I ditched Android for iPhone SE for a month — here’s the pros and cons
I ditched Android for iPhone SE for a month — here's the pros and cons
When the iPhone SE (2020) debuted before this spring, I argued that the phone's impressive specs and reasonable cost were enough to make a longtime Android diehard sit up and take notice. For $400, Apple'south latest phone gives you a powerful processor, a gorgeous screen and a robust camera, along with helpful bells and whistles like h2o resistance and wireless charging.
In issue, y'all go a flagship telephone for one-half of what you'd pay for a premium device. The iPhone SE sounded better than its closest Android competitors on paper, and that got me wondering: Could information technology stand up up to its Android rivals in real life?
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In my experience, no. The iPhone SE is a powerful slice of hardware at an impressive toll, but I found that the iOS feel drags the whole product down several notches. If you have $400 to spend on a telephone, you lot should buy the Google Pixel 3a (or concord out for the predictable release of the Pixel 4a).
At that place are many reasons why, just foremost among them is the fact that your $400 will purchase you lot a complete product when y'all opt for an Android device, and not simply a foot in the door of a much larger, more expensive ecosystem.
The experiment
After I made the statement in favor of the iPhone SE back in April, my editor proposed an unusual experiment: If the iPhone SE really looked that good to me, would I be willing to use one for a whole month? After all, if the iPhone SE could really usher in a new age of midrange smartphones, who would be a amend test subject than a longtime Android user? I installed my SIM card in an iPhone SE on May 15, and kept it there for the next month.
While Apple admittedly isn't my cup of tea, I resolved to become into this experiment with an open mind. I've reviewed Apple tree gadgets before, and I think I've ever evaluated their strengths and weaknesses adequately. I'g also not a hardcore smartphone user past any means. I use my phone for calls, texts, eastward-post, social media and the occasional mobile game. I don't have a ton of apps, and I'd almost always rather apply a computer, game console, tablet or e-reader. As such, I figured that annihilation I could do on an Android phone, I could probably do on an iPhone just as well.My hypothesis turned out to exist near one-half-right.
What I liked about the iPhone SE
I found some things to like near the iPhone SE, and the Apple tree experience in general. Kickoff, I was able to download new interface and security updates the second they became available, rather than months downward the line, whenever my wireless carrier accounted fit. The iPhone SE volition continue getting vital security updates for years, rather than petering out afterwards a year and a one-half, or less. Android really, really needs to pace up its game in this department.
I also thought the pictures it took were just gorgeous. Even indoors, the colour balance was spot-on, and the phone did a fantastic job of distinguishing between people and objects, foregrounds and backgrounds. I don't think it's considerably better than the Pixel 3a's camera, but information technology's definitely better than what most mid-range phones offer.
I likewise liked everything that the iPhone SE'south excellent hardware facilitated. The screen was brilliant, vivid and abrupt, particularly since information technology crams a lot of resolution into a pocket-sized space. Navigation felt snappy and firsthand, whether I was playing a enervating 3D game or simply scrolling through my photo library. The phone never hangs or chugs; it just loads everything almost instantly. Going back to my crumbling Moto Z3 felt downright sluggish in comparison. The iPhone SE'south wireless charging was also cool, as I've never owned a phone with this capability before.
My very favorite part of the iOS experience, however, was Apple Arcade. For those who oasis't tried information technology, Apple Arcade is a $five-per-month subscription service that gives you unlimited access to a variety of high-quality games that aren't available anywhere on Android. (They're often available on Steam or Switch, to exist fair.)
These games avoid the worst excesses of free-to-play mobile games, as not a single one allows in-app purchases. Yous get consummate experiences that yous can play for as long every bit y'all like without paying anything on top of the subscription fee. I wish that Android had a similar service.
What I didn't like near iPhone SE
The showtime matter I noticed was that iOS doesn't have a unified dorsum button. This may seem like a pocket-sized complaint, simply on Android, returning to the previous screen in any app is crystal-clear. In iOS, every app has a different back button, and in that location'southward no consistency near where it's located. You might take to scroll to the top-left in one app, or the bottom-right in some other, so learning how to go out your current screen by muscle memory is impossible.
