Henrik Carlsson posted this
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on
and tagged it with iPhone In reply to Jack, Chris and Patrick on Micro.blog. (And hopefully with the help of webmentions threaded as a reply in that conversation.)
Allow me to be somewhat of the contrarian here. To me the iPhone SE (and 4/4S and 5/5s) was the most beautiful iPhone. The look and feel of it was and still is exquisite. However I don’t think it’s the best one simply due to the nature of technological progress. There’s just been to much improvements to every part of the phone since the SE’s launch for that to be true.
Like Patrick I held on to my SE (and 5s before that one) for dear life but once it started falling apart, I decided to bite the bullet and get an iPhone 11. It was a rough transition to the bigger phone. For a whole day or two. I can still miss the portability of the smaller device but these days when I hold even Linn’s iPhone 6s in my hands it feels like a tiny baby-phone. The SE seems ridiculously small.
My ideal iPhone would be small like an SE in the pocket, but then I should be able to pull on its side and enlarge it so a 11 size once I use it.
That being said, we like what we like. If you (not pointed directly at either of you gentlemen) love your iPhone SE more than any other phone and want to keep using it, please do so. I hope it lasts you a really long time. :) If however you’re forced by entropy to change it for newer one you might find that the grass is if not greener, then at least an interesting different shade of green.1
- However, nothing that makes the 11 great would be less good if it still had an analog 3.5 mm headphone jack. Removing that is still one of Apple’s worst decisions in my opinion. ↩
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Replies and comments
jack
5 juli, 2020 17:48@MrHenko Indeed, using an SE will become untenable over time. As @ChrisJWilson said, it’s a great phone but a not-as-great pocket computer. Noticing that I’ve been using my phone (an iPhone X) for less and less recently, I figured it was a good time to see how the SE fares as a daily driver. I’ll never not love the form factor. And I’m finding that having Touch ID is a relief, making me wonder if the new SE could be an option one day.
MrHenko
5 juli, 2020 18:14@jack Yeah, considered as “just” a phone, and by phone we mean thing people use to make phone calls and send text messages, then I can agree that the SE is Apple’s best attempt. (Though if that is the definition of phone, I miss my old pre-smart phone Motorola. Physical numerical keyboard, great battery life and insanely thin. Also, it worked with iSync to sync my calendar and contacts. :) )
It appears quite a few people miss Touch ID which I find interesting. To me after using Face ID for a couple of days, using Touch ID on my iPad felt like bashing two pieces of rock together to produce fire. It felt so ancient. Touch ID never worked flawlessly for me whereas Face ID works almost every time. The only exceptions are when I’m laying down in bed.
What is it about Touch ID that you find better/more appealing? (Other people who read this should feel free to chime in as well.)
jack
5 juli, 2020 18:28@MrHenko Touch ID feels consistent to me, somehow. I feel like I’m in more control my phone. I know, it doesn’t make much sense. Also, Touch ID works great while wearing a mask :). Could be that what I miss is the Home button and Touch ID is riding along. When Face ID doesn’t work I find myself flailing about moving my phone and face trying to get it to work. With Touch ID I just lift and reset my thumb. Or it could be nostalgia. Ask me again in a week!
coldbrain
5 juli, 2020 22:54@aaronpk I find the opposite! I’ve just upgraded to an iPhone 11 and it’s the first phone I’ve had with Face ID. I find it very fast, and it is almost immediate when I‘m already using my phone and use Face ID to log into an app/account that uses it, such as my bank’s app.
stevesnider
5 juli, 2020 23:20@aaronpk TouchID always worked well for me except that, as a Minnesotan I end up wearing gloves muck of the year, which was roughly as problematic as masks are in today’s world.
Ideally some combination of the two forms of authentication will become viable eventually.
SteveSawczyn
6 juli, 2020 14:05@aaronpk If I could get enough to pay off my 11 Pro, I would sell it and go for the SE 2 just because it has the touch ID. As a blind guy, I don’t need to pick up my phone to look at it and so often just leave it on the desk when reading a quick notification or something — can’t do that with face ID. I know OnePlus and others have a fingerprint sensor under the glass, not quite sure how that works, but maybe Apple could implement something similar and offer people the best of both worlds. Here’s hoping.
SteveSawczyn
6 juli, 2020 14:07@jack It’s definitely not you, I feel the same way. Face ID might be cool or something, but it’s just not as practical as touch ID, at least in my apparently not so humble opinion. :)
MrHenko
6 juli, 2020 23:37@jack I can see what you mean by being more in control with a home button and Touch ID. Also the mask thing is absolutely a thing for most of the world. Though as a Swede it’s currently not a problem than I’m having. (Pretty much nobody wears a mask here.)
I’ll try to remember asking you in a week. :)
MrHenko
6 juli, 2020 23:46@aaronpk Thanks for chiming in. I appears that the question of TouchID vs FaceID is very much a question of circumstances. To me TouchID works unreliably because Sweden have long and cold winters, resulting in dry hands and/or gloves and bad reliability whereas Sweden also has a COVID-19 strategy that’s different from the rest of the world that means wearing a mask is just not a thing, so FaceID works very well.
As for the problem with the phone laying down I’m with you fully, though I think I’ve either never really used it that way or I’ve trained myself out of it.
MrHenko
6 juli, 2020 23:47@aaronpk Another thing, not related to this at all: Thank you so much for your YouTube videos about the Atem Mini and Mini Pro. It was through your videos that I heard about the Atem Mini and got one for work and it really simplified my lectures during the spring semester. So thanks!