iPhone SE deals: Refurbished 2nd and 3rd Gen iPhones

By Andrew Morrisey Updated January 23, 2025

It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a new iPhone SE release, but refurbished models make for some of the best iPhone deals and best Apple deals to shop right now. In fact, a refurbished iPhone SE may even be one of the best phone deals overall, as the starting prices are pretty low as iPhones go. Below we’ve rounded up all of the best iPhone SE deals out there right now. Read onward for those details, and if you’d like to consider some savings on other iPhone models don’t miss out on today’s best iPhone 15 deals, best iPhone 14 deals, and best refurbished iPhone deals.

iPhone SE 2nd Gen deals

The 2020 model of the Apple iPhone SE against a white background. — Apple

The second generation of the iPhone SE was initially launched in 2020, but it still manages to keep up with the needs of many phone users today. It utilizes the body of the Apple iPhone 8, which means it will have a home button and fingerprint ID instead of the Face ID technology in current iPhone models. That’s not much to give up, however, as the second generation iPhone SE still has a great display, a 12-megapixel camera with the ability to shoot 4K video, and wireless charging capability.

BUY REFURBISHED AT BEST BUY — $190

BUY REFURBISHED AT WALMART — $103

BUY REFURBISHED AT AMAZON — $99

iPhone SE 3rd Gen deals

The Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Apple iPhone SE (2020) together. — iPhone SE (2020) in Product Red color, and the iPhone SE (2022) in Starlight color Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Apple iPhone SE 3rd Gen was released in 2022, and it’s the most recent release of Apple’s budget iPhone model. It has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and is compatible with current 5G networks. It also has a 12-megapixel camera with Smart HDR 4 and Portrait Mode, which makes it a pretty significant upgrade over the 2020 iPhone SE. Battery life is also significantly improved, as the third generation iPhone SE is capable of reaching up to 15 hours of video playback on a single battery charge.

BUY REFURBISHED AT AMAZON — $140

BUY REFURBISHED AT WALMART — $158

Buy Refurbished at Best Buy — $240

Andrew Morrisey

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Andrew has been writing professionally for more than 20 years and has been writing about tech for three of them. His focus at…

Topics

Phones

Vibecoded apps are flooding Apple’s App Store, and users are getting sick of them

App Store submissions have doubled this year as AI tools make it easier than ever to build an app, but downloads haven't kept pace, and for good reason.

Apple App Store homepage on an iPhone

Apple's App Store is in the middle of its steepest submission surge in years. Developers submitted nearly 600,000 new apps last year, marking a 30 percent jump over the previous year. That number has already doubled to roughly 560,000 new apps in just the first six months of this year, according to estimates from analytics firm Sensor Tower cited by the New York Times. The reason behind the spike is vibecoding, which allows people with no prior development experience to create new apps using AI tools.

A familiar boom, with a twist

Phones

Google Photos adds a quick toggle between AI and classic search

Classic search is finally easier to reach for people who enabled Ask Photos

Google's Ask Photos debut.

Google Photos is giving users an easier way to leave its Gemini-powered search when a simple keyword would do. A new toggle now sits at the top of the results page, letting users switch between Ask Photos and classic search without digging through settings.

The change appears to address feedback from people who opted into Ask Photos but wanted a quicker way to return to classic search when Gemini was slower or less useful for a straightforward query.

Phones

Snapseed Camera now lets Android users save original photos and add geotags

Google updates Snapseed Camera with geotag support and non-destructive photo editing

Snapseed App

Google appears to be quietly turning Snapseed into something more than just a photo editing app. Over the past few weeks, the company has been steadily adding new capabilities to Snapseed Camera, its standalone camera app for Android. The latest update introduces two practical features that many smartphone users have come to expect from modern camera apps: the ability to save an untouched copy of every image for future editing and support for embedding location data directly into photos.

Neither feature is flashy, but together they make Snapseed Camera a more capable photography tool, particularly for users who like experimenting with filters without permanently altering their original shots. According to a report by 9to5Google, the features are rolling out with Snapseed Camera version 4.1.1.x on Android.