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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,670
12,819
You can’t say the SE doesn’t feel premium but an 11 does... both have LCD, aluminium frame and the same glass back.
11 and 11 Pro are heavier and for some, that makes it feel more premium. Also, SE users an older design which I personally prefer but others think is antiquated.
 

NickName99

macrumors 6502a
Nov 8, 2018
946
2,752
XS to SE2 is improved battery? that's good to hear :D

Yes, I was leaving my XS in low power mode all the time to save battery. I don’t feel the need to do that anymore with my SE2. Granted it’s a brand new 100% capacity battery, but I think the improvement is too big for that to account for it.

I assume the SE2 has more energy efficient components for typical use cases. No OLED screen, maybe a more efficient modem and/or WiFi chip? Touch ID probably uses less energy than FaceID. Tasks finish slightly faster, allowing the chip to idle more of the time.

I’ve run various benchmarks and the SE2 definitely throttles down more than the iPhone 11 over sustained testing. For bursty benchmarks like Geekbench, it’s just as fast as iPhone 11. For longer sustained benchmarks like Antutu, it slows down to midway between the XS and the 11. That more aggressive throttling probably helps with battery life, not to mention long-term battery longevity. It’s probably just a matter of the smaller and thinner SE2 not being able to dissipate heat as quickly.
 

RobbyIdol

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2012
248
185
You can’t say the SE doesn’t feel premium but an 11 does... both have LCD, aluminium frame and the same glass back.

Sure, but there are other pretty significant differences between the SE and 11 that do make a world of difference. I was referring specifically to the 11 Pro as premium -- but the 11 itself is still a better phone than the SE. It's just a size preference that makes the SE more appealing to some (myself included).
 

oVerboost

macrumors 68000
Sep 17, 2013
1,565
1,039
United Kingdom
Sure, but there are other pretty significant differences between the SE and 11 that do make a world of difference. I was referring specifically to the 11 Pro as premium -- but the 11 itself is still a better phone than the SE. It's just a size preference that makes the SE more appealing to some (myself included).

I would hope so, it's pretty much double the price. For you, how does it "feel" more premium when it's the same materials and same fit and finish in production.
 

RobbyIdol

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2012
248
185
I would hope so, it's pretty much double the price. For you, how does it "feel" more premium when it's the same materials and same fit and finish in production.

I mean that less in terms of the raw materials and more of the overall experience. Not speaking about size, but rather just overall user experience and quality. The screens on the 11 (even the LCD version) are the best Apple's ever offered, the cameras are the best they've ever made, and the full screen panel (no classic bezels) rounds out the experience. Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with the new SE. I'm not a latest-and-greatest tech guy in terms of what I own, but I have used both the 11 and 11 Pro for a while and the SE is just... basic. It's still a good phone, and it's an awesome buy at $399. But it's not premium. Hope that makes sense.
 
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oVerboost

macrumors 68000
Sep 17, 2013
1,565
1,039
United Kingdom
I mean that less in terms of the raw materials and more of the overall experience. Not speaking about size, but rather just overall user experience and quality. The screens on the 11 (even the LCD version) are the best Apple's ever offered, the cameras are the best they've ever made, and the full screen panel (no classic bezels) rounds out the experience. Don't get me wrong - I'm fine with the new SE. I'm not a latest-and-greatest tech guy in terms of what I own, but I have used both the 11 and 11 Pro for a while and the SE is just... basic. It's still a good phone, and it's an awesome buy at $399. But it's not premium. Hope that makes sense.

Yeah sorry thought you meant the actual physical feel.
 

akash.nu

macrumors G4
May 26, 2016
10,825
16,939
You can’t say the SE doesn’t feel premium but an 11 does... both have LCD, aluminium frame and the same glass back.

11 and 11 Pro are heavier and for some, that makes it feel more premium. Also, SE users an older design which I personally prefer but others think is antiquated.


It’s such a human thing.

Premium feels premium for the premium price tag as well and not just the materials used.
 
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MDST

macrumors newbie
Feb 16, 2018
10
7
I sold my iPhone 11 Pro Max two days ago. I’m currently using the original iPhone SE and I love the size and light weight!

The plan is to use this phone until September when Apple released the 12, I’ll go for their smallest form factor and call it a day for the next 4 - 5 years
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,492
I bought the new SE as an extra phone to have for certain occasions and as a backup. I still plan to have the largest iPhone as my main phone each year.

