Today we’re doing a Day in the Life review of the iPhone SE2 in 2024. Today is a cloudy Sunday here in New York, so we’re going to go out and get some coffee, do some sightseeing, take some photos and videos on the phone here, and much more—all while using the iPhone SE2 to give you an idea of how this phone holds up in August 2024.
The iPhone SE2 was released back in 2020, and as is always the case with SE iPhones, this device is a combination of an older iPhone design with newer internals. This phone features the older iPhone 8 and earlier style design with the 4.7-inch LCD, a home button and Touch ID, and a single 12-megapixel rear-facing camera. However, it’s powered by the more recent Apple A13 processor, which is the same processor that powers the iPhone 11, which was the newest iPhone at the time of the iPhone SE2’s release back in 2020. The A13 processor is still plenty fast and responsive in 2024 on the latest iOS 17 update.
However, the bigger factor of concern with an iPhone like this that’s coming up on 5 years old is the not-great longevity in terms of major iOS update support over the next several years. This phone is nearing the end of its lifespan for major iOS update support. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen within this next year but still soon. We’ll talk more about this in a little bit. The SE2 has a 1,821 milliamp-hour battery, which honestly for most users is going to provide a pretty bad battery life. The battery performance of this phone is arguably its biggest downside, but of course, battery performance entirely depends on how each user uses their phone and it also varies based on the condition of the battery in each specific iPhone.
In a few minutes, we’re going to head over to a park called the Highline to take some photos and videos using the iPhone SE2. But after drinking my coffee, I noticed the clouds were looking a bit sketchy, and sure enough, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued. So I ran over to the corner store to pick up an umbrella, which I ended up being very thankful for a little later on. But anyway, time to catch a train to that Park.
So the Highline is a park created on an elevated old railroad track that runs through the west side of Manhattan. It offers some easily accessible greenery in the city while also giving you a great view of the skyline. So here are some photos taken on the SE2 in comparison with photos taken on the one-generation newer SE3 and the latest iPhone 15. The SE2’s rear-facing 12-megapixel camera has an f1.8 aperture and takes good-looking photos. At first glance, there’s no shockingly apparent difference between it and the newest iPhone 15. Ever since around 2019, Apple’s iPhone camera systems have just gotten so good to the point where, at first glance, you’re not going to notice any substantial difference between an iPhone like the SE2 here that came out back in 2020 versus an iPhone like the 15 that just came out last year in 2023.
Now, this being said, newer iPhones like the iPhone 15 here have much more advanced camera systems. The iPhone 15 has a 48-megapixel main camera lens resulting in it outputting 24-megapixel shots as opposed to the 12-megapixel shots that all the older iPhones with 12-megapixel cameras output. When zooming in on photos you’ve already taken, the photos from the 15 are noticeably sharper, but differences like this are to be expected when you’re using a more budget-friendly iPhone SE model like this. The max digital zoom on the SE2 and the SE3 for photos is five times, while the newest iPhone 15 has a max digital zoom of 10 times thanks to its 48-megapixel camera lens.
In terms of video recording on the SE2, for the most part, same thing to report here: very passable and good-looking 4K 60 frames per second video. You can notice the latest iPhone 15 outputs better-looking video with sharper detail and richer colors, but both of the iPhone SEs here put up a pretty good fight against the iPhone 15 All Things Considered. The maximum digital zoom for video on the iPhone SE2 and the SE3 is three times, while the iPhone 15’s maximum digital zoom for video is six times. Again, the front-facing camera on the SE2 is not very high quality but it’ll work just fine for any video calls or casual front-facing recordings.
Alright, it is officially downpouring here, so saw a Shake Shack downstairs. Could use some shelter for a bit and could go for a burger, so let’s head down there. And guys, whenever I use an iPhone SE, I’m instantly reminded of how much I enjoy the older home button, 4.7-inch display iPhone design and size. Not only is it a very compact and thin device that’s comfortable to hold and carry around, but also having Touch ID is so nice. I’ve personally found that Touch ID is straight-up more reliable than Face ID in a variety of situations where your face isn’t aligned right in front of your phone. Also, being able to access pretty much any area of the screen with one hand is very convenient.
All this being said though, all these same reasons are also why this phone has a very outdated design. A 4.7-inch display is very small by today’s standards, especially with these very large bezels on the top and bottom. To put this into context, the front display panel of the iPhone SE2 and the SE3 is the same size and overall format as the 10-year-old iPhone 6. It’s pretty insane when you realize just how long Apple has kept this same form factor around and that they’re still selling today with the iPhone SE3. But even though this is a very outdated design, there’s a large subset of the population that doesn’t care, and I think Apple knows this, and that’s why they continue to sell these devices.
