TL;DR: I got an SE as a backup phone and really kinda like the darn thing.
I recently dropped my 8+ on the concrete floor. No damage to the phone itself (thank you, Speck case!). But it did get me wondering what I would do if I did fall out of my pocket again and get damaged to the point of not functioning.
So I decided to get a cheap iPhone as a backup. What to get? Well, there are such a vocal bunch on here who really, really like their 1st gen SE's, I thought I would give it a try. You can get these things at prices below $100 online these days. And they still can run the latest OS. So, I decided to pick up a GSM Space Grey model.
I'd say it really looks nice in that color. Though I don't think you could go wrong with any of the colors. It's really an aesthetically pleasing phone to look at. And it feels great in the hand. Sure is tiny though. So, I fired it up, downloaded the latest OS, and it works perfectly. Not as fast as my 8+ obviously, but not painfully slow either. The screen size is small, of course. But most of the time I thought it was adequate. And the size is great to use with Apple Pay. I just pull the phone out of my shirt pocket and easily hold it to the scanner with one hand. It's basically so effortless compared to my 8+ in that way. I think I'll just use it as my Apple Pay phone from now on and keep my 8+ in my front pocket.
There are limitations though. Probably both would prevent me from using it as a daily driver. The battery drains quickly. I mean, it feels like an invisible vampire-like creature is permanently attached to the phone sucking the life out of it all the time. I checked the battery health and it claims it's still 100%. But it sure does exhaust that battery power quick-like even with moderate use. And the screen is really too small to do any sort of accurate typing with. At least for me. That's where I would really, really miss my 8+ screen.
But for the most part, I really like this little device. Very easy to carry and feels great in the hand. I can see why it has such a following to this day.
I recently dropped my 8+ on the concrete floor. No damage to the phone itself (thank you, Speck case!). But it did get me wondering what I would do if I did fall out of my pocket again and get damaged to the point of not functioning.
So I decided to get a cheap iPhone as a backup. What to get? Well, there are such a vocal bunch on here who really, really like their 1st gen SE's, I thought I would give it a try. You can get these things at prices below $100 online these days. And they still can run the latest OS. So, I decided to pick up a GSM Space Grey model.
I'd say it really looks nice in that color. Though I don't think you could go wrong with any of the colors. It's really an aesthetically pleasing phone to look at. And it feels great in the hand. Sure is tiny though. So, I fired it up, downloaded the latest OS, and it works perfectly. Not as fast as my 8+ obviously, but not painfully slow either. The screen size is small, of course. But most of the time I thought it was adequate. And the size is great to use with Apple Pay. I just pull the phone out of my shirt pocket and easily hold it to the scanner with one hand. It's basically so effortless compared to my 8+ in that way. I think I'll just use it as my Apple Pay phone from now on and keep my 8+ in my front pocket.
There are limitations though. Probably both would prevent me from using it as a daily driver. The battery drains quickly. I mean, it feels like an invisible vampire-like creature is permanently attached to the phone sucking the life out of it all the time. I checked the battery health and it claims it's still 100%. But it sure does exhaust that battery power quick-like even with moderate use. And the screen is really too small to do any sort of accurate typing with. At least for me. That's where I would really, really miss my 8+ screen.
But for the most part, I really like this little device. Very easy to carry and feels great in the hand. I can see why it has such a following to this day.
