPhone 11’s and this can be noticeable in bright daylight, but it’s otherwise a very acceptable result.
In terms of greyscale calibration, minus a gamma that’s slightly too high and by a bit off with slightly darker tones, the color accuracy of the iPhone SE is dead-on. Whites come in at 6492K is almost perfect, and in general the color error is below a dEITP of 1.
Saturation calibration is also extremely good, with only a quite larger overshoot towards the higher saturation reds.
In the GMB test, the display is incredibly accurate with a color error of only 0.99 dEITP, only slightly worsened by the very slightly off gamma and darker tones for a total of 2.12 dEITP.
Overall, the iPhone SE’s display is in line with what we’ve seen on the iPhone 8. It’s amongst the best LCD screens in the market, even though by now it’s been outpaced in terms of brightness output and evidently resolution.
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Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link
Don't make the iSheep think - they will end up drinking bleach and shooting up Lysol.cha0z_ - Thursday, August 6, 2020 - link
I have a secondary iphone 6s that I ran on ios12, ios13 and currently ios14 beta - you clearly have no clue what you are talking about rofl. It's as fast and SMOOTHER than my exynos note 9!!! Also there are tons of changes and added important new features between ios 12, 13 and 14.GC2:CS - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Why would Apple make changes to the camera ? Is it significant enough to make it cheaper ?Maybe an iPad Pro camera part ? Those have soft details too.
Still looks like XR is better “Apple single camera” system. Unless those are problems with focusing software. But the rest of the image processing looks impressive.
Btw. I know iPhone 11 sensors are way faster than before, but is it confirmed they have RAM backed readout ? I don’t saw that anywhere.
Regarding battery life is there a plan for some heavy load test against iPhone8 like a GfX battery rundown ?
Regarding perf. A13 was only paired with 3000 mAh cells before. Now it is 1820. How the system can power such a beast without much effect on benchmarks...
And lastly could not be happier this was released. The 11’s feel brick like compared to this one. Just hope that some more small models are in making and not only from Apple.
Phantasma - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
Can you guys benchmark the memory speed of the flash storage ? pleaseTomatotech - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I'm not sure if that's possible on iOS.Also, how would that number help? It is far faster than any method of getting data into or out of an iPhone, and Apple certainly has the chops to make sure that the speed selected maximises exactly the parameters of CPU requirements, power draw, app loading speed, and battery life.
Kind of reminds me of Rolls Royce - when asked how much horsepower their new car engine had, they merely said 'Adequate'.
isthisavailable - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I would have been sold if they did something about the battery life but they didn't and that's a dealbreaker for me. When they removed 3d touch, all the other phones got a boost in battery capacity but not here for some reason. I guess "designing" a new battery would have pushed the cost from $399 to $402 and we CANNOT have that!Peskarik - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
broaden the product palette at virtually no cost, that is what Apple smartly done here, imho.What "designing"? I see zero "designing" in this phone.
Speedfriend - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link
Actually further destroy the resale value of your iPhone.toyeboy89 - Friday, April 24, 2020 - link
I don't think it would have been that simple. It's still a very small device. I have 2 day battery life on my iPhone 7 still with the Apple smart battery case if that's something you would consider getting with the SE.cha0z_ - Thursday, August 6, 2020 - link
No need, friend of mine got one and easily finish the day with 30% battery left, that's with heavy use. In numbers he can reach 5-6 hours screen on with 24h on battery and also calls, music/carplay, etc (offscreen usage). Not the greatest, but totally doable for most people, I think.