I hate a heavy phone

October 24, 2019 12:06 PM

So my beloved iPhone SE got run over and I guess I have to go out and look for a new phone. Are there any iPhones that are close to the SE in size & weight, maybe ones that aren't in stores anymore but they're still for legitimate sale (like I can buy them from someplace I've already heard of?) Or should I just go out to Best Buy and just get whichever one has the best hand feel?

I've been doing a bunch of googling (there are SEs available for sale from sketchy outfits & ebay that have like 5 gb memory... sigh) and it all seems like bad news so I thought I'd check and see with you all if I was missing something.

posted by bleep to Technology (12 answers total)

I bought an SE from Gazelle a few years ago and haven't had a lick of trouble with it. They currently have 16 & 128 GB SE's for sale.
posted by sarajane at 12:09 PM on October 24, 2019

Same thing with Swappa. We've bought a number of SEs from them and they are fine. Might need a battery replaced sooner than a newish phone but otherwise, not sketchy.
posted by jessamyn at 12:26 PM on October 24, 2019

Came here to recommend Swappa as well. Got my kiddo an SE with tons of scratches all over the back, which nobody cares about because the phone has been in a case since we received it.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:39 PM on October 24, 2019

Another Swappa recommendation. We recently bought a SE for my kid for very cheap, phone works great, super easy transaction.
posted by anastasiav at 1:14 PM on October 24, 2019

Call around to smaller phone repair places near you. Many of them sell used (unlocked!) phones -- that's how I got my SE this year! It's a great way to recycle electronics, and they might even have some kind of "return it if it turns out it's broken in 2 weeks) thing.
posted by amtho at 1:36 PM on October 24, 2019

If you can wait a few months, the SE2 should arrive sometime next year.
posted by sydnius at 3:50 PM on October 24, 2019

sydnius - the SE2 is sadly going to be the same form factor as the 6/7/8. I'm disappointed because I have an 8 and it gives me nerve pain if I don't use a popsocket.
posted by radioamy at 4:58 PM on October 24, 2019

Note that no iPhone SE 2 had been announced yet. Any details about hardware, release date, etc. are just rumor or speculation at this point.
posted by mbrubeck at 5:16 PM on October 24, 2019

I have tiny hands and loved my SE, but when I was forced to switch, I ended up with the Xs. Albeit larger, it isn’t significantly so, and was an easier adjustment than I had expected. I sure miss that little phone, but I don’t hate the Xs.
posted by msali at 9:20 PM on October 24, 2019

I recently went to an 8 from a SE. It is larger, but it doesn't drive me crazy. Well, at first it did, but I got used to it.
posted by kathrynm at 10:42 AM on October 25, 2019

Iphone SE2 is supposed to be coming 1st Q2020.
https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-se2-is-coming-it-could-be-huge-but-also-kinda-small/

If on the other hand you want a android equivalent. Pixel 3a would be the closest in terms of size and features
posted by radsqd at 12:33 PM on October 25, 2019

Update, I wound up going to the Apple store to look at phones and they actually sold me a new-to-me SE as a "repair". Hurray!
posted by bleep at 8:37 PM on October 30, 2019