iPhone SE

Long-term owners

I still use my iPhone SE after 8 years and bought it for 170€. That's under 25€ per year

Nov 2025 · comment

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Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 151 comments. Each links to the original.

1. It has the perfect size and form factor, I know it will be supported for at minimum 5y, and the cost is perfectly reasonable.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Apple, fix my keyboard before the timer ends or I'm leaving iPhone”

2. An unmodified iPhone SE (2022 model) with OS support until 2032. This runs all my authentication, banking, health, etc.

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app”

3. These are all capable devices but they have enough missing capabilities to make them sound like giant on-ramps

   Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Samsung overtakes Apple as smartphone market sinks to a 13-year low”

4. WhatsApp, Signal and my banking app still actively support iOS 15 so it works well enough for me, for now.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

5. I prefer the size, although the screen that spans the entire front surface would be the superior device

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

6. I also love having a physical button on my SE, I hope that device will survive for a very long time

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

7. Big selling point (aside from its size and rounded corners) is the physical button with fingerprint

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

8. She has an iphone SE which was the best compromise at the time, although she still finds it big.

   Mixed · Jun 2026 · in “Commodore Made a Digital Detox Phone That Isn't Dumb”

9. I still use my iPhone SE after 8 years and bought it for 170€. That's under 25€ per year

   Recommends · Nov 2025

10. I'm still using my iphone SE 2nd gen and it's still receiving software updates.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Killed by Apple”

11. This satiated a lot of the demand for people holding out for a smaller phone.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

12. You will be shocked at how good it feels. How light and effortless it feels.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Original iPhone SE Is the Best iPhone Apple Ever Made”

13. it’s fine performance wise, maybe needs another new battery in a year or so

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch”

14. iOS 16 requirement on a lot of apps is slowly killing the viability of this

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “iPhone Duo”

15. I think these (refurbished) iPhones available on BestBuy are a great deal.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Cheapest Available Unlocked iPhones”

16. My current SE 2020 is good, but the lack of force touch really sucks tbh.

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Clicks Communicator”

17. The 2022 SE is still supported with latest iOS and works fine for me.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “iPhone Duo”

18. Recent model. Touch ID (last one?) and can't run Apple Intelligence.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Tell HN: Get a dying iPhone 12 mini in 2026”

19. the other thing I like about the SE is it was comparatively cheap

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “iPhone Pocket”

20. Incredibly small. Incredibly light. Pretty thin, even in a case.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

21. I should be able to reach the upper right corner with one hand.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “iPhone Duo”

22. you must have really good working memory to remember all the relevant context NOT shown in the screen with that iphone SE

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “iPhone Duo Teardown”

23. the OS hasn't been upgraded in a while (it errors) and some apps won't install on it now

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “iPhone Upgrade Program”

24. battery life gone, and with it nearing EOL it didn't seem worth it to get a replacement

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “I Have Thoughts on the iPhone Air”

25. Works perfectly. Many apps require an update or else they refuse tor run, but outside of that, still doing well.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch”

26. I think this is a fair price, but it's still expensive given that I leave it lying around 99% of the time

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app”

27. Was honestly thinking about downgrading to the last SE model even though it's several years out of date.

    Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Apple Introduces iPhone 17e”

28. Enabling "Reduce Motion" from Accessibility/Motion makes my 2020 iphone se much better

    Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “iOS 26.2 fixes 20 security vulnerabilities, 2 actively exploited”

29. one could easily make a point that Apple products despite locked down, are still green

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “How Fairphone built the Fairphone Gen 6+”

30. In my experience this is literally the iphone SE. Look at the chipset, its no slouch.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “There's a high chance of devices being sold with GrapheneOS preinstalled in 2027”

31. I can't come to terms with the losing the home button and the fingerprint scan auth

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Killed by Apple”

32. The original SE had perhaps the most user replaceable battery in an iPhone.

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)”

33. The phone now has a limited lifespan though because of this prior stupidity

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027”

34. abysmal battery life and tiny screen makes for the perfect dumb smartphone

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “iPhone 5s Gets New Software Update 13 Years After Launch”

35. The last time I liked an iPhone (I still use them) was the original SE.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “iPhone Duo”

36. I'm typing this on an iPhone SE 2022 (the last one with a home button).

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “iPhone Pocket”

37. Carry a second cheap smartphone, like Pixel -a series or iPhone -SE.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “A new Android malware from Google”

38. The original iPhone SE was the last time I enjoyed a phone's design.

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Jolla phone – a full-stack European alternative”

39. From my experience an iPhone SE 3 in the pocket can hear pretty well

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Siri is so bad at everything”

40. I got unlocked iPhone SE3's w/ physical SIMs. I was quite pleased.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “I switched to eSIM in 2025, and I am full of regret”