iPhone SE vs iPhone 5S - time to upgrade NOW

Apple managed to beat all expectations when it released the iPhone SE recently. Rather than this being the cut-down, plastic and cheap iPhone that we'd all been expecting, it was a slimmed-down iPhone 6S in the body of the much-loved iPhone 5S. Normally, these comparison articles look at the pros and cons of each handset, giving you the right information to make a buying decision. With these two phones, I think it's fair to say, up-front, that the iPhone SE is the phone you should buy now if you've been waiting for a smaller handset. Here are all the reasons why you'll want to make that change.

Design

Dimensions: Given that the two phones share a common body, there's absolutely nothing between them. They both measure 124x59x7.6mm and weigh 112g. Both phones are slightly thicker than the current 6S range, but in a smaller handset, this is a good thing, as it gives you more to grip.

Materials: Both old and new smartphone are made from aluminium, with the same quality body that we've come to expect from Apple. Build quality is excellent and the iPhone SE looks as good today as when the iPhone 5S was launched.

Colours: This is where the SE has the advantage, as it has a wider choice of colours, with a rose gold edition joining in with the original gold, silver and space grey options. I'm big fans of the new colour and means that there's plenty of choices no matter what your preference is.

Display

Screen size: Both phones have a 4in screen. This is a little small by today's flagship phone's standards, but who cares? This is the reason that the iPHone SE exists: to give people a smaller handset, instead of making them upgrade to a larger model.

Screen resolution and technology: Both phones have an IPS LCD display, with a resolution of 1,136x640. This sounds a little low, compared to the best flagship phones, but it gives a pixel density of 326ppi: the same as the iPhone 6S. In my opinion, this is sharp enough, and text looks clear on both screens. The iPhone SE's display is a little newer, a little brighter and colours are that bit more vibrant than on the iPhone SE, but there's little in it. If you love your iPhone 5S' screen, you'll love the SE's.

Performance and battery life

Performance: The iPhone SE blows the iPhone 5S in terms of performance. It has the latest Apple A9 chip, as used in the iPhone 6S range. This is one of the fastest processors we've seen, storming through every task and demolishing high-resolution games. The iPhone SE with its Apple A7, simply can't keep up. And, to top it off, the iPhone SE has 2GB of RAM, compared to the iPhone 5S' 1GB. That means you can work on bigger documents and switch between apps more quickly, as more information can be held in memory.

Battery: The battery size for both phones is similar, but the SE has a more efficient processor, so it lasts longer. While the iPhone 5S lasted 14h 31m in our video playback test, the iPhone SE lasted a whopping 16h 46m. Both phones are charged via their Lightning ports at the bottom.

Storage: The iPhone 5S isn't available anymore, but it was available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations. The iPhone SE is available in 16GB and 64GB configurations: 16GB is too small by today's standards, so I recommend buying the 64GB version.

Camera

While the iPhone SE has the older 8-megapixel camera, the iPhone SE has a brand-new 12-megapixel model. To be fair, both cope well, but the iPhone SE's shots have more detail, better exposure and less noise. You can see this in the sample shots below, with the iPhone SE top and the iPhone 5S bottom.

The iPhone SE also has the new Live Photos mode, where the phone shoots a little video before and after you press the shutter. This gives your photos a sense of context when you look at them later and play the video part. Both handsets have the excellent True Tone flash, which matches the flash's colour to the ambient light, making for more natural images.On top of that, the iPhone SE can shoot slow-motion video at 240fps (720p) or 120fps (1080p) and it can shoot 4K video. The iPhone 5S can shoot 120fps at 720p, but can't do 4K.

Round the front, the iPhone SE has a 1.2-megapixel camera, the dames as the 5S'. Given that the SE has Retina Flash, which uses the screen as a True Tone flash, the newer phone is king for selfies in darker locations.

Features

Touch ID and Apple Pay: Both phones have the same Touch ID fingerprint sensor, which is not quite as fast as the new one, but still works brilliantly. With the 5S, you can pay for goods in-app using Apple Pay, but only the SE supports Apple Pay in-store, as it has an NFC chip.

Wireless: A faster 4G chip supports more networks on the SE, while its 802.11ac Wi-Fi adaptor means that you can connect to super-fast wireless networks; the 5S has only 802.11n Wi-Fi.

Operating system

Both phones can run Apple's iOS 9.3 operating system, which is the best one yet. It's a little slicker and faster on the SE, due to its quicker processor, but there's little in it in terms of features.

Conclusion

The iPhone SE improves all the areas that really matter: performance, battery life, camera and Apple Pay. More importantly, it doesn't change the things that made you want a 4in phone in the first place: size, build quality and style. If you've been holding onto your iPhone 5S hoping that Apple would release a suitable replacement, the iPhone SE is that phone. It's also excellent value, with great contract prices and costing just £439 unlocked for the 64GB model.

Specs