iPhone SE (2020) owners or experiences?

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TheGardenTool

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Looking at getting the oldest kid a first cell phone. Verizon has a Kid’s Plan that would only add about $11 after taxes and fees onto what we pay already. Then it comes with other features like up to 20 whitelist only contacts, another GPS tracking feature, etc as opposed to a traditional unlimited line.

Right now it looks like iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone XR are the only “free” iPhone options when adding it as a new line.

Have an XR myself so well versed in it. So curious about experiences with the new SE since it would be newer hardware in the older body.
 
It’s def a budget minded phone. LCD is obviously sub par to the oled experience, and notably the battery life is terrible compared to any iPhone I’ve owned. I had it for a few days as a loaner phone while my 13 pro was repaired. Overall it may be great for a kid and someone who regularly has access to a charger. It’s not slow imo when using it. I do not play games, so I can’t comment on that.
 
I have one and I really liked it, had no issues at all. I got an iPhone 13 Pro Max since I wanted a larger phone.
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Thanks. I’m leaning toward the SE now that also all the XR stock is OOS in my area. Delivery dates were also looking a bit pushed out. Not the end of the world but there were some reasons for wanting to do it all sooner than later.

The battery life surely can’t be that much worse than any of the previous small bodies, can it? Starting with the 3G lived through most of them including extended time on the 5 and 6s both needing new batteries before I was done with them (though both under warranty).

Considering seeing what I could do with a 12 or 12 mini. Seems Verizon would give me a $300 promo on an upgrade—no trade-in required—allowing me to use my XR for the new line. If I’m doing it right it also seems then I could then get $350 back as a Bring Your Own Device activation reward. Overall the same money as the $650 they are offering me as a trade-in deal toward any 13 on the XR but not getting 2 brand new phones out of it (an SE and a 13). So that’s why I’m leaning back toward the SE.
 
Battery life should be on par with an iPhone 8. I am not a heavy phone user so I think I was charging mine every other day. I charge my 13 Pro Max once a week, battery in this thing is insane.
 
I have had my 2020 SE since release, ordered unlocked from Apple, and I also have Verizon. For me it has been a terrific phone as I actually like the smaller screen for front pocket carrying. After a year of use I do have to charge it daily and if you are doing any mobile games, streaming or the like plan on carrying a charger or battery bank. It will get a kid through the school day easily though and its a great phone for the money IMO. I also took mine up to iOS 15 about a week ago and no issues with that.
 
I had one for about a month this summer. The battery was bad enough that I ditched it. Maybe 4-5 hours of SOT (browsing, messages, no gaming) before it needed a charge.
 
Ok well I procrastinated long enough the iPhone 12 Mini now qualifies as a free phone on the kid’s plan so that’s probably the happy medium. And perhaps a bit more as the wording seems to have changed on a lot of the new line promotion deals. So I may see if an older 6 or 6s works to get a larger discount on the bigger iPhone 13 models as soon as they charge enough to check IMEI numbers.

If not and the 12 mini is the best option it looks like roughly 400 mAh battery capacity increase over the SE. 5G for later if we need to move the phone off the kids plan and it’s capped 5mbps down the road. Shouldn’t be too bad especially since it shouldn’t be used like mine is so a bit worse battery life shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

So thanks again to everybody on the SE feedback.
 
Both of my kids have them and they have been great. Find My on a child's phone is very helpful.
 
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