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iPhone SE Product Red Unboxing | Spigen Neo Hybrid Unboxing | iPhone SE 2020 Hands On

15:30 video

Today I unbox the iPhone SE (2020). I got it late on Friday the 24th, the first release day, a couple of days after others, right before 8 PM, even though I ordered within the first 60 seconds of the pre-order period. This is all off the cuff, with no script.

Why I bought it

It’s $399: in any world or time, a pretty amazing deal for an iPhone, the ecosystem far beyond others (phones, tablets, watches, computers). I got the (PRODUCT)RED version: I’ve always wanted a (PRODUCT)RED phone, though it isn’t my everyday phone. I bought it for a specific purpose:

  • B-roll camera. When recording videos, I shoot extra shots of products and how I use them (in my last video, I shot myself using the Magic Mouse with the iPad Pro). Instead of lugging my Canon M50 and worrying about batteries, an iPhone on a tripod or a DJI Osmo Mobile 3 gimbal gives pretty good shots with its rear camera.
  • Teleprompter. I use an iPhone 5s in a Parrot Padcaster teleprompter to display my script in front of my camera, and the 5s’s battery is so bad it barely lasts a 20 to 30 minute recording session.

For $50 more, I got the 128 GB version, for more storage for B-roll (“64 GB didn’t seem like enough”).

First impressions

I love the color (I’m not a fan of the red on the iPhone 11, but the iPhone XR’s red was amazing, and this reminds me of it: a dark, candy-like red, really beautiful in person). On the back, the Apple logo is now centered, with “PRODUCT RED” at the bottom, and a single camera, which Apple calls its most advanced single-camera system ever. Nobody seems to know whether the lens is the same as the iPhone 8’s or the XR’s, but I think most of the advancement comes from the A13 chip: it has super-advanced image processing that can take a lesser lens and do a lot more to produce a picture that looks great. I’m not planning to take pictures with it, but for video, the iPhone has best-in-class video at any price: the video from this $399 phone will be way better than from any Android phone or mobile device that isn’t an iPhone, at any price.

It has a home button, like every iPhone before the iPhone X, which could do so many things (press, tap, hold, double press, triple press) that it got overwhelming to remember. But many people like it and Touch ID, and some aren’t comfortable with Face ID yet, maybe never will be. This gives them a chance to upgrade, get the best mobile processor, and be good for another three to five years: Apple supports devices far longer than any other mobile platform or manufacturer.

It’s thin and light (it weighs “like nothing” compared with my 11 Pro) and made of aluminum and glass, with wireless charging, which will be super nice if you’re upgrading from an iPhone 6S or 7. The left side has the usual buttons and the alert switch; the right side has a regular-sized power button (you hold the home button for Siri).

In the box

(PRODUCT)RED (which normally supports AIDS research, but I believe right now goes to COVID research), the famed Apple stickers (“I don’t know why people put them all over their cars”), the same puny 5 W charger as since the original iPhone, and wired Lightning EarPods (there’s no headphone jack: iPhone 5s and earlier all had one) and a Lightning to USB cable.

Who it’s for

Not much else besides the A13 and the improved camera: it’s for people with an older iPhone who like the form factor and don’t want a larger phone. If you have an iPhone 11, 11 Pro, XS or XR, you probably won’t upgrade, unless you just don’t like the size or the swipes of current flagships. I don’t like all the swipe gestures and prefer the home button (I sort of wish Apple had gone with a virtual home button). If you have an XR and don’t like the size or swipes, and can take or leave Face ID, this could be your next phone, maybe on sale from a carrier next year, and it’ll last many years. It won’t replace my iPhone 11 Pro.

Spigen Neo Hybrid case

I got it in herringbone: black plastic on the outside with a rubbery matte texture in the middle and a soft silicone/rubber inside, the same design Spigen uses on most cases. I like Spigen cases because they nail the tactile feel of the buttons; Apple’s silicone case, I have issues with: it falls apart (silicone wrapped around a plastic shell) and the buttons are less tactile. The Neo Hybrid is two pieces, offering soft silicone protection and some rigidity from the plastic shell. The red pops through nicely. The buttons are a tad squishy, not as tactile as the Spigen Ultra Hybrid on my iPhone 11 Pro, but not terrible. I may use this phone as my full-time phone for a little while and will report back. (Midway, my FiLMiC Remote system crashed and I had to restart it: “technology, what can you do?”)

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

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