Dabbling with the dark side. I am now using an iPhone SE.

[Super Nade]

I've never owned an Apple product before (if I did, I don't remember). My most recent experience was with iMacs, an unpleasant one, was in a teaching/university environment. Buggy, slow and constant freezing. I had (erroneously) assumed to expect the same experience with phones. I guess I stand corrected! As you all can relate, any device that can be modded/upgraded/tinkered/assembled automatically jumps to the top of my "list". Apple products just did not seem appealing. However recently, I've had a hankering for a small smartphone (4 inch or less) that is smooth and with a good camera. To my dismay, I could not find an Android equivalent of the iPhone SE. So I went ahead and got a couple on eBay for < $100/ea. Curiously, this particular model can be fully and easily disassembled without reaching for the heat gun! As for iOS itself, it seems polished and reasonably snappy. Moving from a Galaxy Note 4 is taking some getting used to, but so far I think I've made the right decision! Does anybody on these boards still have their SE? Do you know of a small, powerful Android phone? I do miss the endless ROM customization etc...

I am contemplating replacing the camera. Is there any way to access firmware blobs? Not sure how things work in the iOS world.

 

[Kenrou]

You can replace the camera but you risk the phone locking you out because the switch wasn't made by "apple technicians", the home button is another example. Firmware and iOS is another issue, Apple is very picky with what versions the iPhone are allowed to use (usually only the most recent bar beta), and will nag you until you upgrade it or it gets to a point that it will upgrade for you (a la Win10) and it will not let you downgrade after.

In raw performance (going from Geekbench) the iPhone SE is the rough equivalent to an iPhone 6S or a Samsung Galaxy Note 9/Xperia XZ2/OnePlus6/Xiaomi Black Shark single thread and Xiaomi Mi A1/OnePlus 3T/Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)/Nokia 6.1 multi-thread.

 

[Mr.Scott]

I still use a SE every single day.

 

[Kenrou]

I was using a 5S before making the jump to a Galaxy S8+ (i chose big screen specifically to watch movies/read books), regretted straight away not getting a iPhone 7+/8+.

 

[EarthDog]

I dispise my children's school for iPads... and his mom for the ipod. I hated my work for forcing me to apple anything.

Just not my type of thing... Im afraid once I go apple I may never come back.

Android4LIFFFF

 

[ihrsetrdr]

I've been kicking around going with an iPhone for my next cell phone replacement, growing tired of being in the Google universe. The iPhone SE would be appealing to me, for it's small form, although I'd likely settle on the iPhone 8, for IOS 13 (and beyond) and good battery life.

 

[Mr.Scott]

I hated my work for forcing me to apple anything.

Im afraid once I go apple I may never come back.

Exactly my situation.
Now I'm hooked like a dirty smack addict.

 

[UltraTaco]

Taco uses android

 

[habbajabba]

Apple has a nasty little thing called location awareness or something like that which logs your exact location, incl. time spent dates everything, at actual named physical addresses attached to your gps enabled by default. Regardless if the phone is even turned off much less the gps. But hey the phone is encrypted-not. You need to delete and disable that. You would literally have to pay me to use apple, as well as pay for the device and the connection if any.

 

[Super Nade]

Some good information in this thread thus far. I also prefer Android, but I despise carrying around a large phone. Based on your inputs, I turned off all the obnoxious location awareness "features" and opted out of the advertising (ridiculous that you have to opt out!). The only uses of this phone are to make calls, send text messages and take pictures in the lab of our setups. Is there anything else I can do to improve privacy?

Thanks guys.

 

[habbajabba]

Other than end to end encrypted communication aps. Not really. I would not trust whatsap either as it is facebook owned. Can't say too much as I have always avoided apple considering android was supposed to be a free and open platform that was supposed to be the cure. It is but is apparently an uphill battle that seems to never end. If I were forced to login to google in any way I would stop using android altogether personally. My sonim XP5 is still new and is my backup phone in case my 1+ breaks. The droid footprint is so small it's ridiculous. On my 1+, the default contact mgr has never even been used and is completely empty. The only thing it sees are the logs which can't really be turned off if you want to see who called.

 

[freeagent]

I still have my old 5s, though its only 2 years old thanks to applecare. I ran them for 2 years, and really was content with it. Your SE is pretty much an iPhone 6 ( I think) in a 5s body. You get a bit more graphical power because of the lower resolution, and excellent battery life. It spent its life in a lifeproof nuud case, and my 4 year old uses it now. They are pretty tough! And even though its two days older than dirt, it still gets updates heh. I went with a 7 nearly 2 years ago, I wanted a bigger screen. And when I got one, I wanted a smaller screen lol. My 7 lives in an aramid cf limitless 2.0 case. Not sure if I want a big phone next, or a smaller one.. Decisions. Anyways, I turn off all that tracking stuff, and then head to general/accessibility/reduce motion and I turn that off too, just for better battery life, and I use low power mode too in a pinch, or when Im at work. I also went to my push notifications and just got my email to check once an hour. I understand why a lot of android people don't like apple, and for the most part, is why I don't like android lol. I shouldn't say I don't like it, I just prefer apple phones. Though I still miss my headphone jack, for two reason, 1 is I cant use my headphones, and 2, I cant use the "headphone jack makes scratchy noises) excuse anymore to get a new phone every 6 months

