Apple iPhone SE vs iPhone XR: which is the better budget phone?
The iPhone XR has been in the wild for over two months now, and everyone is debating whether it’s worth buying or if you should spend more money on the Apple iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max . Today we’re looking at how it stacks up against the cheaper alternative, the iPhone SE . Keep reading to find out which one wins!
Design
The Apple iPhone SE was released in March 2016 and has been on sale ever since. It’s a 4-inch device with a 1,642×1,136 pixel resolution, 16GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM. The design is similar to older iPhones, but it’s not as sleek or expensive-looking as newer models.
The iPhone XR was released in October 2018 and has been on sale for over six months now. Its 6.1-inch screen has a lower resolution (750×1334) than the SE, but its 64GB of storage and 3GB of RAM are more impressive than its predecessor. In terms of design, there’s not much difference between the two; they both have bezels at the top and bottom.
Display
The Apple iPhone SE was released in March 2016. It has a 4-inch screen, an A9 chip, and a 12-megapixel camera. The iPhone XR was released in October 2018 and has a 6.1-inch screen, an A12 chip, and a 12-megapixel camera. So if you’re looking for more power or bigger screens, then the newer model might be right for you. If not, there’s still some good value to be found with the older model.
It’s also worth noting that the iPhone SE will soon become obsolete as it doesn’t support 5G networks – so if that’s something you need, you’ll want to pick up an iPhone XR sooner rather than later.
Another thing to consider is that both phones offer Touch ID and Face ID biometrics; however, with Face ID on the newer phone comes facial recognition features such as Animoji.
Processor performance
The performance of a smartphone depends on both its hardware and software. The hardware includes the processor, RAM, and storage. Apple’s iPhone XR has a hexa-core A12 Bionic chip with an M12 motion coprocessor and 3GB of RAM. It also has 128GB of storage capacity. In comparison, the iPhone SE has a dual-core A10 Fusion chip with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage capacity.
Camera quality
The camera on the iPhone SE has a 12MP rear camera and 7MP front-facing camera. The quality of photos captured with this device are rich in color, but lack sharpness when viewed at full resolution. The front-facing camera does not have an LED flash, so low-light selfies are harder to capture than those taken with an iPhone XR or other high-end device.
Battery life
The battery life on the iPhone SE isn’t spectacular, but it will get you through a day. You’re not going to be able to watch movies on Netflix or play games on your commute, but you can make it through a typical day without charging. The big downside to this phone is that there’s no headphone jack, so you’ll need an adapter or Bluetooth headphones.
