Apple has long prided itself on high-quality displays in the iPhone and many of its other devices, but the addition of an OLED panel for the iPhone X was a major step forward. When we got our first look at the iPhone X at its reveal event in 2017, it’s safe to say that we were blown away.
“We’re used to bright, color-rich panels from OLED technology but the iPhone X takes it to another level, text and graphics looking like they’re embedded into the toughened glass that protects the phone front and back,” reads our first look assessment. “It’s pleasingly smear and lag-free, even in fast-paced augmented reality games, too.” Later, SlashGear proclaimed that it had the best smartphone display on the market.
There are cons to the technology, though: Apple acknowledged that OLED is more prone to image retention/screen burn-in. This means that, as with a TV, you need to be careful about leaving static images on the display for too long.
As for the iPhone SE, we gave the third-generation version a very positive review in 2022. In particular, the camera impressed, especially relative to expectations for the “cheap iPhone,” and the same went for the A15 Bionic chipset at the heart of the handset.