The refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) sits last in the Ansa-Phone line-up, at number twelve, and it is the only ordinary smartphone on the list (the Pinwheel Plus is smartphone-shaped, but a parent-controlled launcher keeps it on rails). That is deliberate. This site exists to help UK parents find phones that don’t do the internet. This one does all of it.
We list it because we won’t pretend smartphones are never the right answer. Some families land on one for a specific school or medical reason. Once that decision is made, the question stops being whether and becomes which, and the answer to which is a second-hand SE rather than a brand new iPhone 15.
Screen Time is the reason it’s an iPhone
In the published UK and US tech coverage, Apple Screen Time, with Family Sharing and Find My behind it, is rated the most useful parental-control system on the market. That is the whole case for buying Apple here rather than a cheap Android.
The order of operations matters. Add the child as a family member through Apple Family Sharing, then set communication limits, screen time limits, App Store restrictions and Content & Privacy restrictions before the child first uses the phone. The single most useful rule is setting Communication Limits to contacts only, so the child can’t be reached by strangers. Apple keeps the step-by-step guide current at apple.com/uk/families. Without that setup, it is simply a smartphone, with all that implies.
What it does
Everything, which is the point and the problem. A 12 MP rear camera and a 7 MP front one, 64 to 256 GB of storage, 4G and 5G on any UK network, a weight of 144 g, and a battery that lasts a day with normal teenage use. Apple supports older iPhones longer than any other manufacturer, which is why a refurbished SE still makes sense as a purchase.
The rest of this site is organised around what phones don’t do. The SE has no such list. Every browser, app store and feed is present. Screen Time is the fence, and a parent is the one holding the gate.
The trade-offs
It is still a smartphone, socially and algorithmically. No setting changes what it is, or what a playground assumes about the child carrying it. We wouldn’t give one to a child under twelve, and if you’re genuinely trying to avoid a smartphone, this page isn’t your answer. Best simple phones is.
Refurb stock also varies week to week. Storage, colour and condition tier change with the stock, and the price moves with the condition tier, so treat the £89 below as a from price rather than a promise.
Price and where to buy
Amazon Renewed UK lists the SE from around £89 for the 64 GB Midnight, covered by the 12-month Amazon Renewed Guarantee. That’s the buy button on this page.
We earn a small Amazon Associates commission if you buy through the Amazon UK button above or below. The commission doesn’t change the price you pay. See the affiliate disclosure page.
The alternative is Back Market UK from £169, through the Awin network, which also earns us a small commission at no cost to you. Back Market is the established UK refurb specialist, with a twelve-month warranty and a thirty-day return. Either way, skip the cheapest eBay listings: many ship without the original warranty rights.
Pair with
A £6 SIM. The SE takes any network’s SIM, so there’s no reason to sign a contract. Our best SIMs guide has the current pick for a teenager.
The honest summary
The refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) is the smartphone we’d buy if a smartphone is what your family has decided to buy. That judgement is a synthesis of the published UK and US tech coverage of the SE and its parental controls, plus Apple’s own specifications. Ansa-Phone doesn’t lab-test phones. If you haven’t decided yet, start with which phone, or read the Nokia 3210 review. The other eleven phones on this site exist so you don’t have to buy this one.
The specs that matter
- Price from
- £89
- Network
- Unlocked 4G/5G
- Battery
- A day, with normal teenage use
- Camera
- 12 MP rear, 7 MP front
- Storage
- 64 to 256 GB
- Weight
- 144 g
- What stands out
- Apple Screen Time, Family Sharing, Find My. The most well-developed parental controls on the market.
Where to buy
Buying through the Amazon UK button earns us a small Amazon Associates commission at no cost to you. Read the full disclosure.
Where the reviewers differ
Reviewers agree the A15 chip is quick for the money and that the dated 4.7-inch LCD design and the missing camera Night mode are the real compromises. They split on value: Tech Advisor says it only suits buyers who must have an iPhone but cannot afford a pricier model, while Pocket-lint rates it a solid entry-level upgrade and suggests stretching to the iPhone 13 mini if you can.
The published reviews we read
- GSMArena Apple iPhone SE (2022) - Full phone specifications
- GSMArena Apple iPhone SE (2022) review
- Tech Advisor iPhone SE 2022 Review: Cheap Isn't Always Cheerful
- Pocket-lint Apple iPhone SE (2022) review: Should you buy the entry level iPhone?
Notes from Ansa-Phone, when there is something worth saying.
Short notes on simple phones, the parent conversation and the school side. New subscribers get our first-phone series, four short emails over eleven days, then occasional notes when there is a piece worth sending. Unsubscribe with one click.
