Photo Credit: Apple
Apple’s long-awaited iPhone SE was released a couple of days ago and rivals the iPhone XR as an alternative to the expensive iPhone 11 series. Let’s see how they differ and which one brings the best value for money.
iPhone SE
Design
It looks just like an iPhone 8, with bezels on the front at the top and bottom. The classic home button with the fingerprint reader built-in sits at the bottom, for probably the last time in iPhone history. The back is made of glass and on the front shines a 4.7-inch HD Retina display. The rest of the frame is aluminium.
With an IPX67 seal, you don’t have to worry about your iPhone if you get it wet or accidentally drop it into the pool.
It is available in black, white and well, POW. Just another funky name for Apple’s Product (RED).
Haptic touch is now the norm so Apple did away with 3D touch. I’m sad with the departure of 3D touch. It was a neat feature with great functionality for quick actions. Let me know in the comments if you were a 3D touch user and how you feel about the departure of it.
CPU
The iPhone 11 seems upset. It called and said it wants its chip back! Yes, ladies and gentleman, the iPhone SE has the same A13 Bionic chip as the iPhone 11 series. It gives you the power to use augmented reality and play the latest games with spectacular performance.
Camera
Speaking of performance, the A13 chip gives the iPhone SE the edge by adding 3 lighting effects the XR doesn’t have. It is also capable of taking 4K video.
Other Features
Some smaller features include a True Tone display that adapts to the ambient light to make images look natural, the ability to record audio in stereo and share audio with two sets of AirPods (1st gen or later) or Beats headphones. (See the full list on Apple’s website.)
Augmented reality is also a buzz word these days and the iPhone SE makes sure you have the ability to play augmented reality games or place furniture in your house before buying them.
It has Dual SIM capability and has super-fast wireless connectivity with WiFi 6 and Gigabit-class LTE which is faster than what the iPhone XR is capable of.
Comparison
So, which phone should you buy? The brand new iPhone SE with fingerprint or the iPhone XR with Face ID? This is just one of the multiple trade-offs you will have to consider. Let’s take a look at the main differences and some similarities between the two iPhones.
| Feature | iPhone SE | iPhone XR |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | A13 Bionic with 3rd-Gen Neural Engine | A12 Bionic with 2nd-Gen Neural Engine |
| Storage | 64/128/256GB | 64/128GB |
| Display | 4.7-inch LCD, 326ppi, True Tone, 625 Nits, 1400:1 Contrast Ratio, P3 wide colour gamut | 6.1-inch LCD, 326ppi, True Tone, 625 Nits, 1400:1 Contrast Ratio, P3 wide colour gamut |
| Bezel/Notch | iPhone 8 Bezel Design | iPhone X and newer Notch with an almost edge to edge display |
| Unlock Authentication | Fingerprint | Face ID (Supports Animoji and Memoji) |
| Rear Camera | Single 12MP wide-angle, f1.8, 1.2µm pixels Better image processing thanks to the A13 chip Sapphire crystal lens cover | Single 12MP wide-angle, f1.8, 1.4µm pixels Larger Focus Pixels Smart HDR |
| Front Camera | Single 7MP | Single 7MP |
| Camera Features | Portrait lighting with 6 lighting effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High-Key Mono) | Portrait lighting with 3 lighting effects (Natural, Studio, Contour) |
| Battery | Same as iPhone 8 | 1.5 hours longer than iPhone 8 Plus |
| Colours | Black, white, Product (RED) | Black, white, Product (RED), Blue, Coral, Yellow |
| Price | 64GB – $399 128GB – $449 256GB – $549 | 64GB – R13,499 128GB – R14,999 64GB – $599 128GB – $649 |
See the full list of differences and similarities here.
Pricing at the time of writing:
– No South African pricing for iPhone SE available yet;
– Current pricing for iPhone XR as on 21 April 2020 at 15:14 from Digicape and MyiStore
Which One Should You Buy?
There are trade-offs you will have to consider. To me personally, the five most important trade-offs are:
- Fingerprint or Face ID
- Processor Speed
- Camera Features
- Screen and Physical Size
- Battery Life
Closing
So, how confused are you now? Which technology and features are more important to you? Faster processing, larger screen, Face ID, bezels or a notch, more colour options? Let me know in the comments which iPhone you would choose and why and ask my advice if you are not sure which one you need.
Interesting Read
Take a look at a previous article and see how many rumours turned into reality.
Rumour: iPhone SE2 /
iPhone 9
What will the new low-budget iPhone be called? What will it look like, how will it measure up to today’s standards and how much will it cost? See the latest rumours about all these questions.
