Samuel Gibbs, writing for The Guardian:
In the hand the body feels sharp and hard, with unforgiving edges which are only acceptable because of the phone’s diminutive size. The hard edges are easier to grip than the slippery rounded sides of the iPhone 6S, and particularly the large 6S Plus, but they hurt my palms after clutching it for an hour or two.
I don’t remember a single comment about the edges of the iPhone 4 or 5 being too sharp and hard. It’s purely when compared to the iPhone 6. So the SE is too hard and small, and the 6 is too slippery. Hmm.
Using a 4in screen in 2016 is a compromise. Websites feel very cramped, apps often leave only a small amount of screen to the content they’re trying to display and buttons can end up very small making tapping them a bit of a challenge.
If the 4 inch screen is too small, no one will buy them and the iPhone SE will quickly die. But people are buying them, and there seems to be plenty of love for the smaller screen.
To be fair, I love my iPhone 6s Plus. I wouldn’t go back to the smaller screen. But my kids (with their youthful eyes) have no issue with the smaller screen and love the smaller footprint.
I think my central point of disagreement with this review is the generalization that a small screen has no place in 2016. Apple did their homework. They would not have sent the iPhone SE to manufacturing unless they dead certain knew that there were folks out there who would buy a smaller, cheaper iPhone.
The Guardian has, in a relatively short time, become my go-to source for absolutely no tech coverage at all.
Of course the 4″ screen is a compromise, or as the dictionary says, “each side making concessions.” You want a phone that fits in your front pants pocket easier or makes a small bump? You get a smaller screen size. Want the power of an iPhone 6/6S for less money? Smaller screen as well.
And I agree with the hard edges. I went from an original iPhone to the 4. While I loved the look of the 4, I didn’t like the feeling of the sharp edges in my hand or against my ear/face. The 5 was only marginally better. Only the 6 feels comfortable again for me.
I’m interested in the SE because my 6 feels too big sometimes. Then I try and use my wife’s 5S and I’m like “meh, the screen’s too cramped.” Compromise is the name of the game.
From the article –
Cons: very small screen, edges are hard on hands, looks like an iPhone 5 or 5S, selfie camera isn’t great, no expandable storage or removable battery
=====
Seriously?? We’re still complaining about no expandable storage or removable batteries? With comments like that, I’m surprised that ‘no Flash support’ wasn’t listed as another con.
Interesting. I gave my son my iPhone 5s when I upgraded to a 6s and while I Like the larger screen (I kind of wish I had gone with the 6s plus), I loved the design of the 5s. Overall, I think it’s a more elegant looking phone. He likes the size and it is still really quite capable, so he doesn’t really care about it being small. He was just happy to have a phone.
Sometimes I think reviews with their sweeping generalizations miss the point of there being a place for everything. Some users have different needs. There’s no longer any one size fits all.
He lost me with not being able to hold a phone without hurting himself.
The Guardian used to luurrrve Apple, but then Apple started giving the Telegraph exclusives. So now the Guardian is full of snark.
I used to get bruises on my hands from using the iPhone 5 in landscape all the time before I got a case for it. The edges are definitely too sharp and hard.
“You’re holding it wrong.”
🙂
Nice!
I agree with the hand feel comments. The uncomfortable way that the 5/S fit in my hand was the reason I got the 5c, which was the best iPhone design they ever made. That there never was or will be (evidently) a successor to the 5c design is a disappointment. The technological divide between my 5c and the SE is too big to ignore, however, so I’ll be getting one, and for the first time in several years I’ll be getting a case to mitigate the poor hand feel.
I don’t think it’s just about edges. I didn’t have the same problem with the 4S. I think it’s how various elements come together: size, thickness, materials, shape, heft. They came together well on the 4, not on the 5.
This is what happens when you let an intern write an article.
Ah you might be on to something. Jony Ive’s promotion was published in the Telegraph. He also gave the Telegraph a long form interview when he was knighted in 2013 and gave them an interview about the Apple Pencil last year. I think Tim Cook also gave them an exclusive interview. I can’t remember the last time anyone from Apple gave the Guardian anything.
likewise, the 3G/S iPhone was my favorite — the smooth, curved back felt really good in my palm. best naked phone ever. it was my fav.
