[Android General] Rakesh_chandra:
Apple announced the iPhone SE and the web is going wild about it! The Verge says "The new iPhone SE finally makes a small phone feel powerful", TechRadar says that its "Small but mighty!" and The Telegraph calls it "Apple's secret weapon". Lots of superlatives are being thrown around, as is always the case with Apple products.

So, in the midst of Apple's reality distortion field, I decided to compare it to my Le 1s - that I've been using for more than a month now. The results, at least for me, are very conclusive.

LeEco Le 1s

NETWORK	Technology	GSM / WCDMA / LTE

LAUNCH	Announced	2015, October

Status	Avaliable on Flipkart

BODY	Dimensions	151.1 x 74.2 x 7.6 mm

Weight	170 g

SIM	1 Nano-SIM, 1 Micro-SIM

DISPLAY	Type	Incell IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen

Size	5.5 inches (~75% screen-to-body ratio)

Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD)

PPI	401

Multitouch	Yes

PLATFORM	OS	Android Lollipop

Chipset	MediaTek Helio X10 Turbo, MTK6795T

CPU	Octa-core 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 (64-bit)

GPU	PowerVR G6200

MEMORY	Card slot	No

Internal	32 GB

CAMERA	Primary	13 MP, f/2.0, PDAF Close-Loop, Single-LED Flash

Features	1/3.1" sensor size, geo-tagging, 4K video recording, auto-focus, manual-focus, digital zoom, face detection, HDR

Video	2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720P@120fps

Secondary	5 MP, f/2.0, 720p@30fps, face detection

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, proprietary and custom ringtones

Loudspeaker	Yes

3.5mm jack	Yes

CONNECTIVITY	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, hotspot

Bluetooth	v4.1, A2DP

GPS	Yes, with GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS

NFC	No

FM Radio	No

USB	Type-C Reversible

FEATURES	Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, infrared, gravity, magneto, proximity, compass

Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email

Browser	HTML5 (Chrome)

Java	Yes

- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

- Google Now natural language commands and dictation

- Google Drive and third-party cloud services

- TV-out MHL 2.0

- Maps

- Audio/video player/editor

- Organizer

- Document viewer/editor

- Photo viewer/editor

- Voice memo/dial/command

- Predictive text input

BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Po 3000 mAh battery

Stand-by	Up to 340 h (4G on dual SIM)

Talk time	Up to 31.5 h

Music play	Up to 50 h

MISC	Colors	Rose Gold, Silver

NFC	No

FM Radio	No

USB	Type-C Reversible

FEATURES	Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, infrared, gravity, magneto,

Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email

Browser	HTML5 (Chrome)

Java	Yes

- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

- Google Now natural language commands and dictation

- Google Drive and third-party cloud services

- TV-out MHL 2.0

- Maps

- Audio/video player/editor

- Organizer

- Document viewer/editor

- Photo viewer/editor

- Voice memo/dial/command

- Predictive text input

BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Po 3000 mAh battery

Stand-by	Up to 340 h (4G on dual SIM)

Talk time	Up to 31.5 h

Music play	Up to 50 h

MISC	Colors	Rose Gold, Silver

*************************************

iPhone SE

GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE

2016, March

Coming soon. Exp. release 2016, March 31

123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm

113 g

Nano-SIM

LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen

4.0 inches (~60.8% screen-to-body ratio)

640 x 1136 pixels

326

Yes

iOS 9.3

Apple A9

Dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister

PowerVR GT7600 (six-core graphics)

No

16/64 GB

12 MP, f/2.2, PDAF, Dual LED Flash

1/3" sensor size, geo-tagging, 4K video recording, touch focus, face detection, HDR

2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, 1080p@120fps, 720p@240fps

1.2 MP, f/2.4, 720p@30fps, face detection, HDR, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or Cellular

Vibration, proprietary ringtones

Yes

Yes

Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, hotspot

v4.2, A2DP, LE

Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS

Yes (Apple Pay only)

