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Phones · Apple iPhone SE

Apple iPhone SE 2022

17owners with an opinion
71%of verdicts positive
10/4positive/negative since 2024
4 yrslongest happy owner
1happy after 3+ years

Praised for portability and ease of use; criticized for performance and battery.

What owners wrote

Likes itOwned 4 years
> Often suggested to help combat phone addiction because apparently smaller screens do something for that Which has been my take on why there are no more small phones. Manufacturers noted that bigger phone equals more engagement. I am still on my 2022 iPhone SE for this reason.
Doesn’t like itOwned 4 years
I'm glad I stumbled across this: life circumstances have allowed me go abroad for a trip the past two years. One thing I had forgotten about since the last trip were some of my group being unable to get one of the cheap prepaid data eSIMs because their phone was still locked to the carrier. I've been tempted to replace my aging iPhone SE 2022 (^1) with a trade-in deal and get a new phone, but it never occurred to me that would mean being forced to use AT&T's $10/day (capped at $100 in one billing cycle) "International Day Pass" during future trips until it had been paid off for long enough. (^1) I wish I wasn't so tempted after ~4 years, but the battery health has dropped to 75% and the performance has suffered dramatically. A new battery is on the table I suppose, but I am split between just putting that money towards a new phone.
Doesn’t like it
I regretted it too after I went with an SE 2022. I thought the battery life would be better, and I thought I didn't want to swap Touch ID for Face ID. 18 months ago I bought a used iPhone 13 Mini, and much prefer it. I used to feel unhappy every time I held the SE 2022. I never liked the wider, rounded-edged shape of the iPhone 7/8. I'm finally going to get a battery swap for the 13 Mini from Apple this afternoon. I'm hoping that stops me vaguely wondering about battery swapping for my SE 2016 (1st gen) and going back to using that. I don't think I'd want to go back to a camera that old, and too many apps are not supported. That was the last iPhone I really loved. Fastest smartphone on the planet in benchmarks when it was released, and in the rare event that it slipped out of your (someone else's) hand, it felt unbreakable compared to newer iPhones.
Doesn’t like it
> And the slightly different sizes of iPhones are not really that problematic with something like autolayout It can be problematic regardless of the technical solution, though generally I have to agree with the loudest voices on this thread: SwiftUI is a load of rubbish, UIKit and autolayout (and Interface Builder) was better. Regarding problems with all layouts: I've got a 2022 model iPhone SE, so smallest screen, and every so often run into an app which just doesn't handle the screensize right. I've seen this happen as a developer with both UIKit and SwiftUI, it's just the type of bug you end up seeing is different.
Likes it
Since this year, I have two phones: 1) An iPhone Se 2022 that I use for TOTP, banking and auth. It is always in airplane mode, unless I need to login to banks (etc). The OS will receive security updates till 2032. 2) A Pixel phone with GrapheneOS for daily use: Internet browsing, routing, phone, message etc. I found this is the only usable way in 2025.
Likes it
SteamCube would have honestly been such a cool name. My current PC has a Ryzen 7 5800X and an Intel Arc B580 and I don't really have the need for a device to connect to a TV (which I also don't have), but I can definitely see the appeal to something that is both okay at games, as well as has hardware that the software works really well with, with minimal amounts of driver weirdness. Not everyone views building or buying PC as non-intimidating, especially because of how many different parts of different specs and vendors are there. I ended up getting a MacBook (M1 Air) and an iPhone (SE 2022) for some work stuff a while back, and while my use cases of those particular devices are a bit limited, I appreciate how most of the computing and updates out of the box... just work (at least for now, in contrast I got a bit unlucky with Windows updates on my main PC so I had to mess around with where the disk partitions are, otherwise it refused to boot after one update, no idea what's up with that). Plus maybe it'll push developers in the direction of optimize their games a bit more (or at least add more performance oriented presets). I just hope that they won't pull an Intel Core Ultra with the pricing, which will probably make or break the Steam Machine as something that'd see widespread usage.
Likes it
