I would say i’m a fan of Apple products, though for the past four years I was holding back on each of the new Apple iPhones. While I was enjoying Apple’s other products such as the Macbook Pro, AppleTV and the iPad, for some reason, I stayed faithful to my iPhone 4s. As the years went by, my iPhone 4s served me well, doing everything that a smartphone is supposed to do: texting, making phone calls, taking selfies, updating my social media and of course, playing the occasional game. In my opinion, my iPhone 4s kept up with the rest of the iPhone family for about three years. Only then did I begin to notice performance limitations, such as decreases in the battery life and the general reduction of the operating speed on new updates. My iPhone 4s was unfortunately no longer keeping up. On April 9, I finally made the switch from my roughly four-year-old iPhone 4s to the newly released iPhone SE. Why was I holding back on the new generations of the iPhone? Some might find my reason silly.

It was the size of the new iPhones Apple released that left a bad impression on me. Fitting the 5.5 inch iPhone 6s Plus in your pocket must be uncomfortable … I found I just didn’t have  the need for a bigger smartphone. I also found I liked the weight of the iPhone 4s. It gave me a feeling of strength in the phone’s design with its bulk. I know others were not as lucky as I was with dropping their iPhone 4s, as I’ve heard many stories of owners dropping their iPhone 4s and ending up with cracks in the screen or worse. Having a bigger, thinner, and lighter phone didn’t sit well in my mind of having a better chance at staying in one piece after a drop.

I knew I was going to have to eventually compromise my preference in smartphones if I wanted to keep up with Apple’s new features. Some of you may recognize my name on this column as a HiLite photographer. I was jealous of the capabilities of the iPhone 6s when it came to its camera. I was thrilled to hear in late March that Apple would be releasing the iPhone SE in early April, an iPhone that was smaller but  just as powerful as their latest generation, the iPhone 6s. The iPhone SE had all the bells and whistles, but did it meet my size preference? The iPhone SE is 2.31 inches (width) by 4.87 inches (length) while the iPhone 4s was 2.31 inches by 4.5 inches. With only a 0.37 inches difference in the length alone, I was sold. The iPhone SE is thicker than the iPhone 6, but when I first picked it up, I was pleased with the feel of it in my hand.

The iPhone SE is equipped with all the latest features added for the robust 12 megapixel camera such as slow motion video capture, time-lapse and live photos which are similar to a .gif file. With a screen resolution of 1136 x 640 pixels for a four-inch screen, viewing media and just operating the phone is a whole new visual experience for me. The Apple A9 chip and the 2GB of RAM work together to provide a smooth experience with the operating system and apps. The only feature the iPhone SE does not have is the new 3D touch that was introduced in iOS 9, which is essentially a right click feature I haven’t really missed in the countless other features the iPhone SE is equipped with. If you are in the niche market of a smaller but powerful smartphone, I recommend the Apple iPhone SE as an option.