Advertiser Disclosure: At Slickdeals, we work hard to find the best deals. Some products in our articles are from partners who may provide us with compensation, but this doesn’t change our opinions. Our editors strive to ensure that the information in this article is accurate as of the date published, but please keep in mind that offers can change. We encourage you to verify all terms and conditions of any product before you apply.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

According to last week’s Apple event, the new iPhone SE (starting at $429) is now available for pre-order ahead of its March 18th release date.
Pre-Order iPhone SE at Apple
The sudden announcement and quick turnaround from the 2020 iPhone SE (compared to the four-year gap between the first and second iPhone SE generations) was a surprise to many, but there’s a lot of promising buzz surrounding this latest addition to Apple’s popular budget smartphone range.
After all, the 2020 iPhone SE announcement was a much-needed breath of fresh air after four years of steadily creeping iPhone prices — and the sales figures reflect that. It comes as no surprise that Apple is eager to invest more time and resources in its popular iPhone SE line.
Here are a few reasons why we are excited about the 2022 iPhone SE and what it means for the future of modest, midrange smartphones:

The iPhone SE Offers the Best Apple Deal – Period

Without getting into the weeds of computing power and specs, the frugal argument for the new iPhone SE speaks for itself — this is the only way you can buy a brand new iPhone for under $450. The cheapest iPhone 13 starts at $700, which is a hefty price to pay if you’re strapped for cash and simply want a working smartphone that seamlessly integrates with other Apple devices.

iPhone 13 Processing Power for a Fraction of the Price

You have to commend Apple’s decision to outfit its premium models and budget phone with the same A15 Bionic chip. ZDNet’s Jason Cipriani compared CPU performance between the iPhone SE ($429) and the iPhone 13 Pro Max ($1,099) and found that both devices received nearly identical scores on both single-core (1,731 for the iPhone SE, 1,741 for the iPhone 13 Pro Max) and multi-core (4,466 for the iPhone SE, 4,316 for the iPhone 13 Pro Max) Geekbench 5 speed tests.

5G Connectivity Where It Matters

Coverage and speeds are improving every day, but the spotty (and easily hampered by trees and walls) 5G cellular network is still a work in progress. We’ve always cautioned against purchasing a brand new smartphone based on its theoretical 5G data speed capabilities.
With that in mind, the new iPhone SE offers both 5G-skeptic and 5G-curious users exceptional bang for their buck — it offers connectivity to Sub-6 5G (zippy compared to the 2020 model’s 4G LTE) instead of the impressive, notoriously unreliable mmWave 5G found on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.

Some of Us Still Prefer Smaller Screens

Like its predecessor, the 2022 iPhone SE sports a 4.7-inch Retina display with a resolution of 1334×750. The enduring popularity of the iPhone SE line (and the iPhone mini, to a lesser extent) suggests that plenty of people are sick of lugging around tablet-sized phones, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a comparable major smartphone smaller than five inches. Until the rest of the market catches onto this untapped market, the iPhone SE remains a solid contender for anyone whose phone buying decisions are informed by tight pockets, small hands or chronic pain.

If the Design Works, Why Change It?

The smartphone industry rewards innovation, exponential growth and constant improvement. Fair enough, we can all agree that there’s always room for improvement! That said, the Luddites among us deserve a reliable, modest smartphone that doesn’t impose drastic changes where they aren’t necessary.
The aesthetic and functional shift from the 2016 iPhone SE to the 2020 model was substantive, but Apple still recognized that iPhone SE users tend to be sticklers for tried-and-true existing features over flashy new developments and applied the same principle to the new 2022 iPhone SE. Improved battery life and processing power are improvements everyone can get behind.

The New iPhone SE Still Has a Home Button and Touch ID

Some find gesture navigation and face authentication intuitive and convenient, but not everyone loves Apple’s decision to fully remove the home button and Touch ID from recent generations of iPhone. Why force users to unlearn their deeply-embedded Touch ID muscle memory to perform an arduous process involving multiple clicks, repositioning the phone and making a recognizable face every time they want to unlock their phone or make a contactless purchase?

Why Pay for Features You Don’t Care About?

It’s looking more and more like the iPhone SE could become a mainstay in Apple’s release rotation, largely because it has carved out a niche – an affordable phone that offers enough of the latest flagship’s shiny new technology and no more.
If you’re not much of a photographer, why spend an extra $300+ on the iPhone 13’s dual-camera system? If they haven’t built a 5G tower in your area, what good is mmWave 5G cellular connectivity? Purchasing a new iPhone SE is a low-cost way to try out some of Apple’s latest innovations without paying a premium for things that either don’t work or don’t matter to you.

Support for Years to Come

Given how many 2016 users clung to their sharp-edged, headphone jack-retaining 3G-connected devices until they became fully obsolete, it’s safe to say that lifestyle iPhone SE fans aren’t known for their willingness to hop on the latest smartphone release every year.
Thankfully, the iPhone SE’s brand new A15 chip and comparably reliable 5G network ensure that the latest addition to the iPhone SE line will receive a long lifecycle.
If you’re thinking of picking up the new iPhone SE, why not save a few bucks replenishing your supply of Apple accessories while you’re at it? Here are the best deals we’ve seen recently:

More to consider:

OP

Oliver Pretl-Drummond

Oliver Pretl-Drummond is a copywriter, memoirist and Scorpio living in Baltimore, MD. Primed by years of recreational research spirals, they've helped Slickdeals document hundreds of arcane store policies and hidden coupon tricks for the greater good of deal hunters everywhere. They spend their days seeking and sharing killer deals on budget travel, sound systems, home goods and tech. By night, their free time is reserved for making bass music while consuming exotic caffeinated beverages with their partner and growing family of yucca plants.