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iPhone SE (2022) SE 3 First Impression Thread
- Thread starter janeauburn
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Update on the SE 2022 idle drain situation. I charged the sim-free iPhone 8 to 100% and charging was turned off at 100% via smart plug. But there was little to no drain overnight on the 8, even with its poor battery. Settings are all the same as SE 2022, so I am 99% sure the SE 2022 drain is caused by hotspot broadcasting, which Apple should allow the user to turn off completely.
Secondly, I am finding it a bit difficult to type without a case on the iPhone 8 - my fingers are meeting each other easily. Had the realization that if I had a bigger sized phone, it would be easier to type, even on the SE 2022. Thinking about getting the bigger phone, but not too big because I need to fit it in my pocket. Since we are six months away from new releases, I might just sit on my hands.
Thirdly, I am having difficulty accepting this as a new purchase. Feels and acts almost exactly to my iPhone 8 with better battery life. But I could have gotten that by replacing the old iPhone 8 battery for only $50.
I am leaning on returning the SE 22 and either getting the Samsung S22, or sitting a bit longer and getting the iPhone 14. Lack of competiton is what creates this problem of not enough adequate choices. Sigh. ?
Secondly, I am finding it a bit difficult to type without a case on the iPhone 8 - my fingers are meeting each other easily. Had the realization that if I had a bigger sized phone, it would be easier to type, even on the SE 2022. Thinking about getting the bigger phone, but not too big because I need to fit it in my pocket. Since we are six months away from new releases, I might just sit on my hands.
Thirdly, I am having difficulty accepting this as a new purchase. Feels and acts almost exactly to my iPhone 8 with better battery life. But I could have gotten that by replacing the old iPhone 8 battery for only $50.
I am leaning on returning the SE 22 and either getting the Samsung S22, or sitting a bit longer and getting the iPhone 14. Lack of competiton is what creates this problem of not enough adequate choices. Sigh. ?
Personal Hotspot doesn't work the way you assume though. If they were actually broadcasting constantly, I wouldn't need to go to Settings - Personal Hotspot to enable hotspot so I can connect my Windows laptop.
Also, if it did work that way, Personal Hotspot functions the same way on SE 2022 and older iPhones so behavior would've been the same (at least with both running the same iOS version).
Mind, Airplane mode/No SIM can radically cut down on battery drain because it's not connecting to the cell network. I've noticed this on iPads as well. Same model iPad with similar age, the Wi-Fi only had lower standby drain compared to Wi-Fi+Cellular.
To me, this is a feature, not a bug, although I would like it even better if it were the weight of the 6 (even lighter).
That is because you are trying to connect through Windows. I can connect with my iPad or my iPhone 8 when hotspot is turned off in SE 2022 while I am still logged into the same Apple account, meaning hotspot is never turned off and can never be turned off, but only be turned off to others.
Sure, cell network communication can drain battery, but so can hotspot broadcasting.
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And like I mentioned before, that “broadcast” is through bluetooth, not regular wifi SSID broadcast (which is what would kill battery).
I don’t have an iPhone 8 but the iPhone 7 works the exact same way as the SE 2020 and 2022 with regards to Personal Hotspot. Personal devices signed in to iCloud can connect anytime even if hotspot is “off”.
Solid… ? I’d say decent relative to size. Even my 16 month old 12 mini with 92% battery health has better battery life than what’s being reported here for the SE 3rd gen.
I'm actually a little surprised to hear that, but I guess it makes sense. The 12 and 13 Mini's are underrated in the battery arena.
I really wish someone with a 12 Mini, 13 Mini, and SE2 would do a battery comparison. I'd be really curious to see that.
Just guessing
13 mini >>/>>> 12 mini ~== SE3 > SE2 >> SE1
you'll probably still want to be near a wall or get a Smart Battery case, etc.
Oh yeah, I'm sure you're right. I would just like to see how much better then SE3 is than the 2, and see if it can even come remotely close to the 13m or 12m. I like seeing numbers
That is correct, although I tried both the blue and red, and the blue does not have enough contrast with the black front, to my taste. If you want to go dark with the case, then go black, I'd say. Otherwise it looks the same as when you accidentally pick out dark blue socks in the morning to try to go with black pants--a mistake.
I think the focus on battery life is somewhat misplaced. If you want to focus on battery life, you'd pick a large, heavy phone, at least given current battery technology.
If you're looking at an SE, you have to accept that your priorities are compactness over battery life.
One can, after all, charge the battery throughout the day. If you can't, then you should be looking at the larger phones.
Nah, it's a balance of all of the factors, at least for me. The smallest form factor with the best battery life is by far the 13 mini. So if that was all that mattered, that would be the obvious choice.
I don't expect the SE3 to be a beast in the battery department, and don't need a beast. But if it's a more solid balance of battery, size, and Touch ID than the SE2, then that's a win.
Turning off Bluetooth turns off the hotspot, but again, I don't want to turn off bluetooth.
How much battery life are you getting with 12 mini?