Literally this. I'm typing this on an iPhone SE 2022 (the last one with a home button). I'm done with iPhone as soon as I am no longer able to use this model. I don't like the new, oversized pieces of junk, and I also like the home button as opposed to the new Face ID/swipe up workflow. For people that have good visual acuity, the smaller screen is ideal; it's such high resolution that you can fit a lot of things in a small area. For people that turn the font size up to 600, the bigger screen is obviously ideal, but nobody really wants to have to hold something that is bigger if they don't need it for the screen size. That's the market I fit in and Apple has abandoned at market, along with all common sense (re: liquid glass, the recent Apple/Google Gemini deal, etc.).
Likes it
I got a 16 (mostly because of the USB-C) and returned it before the 30day return period was over. It was a noticeable downgrade compared to my SE 2022. Currently trying to get a solid postmarketOS setup so I can switch back to Linux before the SE goes out of support. Apple really doesn't offer an upgrade path from this device.
Likes it
> haul around a huge bulky phone > chonker Can't see the specs for the iPhone Air but it looks much larger than my SE 2022. I wish they would bring that form factor back. Obviously not as powerful as bigger iPhones so not useful for posing purposes.
Likes it
I've been an iPhone user since late 2007. I current use an SE 2022 and love it. I've gone iPhone -> 3GS -> 4 -> 5s -> 6s -> 7 -> SE 2020 -> SE 2022. The Mini never interested me. I love the SE. I love the home button and TouchID. I love the traditional size. If I want more I have an iPad Pro (12.9" original 2015 model bought in 2015 -- the battery still lasts 2 weeks with my usage pattern) or M1 Mac Mini with a 32" 4k screen. If they don't make a new SE model I don't know what I'll do. I guess, firstly, get a new battery for it before it's out of the support window. Maybe sometime next year. And then see how long app updates support whatever the last OS version it will run is. The ONLY thing I'd change in my SE, if it was possible, is more than 4 GB of RAM. The latest models have 8 GB and the others at the time the SE was sold already had 6 GB. With recent system updates I'm getting a lot more of applications restarting when I switch back to them. This is mostly not a huge problem, except that the X app loses your place in the "Following" stream if you're more than a few hours behind and the app reloads.
Doesn’t like it
My usual plug for: https://smallandroidphone.com/ I think Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble, has decided he will have a go at an iPhone 13 mini sized android phone, since nothing exists in that space anymore. Android rather than iPhone, but I've also recently given up hoping Apple would release a small phone. I recently bought a used iPhone 13 mini when my minor-regret-sized SE 2022 started playing up and I saw that all the rumours pointed at this 16E being huge.
Likes it
>but the 13 mini is better across every tech axis (better processor, battery life, screen, camera, ...) than the SE and is worth comparing to. They have the exact same A15 Bionic, with the same 4GB of memory. The 13 mini has an extra 400maH of battery. I've had both and the iPhone SE (2022) lasted longer in my personal use. (sold the 13 in an antiapple mood only to come back and get an SE later)
Likes it
Because the execution is usually borked... I was eyeig ZenFone 9 (or something around that) and what? It was reported that it had problem with overheating and build quality. What's more, I would love something akin to my current Galaxy a52s 5G with a display around 5.2-5.5" (I first had LG G2, then OnePlus3 which was already a bit bulky and now a52 as compromise; https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=5543&idPhone2... )... I do have iPhone SE (2022) and it's the size of LG G2 and I find quite handy. Something of that size but with slightly bigger screen (better screen-to-body ratio). Specs doesn't have super-hiper-premium… and the price should be sane (usually compact phones are like 20-40% higher, sic)
Likes it
I have the iPhone SE 2022 as my daily driver now since the Android battery turned into a pillow. Honestly, it was a nice introduction into the ecosystem - still a device at a price point that I would have never bought unless I needed it for a project (since in general phones nowadays are ripped away from you faster than their hardware ages, at least if you want a system that actually gets security updates), but overall I'm satisfied with it. Except maybe with Apple in general, I feel like for the same project I should have gone for a MacBook that has more than 8 GB of RAM regardless of the exorbitant prices, because that thing replaced my previous netbook when I'm on the move and 8 GB just doesn't feel enough; even if I limit JetBrains IDEs and such to 1 GB of RAM each when doing light dev work, opening the front end and back end already eats into the total memory substantially, in addition to containers.
Likes it
