iPhone SE or iPhone 6s: which is right for you?

We weren't hugely surprised when the iPhone SE was announced by Apple yesterday. The full details were impressive though: here is a handset with almost identical innards to the iPhone 6s for a lot cheaper. There has to be a catch, right?

Here's how the two handsets stack up alongside each other, to help you decide whether to buy an iPhone 6s now, or hang on for the iPhone SE.

Design

Yep, the iPhone SE looks like an iPhone 5, which is to say flatter, with less curves and small round buttons protruding from the side.

Taking your design cues from four years ago may seem like a weird move, but the iPhone 5 remains a good looking handset, and the SE is too. Whether you think it's better looking than the iPhone 6s is really down to personal preference.

Specifications

So, what are the differences? Well a smaller frame means a smaller battery, so you shouldn't get the stamina that the iPhone 6s offers, though Apple reckons you'll get slightly more.

On top of that, while the iPhone SE still packs a fingerprint sensor, 3D Touch doesn't make the cut. The front-facing camera also faces a major downgrade, dropping from 5 megapixels to a measly 1.2, but the more important main camera is identical. The bigger screen means the resolution is lower of course - 1136x640 against 1334x750, but in terms of pixels per inch they're identical at 326ppi a piece.

Here are the full specs compared side-by-side:

Price

Whether or not you think those differences are minor or vital comes down to your love of larger screens, selfies and 3D Touch, but what thing that can't be dismissed as minor is the price difference.

On the Apple Shop right now, the iPhone SE is $400 cheaper than the iPhone 6s. That's a huge difference for a handset that isn't that much weaker on paper.

The 16GB model of the iPhone SE comes in at $679, to the iPhone 6s' $1,079. The 64GB model is $829 to the 6s' $1,229. You can't get a 128GB iPhone SE, but for comparison the 6s model is $1,379.

Verdict

To me, the price difference makes this one a no-brainer, especially if you find yourself longing for the days when handsets were generally smaller. The size difference between a 4.7in and 4in handset aren't actually that big, but the price difference is.

You have to work quite hard to make a compelling case that a higher resolution front facing camera, 3D Touch and a slightly bigger screen are worth $400. On paper, the iPhone SE sounds like a triumph for Apple, but we'll know more when we've put the new handset through our rigorous testing process.

This article originally appeared at alphr.com