It absolutely should work. I have two sealed iPhone 7 smart battery cases that I plan to use once I upgrade from my SE2. Battery life should be all day or even more with an SE3 and smart battery case.
I’ve had my Starlight SE since early afternoon. I’m loving the color; it’s so elegant looking on a budget! It reminds me a lot of my gold 12 Pro Max when I look at it indoors. Outdoors, it’s closer to white than gold, but it’s got a cream cast to it.
I already had a Starlight Apple Watch so I knew I was going to love the Starlight aluminum sides, which are similar in hue to my white gold wedding ring set. It’s not a cold silver and it’s not a yellow gold. It’s a warm silver as seen in the light of a sunset.
It’s snappy. It got great 5g reception in the one place I go to that has 5 G service. It’s very light in my pocket and pleasant to hold. I’m fine with the small display.
Unlike the situation with my SE 2020, I don’t seem to be experiencing any eye strain with the display. Thank goodness. I really don’t know why I had trouble with that 2020 SE LCD display, but it was not pleasant in the same way my 2016 XR display was harsh to my eyes.
Apple must have made some sort of change because my more recent 2020 XR and iPhone 11 displays and now this one are easier on my eyes. Or maybe it’s just luck of the draw and I got lucky with the last 3 purchases. I wish I knew.
This display is similar in comfort level to that on my iPhone 11. With True Tone off it is a tad more peachy warm than the colder white on my 11. For comfort, I run True Tone on both phones.
The battery has been fine for the first day.
The camera is not as fast nor as good as that of my iPhone 11 on focusing on my cats indoors in low light, so I have some blurry cat photos. I can adjust my expectations downward for that, since this is my “summer fling” and most of my use will be outdoors in bright sunlight, where I’m confident it can hold up to my expectations the way my original 2016 SE did several years ago.
So far, I think the key to enjoying this phone is to understand what it is, what it does, and manage your expectations accordingly. It is not a pro level phone, no. But it also doesn’t strain the pockets nor the wallet the way Apple’s other phones do.
I do think the iPhone 11 is a better value, though. I’ve not had problems with connectivity or call quality on my iPhone 11. It can work with my Air Tag and the SE apparently can not. And the camera on the 11 rarely lets me down even for those pesky indoor pet photos. When you consider I know what it’s like to use a 13 Pro, an S22 Ultra and a Pixel 6 Pro, yet can still be happy having my iPhone 11 on me all the time, that’s high praise. Of course I also manage my expectations and don’t try to use that iPhone 11 to take photos of my black cat in a dark room. Even my cutting edge flagships require some finesse with that challenge. If Apple ever decides to upgrade the chip on the iPhone 11 the way it did with this SE…it would be my dream phone (since I struggle with pwm sensitivity).
What my iPhone 11 is, however, is heavy. So when I decided to trade in a free 64 gb XR I’m not using much due to storage constraints, I decided to give the SE a try because it’s definitely got a niche to fill in my lineup, since pwm sensitivity made my 12 mini a no go for the foreseeable future as my small summer phone. I did greatly enjoy that 12 mini last summer, though.
I haven’t given up entirely on that 12 mini. It is a treasured Mother’s Day gift and I was able to use it for several months until the 13 Pro did something to my nervous system. I have hope someday I’ll fully recover from that.
When/if that happens, the SE 2022 won’t go to waste. A capable, relatively budget friendly and easily carried phone like the SE will always find a place in a family like ours, as the original SE’s we had before it did.
Edit: I hope I haven’t confused everyone referring to so many different iPhones. Yes, I’ve owned or tried just about all of them at some point.
I already had a Starlight Apple Watch so I knew I was going to love the Starlight aluminum sides, which are similar in hue to my white gold wedding ring set. It’s not a cold silver and it’s not a yellow gold. It’s a warm silver as seen in the light of a sunset.
It’s snappy. It got great 5g reception in the one place I go to that has 5 G service. It’s very light in my pocket and pleasant to hold. I’m fine with the small display.
Unlike the situation with my SE 2020, I don’t seem to be experiencing any eye strain with the display. Thank goodness. I really don’t know why I had trouble with that 2020 SE LCD display, but it was not pleasant in the same way my 2016 XR display was harsh to my eyes.
Apple must have made some sort of change because my more recent 2020 XR and iPhone 11 displays and now this one are easier on my eyes. Or maybe it’s just luck of the draw and I got lucky with the last 3 purchases. I wish I knew.
This display is similar in comfort level to that on my iPhone 11. With True Tone off it is a tad more peachy warm than the colder white on my 11. For comfort, I run True Tone on both phones.
The battery has been fine for the first day.
The camera is not as fast nor as good as that of my iPhone 11 on focusing on my cats indoors in low light, so I have some blurry cat photos. I can adjust my expectations downward for that, since this is my “summer fling” and most of my use will be outdoors in bright sunlight, where I’m confident it can hold up to my expectations the way my original 2016 SE did several years ago.
So far, I think the key to enjoying this phone is to understand what it is, what it does, and manage your expectations accordingly. It is not a pro level phone, no. But it also doesn’t strain the pockets nor the wallet the way Apple’s other phones do.
