How is the iPhone SE better than my trusty iPhone 5s? Here's why you should consider upgrading

The iPhone SE may look like a device that launched two generations ago, but under the hood – it does not kid around. In fact, the new 4-incher is equipped with Apple's A9 SoC – the very same chip that powers the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. In Apple's words, this makes the SE twice as powerful as the iPhone 5s in the CPU department, and three times faster in graphics processing. The A9 SoC goes hand in hand with the M9 motion co-processor. This little piece of tech takes care of the step-counting, elevation measuring, and waking the phone with a “Hey, Siri” command, freeing the A9 unit to do the heavy-lifting.

Unfortunately, as with any Apple handset announcement, there's very little tech information flaunted at launch. So, we currently do not know how much RAM the compact phone will be equipped with. Considering Apple insisted that the device's performance is on-par with the iPhone 6s, we'd like to believe it has 2 GB of memory, but we will wait for more info to pop up before making a final call on that one.

An upgrade that was overdue prior to the iPhone 6s launch was in the camera department. While Apple's older, 8 MP shooter did a fine job most of the time, it was certainly showing a drop in detail and performance when compared to the competition's heavy-hitters. With the 12 MP iSight camera on the iPhone 6s, Apple is back in the game, offering one of the best cameras on a smartphone that is currently available.

Well, the good news is that the iPhone SE gets the same camera. All the shutterbugs, social media addicts, and even those more edgy photographers that like to use an iPhone instead of a conventional camera don't need to switch to a 4.7-inch handset if they don't want to – the very same quality can be found in the iPhone SE's compact package.

This also includes 4K recording at 30 FPS, 1080p at up to 60 FPS, or slow-motion capture at 120 FPS for 1080p and 240 FPS for 720p clips. Unfortunately, and somewhat disappointingly, the front-facing camera is still the old 1.2 MP model. Selfie aficionados will barely notice a difference between the good old iPhone 5s and the new SE.

As much as their users may want to get in on Apple's mobile payments service, pre-iPhone 6 models just don't support it for one simple reason – the lack of an NFC chip. The iPhone SE remedies this issue by adding the desired piece of hardware. That, and the fact that it runs Apple's newest operating system — iOS 9.3 — with a hardware powerful enough to promise updates at least for 2 years in the future (possibly more) means that you won't be out of the loop on any of the currently available Apple services in the foreseeable future.

The promised battery life of the new mini iPhone could also turn into a selling point. According to the official info provided, the little munchkin is capable of holding two to three hours longer when playing video or browsing the Web, compared to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 5s.

So, to sum it all up, the iPhone SE is an iPhone 5s on the outside, but (mostly) an iPhone 6s on the inside. If you choose to upgrade from the old 4-incher, you will get a more powerful CPU, a more powerful GPU, a noticeably better iSight camera (but not selfie camera), access to Apple Pay, and the choice to go Rose Gold.

But also keep this in mind – if you choose to go for an iPhone SE instead of the iPhone 6s, you will lose out on 3D Touch, a much better front-facing camera, and the newer, oval-angle design language, and, obviously, a larger 4.7-inch display.

So, should you upgrade from an iPhone 5s? Mostly, we think the SE will be more exciting for users that are still on iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c units, as the 5s still has enough juice in it to stay relevant for non-demanding folk. However, if you consider yourself at least a moderate smartphone enthusiast, then know that the iPhone SE has what it takes to warrant an upgrade from the iPhone 5s.