 

[habbajabba]

Imo the reason why some don't like apple is for the simple fact it's just linux but without any of the control one would normally attribute to linux. Droid came out and it was rootable and hackable from day one. A true linux environment. Apple keeps it's base happy because the user doesn't have to think or choose as apple makes all your choices for you. Plus they have always had top notch hardware which makes for a very good combination of usability without any fuss. Personally I love the fact the FAA allows the use of an ipad in the cockpit for commercial navigation. Droidware is not consistent enough to merit. After getting a used 1+3, I will probably stick with 1+. It is rootable by default including the bootloader right from settings and you can turn off the bs amber alerts completely, also right from settings. The hardware is cutting edge and the custom roms make for excellent usability over anything stock from any company.
So basically depending upon one's use, either is a good choice. I could easily run apple if it was non gratis. Heck I'd even leave the location stuff on. Could care less as long as I'm not paying them one red cent. Almost grabbed a new 1+5T for $430 but the hardware on my 1+3 is just fine and by the time this phone gets super old I can easily buy another used 1+, root, flash and go.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Imo the reason why some don't like apple is for the simple fact it's just linux but without any of the control one would normally attribute to linux.

There's that type of prejudice, and the fact that Apple locks down their products to discourage customizations . But, just to be realistic: these Apple products are consumer devices, and not designed to be a computer enthusiast play thing.

Wanna drop a custom ROM on a phone? Android's good for that.

 

[habbajabba]

Consumer implies the money you payed means you own it outright. It is not a prejudice as much as an awareness. Deciding what your personal phone does and doesn't do is not apple's job. By simply removing the ability to choose makes it a non-starter. Business-wise however it is perfect for. Whenever I go to a drive-thru coffee kiosk now all I see are ipads. It's kinda like, if you follow the herd, get an iphone. If you want to be 'different', don't. Shoots, I'm still waiting on a phone OS that's not been google/applefied. Unfortunately any true alternatives are literally inaccessible to the US market, or so niche as to be ridiculous. If they made phones modular it would benefit everyone but they don't because they like slaves who agree to not only pay to be a slave but like to be a slave. Deciding if you would rather choose software A over B is not a computer enthusiast thing it's just normal.

 

[freeagent]

For me its just a phone. I have computers at home I can customize. That's not to say a little customization would be nice, because it would. But my phone works, there's no bloat, no bugs, don't have to hack it to get it to work right, it doesn't get cut off from os updates after a year or two like my old galaxy did. I don't need to run torrent off of my phone, I just need it to last all day, and be tough. It takes good pictures, it can hit the floor, has decent audio for my headphones, and it never drops calls. Facetime is nice for lunch and break so I can talk to my kids.. Its not about being a sheep or a slave.. We are all slaves, if you have a social insurance number, you are just cattle like the rest of us.

 

[Super Nade]

I did have fun customizing my Galaxy Note (still use it on Wifi) but I've lost the urge to tinker with phones. I suppose changing my mindset has helped me make the transition. All I do is call, text and take pictures of lab setups. The only thing I'm tempted to tinker with is removing the IR filter. We work with IR lasers and it would be nice to use a cheap cellphone camera to view an IR spot, for alignment purposes.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I still have my old 5s, though its only 2 years old thanks to applecare. I ran them for 2 years, and really was content with it. Your SE is pretty much an iPhone 6 ( I think) in a 5s body. You get a bit more graphical power because of the lower resolution, and excellent battery life.

The lower resolution, sounds like what web sites are saying about the iPhone XR. I now have a Galaxy S5 and iPhone XR (since 2019, I think it's from 2018 and it was just going to sit, because my sister got an iPhone XS!) (I think it's the Max)
Got words that the XR's screen is lower-resolution than 1080p.

 

[sobe]

As someone that went from Nokia to Blackberry to Android to iPhone (6S was most recent) and now back to Android (Pixel 3), they both have their highlights. People love complaining about Apple being this or that or not being able to be customized like Android, etc. etc. But I'm not 17 anymore, I don't really want to tinker with my phone, I just want it to work and allow me to do calls, text, video calls, browse the web, email and use a navigation app and of course some other things like financial stuff, Ring, Nest, etc. that can be done on both platforms.

After making the switch from the Galaxy S3 to iPhone 5S I was NOT a fan of iTunes, I was NOT a fan of being stuck in an ecosystem, etc. But the following year rolled around, and I ended up getting a 6S because it simply worked. Everything I wanted it to do, it just did with no nagging. Now, I will say I was apt to switch to Android due to battery life diminishing horribly on both iPhones after a year or 2 of use which was a big letdown. I still have the 6S and it charges quickly, but sadly that charge does not last.

One other thing I will say is I definitely like Apple Carplay as an experience better than Android Auto, though AA is improving and will have a nice new update to the design this summer.