iPhone SE (2020) - Evokes Nostalgia?

Ever heard of the phrase- " Don't Judge a book by its Cover " ? Looks like the Engineers at Apple Inc. surely have! The Original iPhone SE, released back in 2016, reflected the same ideal and so does the Freshly launched - iPhone SE (2020). It's named same as the old iPhone SE without any '2', however , the most exciting change happens to be the design because...Hold your Breath...its an iPhone 8 with iPhone 11 internals, just like a younger brother wearing his 4 years elder brother's clothes. Yeah!

Let's take a closer look at the various specs of the successor to Apple's beloved Special Edition iPhone.

➤ Design And Display

As mentioned earlier, The iPhone SE is quite identical to iPhone 8 in many aspects. To begin with, it has got the same glass sandwich design with high grade aluminum frame, the same single camera module position and design accompanied by a flash and mic. The only possible change visible to the naked eyes is the Effect of Gravity on the Apple Logo as it has slipped downward, in coordination with the newer and mightier iPhone 11.  The Bottom of the frame houses the speaker (which is nice sounding if not best) along with the so old Lightning Port which Apple has still not dropped for USB C.

On the front, you are greeted with huge black bezels and in this era of full screen, they really look huge. However, if you are upgrading from an iPhone prior to iPhone X, then it would not be a big deal as such. The screen is a 4.7 inches 720p (1314 x 750) True Tone LCD display with a pixel density of 326 ppi and a max brightness of  625 nits and a 1400:1 contrast ratio. It is neither the sharpest nor the brightest display in the price bracket, however, it is still useable for routine tasks but not so much in broad daylight due to its low levels of brightness. Moreover, it employs the standard 60 Hz Refresh Rate same as the iPhone 11. 

➤ Camera

The iPhone SE 2020 does with a single 12 MP (f/1.8) rear facing camera with support for Portrait Mode and 4K 30fps video recording. Apple has not revealed if its the same sensor as iPhone 11 or iPhone 8 or maybe a hybrid of both. The key point is that provide it the optimum light and Boom! It will provide you with substantially Good photos, better than most of the android counterparts. But as the light dips, grains arrive and the photo quality takes a substantial hit, making low light photography not its forte. 

iPhones are known for their excellent video quality and this one is no exception. Its 4K 30fps almost blows the competition with great stabilization and quality however there are no crazy zoom options available here.

The front camera is a 7Mp (f/2.2) unit which also supports Portrait Mode. Its neither perfect nor underwhelming and does the job well.

➤ Performance

Now this is the area where iPhone SE shines and finishes the race line while all other budget competitors have just reached half. It gets all its beasty power from A13 Bionic chip, also seen in the current gen iPhone 11. Although this chip is as powerful as the Snapdragon 865, (which is seen in some of the upper budget phones) , coupled with that less power consuming 720p display and IOS 13, it turns into a never ending heap of performance which causes to predict it as one of the longest lasting budget phones in time though it lacks 5G compatibility.

The base variant has a storage capacity of 64GB and goes all the way upto 256GB, all of which comes with  3GB of RAM.

➤ Battery

Apple has not revealed the official battery capacity of the iPhone SE but according to their claims, you can watch 13 hours of video in a single charge. In real world usage the battery is not exceptional but sufficient and can keep your charger away for atleast a day.

iPhone SE supports 18W wired charging which can charge the phone from 0 to 50%  in just 30 minutes. Furthermore, it also supports 7.5W wireless charging so as to avoid the mess of cables.

➤ Worth Noting

iPhone SE also boasts of an IP67 water and dust resistant rating that can keep the phone out of danger upto 1 metre for 30 minutes.

There is the old and gold Touch ID on offer instead of the Face ID. It is secure, fast and reliable.

➤ Variants and Pricing

iPhone SE 2020 will be available in 3 colors -- Product RED, White and Black

~ 64 GB    --    $399

~ 128 GB   --    $449

~ 256 GB  --    $549

➤ Verdict

iPhone SE 2020 hits the ball out of the park for those who are fed up of the transformation of phones into phablets and thus want a handy and convenient phone without compromising much on the specs and secondly for those who just want an iPhone but can't afford one because of the sky rocketed prices of flagships.

Infact it is a phone which , leaving the performance aside , does nothing crazy or exciting ,however, checks all the right boxes for a well balanced phone in the budget segment which provides great bang for the buck as compared to many of its competitors!

Here's the Official Introduction Video for

 iPhone SE