Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone SE (2016) Is the new SE worth it?
- Thread starter glambutnerdy
- Start date
-
- Tags
- iphone se 2
- Sort by reaction score
No, I would wait another 5 years for a really good iPhone.
I’m assuming that ‘Walmart deal‘ was online only? (Versus ‘In-store’ only) Because the Walmart [Only one of them] in my area is actually closed due to the pandemic.
We need more info concerning what you have now and what you use your phone for to give you a better answer.
Walmart upgrade-only for AT&T and Verizon postpaid customers.
Supposed to be available im-store for the ones that still have their Mobile section open.
Worth?
I think you need to ask yourself some questions before you ask others. Like, what do you like about the new iPhone SE? Is it the form factor? Is the price point? If you have any familiarity with the previous versions of these phones, then I think it’s an obvious choice given everything it offers for the ~$399 price point.
I bought my son a brand new (old stock) 6S Plus for $99 via pre-paid StraightTalk (Walmart) for Christmas. Not a refurb. So you will probably get a 7 or 8 in the near future when they buy up NOS of those models.
The 8 might not be available as Apple donated a large amount of their stock to doctors, nurses, student nurses etc fairly recently. They’ve likely still got loads more kicking around but just in case anyone’s waiting, they might not be as plentiful as the 6s and 7 were.
"Worth" means different things to different people.
To me, the SE is the only new iPhone that's even remotely affordable. I either get the SE, or I get out of the Apple eco-system. The latter isn't something I'm prepared to do, so the former is something I need to do. Hence, I ordered the SE.
That's what makes it "worth buying" for me.
I just bought a brand new, fully paid off iPhone XS for $480 today. The SE is totally not worth it for me. Ppl talk about the internals but it’s “only” the A13. The battery is tiny and isn’t going to impress and when it’s all said and done it’s not that much different from the iPhone 8. All this power but it can’t really shine because the hardware is limited (small low resolution display, small battery, single camera etc). I don’t think the excitement is going to last very long.
There’s more for a processor to do that the display...
Single camera that is on par with the iPhone 11 in most shots from examples and video reviews it’s even better than the Pixel in some shots too, but they are very close in all but low light.
It will be a better camera than on the XS.
People mostly don’t actually care about large screens, they’ve been forced down that road if they wanted the latest specs in a device. Now they can have something that to many is seen as the latest and greatest at an affordable price, with warranty, with many years of solid support...
For something that’s not even been advertised it’s already sold out in the initial delivery run, and sales are now going well into early May already. With stores, advertisements and promotions this is going to be the best selling phone of the year, easily.
If your happy with your XS then that’s what matters for you, but I don’t think it’s the route to go if you want a budget device with latest tech... it’s also expensive to repair which on a budget device is an important aspect.
Each individual is going to have different requirements or uses for a device and most will opt for a brand new from Apple device over a new from a private seller or third party.
After reading back my reply I’d just like to clarify it’s not a rant at your decision I just mean for others who are undecided take your time and weigh up all the pros and cons of each.
Last edited:
I think it’ll be quite popular and sure it’s not particularly exciting (no iPhones are really), but it’s price point gives it a hell of a lot of potential. You’ll see it become a popular business phone with sales reps and professionals I’m sure as few companies wish to provide staff with £1k devices unless the employee is contributing to the cost. The resolution on the SE is decent judging by the iPhone 8 and I doubt those choosing it will be overly bothered by the screen in any case.
Congrats on your XS though, it’s still a very good phone too.
Sure is worth it, especially if you got one for $199 through the Walmart preorder last week.
I'm looking to switch to the SE from a note 10+ 5g. It's a great phone but I'm sick of the huge monstrosity in my pocket. I'm only concerned about the camera and the battery. Reviews are suggesting that both are pretty good. If that's true than I guess it's totally worth it.
Camera quality if you only need the main lens, is going to up there with the very best, apart from low light based on samples and comparisons I've seen.
Well everyone can decide for themselves whether they like the SE or not. In my opinion it isn’t an exciting phone at all.
The camera isn’t leaps and bounds better than the XS but damn near everything else is better on the XS but that’s not a comparison. For those who like smaller displays and stuff then yeah go ahead and enjoy an SE but no one was “force down “ the road of a bigger display, apple was still selling the iPhone 8 as of a few weeks ago so it’s not like the option wasn’t there to buy a smaller phone. People like bigger displays, that’s why the max/ plus phones often outsell the regular models. They like the bigger battery and enjoy media on a bigger phone so you’re wrong about them being forced down bigger displays. There’s always been a 4.7 inch option around so there’s been an iPhone for everyone.
lol of course we’ve been forced down the road of larger phones. It’s all context. The 6/6S/7/8/SE 2020 are much larger than the SE 2016 and everything before it. It’s been two years since Apple sold one that size new (though you could find them elsewhere). And if you wanted the more powerful tech you needed to buy the most recent phone, and they were all large.
