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.

Display Measurement - Maximum Brightness

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.

Portrait Displays CalMAN

Portrait Displays CalMAN

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.

Portrait Displays CalMAN

Saturation calibration is also extremely good, with only a quite larger overshoot towards the higher saturation reds.

Portrait Displays CalMAN

Portrait Displays CalMAN

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.

Camera - Quick Evaluation (Outdated) Battery Life - Matching the iPhone 8
Comments Locked

196 Comments

View All Comments

  • mandirabl - Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - link

    Privacy, but you did know that, didn't you? Well: https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/04/28/iphone-se...
  • Pitape - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link

    I would be interested about audio and stereo speaker quality.
  • Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link

    for what? a McIntosh audio system? Certainly not on a cell phone.

    Here's the verdict - McIntosh great - cell phone HORRIBLE
  • GL1zdA - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link

    Received mine yesterday. I was upgrading from a 2016 SE, which I liked very much, but I was using a 32 GB version for the last year and always needed more space. It will take some time before I get used to the new size. My hands are fairly large, but operating the phone with just one hand is a bit more difficult, especially if I have to hit something in the top left corner. I also preferred the old home button, this new one feels awkward, I never know "when" it will register the "press".
  • Deicidium369 - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link

    <pats the good little iSheep on the head>
  • Featherinmycap - Monday, April 27, 2020 - link

    Why are you commenting on an article about iPhones and patronizing users for their choice of operating system? Go iSheep yourself somewhere else. Its annoying to be on a tech site with a lot of very thoughtful commenters and then you come trolling along. You post all over the place repeatedly with nary an original thought to share.
  • trparky - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link

    He's a rabid android fan, he can't help himself.
  • Korguz - Sunday, May 3, 2020 - link

    and a rabid intel fan as well.
    they guy cant get his own personal facts straight, let alone anything else. reply to him with sources that refute his claims, and he either runs away, and doesnt reply, or he just resorts to name calliing and insults.
  • trparky - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link

    Go away.
  • Death666Angel - Saturday, April 25, 2020 - link

    To the people here commenting that they like the size: I bought my mother-in-law the Galaxy A40 on sale for 150€ back in January. She likes that phone a lot. It has a nice 1080p Samsung screen, good-enough SoC, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, good battery life, headphone jack. It is 6mm taller and 2mm wider than the iPhone SE (2020). Is it that much of a difference to you? Or is it just that you actually want a cheaper and smaller iOS device? It really felt tiny to me, coming from 5.7" 16:9 and 6.5" 19:9 phones.
    And another thing: the iPhone SE (2020) is ca. 138x67 mm² and the LG G2 was ca. 138x70 mm², but had a 5.2" 1080p display. In 2013. I liked that phone a lot.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now