Apple iPhone SE (2020) vs iPhone 13 mini
Here we compared two smartphones: the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone SE (2020) (with Apple A13 Bionic) that was released on April 15, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 13 mini, which is powered by Apple A15 Bionic and came out 17 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone SE (2020)
- Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13 mini
- Thinner bezels – 19.7% more screen real estate
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Shows 35% longer battery life (32:14 vs 23:55 hours)
- 46% higher pixel density (476 vs 326 PPI)
- 39% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (922K versus 665K)
- Delivers 28% higher peak brightness (848 against 663 nits)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Comes with 585 mAh larger battery capacity: 2406 vs 1821 mAh
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
- Has 33% more RAM: 4GB versus 3GB
- OLED display (versus competitor''s IPS LCD)
- The phone is 1-year and 5-months newer
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | OLED |
| Size | 4.7 inches | 5.4 inches |
| Resolution | 750 x 1334 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 326 ppi | 476 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 625 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 65.4% | 85.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.7% |
| PWM | Not detected | 510 Hz |
| Response time | 29 ms | 4.8 ms |
| Contrast | 2457:1 | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 138.4 mm (5.45 inches) | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) |
| Width | 67.3 mm (2.65 inches) | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) | 7.65 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 148 g (5.22 oz) | 141 g (4.97 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Red | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red, Pink |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A13 Bionic | Apple A15 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2650 MHz | 3200 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Thunder
- 2 cores at 2.65 GHz: Lightning |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Apple A13 GPU | Apple A15 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1230 MHz | 1338 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~629.8 GFLOPS | ~1712.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 129399 | 251650 |
| GPU | 223288 | 306762 |
| Memory | 107740 | 162292 |
| UX | 204233 | 194596 |
| Total score | 665085 | 922909 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 44.3 °C | 38.8 °C |
| Stability | 68% | 79% |
| Graphics test | 41 FPS | 53 FPS |
| Graphics score | 6878 | 8883 |
Memory
| RAM size | 3 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | - | 2133 MHz |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64, 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 13 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) | iOS 15 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| OS size | 8.4 GB | 12 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 1821 mAh | 2406 mAh |
| Max charge power | 18 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (55% in 60 min) | Yes (61% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:32 hr | 1:24 hr |
| Web browsing | 09:36 hr | 10:48 hr |
| Watching video | 07:32 hr | 11:55 hr |
| Gaming | 03:06 hr | 05:11 hr |
| Standby | 86 hr | 124 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1 (12 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/3", Apple iSight Camera (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.7 micron - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone SE (2020) from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 mini from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2320 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | No | - |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 16 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | April 2020 | September 2021 |
| Release date | April 2020 | September 2021 |
| SAR (head) | 0.98 W/kg | 0.97 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 W/kg | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 5 W | - |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 13 mini is definitely a better buy.