The iPhone SE Makes Tech Reviewers Crazy (Premium)

As a consumer of tech reviews, you may rarely if ever consider how difficult it is to recommend products to people with different needs and wants. But I’ve been writing laptop and device reviews for over 20 years, and this is something I understand all too well. And it’s interesting for me, sometimes, to read or watch reviews by others and see them struggling with this very issue.

The new iPhone SE is a great example.

Put simply, this is a product that no tech reviewer would ever use themselves. It’s too small, it has an outdated design, and it comes with an even more outdated single-lens camera system. It’s inexpensive, sort of, but the $429 entry-level model comes with just 64 GB of storage in an era when 256 GB is pretty much the norm. Worse, it doesn’t compare well in many ways with other entry-level handsets, like the Google Pixel 5a, which is terrific, and the coming Samsung A-series, which, according to leaks, will indeed be as awesome as its marketing.

As a reviewer, there are two ways you can approach this kind of product. You can just be honest and explain that this phone isn’t for you; it exists only so that Apple can make inroads in less well-heeled markets of non-affluent customers who will accept its aged design and features because they’re never buying a real iPhone anyway. Or you can try to make up reasons why someone might actually consider such a phone. Perhaps you’re so enamored of Touch ID---or so unhappy with Face ID---that you’ll put up with its many other limitations. And, hey, it has the latest Apple A-series chipset and mostly supports 5G, so what the heck! Future proof!

Fair enough, I guess. But if you absolutely must have an iPhone, and really, really, prefer smaller handsets, you have better options. And yeah, they’re even more future-proof in the sense that you won’t resent the device in a few years. I would point you to the iPhone 13 Mini, which starts at $700 (with 128 GB of storage, a similarly equipped iPhone SE is $479). Or a refurbished iPhone 12, which starts at $619. Yes, both are more expensive. And yes, you get what you pay for. Any Apple fan would agree with that argument.

Here's what I wouldn’t do, using just one review as an example. Mostly because it’s so infuriating.

In a list of rationalizations for the new iPhone SE, New York Times reviewer Brian X. Chen, who would never be caught dead using such a device, cites “you don’t care about what the number of camera lenses or pixels on a screen tells your friends and colleagues about your wealth.”

Um. What.

No one cares about that. What people care about are real-world issues. Battery life. Photographic quality. And so on.

Indeed, according to most surveys, taking quality photos is the number one criterion for many smartphone buyers today. Those who do spend big on an iPhone, Samsung, or Google flagship are doing so, at least in part, for that very functionality. And what they’re also doing ...