Name: Tremplin Numérique
Price range: $$$

REVIEW: Apple's new affordable phone excels in the same areas as its predecessor, but there are also some undeniably disappointing aspects.

So after all the hype, the new iPhone SE 3 is finally out… and the crowd is getting soft.

After rumors of a redesign and hopes, more than expectations, that something will finally be done about this display, we're instead left with a device that's nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, with the only big advancements having been made to its strengths rather than to address its weaknesses.

To start with the positives, you have to admit that it's hugely impressive for, frankly, any smartphone to run on a chipset as powerful as Apple's monstrous A15 Bionic, let alone priced affordably like this -this.

The same processor you'll find in the iPhone 13 Pro will undoubtedly excel here, leaving all its rivals in the dust; but similarly, the A13 Bionic in the iPhone SE 2 had already impressed us greatly, and performance was way down on our wish list of pre-launch improvements.

While the SE 2's camera was excellent in daytime use, we had hoped for camera improvements, particularly for low-light shooting – and indeed Apple claimed to have improved the sensor this year. We'll have to wait and see how it performs and if it makes a big difference, but it was good news nonetheless.

However, despite its overall value for money, the iPhone SE 2 had obvious, almost crippling weaknesses when it was released – and now, two years later, they are more glaring than ever and have not been addressed by its continued.

I don't quite understand how Apple releases a phone that costs £419 and yet only offers a 4,7 inch LCD screen with 750x1334p resolution. Simply put, no other smartphone maker would do such a thing these days. This tiny and disappointing panel is leagues behind most of its competition; Take for example the recently released Poco X4 Pro 5G, which costs €299 (~£249) but offers a 6,67-inch AMOLED with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

On a related note, the overall design also makes the iPhone SE 3 look like a museum piece rather than the best phone. Still clinging to the shell of the iPhone 8, released five years ago and which itself looked like the iPhone 6 from 2014, this little handset looks outdated for nearly a decade and is a far cry from the steering the rest of the market towards bezel-less handsets that maximize display size.

I can appreciate that the home button still has a fan base, and I actually appreciate that there are many benefits (including wider accessibility) to having the choice of a smaller, more handy. However, Apple's execution leaves a lot to be desired and the brand needs to do better next time around.

There's a third concern for the iPhone SE 3 besides the design and the screen, and that's battery life. We found that its predecessor would get roughly a day of use before needing a charge, but it really wasn't anything special in that department. While the efficiencies brought by the new chip might help the battery last a bit longer throughout the day, there was no word on increased battery capacity during the presentation, and again as of this When it comes to this crucial feature, we often find mid-range Android phones can boast impressive longevity.

The iPhone SE 3 still has a lot to offer – a brilliant processor, 5G connectivity and a promising camera among its main selling points. But the limitations of the design and the screen, and potentially even the battery, give the impression that Apple may have just metaphorized the engine of a Ferrari in a Fiat.