What's the difference of 2,000 yuan? A comprehensive comparison between iPhone SE and iPhone 6S

The iPhone SE was released again with all the spoilers leaked. This phone was evaluated as a work of Cook's compromise with the market. Using the mold of iPhone 5s to lower the price, but carrying the performance of iPhone 6S, does it sound like a good idea? Through actual tests, the author compared the differences between iPhone SE and iPhone 6S one by one to see whether the performance of iPhone SE is comparable to 6S, and whether it is worth buying?

Appearance

The iPhone 6S is 138.3×67.1mm in length and width and weighs 143g. The iPhone SE is 123.8×58.6mm in length and weighs 113g, and is 5mm thicker than the iPhone SE. I still remember when the iPhone 6 was first launched, many netizens complained about the rounded body and the "white belt" on the back, believing that the iPhone 4\5 had the most classic appearance.

When I gradually got used to the iPhone 6, I looked back at the iPhone SE, which uses the same mold as the iPhone 5, and found that I couldn't go back. It was too square, too thick, the three-section design on the back had a weird color scheme, and the screen border was too wide... Of course, the appearance is very subjective, so just judge it by yourself.

In the foreign media test, it was found that the iPhone SE still uses the 6000 grade aluminum material of the old mobile phone, which is not as hard as the 7000 grade aluminum material of the 6S, and may reappear the bending problem. At present, I have not felt it particularly obviously in use, after all, the phone is too small, and I don’t feel that it will bend.

The two phones have different screen sizes, 4 inches and 4.7 inches. You can feel it very clearly when holding it. The 4-inch size is stress-free for women to operate with one hand. In addition to operation, do these two different sizes have a big impact on daily entertainment? The author tested several commonly used scenarios - input, reading, video, and games.

Input: I am used to using the 26-key input method, and the result is not surprising, iPhone SE will cause more accidental touches. However, if you use the 9-grid method, it is not bad;

Reading: Current e-book software is powerful and easy to read with the default fonts, but there will be some differences when viewing the patterns;

Video: Although the screen is much smaller, there is still no obvious difference in video viewing (unless you compare the Plus model with the SE). However, when you click some back keys, you are back to the input problem.

Games: There is a slight impact when some precise operations are required, but in comparison, the benefits of 4 inches are greater - it becomes especially easy to play with one hand in transportation.

Therefore, whether it affects daily entertainment functions depends on the user's preference. If you like to operate with two hands, iPhone 6S will be more suitable, but if you often encounter one-handed operation scenarios, it will be more convenient to use iPhone SE.

The iPhone 6S uses a 2.5D curved screen, while the SE uses a normal IPS screen. Although the normal screen is not as "fashionable" in appearance comparison, it is not as fragile as the 2.5D screen and needs a protective film (I never used a protective film on the 4 and 5c I used before, but I had to follow the trend and use a protective film on the 6s. Different protective films will have different degrees of impact on the screen display effect). Although the same 326ppi, the resolution has dropped from 1334×750 to 1136×640, and the contrast ratio has dropped from 1400:1 to 800:1, and the maximum brightness is the same. In addition, it does not support the 3D Touch function.

In the screen color test, I used several standard colors for comparison. The two phones showed similar results. Although there are some minor differences in parameters, it is still difficult to see the difference with the naked eye. By the way, there is also the recent yellow screen scandal. It is said that not all phones are yellowish. At least the performance of this test phone is OK. If you have to say that the iPhone SE is a little yellower, it seems that if you look hard enough, it is a little bit.

performance

The iPhone SE uses the same A9 chip and M9 coprocessor as the iPhone 6S, which are better than the A8/M8 in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. It also has NFC and supports Apple Pay. Although both phones have fingerprint recognition functions built into the home button, the iPhone SE's fingerprint recognition sensor is the first generation, while the 6S's is the second generation. The actual unlocking speed of the two is slightly different.

I need to complain here. Although the iPhone's fingerprint recognition was introduced very early, it still has many problems. When I use the 6S, it is often unable to recognize it at once, such as after washing hands, applying hand cream, etc. The same problem also occurs on the iPhone SE.

Both phones have a 12-megapixel iSight camera on the back, with a single pixel size of 1.22 microns, an f/2.2 aperture, a Live Photo function, and no optical image stabilization (which the Plus has). They can also shoot 4K video.

The front camera of iPhone SE is only 1.2 megapixels, the same as iPhone 6, while iPhone 6S is 5 megapixels. You can refer to the actual test samples, the performance of the rear camera is basically the same (it would be strange if they were different). Samples:

Regarding battery life, the official website did not specify the battery size, but also gave a power reference for the two phones: the talk time and standby time are the same, the iPhone SE can last up to 12 hours when using 3G network, up to 13 hours when using 4G LTE network, and up to 13 hours when using wireless network; while the iPhone 6S can last 10, 10, and 11 hours respectively. The media reported in the disassembly that the battery capacity is 1642 mAh (SE) and 1715 mAh (6s). The battery life of several usage scenarios was measured, see the table below:

Although the battery capacities of the two are different, the iPhone SE has a lower screen resolution and consumes less power, so the overall performance of the two is comparable. You don't have to worry about it during actual use - they both need to be charged every day.

In terms of sensors, in addition to the three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, distance sensor, and ambient light sensor, the iPhone 6S also has a barometer. The function of the barometer is to know the current altitude through the change of air pressure. In the mobile phone software, the iOS health function can measure the user's climbing situation. In addition, some special mountain climbing applications also need it. However, for users like me who only record the number of steps to rank in WeChat Sports, I have not yet felt the significance of its existence.

Specifications and price

iPhone 6S has three specifications: 16/64/128GB, while iPhone SE has only two specifications: 16/64GB. Why is there no 128GB? I think that SE is a product that Apple compromised with market pricing, but the price of 16GB is only slightly more affordable at 3,288 yuan, while 64GB is already as high as 4,088 yuan. If a 128GB version is launched, the price can be imagined. The price of the same version of iPhone 6S is 2,000 yuan more.

So, is it reliable to choose 16GB? When I got the new iPhone SE, the capacity showed that the system only occupied a few hundred MB, but for reference, my current iPhone 6s has occupied 42GB of space. 16GB is not reliable for heavy users (who use this machine as the main communication tool for daily social entertainment). At this point, you can regard the iPhone SE as a 4,000 yuan model.

Overview

Although the configuration of iPhone SE is slightly reduced compared to 6S, fortunately the impact is not significant. The main parts - processor, camera, etc. are very conscientiously using the same components. I basically agree with the conclusion that "the performance of iPhone SE has reached the level of 6S". Nevertheless, the smaller screen and thicker size are still tangled. Even though I am a woman and once a small-screen iPhone user, I can't fall in love with this faster classic phone again.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.