I was curious as to how often people browse and consume media on their 4" and 4.7" iPhones, mostly those people that are upgrading to the new SE. If you don't often, do you have an iPad or other device that fulfills this role? I'm on a 6S, and I find the display size to be roomy enough to watch a video or look something up, but I wouldn't want to use it for everything like some people do with their phones. I have an iPad mini and 12.9" Pro for these purposes, and I don't see a jump to a Plus/Max size phone as making it a whole lot better.
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) People buying iPhone SE - How often do you watch media/browse the web on your phone?
- Thread starter retta283
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I don't do much of that on my phone. I have an iPad mini, and an iMac, although honestly, our wifi is so awful, I couldn't stream media if my life depended on it.
I'm not sure yet if I'm gonna stick with the SE (coming from the 11), but I've been carrying it around listening to music this evening, and I LOVE how small/light it is.
I'm not sure yet if I'm gonna stick with the SE (coming from the 11), but I've been carrying it around listening to music this evening, and I LOVE how small/light it is.
I’m gong from the iPhone X to the new SE. long story involving my battery expanding in the X. I use my phone to surf when I’m in the car or away from the house and don’t mind the bezels and certainly didn’t mind the notch.
I have an iPad Pro 10.5” that I use for most media consumption at the house. I also use my 15” MacBook Pro to watch content in my office.
I have an iPad Pro 10.5” that I use for most media consumption at the house. I also use my 15” MacBook Pro to watch content in my office.
The one place I'd use my device for media would be if I was stuck somewhere without anything else. I have an iPad 6th Gen I'll use if I happen to be in bed or at work or for quick things.
But I have a 55" 4K HDTV at home and a bunch of 20+ inch displays connected to a Mac. I'm not going to watch my media on a dinky phone screen when I have access to this. That's just now how I operate.
But I have a 55" 4K HDTV at home and a bunch of 20+ inch displays connected to a Mac. I'm not going to watch my media on a dinky phone screen when I have access to this. That's just now how I operate.
I watch the majority of my video on my 6s. More than on tv. Although my total viewing time is probably lower than most.
Only really watching movies on the iPhone SE when browsing YouTube in bed, such as setting up the next day’s playlist.
Being at home all the time right now means I’m using my treadmill for running each day. I have my external CCTV cameras showing on my iPad mini (so I can see if anyone’s coming to the door whilst I’m running), and I play virtual running videos from YouTube on my Surface Pro because it has the best screen for its size.
I wouldn’t do either of those on a phone through choice because it’s difficult to focus on a small screen whilst running.
Video on my iPhone SE is a convenience because the phone is always with me, but it’s not my preferred choice for viewing due to the screen size. The same would be true of any phone.
For browsing, I switch between the phone and the iPad mini depending upon how long I expect to be browsing and/or what I intend to be doing. A quick information grab is fine for the phone, but if I want a long browse and plenty of clicking about, then I’d most likely pick the iPad mini if I’m not at my computer.
If I’m at my desk, though, then I’ll go with either the larger screens (I have two) attached to my Surface Pro or my Mac mini with the same size screen, depending on which isn’t being used at the time.
Being at home all the time right now means I’m using my treadmill for running each day. I have my external CCTV cameras showing on my iPad mini (so I can see if anyone’s coming to the door whilst I’m running), and I play virtual running videos from YouTube on my Surface Pro because it has the best screen for its size.
I wouldn’t do either of those on a phone through choice because it’s difficult to focus on a small screen whilst running.
Video on my iPhone SE is a convenience because the phone is always with me, but it’s not my preferred choice for viewing due to the screen size. The same would be true of any phone.
For browsing, I switch between the phone and the iPad mini depending upon how long I expect to be browsing and/or what I intend to be doing. A quick information grab is fine for the phone, but if I want a long browse and plenty of clicking about, then I’d most likely pick the iPad mini if I’m not at my computer.
If I’m at my desk, though, then I’ll go with either the larger screens (I have two) attached to my Surface Pro or my Mac mini with the same size screen, depending on which isn’t being used at the time.
I didn't buy one because the screen is too small for my liking (watching vids)
If this was my personal phone, there would be tv shows and maybe a movie or two. As this is a mostly work phone, I have to be super careful what I have loaded on it. I have some songs downloaded and that's it for now.
I am delighted with how good the speaker(s) are. I did watch a few videos I downloaded to test how good it was (very, very good).
I am delighted with how good the speaker(s) are. I did watch a few videos I downloaded to test how good it was (very, very good).