No

v2.0, reversible connector

Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email

HTML5 (Safari)

No

- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic

- Siri natural language commands and dictation

- iCloud cloud service

- TV-out

- Maps

- Audio/video player/editor

- Organizer

- Document viewer/editor

- Photo viewer/editor

- Voice memo/dial/command

- Predictive text input

Non-removable Li-Po 1642 mAh battery

Up to 240 h (2G) / Up to 240 h (3G)

Up to 14 h (3G)

Up to 50 h

Space Gray, Silver, Gold, Rose Gold

Let's start with the OS. Android and iOS are now at-par on features, freely taking inspiration from each other and the perennial also-ran Windows Phone. However, if you've been using an Android phone, the move to iOS is jarring regardless of preparation. Trust me, having moved from a OnePlus 2 to an iPhone 6S, I know this better than most. If you're an iPhone user already, there is no discussion required. If you're an Android user, then I'd say "Don't even consider an iPhone!"

Moving on to design and build, the new iPhone is, in line with Apple's policy "thinner, smaller and lighter" than the Le 1s. However, the Le 1s has an astounding screen-to-body ratio of 75% that enables single-handed use and the phone doesn't feel too big. After all, within reason, bigger is always better! Both phones offer amazing build quality at their respective price points, so that's not really much of a contest.

On display, if you like smaller screens, the iPhone SE will appeal to you. But for someone who has used a 4+ inch screen device earlier, going back to a smaller display doesn't really work. In this respect, the Le 1s scores with its big but not too big display, and its helped by minimal bezels. Resolution-wise, its a no contest with the Full HD In-Cell display on the Le 1s ruling the roost with its fantastic color reproduction, great viewing angles and almost-zero bezels.

On connectivity, both the Le 1s and the iPhone SE are at par with each other on Wi-Fi and Network compatibilities, but the Le 1s scores with its dual-SIM capability.

When it comes to performance, I believe that specs are just one part of the game. Real-world performance is key. And in this area, despite having lesser amount of RAM than the Le 1s, the iPhone SE performs equally well due to better memory management in iOS versus Android. Its a straight tie!

Camera is another key feature where specs are just one part of the game with actual photo clarity being the key identifier. The iPhone SE uses the much-lauded camera module from the iPhone 6S, so its a given that photos will come out well. The Le 1s on the other hand had a few initial hiccups with photo clarity but they've since been resolved by OTA updates, so overall - its a good camera experience on both smartphones. The Le 1s scores in lowlight clarity and front-camera! Apple, for reasons that defy logic, went with a 1.2MP sensor on the front-camera. Now megapixels might not be everything, but with a 5MP sensor, the Le 1s handily beats the iPhone SE on selfies. Another reason is the smaller aperture size on Le 1s cameras – both front and rear (f2.0) compared to the iPhone SE which has f2.4 on the front camera and f2.2 on the rear camera – in photography parlance, smaller is referred to as “wider”. A wider aperture lets in more light which gives better photos in low-light and indoor situations, and gives you that beautiful blurred “out of focus” effect on wide shots.

With respect to sensors, the Le 1s has an infrared sensor to control home appliances that the iPhone doesn't. Everything else on this front is a tie.

Finally, the "essential spec" in today's world, battery! The Le 1s has almost double the battery capacity of the iPhone SE, with fast-charge built-in! While iOS has better power management than Android, the huge difference in capacity should result in longer standby times with the Le 1s!

Regardless of all technical specifications and performance comparisons, there will still be people convinced that an Apple product is the next best thing since sliced bread! So, to those people, here is a final nail in the coffin. Both the Le 1s and iPhone SE are good phones that do almost everything you can expect them to. Most importantly for a budget-conscious Indian, the Le 1s costs INR 10,999 while the iPhone SE starts at a whopping INR 39,000! That’s three times more expensive than the Le 1s!!! Case closed.