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There was a time when you could always rely on Apple to bring the most powerful smartphone technology to market in the smallest possible form-factor, a proud tradition that persisted up until the release of the iPhone 6. It may well have been a relatively svelte 4.7-incher in a world of 5.5-inch flagships, but for many iPhone users - myself included - it was a step away from a design ethos we valued highly. In theory then, the new iPhone SE is the perfect upgrade for those of us who never bought into Apple's bigger phone concepts. It is almost certainly the most powerful small form-factor phone on the market, but is that good enough?The SE actually aims to service two potential markets here - people like me who value top-tier performance in a phone that easily fits in your pocket, along with a new breed of user who simply isn't willing to lay out top dollar for a flagship product. In the UK at least, the 16GB base iPhone SE is one third cheaper than the equivalent iPhone 6S - and that's clearly a decent saving as the SE features the exact same A9 processor as the more expensive model, along with a similarly impressive 12-megapixel iSight camera. These two factors alone put the SE into a class of its own.
However, almost everything else is totally unchanged from relatively ancient iPhone 5S. Place the new phone alongside the old and it is impossible to tell the difference. The metallic chassis is totally identical, right down to the 326ppi 1136x640 display and even positioning of the buttons and ports. Having parted with my own money here, familiarity does breed some level of contempt. I've been using the iPhone 5S since launch - a smartphone upgrade represents a high level of investment, and as borderline irrational as it may be, you want to enjoy the look and the feel of a new piece of kit.
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