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oofio2461

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 20, 2021
433
1,852
 Full Moon
I'm looking at getting a phone in June and I want the SE, but hate the Old Design. The A53 has a more modern design but a weaker processor. What should I choose to be my upgrade phone? The A53 (Starting Storage 128GB) is $450, and the iPhone SE 3 (128GB) is $479 (Thanks, Apple Tax!) so the A53 is Cheaper if it's the same storage. I want to know your opinions about these phones. Thanks.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,651
12,792
How important is iOS vs Android to you?

If you prefer iOS, why not the iPhone 11 ($549 128GB)? More modern design, bigger display and better battery life than SE3 for just a little bit more. I believe the Apple A13 chipset is still faster than the Exynos 1280.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,651
12,792
I don't mind One UI or IOS, I just care how these two are in the long run. (3-4 Years.)

If you're a moderate to heavy user, the battery life on the SE will probably be worse than the Galaxy A53's now. No need to wait 3-4 years later.
 

snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,812
2,859
UK
How important is iOS vs Android to you?

If you prefer iOS, why not the iPhone 11 ($549 128GB)? More modern design, bigger display and better battery life than SE3 for just a little bit more. I believe the Apple A13 chipset is still faster than the Exynos 1280.
Rui no onna, the SE3 has the new A15 chip not the A13.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,651
12,792
Was looking at the SE3 for a family member and found this…. Concerning.

Ugh. What a waste of time. Everything they mentioned, I already know based on the SE3 specs and previous posts in this forum.

Just like most tech reviewers, what they fail to realize is the folks buying the SE3 are likely upgrading from 4.7" iPhone 8 or older/smaller. Most of its target market are not interested in the 7(!) other iPhone models that Apple currently sells with modern design, FaceID, bigger display and bigger battery. While the battery life on the SE3 will not rival, say, the XR, it's still bound to be better than a similar 4.7" phone with 4+ year old degraded battery.
 

Populus

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2012
4,962
7,236
Spain, Europe
Ugh. What a waste of time. Everything they mentioned, I already know based on the SE3 specs and previous posts in this forum.

Just like most tech reviewers, what they fail to realize is the folks buying the SE3 are likely upgrading from 4.7" iPhone 8 or older/smaller. Most of its target market are not interested in the 7(!) other iPhone models that Apple currently sells with modern design, FaceID, bigger display and bigger battery. While the battery life on the SE3 will not rival, say, the XR, it's still bound to be better than a similar 4.7" phone with 4+ year old degraded battery.
Yeah, I find that review a bit biased… for instance, first of all they complain that, despite having a bigger battery than the iPhone 8 and SE2, they compare it with the premium, flagship devices with more space for a battery just to complain that the SE3 has a smaller one. Well, that’s relative, even the iPhone 13 battery is smaller compared with some Android phablets.

And because of this, they infer that battery life will be worse because 5G. AND THEN, they complain about not having the mmWave, when every serious reviewer should know that mmWave is a real battery hog and pretty much worthless outside of big events and big cities in the outside. Then, they point to the lack of the “antenna window”, and it seems like they don’t know that window is only for the 5mmWave antennas, that’s why European iPhone 12 and 13 lack this ”antenna windows” as well.

They list a number of -allegedly- negative things, most of them we already know, just to make their point that the SE3 is not worth it.

Anyways, this is not against you @dk001 I appreciate you sharing that review, we are just disagreeing with the reviewers, that‘s all.
 

Populus

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2012
4,962
7,236
Spain, Europe
I don't mind One UI or IOS, I just care how these two are in the long run. (3-4 Years.)

This comes down mainly to operating system choice as @rui no onna said. Also, if battery life is very important for you and you give your smartphone an intensive use, I would suggest the Android one as long as it has a large battery inside (I don’t really know that model in particular). However, if you plan to have a fully supported smartphone, through software updates and new operating systems for 4, 5 or even 6 years, I couldn’t recommend anything but the iPhone SE3. Especially if your use is not intensive during the day.
 
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Motionblurrr

macrumors 65816
Jul 1, 2008
1,303
1,623
Was looking at the SE3 for a family member and found this…. Concerning.
Man I am getting SICK of youtubers. All of them.

Forums > Youtubers in regards to info because here you can point out biases and discuss it. On Youtube, the top comments are braindead takes and comparisons with nothing of value.
 

Andeddu

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2016
1,654
2,052
I’d get the SE3 everyday of the week as it is magnitudes more powerful than the A53 and will last for many years. If you’re looking for an Android phone with a good processor, pick up a POCO F3 with an 870 processor. It’s way better than the A53 but still behind the SE3 in power. It is a more modern looking phone and overall is better than the SE3 if you’re happy with Android.
 

Detektiv-Pinky

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2006
848
192
Berlin, Germany
I have the A52s 5G, this should be still available and is virtually the same phone with a Snapdragon chipset and a 3.5mm audio port:
Feature and price wise it beats the SE3 by a wide margin. However, it comes with a strange choice of preinstalled software, that can only partially be deinstalled. Update support should tide you through 3-4 years easily. Mind you, an Android phone can still be used, even without the latest OS update. Critical components and apps are updated separately from the OS. So you will still get the latest browser updates, even if your OS is two or three generations behind.
 

babyexercise

macrumors 65816
Oct 1, 2021
1,247
684
I'm looking at getting a phone in June and I want the SE, but hate the Old Design. The A53 has a more modern design but a weaker processor. What should I choose to be my upgrade phone? The A53 (Starting Storage 128GB) is $450, and the iPhone SE 3 (128GB) is $479 (Thanks, Apple Tax!) so the A53 is Cheaper if it's the same storage. I want to know your opinions about these phones. Thanks.

S21 FE is even cheaper than A53 in my city. I would switch to S22 FE "Plus" if Samsung offers this model to against coming non pro max 14 with around 500 US dollars price.
 

VaruLV

macrumors 6502a
Mar 25, 2019
630
558
I see this thread is still active.

If you have no particular OS in mind and you want new phone in June, then why not wait and see if the prices on A53/A73 come down, I reckon A73 should have better CPU?
Either way, SE design and battery life are just crap in my opinion, Im not a power user but I could barely survive with 12 Mini's battery life and now being XS user the battery life is even worse, cant imagine how crap of a battery is in SE.
If you decide that you want iPhone(my reasoning for getting iPhone for the first time was OS updates, somewhat better privacy and small size, so I got 12 Mini) then, again, wait till June, see what the prices are and get yourself iPhone 11, 12, or 13, depending on price and availability in your region.
If I had to get an Android in coming months, for me it would be either one of the Samsungs mid-tier offerings in the form of A52s/A53/A73/FE when on sale or, perhaps rumored Pixel 6A or upcoming Osom OV1 which comes from Essential phone makers.
If I had to buy a new phone now, I would see what iPhone I can get below 750$ or just get A53/A73 with Samsung buyback/freebies offers and be happy user for 2-4 years depending on how capable the CPU inside one would be.

Good luck with your choice and happy hunting!
 
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