For my part (SE user of 2 years, and before that a 5s user), this fits my needs pretty well, and it’s got the latest hardware. The lack of a headphone jack was always going to happen, that’s just the way of the world and nothing will change it - and realistically, carrying around a dongle really isn’t a big deal if you’re going to be carrying around your phone and earphones anyway, it’s just another small piece to keep attached to your earphones on a semi-permanent basis. The 5s form factor would have been cool too, but that was also never going to happen, because the SE is released in no small part because there is a surplus of X device (previously 5s, now 8) and they need to move old stock.

I’ll hang onto my SE until iOS 14 comes out, then I’ll get a refurbished SE 2. I might be able to get away with getting an almost-new iPhone released this year for around AU$600, that would be cool.