iPhone SE (2016) Put a new battery in 5s or buy current-gen SE?

[japanime]

My 5s needs to be charged twice a day — the battery is basically toast. I've been hoping a new SE will be released this month. If a new SE is not announced on Tuesday, though, I need to make a decision.

The difference between the price of a new 5s battery and the current-gen SE is about $300 here in Japan. Is there that big of a performance difference between the 5s and the current SE that would justify my spending that extra $300?

(My 5s is running iOS 11, and is terribly slow compared to when it was on iOS 10. However, I'm wondering if that might also be related to the nearly dead battery.)

 

[se1000]

why not try changing the battery and then decide if you want to switch up to an SE? FYI - changing the battery in a 5s is pretty easy

 

[TechNismo]

If you can handle the 5s crappy battery for couple more months, you can upgrade to the SE 2 when it comes out (i believe most likely in June at WWDC). And yes, SE has a significant performance boost, improved camera quality and better battery life than the 5s. It might be time for the upgrade

 

[jeyf]

i would replace the existing 5s
i bought a down rev iPhone7 from a 3rd party and am satisfied

 

[japanime]

why not try changing the battery and then decide if you want to switch up to an SE? FYI - changing the battery in a 5s is pretty easy

I don't really want to spend $80 on a battery only to decide that I should have bought an SE in the first place. If I could change it on my own for the $20 price of a battery, I would do that. I did change the battery in an iPhone 4 on my own, and it was a breeze. But iFixit's instructions for the 5s make it sound a lot more difficult.

 

[se1000]

I don't really want to spend $80 on a battery only to decide that I should have bought an SE in the first place. If I could change it on my own for the $20 price of a battery, I would do that. I did change the battery in an iPhone 4 on my own, and it was a breeze. But iFixit's instructions for the 5s make it sound a lot more difficult.

5s is really not that difficult. The hardest part is getting the old battery out.

 

[japanime]

5s is really not that difficult. The hardest part is getting the old battery out.

I just read the iFixit instructions again. (I read them a couple of months ago, and decided against trying it then.) I really don't think I would be able to pull it off. My eyesight is poor, and there are a lot of tiny parts to remove.

 

[44267547]

I just read the iFixit instructions again. (I read them a couple of months ago, and decided against trying it then.) I really don't think I would be able to pull it off. My eyesight is poor, and there are a lot of tiny parts to remove.

Personally, I would not disassemble your iPhone if you don’t have experience. My suggestion would be to consider the iPhone SE. Same form factor, considerable upgrade with the processor, Camera improvement’s and additional RAM.

 

[Reno Raines]

The SE is a big improvement over the 5s. I know as I have both. $300 now seems a lot for a SE though or at least here in the US. The SE should be supported I would imagine up to at least iOS 13 (my opinion only) as it has an A9 processor but even more importantly 2gb’s of RAM. I would go with the SE in my estimation as it is quick, fluid, and a big step up from the 5s. I think you would be happy.

 

[japanime]

The SE is a big improvement over the 5s. I know as I have both. $300 now seems a lot for a SE though or at least here in the US. The SE should be supported I would imagine up to at least iOS 13 (my opinion only) as it has an A9 processor but even more importantly 2gb’s of RAM. I would go with the SE in my estimation as it is quick, fluid, and a big step up from the 5s. I think you would be happy.

I think that's what I'm leaning toward. The unlocked 32GB SE sells for about $380 here, while the 5S battery replacement would cost $80, thus the $300 difference. I'm getting the feeling it would be worth it, though. My 5s is just painfully slow on iOS 11.

Personally, I would not disassemble your iPhone if you don’t have experience. My suggestion would be to consider the iPhone SE. Same form factor, considerable upgrade with the processor, Camera improvement’s and additional RAM.

Yeah, I agree. The 4 was simple to take apart and reassemble. But it looks like the 5s is considerably more difficult.

 

[mtneer]

If your 5S works fine, then replacing the battery is the better decision compared to spending hundreds of dollars on buying a new phone.

 

[d123]

If your 5S works fine, then replacing the battery is the better decision compared to spending hundreds of dollars on buying a new phone.

You could say the same to everyone, every September.

I would buy an SE, the 5S is just too far behind now.

SE beats it in every way, I wouldn't want to be using a 5s now...

 

[dirtymagician]

Also keep in mind that the SE is going to get updates for a couple more years where as the 5s probably won't see iOS12. Perhaps reset the 5s and keep it in the car as an iPod or something.