How the Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) sits next to the others
We keep a tight list of simple phones on the shelf at any one time. The Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen) is one of them. Here are the others, and the short reason a UK family might pick each one instead.
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Nokia 3210 (2024), from £79
Our first recommendation for almost every family. It looks like the phone your child's friends will think is cool, which matters more than parents often admit.
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Nokia 8210 4G, from £35
The cheaper sibling to the 3210. The same idea, a phone a child is happy to be seen with, on a bigger screen and at a lower price. The trade is a plainer build and a weaker camera.
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Nokia 235 4G, from £40
The starter pick for under-tens, and the no-fuss phone for anyone who genuinely does not want anything beyond calls and texts.
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Nokia 2660 Flip, from £55
The one for a younger child, or anyone who likes the satisfaction of closing a phone to end a call. The flip protects the screen at the bottom of a school bag, and there is nothing on it to fall down.
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Nokia 225 4G, from £45
The middle of the cheap-Nokia pack. A little more phone than the 105 or the 110, a little less than the 3210. The 2024 version adds USB-C charging, which the older basics lack.
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Nokia 110 4G, from £25
The cheapest phone we list that still has a camera. A pound or two more than the 105 4G, and you get a basic camera, Bluetooth and an MP3 player. The floor of the market, with a little extra.
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Nokia 105 4G, from £24
The rock-bottom option, and a genuine one. If the brief is a phone that makes calls and sends texts and does nothing else at all, this is it, for the price of a couple of school lunches.
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HMD Barbie Phone, from £99
Half novelty, half genuine simple phone. It says 'Hi Barbie' when it boots and the buttons glow in the dark, but underneath it is a proper 4G flip with no app store, no browser and no social media. For a child who would carry a fun phone but not a plain one.
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Pinwheel Plus, from £279
For families who need a smartphone-shaped device but want a hard boundary on what runs on it. The portal lets you whitelist apps from a curated list. There's a monthly subscription for the Caregiver Portal.
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Punkt MP02, from £259
The keypad alternative to the Light Phone III. A beautifully made minimalist phone for an adult or older teenager stepping back from a smartphone, with Signal-based messaging and 4G tethering, but no app store and no camera.
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Light Phone III, from £399
Quiet, minimal, slow on purpose. The Light Phone III ships from the US, which means import VAT and a longer wait. For the family who is sure this is right and is willing to pay for it.
The full ranked list, with the trade-offs spelled out alongside each phone, lives at /best-simple-phones. If you'd rather a ninety-second picker that points at one phone for your specific family, that's at /which-phone. If you'd like the catalogue at-a-glance, the Phone-dex is at /phone-dex.
Questions UK parents ask about the Refurbished iPhone SE (3rd gen)
Is a refurbished iPhone SE safe for a child?
Only if Apple Screen Time is set up properly before the child first uses the phone. Add the child as a family member through Apple Family Sharing, set communication limits, screen time limits, App Store restrictions and Content & Privacy restrictions on the child account. Without those, it is a smartphone with all that implies.
How do I set up Screen Time for a child on the iPhone SE?
Open Settings on a parent's iPhone, tap Family, add the child as a family member with their own Apple ID, then open Screen Time and configure the rules on the child's account. Apple publishes the up-to-date step-by-step guide at apple.com/uk/families. The single most useful rule is to set Communication Limits to 'Contacts only' so the child cannot be reached by strangers.
Where can I buy a refurbished iPhone SE 3rd gen in the UK?
Two good routes. Amazon UK lists it as Renewed from around £89, covered by the 12-month Amazon Renewed Guarantee, and that is the option we lead with on this page. Back Market UK from £169, with a twelve-month warranty and a thirty-day return, is the established refurb specialist and a reliable alternative. Either way, avoid the cheapest eBay listings: many ship without the original warranty rights.
Read next
- Apple's parental controls, the latest, what changed at WWDC 2026 and the UK age checks already live on the iPhone.
- Apple Screen Time on iPhone, the UK setup walkthrough, the step-by-step that makes a refurbished iPhone SE a controlled device rather than an open door.
- The conversation, in seven moments, the kitchen-table script built from published UK parent testimony. Free, no email gate.
- For teachers and carers, a letter from the head, an assembly script, the SLT one-pager. The school side of the conversation.
- What the research says, calmly, the plain-English read of the evidence behind delaying a first smartphone.
- The research, every claim Ansa-Phone makes, with the primary source attached.
- UK pricing guide, the £24 to £400 ladder and the hidden costs.
- The best UK SIMs for a child's first phone, ParentShield first, the cheaper alternatives below.
