Camera Comparison: 2020 iPhone SE vs. iPhone 8 and iPhone 11 Pro
Apple last week launched its new 2020 iPhone SE, a low-cost $399 smartphone that features iPhone 8 components upgraded with the same A13 chip available in Apple’s flagship iPhones. We did a full hands-on video back on Friday, but we took the weekend to see how the iPhone SE’s camera measures up to the iPhone 8 and iPhone 11 Pro.
Though equipped with iPhone 8 hardware, the iPhone SE has more advanced photographic capabilities that are enabled by the powerful A13 Bionic chip inside, such as Portrait Mode and Smart HDR, so for the most part, the iPhone SE’s camera quality is superior to the iPhone 8 but inferior to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.
When it comes to photos with good lighting (aka, bright lighting indoors or out), all three iPhones put out similar, decent images because there’s not a lot of work needed behind the scenes for improvement. The iPhone 8 and the iPhone SE photos are a little bit warmer than the cooler iPhone 11 Pro images, and you can see that what’s coming out of the iPhone 11 Pro is a bit crisper, which is no surprise.
The iPhone 8 struggles with highlights being blown out or overexposed in some situations, and that’s where you can see the Smart HDR in the iPhone SE shine. While the iPhone SE was fine in bright lighting, it definitely struggled in low lighting conditions compared to the iPhone 11 Pro.
Both the SE and the iPhone 8 had a hard time with low lighting situations, but the iPhone SE’s images came out a bit better because of the A13 chip. The iPhone 11 Pro has Night Mode, a feature not available on the iPhone 8 or the iPhone SE, so it of course vastly outperformed the iPhone SE in photos with poor lighting.
The iPhone SE features Portrait Mode much like Apple’s higher-end iPhones, but it’s the first of Apple’s iPhones to entirely rely on software to generate Portrait Mode images and Portrait Lighting features. Since the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro have two and three cameras, respectively, their hardware-based Portrait Mode images come out better, but the iPhone SE does a respectable job.
Portrait Mode in the iPhone SE is limited to people because the neural network that powers the feature needs to detect a person to blur out the rest of the image. It’s not going to work with pets, food, or other objects like it does on the iPhone 11 Pro.
Because the iPhone SE’s Portrait Mode is using 2D images to create a depth map, there’s a unique iPhone SE feature — you can take a Portrait Mode photo of a photograph that already exists. It doesn’t work great all the time, but it’s an interesting way to jazz up some older photographs and add background blurring.
Like the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, the iPhone SE supports 4K video at 60fps, which is an impressive feature for a $399 smartphone. A video comparison between the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone SE showed little difference in quality. Both looked great and the optical image stabilization worked well. In comparing 4K video between the iPhone SE and the iPhone 8, the image quality was similar, but stabilization on the iPhone SE seemed to be better and the audio quality is superior.
The iPhone SE has a plain 7-megapixel front-facing camera that also supports a software-based Portrait Mode, which is not available on the iPhone 8. The front-facing camera is fine, nothing spectacular, but it works well enough for FaceTime and selfies and was comparable to the front-facing cameras of the iPhone 8. The iPhone SE doesn’t support the wider angles available with the front-facing camera on the 11 Pro, and the 11 Pro selfies looked a bit better.
For videos with the front-facing camera, both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone SE had a hard time with bright lights, overexposing the video the entire time. The iPhone 11 Pro did a much better job.
It’s worth noting that the iPhone SE also supports QuickTake for both the front and rear-facing cameras. QuickTake lets you hold down the camera button when in picture taking mode to quickly capture a video without the need to swap over to video mode.
All in all, the iPhone SE’s camera does produce pictures fairly similar to the pictures produced by the iPhone 8, but the A13 chip is doing a lot in the background to make those photographs look better. The iPhone SE also isn’t too far off from the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro when it comes to images taken in bright lighting, but that’s where the similarities end.
It’s a single-lens camera rather than a dual or triple-lens camera so it doesn’t have the versatility enabled by additional lenses, there’s no optical zoom, software-based Portrait Mode is not as good as hardware-based portrait mode, and there is no Night Mode to use for low light images.
The iPhone SE is a passable camera of course that’s going to take great every day shots, but those seriously interested in better iPhone photography should take a look at the iPhone 11 over the iPhone SE.
