Review Apple iPhone SE (2022): As fast as iPhone 13 Pro Max but half the price

I feel guilty for spending so much time obsessing over the latest smartphone trends, looking for features that will shape and change the way many of us live for the foreseeable future.

The problem with this line of thinking is that there is a segment of users who are abandoned. Users don’t care about having the best technology but just want a phone that keeps them in touch with work, loved ones and friends for the next few years without spending a lot of money.

That’s where

Apple just announced the budget-friendly third-generation iPhone. The 2022 version of the iPhone SE starts at $429 – a $30 increase over the previous generation. Orders are open now, with deliveries and retail starting Friday, March 18.

I’ve spent the last five days using the iPhone SE as my primary phone, and besides having to adjust from a

and a giant 6.7-inch screen (for comparison), I’d love to go back to a smaller, more manageable iPhone. If you want the tl version; dr isn’t going to spoil the review, I’ll just say this: the iPhone SE is an option worth using.

If you want all the actual details, well, then, keep reading.

Design

There is not much left to say about the design of the iPhone SE. It’s the same design as the iPhone SE 2020, using the same design as the iPhone 8. As a refresh, it will transform into an iPhone with a 4.7-inch Retina display with a 1334×750 resolution.

There are large bezels above and below the screen, both of which serve as a reminder of how spoiled we have become by the edge-to-edge display in modern iPhone designs.

The “chin” below the screen is Apple’s iconic Home button with Touch ID used to unlock the phone, approve Apple Pay purchases, and sign in to apps.

The “forehead” part above the screen is where the 7-megapixel FaceTime camera is located, along with the headset. Surrounding the entire device are rounded edges, another contrast to the square edge design of the iPhone 13.

On the right side of the iPhone SE is the side button used to turn on/off and wake or lock the phone. The left side is where the volume up and down buttons are located along with the mute switch. At the bottom of the phone is a Lighting port for charging or syncing the phone.

On the back of the iPhone SE is a single 12-megapixel wide camera and flash. The back and display of the phone use the same glass used on the back of the iPhone 13 – which Apple claims is the hardest glass used on smartphones. Just to be clear, it’s not the Ceramic Shield glass used on the iPhone 13’s display.

The iPhone SE comes in three different colors. There are Midnight (black), Starlight (white) and Product (RED). I’m using the Starlight version and really like it.

One aspect of the iPhone SE that I wish Apple would change is by adding MagSafe to the back of the phone. MagSafe has turned into a feature more than just a means to charge an iPhone. There are a large number of accessories that work with MagSafe just like Apple’s

,

or the multitude of cases that currently exist for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.

Performance

While the design of the iPhone SE is something we’ve never seen before, what’s inside the latest iPhone SE is a big change. With the iPhone SE, Apple used the same processor – the A15 Bionic – inside the iPhone 13 lineup. The A15 Bionic is a 6-core CPU, with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. It also has a 4-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. Apple does not announce or talk about the amount of memory in its mobile devices, but I can confirm the iPhone SE has 4GB of memory.

I’m not a fan of using benchmarks to determine the overall performance of a device, be it a computer, tablet or smartphone. However, I am curious about the performance of the iPhone SE compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max – when they have the same processor – as well as

with first generation Google Tensor processors.

I ran CPU tests in Geekbench 5 on all three devices. Pixel 6 Pro scored 932 points for the single-core test and 2,139 points for the multi-core test. The iPhone 13 Pro Max scored 1,741 and 4,316 respectively. The iPhone SE has scores of 1,731 and 4,466 for the same single-core and multi-core tests. In other words – the iPhone SE is almost twice as fast as the $899 Pixel 6 Pro, Google’s flagship phone. If that’s not enough to impress you, let me put it another way. The iPhone SE’s $429 price tag is on par with Apple’s most expensive phone, the $1,099 iPhone 13 Pro Max.

My personal experience confirms that the iPhone SE is as fast as the iPhone 13 Pro Max (which is my primary phone). It’s not only noticeable in the speed of opening apps or when multitasking, but also when changing between camera modes, for example.

Another benefit of using the A15 Bionic in the iPhone SE is the addition of 5G connectivity. More specifically, you’ll get Sub-6 5G, not mmWave. I don’t know what impact 5G will have on the iPhone SE’s battery life because AT&T has yet to launch 5G where I live. While the lack of mmWave might be a disappointment to some, I agree with ZDNet Editor Staff June Wan who wrote about the lack of mmWave on the iPhone SE not a big problem. If the iPhone SE is twice as expensive, sure. But at $429, the lack of mmWave shouldn’t be an issue. For the uninitiated, mmWave is the fastest version of 5G available, but deployment is slow and sporadic, requires you to be very close to a tower and is often obstructed by windows or even plant.

The single 12-megapixel camera is second to none. While Apple doesn’t upgrade the hardware itself, the camera benefits from its A15 Bionic processor and image signal processor. The end result is a camera that takes clear and sharp photos without having to tweak settings. Open the camera, take a photo and share.

I’ve taken a lot of photos over the past few days, and I can honestly say I haven’t taken any where I feel like the camera experience isn’t up to par with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, with the note that the Pro Max there are three cameras into the single lens of the iPhone SE. Instead of showing you pictures of random everyday objects or boring food photos, I’m going to share this photo of my dogs.

The 7-megapixel FaceTime camera is also clear and sharp. I was impressed with how clear images were during the FaceTime tests with my wife.

In terms of battery life, Apple claims that it has added about two hours of use to the iPhone SE’s battery when compared to the second-generation iPhone SE. That equates to 15 hours of video playback, compared to 13 hours of the previous model.

During my usage, the battery life didn’t come close to what the iPhone 13 Pro Max offers, but that’s to be expected. We’ll have to wait until iFixit tore apart the iPhone SE to see what the size of the battery is, but I can imagine it’s much smaller than the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s 4,352 mAh battery. For reference, the battery of the iPhone SE 2020 is 1,821 mAh.

That said, I was able to use the screen for over 3 hours during my typical day’s testing before I had to get my charger. It’s good enough for someone who doesn’t live on their phone, constantly checking social media, texts, or emails. If you consider yourself a heavy user, you’ll probably find the iPhone SE’s battery life lacking.

I wish Apple would increase the base storage capacity from 64GB to 128GB, especially with the price increase. Instead, you can get the 64GB for $429, the 128GB for $479, and the 256GB for $579.

Key point

Arguably, the iPhone SE is just as important as the iPhone 13 to Apple’s smartphone portfolio. And the updates Apple made to the iPhone SE have brought it modern with state-of-the-art 5G connectivity and performance technology, thanks in part to the A15 Bionic. It’s a phone running iOS 15 right now and will continue to receive iOS updates for the next few years.

Apple tweaked the iPhone SE’s formula, improving on a phone that was already a steal. Whether you’re managing a group of workers, your friends need an iPhone, or you simply prefer a smaller iPhone, the iPhone SE is an easy choice. You simply cannot find a better phone at this price point.