iPhone SE 2020: The 2020 Apple Budget Phone

Apple released the iPhone SE 2020 on the 24th of April, which is a reboot of the iconic iPhone SE from 2016. While the two share the name, there is little to suggest it's a sequel to the 2016 original SE. The phone looks like an iPhone 8 with the brains and power of the iPhone 11.

It comes with a 4.7-inch retina display with a true tone. It ships in three colors; black, white, and product red. With 2020 phones pushing the screen to body ratio higher, the iPhone SE feels dated with its forehead and chin bezels. 

It rocks the body of an iPhone 8, even with its one camera at the back. The chassis is made of aluminum, with a glass front and back. With glass front and back, you will need a cover to protect your phone from accidental falls. The replacement will cost you some above $100. Get a cover from Shamo's cases at an affordable price.

The phone also has ip67 water and dust resistance, so it will survive water splashes and brief submersion in water.

The phone rocks the iPhone 11 A13 Bionic chip, which puts its performance up there with the high-end flagship phones like the iPhone 11 which cost starts at 699. The A13 Bionic chip is the most powerful and fastest in any iPhone made, which makes the experience when using it fluid and fast.

In the age of gestures and face unlock, touch id feels old and dated. For many, it's still a great and secure way to unlock your phone, sign in to apps and pay for goods without getting your credit card out.

The phone uses a haptic touch for quick actions and contextual menus.

The phone comes with an 1821 mAh battery as the iPhone 8. With the A13 Bionic cheap inside, the device is more power sufficient. The iPhone SE battery lasts 13 hours and 8 hours when watching and streaming videos, and 40 hours when listening to audio.

It comes with wireless charging, which neither the iPhone SE nor iPhone 8 has. It also has fast charging using the out of box 18W power adapter or higher. It can fast-charge up to 50 percent in 30 min.

The iPhone SE has only two cameras. The 12-megapixel rear camera has optical image stabilization (OIS) and has support for slow-mo video and time-lapse video. It can also record video at 4k video up to 60 fps.

The 7-megapixel front-facing camera supports portrait mode.

The phone compares well with iPhone 8 when it comes to design, but that's the end of it. The internals of the phone is from the iPhone 11, which put the old looking phone at par with the new models in the market.

The iPhone SE  ships in 64gb base model at $399, 128gb model at $449, and the 256gb model at $549.

The downside.

• One would expect that Apple would do something about the model and reduce the bezels on the front side of the phone. It feels like we took a trip back into 2016.
• With OLED screens manufacturing getting better and cheaper, Apple decided to use the LCD screens.
• The camera on the SE doesn't have a night mode, which most 2020 phones have. The A13 Bionic chip is capable of handling night mode.

Overall, the iPhone SE 2020 is a good phone and a bargain at that price point. You get a good deal and a future of software support and less than $500.

As alway Shamo's is here to protect your investment. Checkout these cases for the new iPhone SE 2020.