I did this for years. When I owned the iPhone ‘Plus‘ models, I would switch my Sim card back to the 4” SE. It provides the best of both worlds, the The drawback for me, it just got boring after a while to keep switching the Sim card for each phone, when eventually I just decided to accept the fact that I would prefer a larger display and bigger battery.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,592
16,359
I sold my iPhone 11 Pro Max two days ago. I’m currently using the original iPhone SE and I love the size and light weight!

The plan is to use this phone until September when Apple released the 12, I’ll go for their smallest form factor and call it a day for the next 4 - 5 years

Not sure why, but I especially love hearing these stories of people ditching 11PM for SE2.

The downsizing must feel spectacular for people who have phablet fatigue

--

in the same way I think its cool when people go from really small to the most massive phone because they're tired of feeling like things are crammed or their eyes are getting old haha
 
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Mikeyt1818

macrumors member
Apr 26, 2020
49
57
Coral Springs, Florida
I am 8 days into using my new SE. What a pleasure, I can actually use this without a case and enjoy the premium feel of the glass on the back and the aluminum frame. I will admit that the battery is a bit underwhelming but I do have Qi wireless chargers at home and work and of course a car charger so I have little reason to complain.

My wife is returning her SE as she prefers to stick with her 11 Pro due to the OLED screen. She will probably wait for the 5”4 inch iPhone 12. I came from an LCD so no bother for me. Whatever works for you!
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,592
16,359
Have you guys tried low power mode all day? I think I did once and helped a lot and phone didn’t feel sluggish at all

Might give that another test drive

I won’t lie the battery life is a little disappointing but I expected it from xr

Still, feels better than x did

And certainly se1 on iOS 13 lol
 

ssledoux

macrumors 601
Original poster
Sep 16, 2006
4,313
4,180
Down south
Have you guys tried low power mode all day? I think I did once and helped a lot and phone didn’t feel sluggish at all

Might give that another test drive

I won’t lie the battery life is a little disappointing but I expected it from xr

Still, feels better than x did

And certainly se1 on iOS 13 lol

I haven't. What happens in low power mode? I've never tried it. Of course, charging isn't a big issue for me. At home it's easy enough to put it on a charger somewhere, and in the car it's plugged into my Apple car play, so it charges there.

I do find this thing charges up pretty quickly.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,492
Low Power mode comment:

my iPhone stays on ‘low power mode’ all the time. It does dim the display slightly, affect CPU performance that’s probably negligible for others to notice, but otherwise, it probably does have some battery preservation, although I don’t really think it’s that significant. But I always leave it enabled 24/7.
 
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sawah

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2010
1,126
686
341ee9d8e1d78b684d9beb6714a1afc7.jpg

d7c5bf76430e5d8cdfe0ca4d4dd1f640.jpg


Loving it so far and really have missed the home button and a phone I can hold with my short fat fingers haha. It flies through anything I’ve put it through so far. I’m a forum browser and a YouTube watcher for the most part. Currently I’m casting music to the Alexa and browsing YouTube. The battery will be just fine for me.
 
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austyn23

macrumors 6502a
Nov 22, 2017
620
709
After a week or so, I´m pretty happy with the SE. Is fast, the camera is good enough and the size / weight is a pleasure. I also like (again) the screen without notch and sharpen edges.

I used the 11 Pro yesterday again, and of course (let´s be honest) the difference when you see the OLED screen is noticeable, and the screen real estate in a similar body size.

But IMO it´s not good enough to go back to it, specially with the price tag and in my case the capacity (I can´t believe I paid that much for just 64gb space, never again).
 

macrumors newbie

macrumors newbie
Apr 30, 2020
16
22
Westchester County, NY
I came from the Galaxy S8. iOS is more polished in every way. For eg., the share button is sluggish to respond on my Android device. I’m enjoying all the haptics, the flow of iOS. I set up various automation tasks without needing to read any guide. That’s good design. The camera is a lot better than what I had.
The trade off in screen size and resolution is noticeable when I visit sites with small, detailed graphs, like this NYTimes article:
I am fine with that. For me, the convenience of a smaller, more reachable phone is worth the trade off. It’s healthier to move to an iPad or PC when looking at graphs, rather than looking on the S8 just because I technically could. Now, I have a specialized, more portable phone. It’s not a jack of all trades, master of none like the S8. More than that, I really like iOS. I chose Android 10 years ago, but iOS has surpassed it now. I’ve been thinking about switching for a while, but I want small, and the Pro costs way too much. Plus, I don’t exactly love notches or cutouts.
4CE5CE1D-6FDB-41B7-ABF7-C93A6FA7FA3E.jpeg
 
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