I feel that way about the bottom of an iMac.
Do you often hold the iMac while playing games on it, though? 🙂
oye – From a 3GS to an iPhone 5 – no issues with the edges. I would say the edges on my iPhone 6S are worse – because they are smooth and the phone is ALMOST too big – but Apple’s leather case gives it grip that the actual case lacks … but “sharp edges”? WTF are your hands made out of??
I think human skin can handle the “sharp” Apple cases with no discomfort.
So you complain about “sharp” and I’ll complain about smooth.
Check out his other reviews – Samuel Gibbs has never liked an iPhone. He consistently gushes with glowing Android reviews, but every iPhone every review is “not as good as the old iPhone” (which is odd given his review of said older iPhone is: “not as good as the old iPhone.”) But check the comments and you’ll see the readers lap it up. “So refreshing to see a review which is objective/non-biased (read: that I, the Android fan, agree with).” Tacky and transparent but it works.
“I think my central point of disagreement with this review is the generalization that a small screen has no place in 2016.”
Which is something that was neither said nor implied in the article. So you’re making shit up, and then being upset about it. Way to go!
“I don’t remember a single comment about the edges of the iPhone 4 or 5 being too sharp and hard.”
I see you’re also too lazy to use Google. Search for “iPhone 5 sharp edges” and you’ll see plenty of complaints and comments.
Shame on Jim for letting you post such garbage on an otherwise great site.
“Apple did their homework. They would not have sent the iPhone SE to manufacturing unless they dead certain knew that there were folks out there who would buy a smaller, cheaper iPhone.”
Personally, I think Apple’s original plan was to end the 4″ line as too small, but introduced the SE later when the 6 and 6s (and their Plus cousins) didn’t show the upgrade rates they wanted. This is evidenced by:
– Waiting for two generations of iPhone 6 before releasing the SE;
– Calling it the SE, not the 6C or somesuch, implying it’s a one-off that won’t be updated alongside the iPhone 7;
– Minimizing the bill of goods (same design, same older tech screen, same FaceTime camera, etc.) and repositioning this as a low-cost phone.
In other words, they decided to release the SE later, to capture both the small screen holdouts and the (comparatively) budget conscious. While I’m speculating, this is an effort to shore up marketshare as upgrade rates for smartphones decrease as a majority of the population a) have smartphones, b) find their smartphones are plenty good and powerful enough.
So, yes, of course they know it’ll sell, but that doesn’t negate the argument that a 4″ screen in 2016 is a compromise. Everything the reviewer said about that is true. Since you’re a 6S+ user, try holding a 4″ phone now. IME, once I acclimated to the bigger form factor, the 4″ phone felt incredibly diminutive and useless by comparison.
Compromise to who? The reviewer , and you, failed to notice there’re many people out there that love small phone, my wife being one. Heck, if my eyesight is as great as it used to be ill buy this SE baby in a heartbeat.
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You believe your use-case is universal, then. That’s so precious.
No, what’s precious is you assuming that I was projecting my use case on everyone.
I think it’s great Apple has released the iPhone SE—I have friends who have small hands or those who want to one-hand their phone. But I think it’s still absolutely true that a 4″ in 2016 is a compromise, and that someone who prefers their large screen phone (like Dave Mark) will likely find the 4″ really small, and that in my experience (note the “IME”) I don’t find the 4″ form factor useful anymore.
Compromise to yourself, apparently, in addition to me. 😉 You just demonstrated my point. A 4″ screen will certainly appeal to some, but for people who want to be able to view more content, read e-books, or who have poorer eyesight, the 4″ is absolutely a compromise.
I don’t understand what the complaint is around the word “compromise.” The iPhone SE is not a no-compromises device. By choosing it, one is clearly preferring form factor over other aspects. That’s the whole point.
So by your logic the iPad Pro will never get updated, nor will the MacBook.
