Display

The display on the iPhone SE is one of its selling points, but not due to its specs. The iPhone SE takes the place of the iPhone 5s in Apple's iPhone line, and like the 5s it has a 4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1136x640. While there's no way to confirm whether or not it's the exact same panel, you'll see in a moment that the characteristics are similar enough that it's probably safe to assume that it is. To evaluate the iPhone SE's display I've run it through our standard display test bench that examines peak brightness and black levels, along with the accuracy of greyscale shades and both color saturations and color mixtures.

Display - Max Brightness

Display - Black Levels

Display - Contrast Ratio

Apple rates their iPhone displays for a brightness of 500 nits. There's always some degree of variance, but it's always the good sort where you're getting more than you paid for. In our iPhone 5s review we saw that it had a peak brightness of around 500 nits, while the iPhone 5c reached nearly 600. This iPhone SE is similar, with a peak brightness of 598 nits. I wouldn't expect this on every unit, but it's just interesting to note because I've never encountered an iPhone 6 or 6s that was so far above the spec.

The black level on the SE at peak brightness is quite high. Part of this is due to the fact that the screen has a bright backlight, but ultimately even with the high peak brightness the contrast ratio is well behind what you get on other phones, and even compared to our 5s unit it's quite low. It's important to note that Apple only ever rated the 4-inch iPhones at 800:1, but when you put the phone side by side with modern IPS displays on devices like the iPhone 6s, and the LG G4, the black ends up looking more like a dark grey.

Display - White Point

Display - Grayscale Accuracy


SpectraCal CalMAN

The iPhone SE does quite well in our greyscale test. As usual, there is a degree of blue shifting, but it’s not too severe and the CCT average is below 7000. The gamma is quite straight, and in the end there aren’t any shades of grey with a DeltaE greater than three, which is generally the goal. With an average DeltaE of 1.87 there’s really not much more you can ask for.


SpectraCal CalMAN

Display - Saturation Accuracy

The iPhone SE renders primary and secondary colors with a high degree of accuracy. The DeltaE for many colors is below one, which means the error cannot be perceived by the eye even with the colors side by side with the true reference color. In the absolute worst case you get saturations with a DeltaE of 2 which is quite impressive. With an average DeltaE of 1.24, there’s really not much that Apple could improve here.


SpectraCal CalMAN

Display - GMB Accuracy

Given that accuracy with color mixtures is just a function of saturation accuracy and greyscale accuracy, it’s not surprising to see the iPhone SE perform well here. There isn’t a single DeltaE error over three, and in general most are between one and two. The overall error is 1.46, and there’s little improvement that Apple could actually make to the accuracy of color mixtures.

Ultimately the iPhone SE ships with a solid IPS display. At 1136x640 it’s definitely not the highest resolution display on the market, but Apple does give you best in class color accuracy, and at 326ppi it’s still high enough resolution to not have really obvious aliasing. Apple was definitely not going to move to 1704x960 on their $400 4-inch smartphone, and a boost in resolution will likely come with whatever Apple’s next 4-inch iPhone is.

Given that Apple is in the process of moving their devices to the wider DCI-P3 color gamut and likely moving the iPhones to a 3x scale resolution, it’ll be interesting to see where the iPhone SE’s display stands relative to the next generation of iPhones. With sharpness and color accuracy being equivalent between the SE and the 6s, the only significant difference in quality right now is the lower contrast ratio on the SE. Apple most likely plans to keep the SE around for two to three years, and so that gap will widen as time goes on.

Battery Life and Charge Time Camera
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  • Tomcs - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    Excellent review. But can I be the only one posting to spot that Apple are actually delivering two fundamentally different SEs aimed at two very different markets? In developed markets, and for upgraders (like me, in my case from a 16GB 4S because I saw nothing in the slightly androidy, blingy, mini-tablety 6s to justify the expense) the 64GB SE is a totally awesome product, is still I believe in short supply, and with the cost of the additional memory will keep Apples ASP healthy. For other markets there is the 16GB, partly reflecting the likely lower mobile bandwidth available in many developing markets: 16 will be enough there, but not for existing users.

    I'm extremely happy with mine: I now expect Apple to stick with the format very closely for several iterations as the mature one-handed smartphone phone, just doing some amazing technical stuff shrinking the increasing power of the over-size "flagships" to fit.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    This will most likely be my next phone, whenever I get tired of my note 4. I want system updates and a small phone again.
  • kmmatney - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    I wouldn't mind a smaller phone (have an iPhone 6S+ at the moment) but I think this is too small. I think the has the ideal size screen - I just wish they would increase the battery life a little.
  • DanaGoyette - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    Something I really wish tech reviews would cover: what is the _minimum_ brightness of the screen?

    As an example, my 2012 Nexus 7 is too damn bright at night.
    My Galaxy S5 is also a bit too bright, but because it's an OLED display, it can be dimmed further in software simply by drawing a translucent black layer over the screen. This
  • DanaGoyette - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    Oops, I left a dangling word there. I was going to say: This is one major reason I prefer OLED displays.
  • kwrzesien - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    This is the perfect phone for first time users, remember that each year there is a new generation of kids looking for a smartphone. For families that are already in the Apple garden this is the go-to choice for your kids (if you need a new device). It's also going to be snapped up by companies looking to give their employees a basic device.
  • bdkennedy1 - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    There is no 128gb option for the iPhone SE.
  • TheinsanegamerN - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    I wish there was. or 256GB.
  • fire400 - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    i have the 64gb version, huge upgrade over 16gb..
    and if there was a 256gb version that cost +/~$800, I would probably would have seriously considered it...
    *-*
  • Savanah - Monday, May 16, 2016 - link

    I think this is a very biased review. You have completely neglected the negative aspects of the phone.
    1)The phone has a 4 in display but such huge bezels. They could have easily included a more usable 4.5 in display if they had the technology to incorporate narrower bezels.
    2) The finger print sensor is painfully slow. Even a $300 android phone has a faster scanner.
    3) The front camera is terrible. Even a $200 android phone has a better front camera.
    4) What is the use of 4k recording when your display doesn't support it. Yes you can play it on an external device but that is besides the point.
    5)I am sure there are phones from last year that cost lesser that this device but are much better. For example Samsung Galaxy S6 which is better in every aspect except batter life.

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