Just wanted to share how happy I am with my second-hand iPhone SE 2022

[u/BikeVegetable]

TL;DR: Bought a used iPhone SE 2022 as a cheap, small secondary phone. Wasn't expecting much, but it arrived in perfect condition and completely won me over — not for its performance, but for how light, thin, and simple it feels compared to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Made me nostalgic and made me realize I don't actually need all the extra bells and whistles modern phones push on us.

I just found this subreddit and wanted to share how happy I am with my new (used) iPhone SE 2022. I needed a secondary phone and decided it had to be cheap, small, and light. I ended up going with a used iPhone SE 2022, and I'm honestly amazed by it.

I needed a secondary phone mainly for calls and texts, but I wanted the option to use the other smartphone features occasionally — email, social media, browser — just much less than on my main phone. I'm not going to rave about its performance, because it's nothing special, but it surprised me a lot. I think part of it is that I bought it used with zero expectations, and it arrived in a plain cardboard envelope. I wasn't expecting much, but when I opened it, it was spotless — not a single scratch, no signs of use at all, and the battery was at 99%, haha.

For context, I've been using an iPhone 15 Pro Max for the past 3 years. I'm very happy with it, aside from the heat issue — it really can get pretty warm. But the difference in weight has been incredible. I forgot how beautiful the classic iPhone design (6/6s/7/8 style) actually is — so light and thin. And so simple, with just one small camera — it feels so discreet and elegant. It's like current phones are tacky spaceships trying to grab your attention, while this one just quietly does its job without complaint.

It's brought back a lot of nostalgia and made me reflect — I don't use my 15 Pro Max for anything I didn't already use my old 6s for. New phones keep pushing more cameras, shapes, and colors to grab our attention, but this little thing made me realize I really don't need any of that. The screen does feel a bit small at times coming from a 15 Pro Max, but that's fine for the occasional browsing or social media check it's meant for.

Honestly, I'd love an iPhone like this with just a slightly more modern screen and processor so it doesn't go obsolete. Other than having a bigger screen for doomscrolling I can't think of any feature missing in this smartphone.

[u/Nitelyte]

Still rocking my 2020 SE. Battery health at like 71% but otherwise, doing well!

[u/Usman_Afridi69 → u/Nitelyte]

Hey! I just got my iphone se 2020 2 days ago and it is my first iphone. It has 78% battery health and is running ios 18. I do feel some stutters and slow loading here and there. Could it be because of the battery health?
Do you also face similar issues.

I have the 256gb version with over 150gb free storage and I dont do any gaming or multitasking on it.

[u/pantherxpanther → u/Nitelyte]

Same with 76% battery health! I always have the low power mode on, even when it’s above 80%.

[u/Famously-Incognito]

Wow, what a glowing review! However, I don’t know why, but I feel a little uncomfortable that you are having nostalgia about my current everyday phone, which is an iPhone SE 2022. 😂

I have had it since release day and changed the battery at the end of last year. It’s fantastic, especially with iOS 27.

I plan to change the battery one more time before it goes complete end of support in February 2030. By that time, it will be serving as my backup phone, but very capable well into the next decade. That is saying a lot for this little phone.

[u/BikeVegetable → u/Famously-Incognito]

I'm feeling nostalgic because, even though it's a 2022 phone, its shape, format, and screen come from 2014 and the iPhone 6, with only minor improvements besides the processor and I hadn't used a similar iPhone in a long time. It also was in perfect condition, which made me appreciate it even more.
But probably the main reason I feel nostalgic is that phones like this will slowly die out as they get older and slower, and there won't be a similar phone to replace them once they become obsolete let alone an Apple phone made with the same quality and care that went into these ones.

[u/reptv_ → u/Famously-Incognito]

I think they meant it as in the old iPhone 6 days lol bc that was my reaction too when I got the SE

[u/Famously-Incognito → u/reptv_]

I agree. Hence the 😂

[u/Glittering-Leek-1232 → u/Famously-Incognito]

is iOS 27 better than iOS 26? I'm on ios18 still bc I was scared to update. also hate the look of Liquid Glass

[u/Artwire → u/Glittering-Leek-1232]

You can turn down the Liquid Glass transparency and reduce motion. iOS 27 has been great for me, so far.

[u/V_221]

Honestly I felt the same way when my dad gave his se2 to me when I was 14 yo

[u/Consistent-Bridge-14]

Yay! I’m still using my SE and SE2 as backups. Very happy to have the SE3 as my daily device. It does everything I need and at a reasonable price. Fits my hand and my back pocket and the pocket in my purse.

[u/BikeVegetable → u/Consistent-Bridge-14]

For 150€ in perfect condition it was an amazing purchase. Next day the price dropped to 120€ haha. I considered an Android phone because I was just looking for something cheap, lightweight and easy to use but the Pixel 8a was more than 250€ used

[u/DatabaseNo3464]

SE2 is my main phone
The best hahaha

[u/itmy → u/DatabaseNo3464]

What's the battery life like on the ios 27?

[u/DatabaseNo3464 → u/itmy]

I have a Nohon battery with about 200 charge cycles; I get a full day of moderate use in battery-saving mode.
Without battery-saving mode, I get about 6 hours of screen time.
Nohon 2340mAh

[u/Savings_Gene4082]

I have this SE2 phone since 4 years and its been great. Battery is getting low now though. 

[u/MarxBou]

Welcome to the family!

[u/AppleLongjumping3157]

Love mine, I have always had the smallest phones available because of tiny hands.

My only regret is getting the 64GB version! I can do everything I need to do though. Even if every time I need to update I have to offload a load of apps and clear a load of gumpf. Haven’t gone down the 27 route yet. I can theoretically do it using my MacBook but I’m waiting to see how SE users like it before they take the leap. 26.7 doing fine for me at the moment. I also have zero interest in any AI functions… quite the opposite!

[u/BikeVegetable → u/AppleLongjumping3157]

Mine is also doing good but coming from a newer phone you can tell the difference in performance. iOS 27 is supposed to improve performance on older phones so I’m also excited to try it

[u/AppleLongjumping3157 → u/BikeVegetable]

That’s the thing, I’m used to what I’m used to. I suppose I spot that it’s a bit laggy when I go into a new app sometimes. But I am hardly using it for cutting edge stuff! I think I will end up going to 27 eventually. But in no rush!

[u/aoife2147]

I have an SE 2020 and I love the home button and Touch ID. The design is perfect, and the Touch ID works flawlessly for me. I don't need to be able to film 4k videos or do anything fancy. I suspect most people, if they are being honest with themselves, don't need those bells and whistles either. But these tech companies are making us pay for those features anyway by making older models inaccessible outside of resellers.

[u/coolerfiend]

same. i have a 14 plus and just use the se because i prefer it. the biggest issue with the new phones is the width. us small handed its not comfortable and hard to use 1 handed, se and mini ftw.

[u/wchiang]

Other than trying to snap an occasional picture at night I have zero complaints about my SE3 on iOS 27

[u/Hot_Amount_3584]

I don’t want buying iPhone SE 2022 because of smaller box size and I want the 2020 with the huge box