iPhone SE 2020 battery life is a major letdown

The iPhone SE 2020 has a lot of things to recommend it for its $399 price, including a fast A13 Bionic processor, vibrant display and very good cameras. But battery life is not one of the new phone's strengths.

In fact, based on our battery test, the iPhone SE's 1,821 mAh battery trails every modern iPhone by a significant margin — and its top Android phone competitor by nearly 3 hours. Here's how the new iPhone SE stacks up.

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[anthonystx]

Mine can barely make it past 6 hours and I've only had it for one month.

[ChristopheJezouin]

iPhone 11 pro : 11h54
everybody says the battery life is amazing

iPhone SE : 09h18
you say this is crappy

wtf is wrong with you?

[stunningkun]

"On our battery test, we have each phone surf the web continuously over a cellular connection (4G or 5G) at 150 nits of screen brightness until the phone runs out of power. The phone loads a new site every 30 seconds. This test is not designed to mimic real-world use but it does allow us to compare relative endurance across multiple handsets." from their page. Also at this brightness don't expect outdoor visibility. Its just screen on test with network and translate 4.7" with low resolution requires smaller battery and larger screen with more resolution requires larger battery, day to day operation is a different story

[mikee]

This phone is for the non addicted users.

[AdrianKurian]

What??? 9 hrs is impressive for that kind of sized battery 🤦🏻‍♂️. How’s it a letdown. It’s a small device so don’t expect phenomenal battery. It’s good for what it is I’d say.

[yoot]

I just bought this phone last week, not running any Apps, no web surfing, no you tube just talking on the phone and I'm only getting 3-4 hours till the battery is dead from a full charge !!!! Not good at all.

[sigel]

9hrs my ass lol real screen on time should be 3-4hrs

[basiizroda]

Fit a 2200Mah li-poly battery from Baseus, and it will compare with it's bigger bethren.

[BEASTxMODE]

Yes, battery tech has improved since 2017...but Apple decided to cut corners unfortunately.

[guilhermeluppi]

Considering it has a small battery, 9h seems preety solid to me. Most people won't buy this phone for gaming, just social media, netflix, youtube etc. I have seen some reviews that it could last 1 day, 1 day an a half.

[gauravsen]

Are you nuts ? You are trying to say that Iphone se 1821 mah is almost similar (13 min apart) to samsung galaxy s20 4000 mah & it's still bad

[beezymeech]

how hard were you using the phone lol, like, a real person using it will get through the day no problem for years

[jeanc]

I have used the SE for less than 2 weeks the battery is much worse than my 6s which was pretty bad anyway. Will try and return it.

[lincolnstart]

Battery overheating badly in my new iPhone se. Had to exchange it 2 days after purchase.

[milloandfriends]

0:27 holy s* u own a buisness or something 200k MAILS HOLLY IT WOULD TAKE A MONTH TO DELETE ALL

[arrgelegipcio]

The dissapointing thing is the 1800mah,

[a.q.quintero]

I would be happy with 9 hours, but mine has only been lasting about half that time. I just got it replaced after much trouble, and the new one isn't any better. What a disappointment.

[ashwinniepillai]

I’ve had my phone on airplane mode overnight(7-8 hours) and it went down by 27%. This is also with all the apps closed. Purchased only in August last year. Has anyone tried rectifying this with apple directly?

[jeffwalther]

I agree with this. I replaced my 7 year old 5s with the 20202 SE and the battery in it is weaker then in the 5s. Plus the SE isn't any better then the 5s except the camera.

[andyH_England]

WOW, 9h + is disappointing for an 1800 mAh battery! That sounds impressive to me. Obviously with such a small battery and such a powerful chip battery life is going to reflect that, simple physics. For most people that buy this phone that will be plenty and for my usage, as an example, will probably get me close to two days. Not everyone is a power user.

For reviewers that do not understand what market this is selling to, it is not for phablet users or power users or those that prefer aesthetically pleasing phones. If that is you the SE is simply not going to be viable. For those looking for a compact casual phone then the iPhone SE joins the Pixel 4 as a great choice.