- Okay, I feel like I've done this before,
but have you ever heard of Betteridge's Law?
It's a journalism maxim which states
that, "Any headline that ends in a question mark
"can be answered by the word no."
(slow electronic music)
I'm Mr. Mobile, and the iPhone SE,
which I've had in my hands for the past few hours
is not just a rebranded iPhone 8.
Even though it might look like one.
Let's see all the ways that Betteridge's Law
holds true in this first look.
(upbeat electronic music)
Okay as with all new iPhones,
I started with restoring from my prior iPhone's backup.
A process that's normally almost magical
in its simplicity and reliability,
but as you know, if you're a subscriber,
Apple's cloud backups and I don't always get along.
Yeah, apparently my iPhone 11 Pro Max
ran out of storage, during the restore?
Even though or perhaps because I just restored
an iPhone 8 from the same device moments before?
Anyway, I deleted some apps I never use,
though Apple was wrong about this, again.
Instagram never used.
Yeah, I don't think that's true iPhone.
(man laughing)
Anyway, eventually I had a working SE.
Putting the SE alongside the iPhone 8,
we see our first, no they're not the same,
in the aesthetics category.
See, starting with the iPhone 4, Apple got into the habit
of giving its white phones white faceplates.
But because the LCD panels it uses
can't be made anything but black when off,
I've always thought it looked goofy.
So I'm very glad to see the SE bring back
the black front glass to the white version.
Combined with the brighter white finish,
the centered logo and deleted watermark,
the iPhone SE I think wins the looks contest,
unless you want gold.
On the SE, that colorway has been replaced
by the Product RED version.
Now, a portion of whose profits
contribute to COVID-19 relief, nice.
Here's the second no: internals.
No, I'm not talking about the processor,
though we'll come back to that in a second,
I mean the available Dual SIM support on the iPhone SE.
That means you can have two numbers on the same phone
or you can use two carriers when you travel
for more competitive data rates.
The iPhone 8 can't do this.
The third no is not a surprise,
but it's also kind of a shame, 3D Touch is gone.
When Apple debuted it five years ago I was stoked
because this was a totally new model for interacting
with a touchscreen.
You didn't just tap or swipe or hold,
now you could press hard
for a whole other layer of interaction.
But Apple eliminated this from the iPhone 11 family
and now the SE as well.
You can still get contact sensitive menus
by holding for longer, but the added versatility
of force touching is no more.
That's still no reason to hold onto the 8 though,
because the next big no is the camera.
Those portrait mode shots that are occasionally fun,
the iPhone SE has 'em.
Complete with portrait lighting effects,
but the 8 does not.
Same with Smart HDR, red eye compensation,
more stabilization and dynamic range options
when you're shooting video.
Even after an hour,
I can tell you the SE has a much better camera.
We've got a life form reading in here.
(scanner beeping)
Whew, looks like a fruit bat.
We don't want any of those.
(woman laughing)
This is why you care about the new A13 processor
in the SE versus the older silicon in the iPhone 8, folks.
It's not about smoothness, or raw numbers,
it's about the features that new processor enables.
I'll have more camera samples in my full iPhone SE review.
Now the last big no is a twofer
and on our way there let's check out my sponsored dbrand
for a smart way to protect your new iPhone SE.
See just like the iPhone 8, the SE has a glass back.
Great for wireless charging, bad for durability.
So skin it up with a dbrand vinyl skin,
either right on the device or go for double durability
with a dbrand grip case.
Itself as customizable as you'll ever need.
Links to dbrand in the description.
That final twofer of a Betteridge no: price and support.
That used iPhone 8 I scored on Amazon for $258
is substantially cheaper than the iPhone SE's
starting price of around $400, yes.
But folks, the iPhone 8 is two and a half years old.
If you buy the SE instead,
Apple has a really great track record.
You'll probably get iOS updates for 5 years from today.
That's not nothin'.
That's one of the big reasons I usually advocate
buying new devices versus reduced price old ones.
And when you fold in the camera and feature improvements,
the SE is the better buy in the long run.
Even though, yes, it is more expensive.
Let me know what you wanna know about the iPhone SE.
Drop your questions in the comments
and be sure you're subscribed to the MrMobile
on YouTube so you don't miss that full review coming soon.
In the meantime, Lory Gil has a great review up at iMore.
I will link that in the description.
Until next time.
Thanks for watching, stay safe at home
and in spirit anyway, stay mobile my friends.