 

[puma1552]

I think IF there is another SE, it will happen at WWDC in June. I think the chance of them releasing a new phone at a purely education event is slim to zero. I do think they will release the AirPower silently after the education event, but that's just an accessory and not a bread and butter product like a phone, which I know they would never release without an event. I'd probably just make due with the 5S battery til June, it's only ~ 2ish months away.

 

[bluecoast]

I'd get a second hand SE and make sure that its battery is in good shape.

The new model is surely going to appear no later than September this year.

 

[mk313]

Amazon sells some pretty inexpensive battery cases for the 5s (under $20). I’d probably pick up one of those to last until you either hear more about the next gen SE or else find a great deal on a current gen one.

 

[Paddle1]

The difference between the 5s and SE is quite noticeable IMO. It's hard to tell when a new equivalent will release.

 

[44267547]

I'd get a second hand SE and make sure that its battery is in good shape.

The new model is surely going to appear no later than September this year.

I don’t believe there will be an SE update in 2018. With Apple releasing possibly three new iPhones with a 6.1 LCD, 5.8/6.5 OLED model, I don’t believe an SE 2 will debut along side the other iPhones in the fall. Its been doubted by Ming Kuo as well, who has a decent track record as an Apple insider. But I’m all for an SE 2 being updated, I just don’t believe it will.

 

[se1000]

1. Your battery is probably attributing to the poor performance of the 5s.

2. The $80 you spend now on battery replacement will go a long way in selling the 5s.

At the end of the day the SE is a great device, I just think with some talk about a refresh for it, it might be a bad time to buy one.

 

[bluecoast]

I don’t believe there will be an SE update in 2018. With Apple releasing possibly three new iPhones with a 6.1 LCD, 5.8/6.5 OLED model, I don’t believe an SE 2 will debut along side the other iPhones in the fall. Its been doubted by Ming Kuo as well, who has a decent track record as an Apple insider. But I’m all for an SE 2 being updated, I just don’t believe it will.

Good points. I can’t see it being announced at WWDC either. That surely is going to be all about the Mac Pro, updated MacBook Pros, the new Mac / iOS app framework and enhanced user experience. It would be weird to throw a new iPhone SE into that.

If there is an SE2 I’ve heard it would be made in India. So let’s hope that analysts who have their main contacts in SE Asia are missing a trick.

 

[Euroamerican]

I'm in the same boat. My 5S battery is well on the way out. I posted about it on another thread just the other day. Coconut Battery says it is at about 39 percent of its original health. Although, that number went up to 56 percent after the latest big sudden "dropped right down to 2 percent and then didn't work for an hour or two until had had charged for a while" episode.

There are many reviews out there which point out that the 5SE is a killer small form factor alternative to the 6s and 6s Plus. The price on the 6s and 6s Plus has come down though as well. So, the decision on whether to stick with the 5 series small form factor or go with a slightly larger 6s or much bigger 6s Plus is a tough one if you need to make a decision soon. I'm tempted by the $80.00 battery upgrade too. Basically, I would NOT upgrade my iPhone from the 5S at this point if the battery was not toast.

 

[smirking]

I just read the iFixit instructions again. (I read them a couple of months ago, and decided against trying it then.) I really don't think I would be able to pull it off. My eyesight is poor, and there are a lot of tiny parts to remove.

That's wise. The parts really are TINY. They're even smaller than they appear in the iFixit tutorials. Those photos are heavily magnified.

I've successfully changed out a battery in an iPhone 4s and while I didn't find it all that hard, I was however shocked at how small the parts were. The hardest part was trying to figure out which direction a part was pointing when reassembling it.

 

[mtneer]

You could say the same to everyone, every September.

I would buy an SE, the 5S is just too far behind now.

SE beats it in every way, I wouldn't want to be using a 5s now...

Sure. I really hope that people are making that value judgment in every decision in their lives. Not just zombie walking out of the door every September "new phone, must have new phone"...

 

[Paddle1]

I forgot to mention, the 5s does NOT get throttled due to the battery. That was introduced with the 6 and 6s. I wouldn't expect an improvement in performance.

 

[japanime]

I forgot to mention, the 5s does NOT get throttled due to the battery. That was introduced with the 6 and 6s. I wouldn't expect an improvement in performance.

I know the official word is that the 5s does not get throttled, but I noticed a huge difference between the way my 5s worked on iOS 10 (great) vs iOS 11 (terrible). Maybe that's simply due to more demanding software.

Basically, I would NOT upgrade my iPhone from the 5S at this point if the battery was not toast.

After a couple of days thinking I'd buy current-gen SE if a new one isn't released on Tuesday, I'm back to thinking I might just paying for a battery replacement. I just don't rely on my phone for much more than its camera, music and podcasts. The 5s handles all of those fairly well, even if it's slower than ever.