So we’re going to walk over to one of my favorite coffee shops to do a few hours of work. As usual, I took around a 20-minute break within this period to use the phone to browse social media—Instagram and Twitter. After wrapping up this work, before we head out of here, I want to talk about the overall value of the iPhone SE2 in 2024, the price, and where you can buy it. You can get a good used unlocked 64 GB iPhone SE2 for around $100, give or take a little bit, on used marketplaces like eBay or Amazon. Honestly, for just 100 bucks, I’d say this is a pretty solid deal. You’re getting a very bare-bones iPhone experience, but the SE2 delivers on most of the important fronts.
The biggest two downsides of using this phone are the pretty subpar battery performance and the not-so-great longevity in terms of major iOS update support long term. Now, this being the case, if you’re considering buying a used SE2 and you’re able to pay an extra $60, I’d recommend going for the iPhone SE3 used instead, which you can again get for around $60 on used marketplaces. Pretty much the only reason I recommend the SE3 instead of the SE2 is the fact that the SE3 has a two generations newer A15 processor powering it as opposed to the A13 processor powering the SE2 here. The SE3 also has an extra gig of RAM, having 4 gigs of RAM while the SE2 here has 3 gigs of RAM. A newer processor and more RAM will result in a longer lifespan in terms of major iOS update support over the next several years. If you’re in the market for an iPhone SE, I would assume you probably want to hold on to your phone for a good few years, and spending that extra 60 bucks for the iPhone SE3 will lock you in for more years of major iOS update support over the coming years.
This being said though, the SE2 will be getting at least one more year of major iOS update support as it will be getting iOS 18, which is coming out later this fall. It might even get another year of major iOS update support with iOS 19, but it’s hard to know for sure. Within the last several years, Apple typically supports iPhones for 6 to 7 years of major iOS updates, and the SE2 here is about to go into its sixth major iOS update with iOS 18. So it’s definitely at the end or at least nearing the end of its major iOS update support lifespan, whereas on the other hand, the SE3 is only about to go into its fourth major iOS update with iOS 18. So again, the SE3 will certainly be getting supported by major iOS updates for longer. But if your budget is capped around the $100 mark, the SE2 is still a very solid value.
Something else you should always know when buying a used iPhone is the battery health capacity of the iPhone you’re buying. As always, the battery performance of any device will vary significantly depending on the condition of the battery in that specific device, depending on the level of battery degradation that has occurred. Just to let you know, the iPhone SE2 we’re using this at 100% battery health capacity. This is a device that I have dedicated for review purposes, so it hasn’t been put through that many charge cycles. But most iPhone SE2s circulating in the wild will not have 100% battery health capacity, as most of them have probably been put through many charge cycles and used for many years.
I'd only recommend buying a used iPhone if the battery health capacity is somewhere around the 90% mark or higher, just to ensure you're getting somewhere close to the full battery capacity of the device. This info is often listed in the listing for used iPhones on used marketplaces, and if it's not there, I'd recommend asking the seller.
Here's a photo taken in a darker environment on the SE2, the SE3, and also the iPhone 15. Now, unfortunately, both of the iPhone models don't have night mode, so you're not going to get those darker shots brightened up as you get on some of the more luxurious iPhone models. You can see here on the iPhone 15 how much of a difference that night mode does make. So, if you do a lot of nighttime photography, you'll have a disadvantage using an iPhone SE.
After heading back to my apartment, I spent the next hour streaming music using Spotify from the SE2 to my AirPods while taking care of some household tasks. I then took a 20-minute FaceTime call and proceeded to use the phone for around an hour and 20 minutes, doing a variety of things: checking some emails, using the Gmail app, and browsing Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube Shorts. Midway through this, I noticed the battery was getting pretty low on the SE2, and it did die a few minutes later, so I had to charge it back up. As I said before, the battery life on this phone is definitely the biggest weak point, so I charged it for around 20 minutes as I continued to use it, and I got it back up to around 40% before unplugging it again. As usual, I capped off the night with 1 hour of YouTube video streaming from the SE2 to my AirPods.
So, in conclusion, overall the iPhone SE2 holds up quite well in 2024, with two major downsides: the battery life and the longevity over the next several years in terms of major iOS update support. As you saw a little while ago, this phone did die on me towards the end of the day after only a few hours of onscreen usage. This being said, I did use GPS quite a lot throughout the day; as you can see, I had 47 minutes of background GPS usage. But all things considered, even with that in combination with other things I've done on the phone throughout the day, this is largely considered moderate usage by today's standards.
So again, the battery life on this phone is not very good, and in terms of the not great longevity in terms of major iOS update support over the next several years, that's just to be expected considering this phone is coming up on 5 years old. But considering you could get this phone for only $100 in the used market, you can't complain too much. I will say, though, if you're considering buying one of these iPhone SE2s used, if you can pay an extra $60 or so to get the iPhone SE3, at around $160 in the used market, I would do so, as you'll be getting more longevity in terms of major software update support, as it has a newer processor and more RAM. But again, all things considered, at the $100 price point in the used market, the SE2 here is a pretty solid value.