I have the new SE, have no plans to watch media/videos with it. I have a Mac and a TV for that. Frankly, I wouldn't watch videos on the largest phone that Apple sells (not that I'd buy one). I like my phones for calls, texts and maybe WhatsApp. If I wanted to take photos I'd use a camera. I have a hi-fi for music.
Will be "downgrading" back to my original SE real soon.
Will be "downgrading" back to my original SE real soon.
Never. I use my first gen SE for calls and CarPlay for navigation and music. I have a Cellular Mini 5 that I take everywhere that I use for web, games, emails, texts, smarthome access, podcasts.....pretty much everything else except for TV and movies. For those I have large TVs in the living room, master bedroom, home office, and gym......watching TV or movies on a cell phone or even an iPad sounds awful. I will use my SE in a pinch for texts, emails, and calendaring, but only if my Mini is not with me, which is almost never.
Long videos (TV shows, etc), almost never.
Facebook (short family clips), YouTube clips and web browsing, a bit more often. For personal use, I'd say I'm around 80% iPad, 15% iPhone and 5% PC.
Facebook (short family clips), YouTube clips and web browsing, a bit more often. For personal use, I'd say I'm around 80% iPad, 15% iPhone and 5% PC.
I’m very similar to you, OP—I have a 12.9” ipp and a iPad Mini, except I have an SE1 instead of 6S.
I consume very little media on my phone. There are two key reasons for this:
1. When I’m at home or at work, I have much more ideal devices for consumption (iPad mini/12.9” ipp/big screen tv)
2. When I’m out, I have no desire to consume media for entertainment purposes (with the rarest exceptions)
So I’m a bit of a social oddball—because though #1 is not true for everybody, I’ve found #2 true for almost nobody. People seem to find me crazy for wanting my phone screen to be just barely big enough to accomplish the odd random task, otherwise as small as humanly possible. I’m fine with them thinking that—the real bummer is that also places me way outside of Apple’s (and every company’s) phone target demographic these days.
edit- by “consume media”, I mean screen consumption—so video, web browsing, social media, and games.
Last edited:
I watch small videos on Facebook etc, but anything bigger I will stream to my TV or iPad if travelling.
My wife has an iPhone 8 that is the same size as the SE and she browses media quite a lot. It can be done 
If its Facebook videos/short Youtube videos or browse the web quickly then i'm happy to use the phone if i'm out and about if its anything else i tend to use the iPad where possible just easier than booting up the laptop
Pretty much the same for me as well. I have a 2019 iPad Air 3 and old 2008 MacBook that is used more for internet and media consumption (beyond the normal streaming on TV). Phone is for various messaging, finance stuff, and work-related stuff mostly.
Just upgraded to the new SE from my previous (4") SE. I'm sure it'll take some time for my habits to change, but what I was doing on my previous SE:
--YouTube videos, watching on my phone
--Short form content (say, 20 minutes or less) on either my phone or my iPad, whichever is handier at the moment. If I have plenty of time, I would probably go get the iPad.
--Anything TV show-length, over 20 minutes, I prefer to not watch on either: I would rather watch that on my TV. I could stream by AirPlay, if necessary.
We don't have a laptop; I don't spend a LOT of time on my desktop, and I don't go out of the way to use it. My partner uses the desktop a lot more than I, and she much more frequently uses the desktop sooner than her 2016 SE.
Web browsing I do on whatever's handy. If I don't have my iPad close to hand, I will do it on my iPhone. Email browsing is almost exclusively on my iPhone.
--YouTube videos, watching on my phone
--Short form content (say, 20 minutes or less) on either my phone or my iPad, whichever is handier at the moment. If I have plenty of time, I would probably go get the iPad.
--Anything TV show-length, over 20 minutes, I prefer to not watch on either: I would rather watch that on my TV. I could stream by AirPlay, if necessary.
We don't have a laptop; I don't spend a LOT of time on my desktop, and I don't go out of the way to use it. My partner uses the desktop a lot more than I, and she much more frequently uses the desktop sooner than her 2016 SE.
Web browsing I do on whatever's handy. If I don't have my iPad close to hand, I will do it on my iPhone. Email browsing is almost exclusively on my iPhone.
During the week probably about 30mins - 1hour a day between Facebook, instagram, reddit, web surfing. On a weekend probably 1-2 hours, but it's all in the AM.
I don't really watch media on my phone unless I am at the airport.
I don't really watch media on my phone unless I am at the airport.