It’s all subjective really. You’re comparing the SE2 to the XS and it’s clear you prefer the XS and that’s fine as it’s also a very good phone. Just bear in mind the SE2 might appeal to certain people for its TouchID and LCD display too. These are features that some people prefer and the SE2 provides these. It’s got a decent camera and has the classic iPhone design. It’s not for you, but it will appeal to some and who are any of us to tell them they are wrong? The best phone is the one you want at the end of the day.
It you’re not been forced down anything, it’s your choice to make, it’s silly to look at it that way. When the 6 came out you could still purchase a 5s. Besides, the manufacturer releases a phone and it’s up to the buyer to decide whether they wanna buy it or not. It’s not like they gonna custom make a size for every single user. Had they kept the 4 inch size, others like myself would have said that they are forcing us to stay at that size. And those who came from an iPhone 4s and before would say that apple forced them to go bigger from the iPhone 5 onwards. That is silly because no manufacturer is gonna custom make a phone to your liking.
Question is who told them they are wrong? I’ve said in my opinion clearly and obviously I don’t speak for everyone now do I? You’re not saying anything new. Every time someone speaks about an iPhone it’s always from their perspective.
I’m primarily an android user, I bought the XS as a secondary phone to my Galaxy S 10. I enjoy both platforms and I feel like if I’m gonna spend $400 plus taxes then I might as well get something they I feel like I’d worth that much to me hence why I bought a xs instead of an SE.
That's a passive-aggressive argument. ANYTHING is our choice to make. I want to live in a permanent structure, so I'm forced to take one with a door. If I would strongly prefer to enter by climbing through a window and would rather not have a door, I don't have to buy or rent a home, that's my choice to make. I could just shelter under a tree. They don't have doors.
So anyway, yes, we're forced by Apple, and by phone manufacturers in general, into lots of things. At some point perhaps it gets nit-picky, sure. Let's just take the example at hand:
(1) I would like to own a smartphone. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to want. They're very useful.
(1.a) I would like to own a smartphone that runs on iOS. This is also a reasonable thing to want. It's also reasonable to want one that runs on Android. It's reasonable to have a preference. But now I'm forced to buy one from a particular vendor.
(1.a.i) I would like to own a smartphone that runs on iOS that [feels comfortable to hold or is of a certain weight or has a powerful processor or has a camera that can do X or anything]. Now we're really forced. I have to buy a phone from Apple, and I have the model or models that fit the description.
Or I could just choose to stick with my 5c which I did, and fortunately they came out with the SE, and I bought that instead of a 6S. At that point I could still upgrade my hardware without having to abandon the size. I wasn't forced in that way at the time. And though I'd been replacing my phone every couple of years to get the newer features, when the 7 and 8 came out I would have been forced to get the larger phone in order to get some of the newer features. I would have loved to have the more advanced camera, for example. But to get it (on a smartphone that runs iOS) I had to buy the larger phone, and at that point I made a choice to not do so. I stuck with the SE, and gave up the other things.
This is a self-evident statement, and not limited to phones. Besides it supports my point: if I want to buy [a product] and [a product] doesn't come exactly as I want it then of course I make a choice: live without [a product] or decide I would rather not live without [a product] and be forced to buy it as it is.
And that's right. Had Apple not offered anything larger than the 5 series, then you WOULD have been forced to buy it if staying on iOS was important to you. You wouldn't just have SAID it, you would have been. And I thought the 4S was wonderful. I think it's the height of the iPhone's design history: perfect size, perfect weight, attractive design; and I was a little put out by the new 4-inch size. But when the time came to upgrade I was forced to buy the larger size.
So I held out for four years with my SE. Didn't buy two years ago, made that choice you're on about. Now I'm another two years down the line. Important to me to stay on iOS, I consider it very worth my while to stay with new enough hardware to maintain support for a few years, so it's time to upgrade now. It's only going to get worse: I expect the SE to be the last phone with a home button. I like the home button. So four years from now, when I expect I'll be wanting to upgrade again, there will be more things I am forced to do.
*rolls eyes*
In this case, the case of purchasing an iPhone, there are lots of people that don't feel this way. There are lots that do. I grant that I expect that there are more in the first group than in the second, but there are still lots. There are those that feel forced to buy the SE because of the things it IS (smaller than the other new phones, home button), and there are those that feel forced to buy the SE because of the things it ISN'T (expensive, as large as the other phones, Face ID). You can say "limited by the choices" instead of "forced" if that goes down easier.