I have an M1 MacBook Air and the iPhone 2022 SE, so far the performance of both is pretty good! However, the prices are definitely outside my regular budget (needed it for an iOS app project cause of walled garden ecosystem) and I only got the 8 GB MacBook which in hindsight very much feels like a mistake, even with the exorbitant pricing for the 16 GB model. For the price of the 8 GB model I could have gotten a nice laptop with 32 GB of RAM built in. That said, I don’t hate the OS, it’s all quite pleasant and performs well.
Likes it
> Ask HN: What happened to normal-sized smartphones? Long story short: they're practically dead. The iPhone SE from 2022 is the last generally ok phone, along with the 13 mini. It seems that the iPhone SE is the last of its kind, mainly so that apple can profit off a lower-budget market segment. The android world has been ignoring the small phone area for many years now. There are some smaller android phones, as long as you are okay with dubious updates assurance and/or generally lower quality. I have the iPhone SE from 2022. I get your being annoyed. I'm annoyed too.
Neutral
The haptic home button does not work when wearing gloves on iPhone SE 2022 (I just tested it). With haptic side buttons, a 3rd party case couldn’t use plastic over the buttons (my iPhone SE 2022 case has molded button covers as part of the plastic surround). Aside: Apple’s usability feels like it is going downhill. As a very recent Android -> iPhone convert, I keep bumping into obvious and serious usability flaws, even with my years of prior experience with an iPad. Watching my 80 year old mum trying to learn how to use an iPad was a real eye opener for usability and accessibility failures (weirdly enough, she used to use a Windows laptop a few years ago with less problems, probably due to familiarity). I’m guessing Apple can make a haptic button that is more reliable and more waterproof than a physically clicky button. We all know of old iPhones with a physical home button where the home button stopped working reliable (or at all). Preventing failure in objects that physically move is very difficult.
Doesn’t like itHasn’t owned it
Liquid Glass has worse performance implications, which is bad for older devices with slow processors, and older devices with older batteries. It's also very difficult to use on older devices with smaller screens, like the 2022 iPhone SE. Further, Apple stopped making it possible to upgrade to minor releases for security patches. All these give someone a reason to replace their otherwise perfectly-working iPhone sooner.
Likes itHasn’t owned it
The iPhone SE 2022 was in the top ten smartphones of the year by sales figures. It may not be as astronomical as flagship phones, but it's simply a lie to say it's "dead" as a "mainstream" product.
Recommends itHasn’t owned it
The authors frustrations are shared by many. I used an iPhone 6 way past its expiry date. It also became slower over time for no reason until it was essentially unusable. Finally I bought a refurbished iPhone SE 2020 for 200 euros in 2022. It felt almost like going back to a brand new iPhone 6 in both performance and features. I hope to keep it until the inevitable performance drop makes it annoyingly slow, then buy a refurbished iPhone SE 2022 and repeat. After the SE 2022 becomes unusable there will be no good alternative left in the market for someone who only wants a small, simple phone without an abundance of stupid features, then I guess I’ll just stop using smartphones.
Doesn’t like itHasn’t owned it
> but iPhone’s really aren’t more expensive than androids, per year. > The 5g SE (2022) is $429 iPhone absolutely are more expensive than any other phone if you care about things other than the CPU/GPU performance. The 5g SE has a tiny screen with archaic bezel design and still uses LCDs in an era where not giving you an OLED would be seen as a ripoff on the android market. It starts at 64gb of storage for this $429 (in France, it's actually 529 euros), my S20FE from a couple years ago which I bought at 400 euros on deals had 128gb. It has a very big, 120hz OLED screen and the finger print sensor works from underneath the screen. For me, and many others, the phone is primarily a content consumption device. If the CPU is good enough that I don't see stutters all the time then it's good enough. I don't need my smartphone to be a laptop in the pocket. I do need a screen that I enjoy looking at and big enough that I can use it to read ebooks. This in turns is heavily reflected in how many Apple users will splurge the big bucks to get the iPhone models that are comfortable to use despite their insane prices. Right now, the cheapest phone Apple produces with a large screen is the iPhone 14 Plus at 969 euros. There's a reason why the iPhone SE is the least popular of all Apple phones despite having far-more-than-good-enough hardware performance and longevity while being accessibly priced: it lacks what people actually wants out of their phone, Apple knows that and they keep the SE