My second big realization was that at that place was no manner to admission my text letters on a PC. Thanks to Google Letters, I've become extremely used to using my PC to answer texts as long as I'one thousand at home — which, these days, is nigh of the fourth dimension. I know that iMessage is available on Macs, just Google Letters is bachelor on both PCs and Macs, which seems similar a much fairer arrangement.
Then, there was the feature that started driving me out of my mind on Twenty-four hour period ane and didn't let upward until Twenty-four hour period xxx: There is no comma or flow on the iOS keyboard's main screen. Instead, if you want to punctuate your thoughts, you have to get into a secondary bill of fare. Although Android doesn't have every punctuation marker on its default keyboard, either, you tin press and hold the period button to get what you lot demand. Fortunately, you tin can double tap the space bar in iOS to enter periods and also download tertiary-party keyboards with more options.
I ran into a number of other little annoyances during my time with an iPhone. There'southward no unified app menu, so you accept to scroll through pages of apps or else organize everything into folders manually. Apple seems to acknowledge that this is a problem, as iOS 14 will finally include a unified apps carte and a new App Library feature that automatically organizes your apps for you.
No iPhone model includes a microSD card slot, meaning you're stuck with whatever amount of internal storage y'all purchase — and that storage tin can go very expensive, as jumping from one capacity to some other can add anywhere from $50 to $100 to the cost of your telephone. The iPhone uses a proprietary charger rather than a USB-C, like every other modern phone in the globe.
I too couldn't stand the fact that iOS doesn't permit you lot simply drag and drop media files onto the organization. You demand to install iTunes on a reckoner, create a library, convert a bunch of files and sync everything manually, which is as time-consuming as it is tedious. You can't create your own ringtones, you tin can't install apps from non-Apple sources, you can't access anything on an iPhone through Windows Explorer, and so along. It'due south an old argument, merely it'southward nevertheless truthful: iOS feels very restrictive if you've been with Android since the beginning.
To its credit, the iPhone SE let me do everything I unremarkably do with a phone. But everything was just a little harder than information technology needed to be, for no real reason.
Accessorizing fashionably
When I let Apple know that I was planning to write this article, a spokesman suggested I complement the device with AirPods and an Apple Spotter Series 5. Since the iPhone SE came out, customers have been ownership the iii gadgets together, since you can build a mini-Apple ecosystem for less than the cost of a flagship telephone.
However, neither the Apple Watch nor the AirPods added much to the feel overall. I found the AirPods profoundly uncomfortable, and e'er on the verge of falling out. (The sound quality was excellent, to exist off-white.)
Seeing notifications on my wrist with the Apple Watch was kind of helpful, but information technology didn't streamline my digital activities in any meaningful sense. Granted, I'd probably have similar complaints about a Clothing Os device, merely the point is that having 2 expensive Apple accessories didn't do much to drag a very average telephone experience.
Back to Android
With an iPhone SE, I was still able to browse the Spider web, check my electronic mail, read books, play games, sentry videos and so forth. My mean solar day-to-day activities were nearly the same as on Android. But I still experienced a profound feeling of relief when I booted up my old Moto Z3 over again. The dorsum button made navigation a snap and the open file format meant I could add together annihilation media I wanted with a simple elevate and drop.
Having given iOS a fair shot, I can honestly say that information technology'southward not for me. And yet, there were a few things that I wish Android would learn from its competitor. Security and interface updates are vital, and demand to happen ASAP, not whenever a carrier feels like it. Flagship processors vest in midrange phones. Mobile gaming doesn't have to be a cesspit, if you can attract proven developers with unique ideas.
Ultimately, when it'due south time to choose a new phone, you lot're going to have to enquiry both systems, then trust your gut. My gut volition lead me back to a more than open OS.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/iphone-se-month
Posted by: petersonnotat1992.blogspot.com
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