iPhone SE First Impressions And Hands-On - Quite Familiar

This afternoon we're getting our hands on the iPhone SE, a device that looks like the iPhone 5s but acts like a newer device. This is the first time Apple has effectively skipped a generation with smartphone design, keeping the innards of a device that's more than two years old, packing in hardware that's brand new. As such, we're expecting this iPhone SE to run a lot quicker than its predecessor, the iPhone 5s, but to feel just as classic. Surprise! It does both of these things.

Lovers of the 4-inch display should rejoice – you wont have to buy an older device just to retain the slightly smaller size of this smartphone. You'll be able to palm this device, just as you used to. You'll be able to use the newest in new apps without worrying about your inability to upgrade to the newest version of iOS – not that that's happened yet to the iPhone 5s, but still: it's nice to feel like you're in this for the long haul.

This device comes in four colors – including the Rose Gold you've seen your fancy friends holding with their iPhone 6s that they end up covering with a case anyway.

You, too can cover your Rose Gold iPhone with a new case – look at you!

Above you'll see a set of hands-on photos from the Apple Event. Below you'll find a gallery of details from the presentation earlier in the day.

This device feels by all means to be a clone of the iPhone 5s – even its weight feels similar. You'd be forgiven for seeing one and mistaking it as the other. That's not the point here. The point is that you're getting a classic design with a set of innards that's prepared for the future.

It's snappy. The iPhone SE feels significantly faster than the iPhone 5s, and not just from years of use. We've used a newly manufactured iPhone 5s just last week – it's not quite ready to roll with this iPhone SE. They're in different leagues.

Now we've only got to look back and see how well we did on our predictions – not too far off! Just about a half a generation or so.