The first iPhone of the new year 2022 is the most controversial device. The home button under the screen with a huge frame, only one camera, a low-capacity battery, on top of that, visually, the novelty has not gone far from the iPhone 6 from 2014. Without going back that far, we can draw an equal sign between the iPhone 8, introduced in 2017, iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone SE (2022). All in all, some kind of dinosaur in a new iPhone holiday suit. It's not as small as the iPhone 12 mini or 13 mini, but it has all the trappings of an older device.
However, if you don't look at the people around from the position of a lover of the latest iPhones for a hundred thousand-plus rubles, then the picture looms differently. Not everyone wants the most high-end and very expensive device, but not everyone wants to buy an old model like the iPhone 11 three years ago. In that case, it is logical to look at the new iPhone SE (2022), there are no other relatively inexpensive options by Apple standards yet.
We were helped with our search for the new iPhone SE by the guys at the friendliest.
How do you know it's new?
If you put the iPhone SE (2020) and SE (2022) red on the table, you can notice a slight difference in the shade of red: the new Product Red has a more saturated color.
It's the same with the other "new" colors: the differences are insignificant, and if the device is hidden in a case, then try to guess which era the smartphone is from. Black turned into a dark navy blue, and white now has a milky hue. At the same time, Apple renamed the colors: instead of black, there was Midnight, and white was turned into Starlight.
The iPhone SE still fits the iPhone 8 cases, although this is unlikely to be an argument in favor of buying the new product. I wish I could add some fresh colors to make the device stand out!
Getting ahead of ourselves, I will say that the rumored iPhone SE in a new design will appear in a year - most likely, it will be an updated iPhone XR or iPhone 11 with fresh stuffing. Nothing original, of course, Apple will offer for the base device. You want all the beauty - buy the flagship series. A simple model will have the fate of a secondary device, which "attaches" the design of past generations.
Compactness is our everything
The dimensions are the same, if in a nutshell, it's a small and handy smartphone. And I want to add the phrase that "such do not make more. No matter how hackneyed it may sound, but it is: you will not buy a small phone with top-end hardware. The choice is essentially limited to iPhones: the iPhone SE (2020) or SE (2022) for the conservative, and the 12 mini or 13 mini for those who want a redesigned iPhone and are willing to pay extra for it.
There's glass on the front and back, aluminum bezels on the sides, and the phone is thin and light. This is especially noticeable when using the iPhone 13 Pro, not to mention the monster 12 Pro Max or 13 Pro Max. You even get the feeling that it's a fake iPhone - how can it be so light and easy to use. Rounded sides, no sharp parts, minimal weight. Of course, they also retained the IP67 water protection, the phone is ready for the test by the pool.
Now the iPhone SE (2022) is kind of retrospective, like going back to 2014, when the iPhone 6 was shown. And now you move to it from your iPhone 5s, experiencing new feelings, studying and examining the iPhone in an unfamiliar design.
Except that April 2022 is blossoming outside the window, where it's hard to find a logical justification for the iPhone SE (2022). Buying a phone for fifty-odd thousand rubles, one wants something new, not flashbacks from a bygone era.
Outdated display
With the quality of the image everything is fine, there is enough margin of brightness, even if it is not excessive, as in the new iPhones. In any case, the image looks natural and there are the usual things like True Tone. But still 4.7 inches is not enough for a constant life on social networks, this is the expected payback for the compact size. No 120 Hz or OLED, of course: this is not available to the base-level iPhone in principle.
Another thing is that not everyone lives in Twitter or Instagram, and to flip through a feed of friends' lives for half an hour a day, such a screen is enough. Although here it depends on how you look at it: in my opinion, the Internet is already sharpened for larger displays and you want to fit more data, leafing through pages less frequently. With games it's the same story: Apple Arcade does not have as many cool toys as we would like, but there are enough puzzles. And the beloved Mini Motorways was uncomfortable to play, it turns out too small and boring.
Therefore, the question remains open as to how comfortable it will be with such a phone in a few years. After all, there are many more phones with large screens, applications and the virtual environment on the Internet primarily adapted to them.
Unbreakable Touch ID
Unlocking iPhone with your finger works flawlessly. There is nothing to complain about, the technology over the years has been brought to perfection. Another thing is that the sensor is not perceived as a detail of a modern device on the background of brethren with Face ID. But unlocking by face is at least more modern, especially since mask recognition was added, greatly simplifying the process.
Fast. But why?
The latest Apple A15 Bionic system-on-a-chip is a guarantee that the phone with a very decent power reserve for a long time will keep its zeal and receive regular updates. The RAM is enough for fast and smooth operation of iOS 15, here as much as 4 GB - I think that in the future everything will be fine. After all, the resolution of the screen is not high by modern standards, and the top of the line chipset of the iPhone 13 Pro Max level will easily digest any games and tasks.