There is a market who like the 4″ design and size, they’d be silly to ignore it.
The iPhone, until now, has always had a number next to it. Well, except for the original 2G iPhone. This is not at all comparable to the iPad Pro nor the Macbook.
There’s a lot of consensus on the Apple blogosphere that the SE won’t be updated alongside the iPhone 7 release, given that it was just released and that it doesn’t have a 6 number. It could be wrong, but I (and others) think the SE moniker means it’ll stay as the current A9-based SKU for some time.
As Jason Snell says in his review:
Long-term, sure, it could be refreshed, but then it’ll be interesting to see what happens. IMO if they decide to continue a 4″ product line it makes the most sense, long-term, to release iPhone as a triple set, e.g., 8C, 8, 8+ or something like that with uniform styling. So, I maintain the argument that I see the SE as a special off-cycle one-off, and future product decisions will be made on how well the SE sells.
More likely is it will get updated every 2-3 years.
I don’t think we need ‘consensus in the blogosphere” it is pretty obvious that the SE won’t be upgraded in 6 months time. It is a special case and doesn’t fit into the primary Tick Tock release cycle.
For those who want it – it is a great phone – powerful, great camera etc.
The SE naming convention means they can release it whenever and out of cycle with the main phone set (the latter being the most useful part of it).
Possible, but I shudder at the implications of having yet another naming scheme. What next, the iPhone SE/30? 😉
Apple’s back-and-forth on numbering schemes and naming schemes is unfortunate IMO. It’s gotten a bit too complex, especially with the iPad lineup, where Apple had numbering (iPad 2) only to drop it with the Retina iPad only to return it with the iPad 4 only to drop it with the iPad Air only to return it with the iPad Air 2…
After the initial iPad Pro release, having the iPad Mini 2, 3, Air, Air 2, and the 12.9″ Pro all on sale was a bit ridiculous both from a product lineup and a naming scheme. I’m happy to see Apple simplified it somewhat with the more recent announcements, but now iPad Pro’s non-round screen sizes meaning every post talks about the 9.7″ iPad Pro or the 12.9″ iPad Pro. Try saying those out loud… aargh!
I’d be much happier if the 4″ was a first-class citizen updated alongside its bigger cousins in the future.
They need to clean out the lower end of the iPad range for sure. Should be Mini, 9.7Pro and 12.3 Pro, the rest can go hang.
But I think having the SE, the X and the X+ is fine and only an annual update of the X and X+ makes perfect sense.
My mistake. Glad to hear you weren’t projecting. Some of your declarative
language suggested otherwise.
“…a 4″ screen in 2016 is a compromise.”
It is. That’s the whole point, even for people who want the 4″. They get something small and one-handeable, but with less content visible and with no option for Display Zoom.
And that’s fine. The users are looking for the compromise afforded by a small physical device. I don’t see the word “compromise” as a put-down. It’s just a tradeoff. A phablet is also a compromise. The most interesting question, IMO, is the definition of “sweet spot.” For better or worse, most of the industry (now including Apple) consider that sweet spot to be between 4.7″ and 5.2″ or so.
The 2016 bit refers to the fact that a significantly larger chunk of the population now use larger-sized displays and apps, etc., are often designed first for those platforms. e.g., the spacing on many messaging apps today means that on a 4″ display you see only 2 or 3 chat bubbles.
Oh man, the juxtaposition of this review and The Guardian’s 2012 review of the iPhone 5 is great.
In 2012 The Guardian praises Apple for sticking with smaller screens, calling larger (4.7″) screens “unusable”. Meanwhile, in 2016, “using a 4in screen […] is a compromise”.
In 2012 the iPhone 5 “seems to float in the hand”. In 2016, “the body feels sharp and hard, with unforgiving edges”.
Point taken. I took a good bit of time deciding between the 6 and the 5S the day I bought my current phone. Either choice would’ve been a compromise.
Apple didn’t release the SE because they did their homework. They did it so Moltz would stop drunk calling Tim Cook at 2:30 in the morning begging him to make a 4-inch iPhone.