I do think the iPhone 11 is a better value, though. I’ve not had problems with connectivity or call quality on my iPhone 11. It can work with my Air Tag and the SE apparently can not. And the camera on the 11 rarely lets me down even for those pesky indoor pet photos. When you consider I know what it’s like to use a 13 Pro, an S22 Ultra and a Pixel 6 Pro, yet can still be happy having my iPhone 11 on me all the time, that’s high praise. Of course I also manage my expectations and don’t try to use that iPhone 11 to take photos of my black cat in a dark room. Even my cutting edge flagships require some finesse with that challenge. If Apple ever decides to upgrade the chip on the iPhone 11 the way it did with this SE…it would be my dream phone (since I struggle with pwm sensitivity).
What my iPhone 11 is, however, is heavy. So when I decided to trade in a free 64 gb XR I’m not using much due to storage constraints, I decided to give the SE a try because it’s definitely got a niche to fill in my lineup, since pwm sensitivity made my 12 mini a no go for the foreseeable future as my small summer phone. I did greatly enjoy that 12 mini last summer, though.
I haven’t given up entirely on that 12 mini. It is a treasured Mother’s Day gift and I was able to use it for several months until the 13 Pro did something to my nervous system. I have hope someday I’ll fully recover from that.
When/if that happens, the SE 2022 won’t go to waste. A capable, relatively budget friendly and easily carried phone like the SE will always find a place in a family like ours, as the original SE’s we had before it did.
Edit: I hope I haven’t confused everyone referring to so many different iPhones. Yes, I’ve owned or tried just about all of them at some point.
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Well, how does one even go about answering such a question lol. It all depends on so many factors. The only thing I have to say is that the battery life of the 12 mini is far from being as bad as the impressions you’ve gotten from these boards. Based on the physical dimensions of the device, the battery life is actually quite decent. Keep in mind that the 12 mini is the smallest modern iPhone handset. It is smaller than the 13 mini as well as the SE2 and SE3. I’m still impressed by how much tech they managed to fit into such a small body.
I love my SE 3. It’s a big upgrade over my 13 Pro. No regrets whatsoever about going back to Touch ID.
I can finally unlock the damn phone when it’s laying down in front of me without having to pick it up every time and point at my face.
I found Face ID to be extremely impractical. To me, Touch ID is faster, more reliable, and far more convenient.
But the biggest reason for switching was size. The 13 Pro is such a brick! You honestly don’t realize how heavy your phone is until you swap to a much lighter one. The SE feels even lighter and thinner than my 13 mini did.
This bring me to another benefit of the SE, which is true one-handed usage. Love this phone and I’m thinking of buying another to store for the next 4-5 years in case Apple discontinues it.
Oh yeah, another plus is that my OLED headaches are gone. I can stare at the LCD for hours without eye soreness.
Battery on mine is very good. Much improved over the SE 2. It gets me through the entire day of texting, calling, and checking emails with ease.
5G UC speeds on my SE 3 are identical to what they were on my 13 Pro, which are roughly ~500 Mbps.
Upgrades all around. Best part is that I’m getting back ~$1k for my 13 Pro.
I can finally unlock the damn phone when it’s laying down in front of me without having to pick it up every time and point at my face.
I found Face ID to be extremely impractical. To me, Touch ID is faster, more reliable, and far more convenient.
But the biggest reason for switching was size. The 13 Pro is such a brick! You honestly don’t realize how heavy your phone is until you swap to a much lighter one. The SE feels even lighter and thinner than my 13 mini did.
This bring me to another benefit of the SE, which is true one-handed usage. Love this phone and I’m thinking of buying another to store for the next 4-5 years in case Apple discontinues it.
Oh yeah, another plus is that my OLED headaches are gone. I can stare at the LCD for hours without eye soreness.
Battery on mine is very good. Much improved over the SE 2. It gets me through the entire day of texting, calling, and checking emails with ease.
5G UC speeds on my SE 3 are identical to what they were on my 13 Pro, which are roughly ~500 Mbps.
Upgrades all around. Best part is that I’m getting back ~$1k for my 13 Pro.
Well, I would think carefully about that because in my experience, it's not the hardware that gets unusable; it's the newer software that makes an "old" phone unusable.
I'd still be happily using my iPhone 6 Plus if Apple had not essentially made it unusable with successive "upgrades" of iOS.
First-gen iPhone SE still runs the latest iOS – and it's good - 9to5Mac
How decent are these old iPhones running the latest iOS? I tested a first-generation iPhone SE with iOS 15, and it's still surprisingly good.
9to5mac.com
Yes. It has 5G UC. I see it all day long. I get the same ~500 Mbps in my area on the SE 3 that I did with my 13 Pro.
No, each of those had an updated panel compared to the previous one, except for the SE2 which had the one from the 8. I wouldn’t expect the SE3 to actually have a different panel at all, too. I mean, for the price it should, but knowing Apple and looking at the Studio Display old panels are the latest rave.
A battery replacement it is then. That’s what I’d do, you probably can’t go wrong with the 14 later.