The amount of internal memory has not changed: Apple still offers 64 GB for those who prefer to store all the data anywhere, but not in the phone. There is 128 GB for those who like optimal configurations. At the top of the pyramid is the iPhone SE with 256GB of storage for the most wasteful.
However, it is impossible to take into account all the scenarios of using the phone, for the demanding people there is an ideal option in the form of iPhone 11. Whereas iPhone SE (2022) is more for those who do not sit for hours in TikTok, but a device with good potential for many years to come. For example, the iPhone SE (2020) is still fast to this day, what to say about its powerful successor.
For American operators, the presence of 5G in the phone is a nice argument for sales, but in our latitudes it is still a useless feature in the phone.
I want a better camera
Testing iPhone SE (2022) alone is boring, so I decided to see how it would look against its counterparts. As a budget alternative let it be the iPhone SE (2020), and as a benchmark let it be the new iPhone 13. In terms of dry specs, the cameras are the same as in the last generation of the iPhone SE. The main one is 12 MP (f/1.8), and the front one is 7 MP (f/2.2). But on the side of novelty new chipset and all the power of computational photography with post-processing.
In good light, in the daytime on the street, for example, the results are too good and it is better to go straight to the complex shooting indoors. In general, any tangible difference between the new and old generation iPhone SE I did not notice, with both smartphones inferior to the iPhone 13. However, this is logical and testing only proved the fact that the old camera will not be saved by the new software features.
Here are the pictures in this order: iPhone SE (2020), iPhone SE (2022), iPhone 13. It might be a software problem or a problem with a certain device but the iPhone SE (2022) often gets blurry pictures just like here: The night mode was absent in iPhone SE (2020), it has not appeared in iPhone SE (2022) either. But they added Deep Fusion, HDR 4, and shooting styles so that you don't waste time on post-processing.
In low light, the difference in quality between the SE (2020) and SE (2022) is not noticeable, but compared to the iPhone 13 the lag is obvious.
Portrait shooting goes to the main module, and then the software processing highlights the person. The software works neatly, and there are no obvious artifacts. Oddly enough, I liked the first shot on the iPhone SE (2020) better in terms of colors.
Compared to the SE (2020), the frames on the front camera are sharper, skin texture is preserved and there is no blur effect. In terms of resolution, it's still the same 7 megapixels.
As always, the strongest qualities of iPhone excellent video: there base iPhone SE (2022) performs at the level of the older models, giving up positions only in semi-darkened rooms. But outdoors in sunlight everything is great, the results are decent.
Battery
Perhaps not everyone berated the iPhone SE (2020) for its battery life, but certainly no one praised it. In the case of the iPhone SE (2022), the situation is fundamentally the same. The phone got an increased battery capacity: it was 1821 mAh, became 2018 mAh. But with active use, it still doesn't last until late at night.
At the presentation Apple said that the phone lasts 2 hours longer compared to the old model in video playback mode. I didn't compare, but the usage scenario is very specific, and if you load the phone with internet, geolocation and streaming music, you get about 4-5 hours of screen time.
Included with the phone we get only the cable, the power supply must be bought separately. The power adapter of higher power does not make the weather: it takes 1.5 hours to fully charge it, which is long enough for a phone with a small battery. Up to 50% of the iPhone SE is charged in half an hour, which by today's standards is also too much.
There is no MagSafe support, but you can use wireless Qi charging if you want.
Not so budget
In Russia, the iPhone SE (2022) is not sold through official channels. If you take the American price, the novelty is $429 excluding taxes for the basic version with 64 GB of memory. But you can't go long with such volume, it is logical to pay $50 extra and get already 128 GB. The maximum version with 256 GB will cost $579, which is a bit pricey. In this case, it is easier to buy an iPhone 11 with 128 GB of memory: it is not as fast, but it will last for two or three years, and then it can be exchanged for something faster.
Opinion
Looking at the world through Apple's eyes, the new iPhone SE is a phone for those who don't want to buy Android devices, but aren't ready to shell out the pricey iPhones either. By the company's standards, it's an inexpensive phone with the latest chip for $429. By comparison, the iPhone 11 with the old chip is $499, the iPhone 12 mini is $599, and the iPhone 13 with the same Apple A15 Bionic is all $799. Prices are exclusive of
taxes, if anything.
There will probably be those who will say that everything is offset by the stuffing like the iPhone 13. But the question is, how to use all that potential? The autonomy was not good, and remains so. It is not particularly convenient to play games with spectacular graphics on a small screen, and the camera cannot be called particularly outstanding. In normal use, the new iPhone is not faster than the old one, the applications open with the same speed and the difference compared to SE (2020) is not felt.
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