Earlier this week, Apple began selling refurbished versions of the iPhone SE, its nearly three-year-old, 4-inch smartphone modeled after the iPhone 5S, at a $100 discount. It was the second round of recent sales after an initial batch sold out the previous weekend. And like any budget-adverse tech journalist with an impulse buying compulsion, I felt this was the appropriate moment to hop on the backup phone bandwagon. So I bought one.
My dad has an iPhone SE, and he loves it. There’s so few – if any – phones out there that combine modern specifications with a small form factor, and the SE, too, is starting to get a bit long in the tooth. I would love for Apple to update the SE with more modern specifications, and for Android phone makers to tap this market, too.
I have the SE and a 7 Plus that I can switch between freely. I mostly use the SE, one-handed use is great, it’s plenty quick, and recharges very fast. The battery life overall isn’t the best. I can charge from 30% to 80% in 15 minutes, so it doesn’t bother me.
What would be the Android equivalent to te SE? Maybe Nexus 5? Or maybe older Galaxy, such as S4? It has to be easily flashable to install a custom rom…
I’d be interested in the answer to this too. GSM Arena shows 18 Android phones with similar or better specs for less than $300.
https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nPriceMax=250&nHeightMin=105&nHeightMax=145&nWidthMin=46&nWidthMax=68&nThicknessMin=6&nThicknessMax=11&nIntMemMin=64&nDisplayResMin=921600&fDisplayInchesMin=3&fDisplayInchesMax=5&nDisplayDensityMin=300&nCamPrimMin=12&nCamSecMin=1&idTouchscreen=1
The Sony X and Z5 compacts are part of their Open Devices scheme, so can be flashed with custom ROMs. I don’t have experience with any of the others brands to know whether they’re flashable, or to judge whether they’re any good or not. Anyone else know?
There are the Sony “compacts”, but they are way to overpriced…
Nexus 5 was a killer. 1 handed grip with good performance.
I had that phone during 3 years and it was great. The only problem is that I had 3 accounts set on it(My personal Google account + 2 work accounts) and using it for daily tasks(email, waze, taxi apps, ssh, remote desktops) while traveling between my clients made this little warrior die from overheating.
I’m still using an iPhone 5. Compact, relatively powerful (for a 5 year old smartphone), easy to repair and built like a tank. The 5/5S/SE form factor and design is IMHO the greatest phone design of the 2010’s.
It appears that these were actually new devices, not refurbished ones. Hopefully, similar sales will occur on the on-line Apple Store of my country!
I wish that manufacturers of Android devices would have a similar product – i.e. a full featured smart phone with a decent 4″-4-1/2″ screen rather than their current low performance and crippled units.
Pretty much the only option in Android side is Sony Xperia Compact line. I Was using my Motorola Moto E and aiming at Xperia as an upgrade as I can’t stand anything larger than 5″.
And then I read about the rumours about Sony cancelling the Compact line (!) and decided to get one while they are still around…good thing I did as I managed to snatch the last XZ2 compact one in the I could find in the country…a “moss green” one though, but wth…
I can’t believe there is not sufficient demand for higher end compact phones to justify their development.
In any case, Xperia compact is a fine piece of hardware and it should serve me nicely for years to come…after that, who knows. Maybe I will get mega-palms installed to operate those slates they are pushing.
I got the same one (Sony Xperia ZX2 Compact) – one year old model, as they didn’t have a new one for 2018 – but it’s really the only thing on the market that size, and with decent internals, aside from the iPhone stuff (and I guess the very expensive Pixel line). I suspect the lack of demand has to do with the way these things are sold. They are sold in stores, with arrays of phones of all sizes, etc, usually with premium placement for the top carriers’ big brands. Those devices sit next to each other, and in that space, a larger phone probably looks more appealing. You don’t really consider whether you’ll be able to actually sit down with it in your pocket while you are looking at it in the store. The other thing that might draw folks to the larger phones is they almost always have a much better camera – which is also annoying. There’s no reason for that, just make the smaller form factor slightly thicker. Seriously, who decided these things have to be huge and paper thin?
Wait… Just because it has a small display it’s a “minimalist” phone? It runs the same iOS found on any iPhone. You would think an older person would want a bigger display.