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Compare iPhone Models
Are you thinking about a new iPhone? If you want to find out how your next smartphone compares to other iPhones, we’ve put all the specs together to make your decision a little bit easier.
iPhone 7 Plus
iPhone 7
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone SE
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Buy now
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Capacity 1
32GB, 128GB, 256GB
32GB, 128GB, 256GB
16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB
16GB, 32GB, 64GB
16GB, 64GB
Display
Retina HD display with wide colour gamut and 3D Touch
5.5 inches (diagonal)
1920×1080-pixel resolution at 401 ppi
Retina HD display with wide colour gamut and 3D Touch
Slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
4K video recording at 30 fps
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
Optical image stabilisation for video
Digital zoom up to 3x
Quad-LED True Tone flash
Cinematic video stabilisation
Continuous autofocus video
Slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
4K video recording at 30 fps
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
Optical image stabilisation for video
Digital zoom up to 3x
True Tone flash
Cinematic video stabilisation
Continuous autofocus video
Slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
4K video recording at 30 fps
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
Digital zoom up to 3x
True Tone flash
Cinematic video stabilisation
Continuous autofocus video
Slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
4K video recording at 30 fps
1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps
Digital zoom up to 3x
True Tone flash
Cinematic video stabilisation
Continuous autofocus video
Slo-mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps
Time-lapse video with stabilisation
Take 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video
Playback zoom
FaceTime HD Camera
7-megapixel photos
ƒ/2.2 aperture
Retina Flash
Wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
1080p HD video recording
Auto HDR
Body and face detection
Auto image stabilisation
Burst mode
Exposure control
7-megapixel photos
ƒ/2.2 aperture
Retina Flash
Wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos
1080p HD video recording
Auto HDR
Body and face detection
Auto image stabilisation
Burst mode
Exposure control
5-megapixel photos
ƒ/2.2 aperture
Retina Flash
720p HD video recording
Auto HDR
Face detection
Burst mode
Exposure control
5-megapixel photos
ƒ/2.2 aperture
Retina Flash
720p HD video recording
Auto HDR
Face detection
Burst mode
Exposure control
1.2-megapixel photos
ƒ/2.4 aperture
Retina Flash
720p HD video recording
Auto HDR
Face detection
Burst mode
Exposure control
Mobile and Wireless
GSM/EDGE
UMTS/HSPA+
DC-HSDPA
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (some models)
4G LTE Advanced (up to 450 Mbps) 4
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS and GLONASS
VoLTE 4
NFC
Wi-Fi calling 4
GSM/EDGE
UMTS/HSPA+
DC-HSDPA
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (some models)
4G LTE Advanced (up to 450 Mbps) 4
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS and GLONASS
VoLTE 4
NFC
Wi-Fi calling 4
GSM/EDGE
UMTS/HSPA+
DC-HSDPA
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A
4G LTE Advanced (up to 300 Mbps) 4
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS and GLONASS
VoLTE 4
NFC
Wi-Fi calling 4
GSM/EDGE
UMTS/HSPA+
DC-HSDPA
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A
4G LTE Advanced (up to 300 Mbps) 4
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS and GLONASS
VoLTE 4
NFC
Wi-Fi calling 4
GSM/EDGE
UMTS/HSPA+
DC-HSDPA
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A
4G LTE (up to 150 Mbps) 4
802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.2
GPS and GLONASS
VoLTE 4
NFC
Wi-Fi calling 4
Touch ID
Second-generation fingerprint sensor built into the new Home button
Second-generation fingerprint sensor built into the new Home button
Second-generation fingerprint sensor built into the new Home button
Second-generation fingerprint sensor built into the new Home button
Fingerprint sensor built into the Home button
Apple Pay
Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in shops, within apps and on the web
Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in shops, within apps and on the web
Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in shops, within apps and on the web
Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in shops, within apps and on the web
Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in shops, within apps and on the web
Video Calling 5
FaceTime audio
Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile network to any FaceTime-enabled device
FaceTime audio
Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile network to any FaceTime-enabled device
FaceTime audio
Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile network to any FaceTime-enabled device
FaceTime audio
Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile network to any FaceTime-enabled device
FaceTime audio
Initiate video calls over Wi-Fi or a mobile network to any FaceTime-enabled device
Audio Calling 5
FaceTime audio
