Pre-orders for the iPhone SE, the cheapest Apple smartphone ever, have begun. At 3 am (local time) on March 9, at Apple’s new product launch event, the iPhone SE took off the veil, drawing the attention of consumers around the world. Most paid attention to the fact that it is the lowest price among older models and Apple smartphones.
How do you feel when you use the new iPhone SE, which starts at 590,000 won in domestic shipment? Accordingly, several foreign media outlets used Apple’s latest smartphone and released the product evaluation results as follows. What kind of product is the iPhone SE evaluated by foreign media?
First of all, the common reaction of most media focused on the three characteristics of ‘a familiar design as in the past, low price, and excellent performance’. They all agreed that the iPhone SE’s design of the home button and bezel was reminiscent of the iPhone 6 released in 2014.
Regarding product design, the main focus was on the home button and the display bezel.
American online tech media Cnet and The Verge said they were satisfied with the fact that the home button had a fingerprint sensor built into it and that it supported Touch ID again instead of Face ID. In particular, Cnet evaluated the adoption of the Touch ID function positively in that it is much more convenient to use Touch ID instead of Face ID for user authentication when paying with Apple Card. The Verge also said that they prefer Touch ID over Face ID for the same reason.
Next, regarding the display, The Verge and Ars Technica mentioned that the 2022 model has a wide bezel, giving the impression that it is an outdated model. In addition, Cnet paid attention to the brightness of the 4.7-inch LCD display mounted on the iPhone SE.
The media said, “If you use an iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 and use a 2022 iPhone SE, you may not notice the difference in display brightness. However, if you change from iPhone 12 mini with OLED display to iPhone SE, you can clearly feel the difference in brightness. did.
The Verge pointed out that the actual usable screen area is narrow due to the combination of the wide bezel and the 4.7-inch display size, which is inconvenient. Similarly, the US tech news website Mashable also mentioned the small display size as a flaw in the iPhone SE, but saw it as a thin, light and highly practical product.
Along with the display, what many consumers have paid attention to is the A15 Bionic chip and product performance.
Based on the benchmark test of Geekbench 5, the single-core score of the latest iPhone SE is 1,759 points, which is superior to iPhone 13 (1,711 points) and Galaxy S22 Ultra (1,224 points). Accordingly, Mashable evaluated that it is excellent that it supports fast speed and smooth app execution function while mounting the A15 Bionic chip, the highest-end mobile processor at an affordable price. Next, he said that he did not feel any discomfort when switching from the iPhone 13 to the latest iPhone SE thanks to the excellent performance of the A15 Bionic chip.
Along with the A15 Bionic chip, many consumers also expected camera performance. This is because the camera performance of the iPhone 13 series equipped with the same processor was evaluated as the best among smartphones.
iPhone SE applied some of the camera functions of the iPhone 13 series, such as smart HDR4 processing, Deep Fusion, 4K resolution, and 60 frames per second video. However, many media outlets expressed disappointment in the lack of support for night mode.
The Verge showed that the iPhone SE has only one 12MP rear camera and does not have an ultra-wide or telephoto lens, so night shots and low-light environment photos are very dark and blurry.
Mashable also said that the iPhone SE does not support ultra-wide-angle mode, optical zoom, macro mode, and night mode, so it is difficult to expect great camera features from the existing iPhone series.
Cnet said that even a product with a similar or cheaper price to the iPhone SE supports the night mode, but it was disappointing that the iPhone SE did not support the night mode even though Apple had the same processor as the iPhone 13. However, it was evaluated that the overall picture quality, such as detailed image expression and color, was excellent when the brightness was above the medium level.
When using the product in daily life, the battery life cannot be neglected. What is the battery life of the iPhone SE? Media reactions to battery life have been mixed.
First, Cnet said that when using the iPhone SE, it was enough to use it for a day without charging the battery. When I charged the battery to 100% in the morning and checked the remaining battery level at night, I could confirm that it was around 20-30%. However, when the photo-taking function and video playback function were used for a long time for a day, the remaining battery power was reduced to 19%, but it was added that there was no problem in using it 24 hours a day.
Mashable said that the battery life of the iPhone SE is similar to that of the iPhone mini, and it was positive that the battery life was improved compared to the iPhone SE released in 2020.
Ars Technica also agrees that the iPhone SE’s battery life is better than its predecessor. However, he said that the battery life of the iPhone SE is disappointing in that most of the competitors’ mid-priced smartphones are sufficient for two consecutive days.
