APPLE IPHONE SE
From $529, apple.com/au
At the precise time OnePlus was blowing us away with the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro, and right about the time news of the Pixel 4a was emerging, Apple remembered that mid-range phones are a thing and reminded us just what it can do with devices that don’t cost the earth. No wheels have been reinvented: the Cupertino wizards have simply taken the 2017 iPhone 8 body and crammed it with modern-day hardware, in the same vein as the previous SE, which squashed itself into an iPhone 5 shell. But oh, what a selection of components.
There’s a generous HDR10-capable 4.7” Retina display, complete with Touch ID security on the home button and a glass – not plastic – case rear. Wireless charging has made it in, along with fast charging to get you up to 50% battery in 30 minutes. There’s Wi-Fi 6, too – though no 5G quite yet.
The core package is where this shines the most. Apple might have looked back in time for the case, but it’s pulled the A13 Bionic processor right out of today’s kit, giving the iPhone SE a tremendous amount of power for its size. As for the camera, it uses a 12 megapixel, f/1.8 sensor, which Apple boldly claims is “the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone”.
Yes, it doesn’t look spectacular. It looks like an iPhone 8 from 2017. But if power, performance and longevity are higher on your list than thin bezels, this is an absolutely amazing little phone.
FRONTING UP
There’s a full camera package on offer here; the selfie cam is another class-beater, with a 7MP sensor and f/2.2 aperture ensuring you’ll be
beautifully captured.
HIGH-WATER MARK
With an IP67 rating, the new iPhone SE is equipped to spend half an hour completely submerged in a metre of water. We wouldn’t swim with it, but that’s yet another feather in its cap – and another shot fired at its mid-range rivals.
ALL-SEEING EYE
The rear camera – which looks to be a Night-Sightless version of the iPhone 11 cam – can shoot in 4K at 60FPS, and uses those photo-centric features of the A13 Bionic to pull off Smart HDR and fancy portrait lighting effects.