iPhone 7 Plus to any FaceTime audio–enabled device over Wi-Fi or a mobile network
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) 4
Wi-Fi calling 4
FaceTime audio
iPhone 7 to any FaceTime audio–enabled device over Wi-Fi or a mobile network
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) 4
Wi-Fi calling 4
FaceTime audio
iPhone 6 Plus to any FaceTime audio–enabled device over Wi-Fi or a mobile network
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) 4
Wi-Fi calling 4
FaceTime audio
iPhone 6s to any FaceTime audio–enabled device over Wi-Fi or a mobile network
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) 4
Wi-Fi calling 4
FaceTime audio
iPhone SE to any FaceTime audio–enabled device over Wi-Fi or a mobile network
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) 4
Wi-Fi calling 4
Siri 6
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders and more
Get proactive suggestions
Use hands-free
Listen to and identify songs
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders and more
Get proactive suggestions
Use hands-free
Listen to and identify songs
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders and more
Get proactive suggestions
Use hands-free
Listen to and identify songs
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders and more
Get proactive suggestions
Use hands-free
Listen to and identify songs
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders and more
Get proactive suggestions
Use hands-free
Listen to and identify songs
Power and Battery 7
Up to 1 hour longer battery life than iPhone 6s Plus
Talk time (wireless) Up to 21 hours on 3G
Standby Up to 16 days
Internet use Up to 13 hours on 3G, up to 13 hours on 4G LTE, up to 15 hours on Wi-Fi
Wireless video playback Up to 14 hours
Wireless audio playback Up to 60 hours
Up to 2 hours longer battery life than iPhone 6s
Talk time (wireless) Up to 14 hours on 3G
Standby Up to 10 days
Internet use Up to 12 hours on 3G, up to 12 hours on 4G LTE, up to 14 hours on Wi-Fi
Wireless video playback Up to 13 hours
Wireless audio playback Up to 40 hours
Talk time (wireless) Up to 24 hours on 3G
Standby Up to 16 days
Internet use Up to 12 hours on 3G, up to 12 hours on 4G LTE, up to 12 hours on Wi-Fi
Wireless video playback Up to 14 hours
Wireless audio playback Up to 80 hours
Talk time (wireless) Up to 14 hours on 3G
Standby Up to 10 days
Internet use Up to 10 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on 4G LTE, up to 11 hours on Wi-Fi
Wireless video playback Up to 11 hours
Wireless audio playback Up to 50 hours
Talk time (wireless) Up to 14 hours on 3G
Standby Up to 10 days
Internet use Up to 12 hours on 3G, up to 13 hours on 4G LTE, up to 13 hours on Wi-Fi
Wireless video playback Up to 13 hours
Wireless audio playback Up to 50 hours
Sensors
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
Barometer
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
Barometer
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
Barometer
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
Barometer
Three-axis gyro
Accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Ambient light sensor
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SIM Card
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Connector
Lightning
Lightning
Lightning
Lightning
Lightning
In the box
EarPods with Lightning Connector
Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
EarPods with Lightning Connector
Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
EarPods with 3.5mm Headphone Plug
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
EarPods with 3.5mm Headphone Plug
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
EarPods with 3.5mm Headphone Plug
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
1. Available space is less and varies due to many factors. A standard configuration uses approximately 4GB to 6GB of space (including iOS and built-in apps) depending on the model and settings. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in jet black are available in 128GB and 256GB models.
2. Size and weight vary by configuration and manufacturing process.
3. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are splash, water and dust resistant, and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.
4. Data plan required. 4G LTE Advanced, 4G LTE, VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling are available in selected markets and through selected carriers. Speeds are based on theoretical throughput and vary based on site conditions and carrier. For details on 4G LTE support, contact your carrier and see www.apple.com/iphone/LTE.
5. FaceTime calling requires a FaceTime-enabled device for the caller and recipient and a Wi-Fi connection. Availability over a mobile network depends on carrier policies; data charges may apply.
6. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Internet access required. Mobile data charges may apply.
7. All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors: actual results will vary. Battery has limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by an Apple service provider. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/uk/batteries and www.apple.com/uk/iphone/battery.html for more information.
