Apple iPhone SE (2020) vs iPhone 13

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Apple iPhone SE (2020) vs iPhone 13

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, 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

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone SE (2020)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Weighs 26 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 13
  • Comes with 1406 mAh larger battery capacity: 3227 vs 1821 mAh
  • Has a 1.4 inches larger screen size
  • Thinner bezels – 20.6% more screen real estate
  • 86% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1236K versus 665K)
  • Shows 51% longer battery life (36:10 vs 23:55 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • 41% higher pixel density (460 vs 326 PPI)
  • Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (837 against 663 nits)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • 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

Evaluation of Apple iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone 13 crucial features
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
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation

Value for money

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type IPS LCD OLED
Size 4.7 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 750 x 1334 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 16:9 19.5:9
PPI 326 ppi 460 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% 86%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 129%
PWM Not detected 609 Hz
Response time 29 ms 7.5 ms
Contrast 2457:1 ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
837 nits

Design and build

Height 138.4 mm (5.45 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 67.3 mm (2.65 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) 7.65 mm (0.3 inches)
Weight 148 g (5.22 oz) 174 g (6.14 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

Tests of Apple iPhone SE (2020) and Apple iPhone 13 in the benchmarks
SoC
Chipset Apple A13 Bionic Apple A15 Bionic
Max clock 2650 MHz 3230 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 279447
GPU 223288 395073
Memory 107740 190761
UX 204233 363150
Total score 665085 1236420
3DMark Wild Life Performance
Max surface temperature 44.3 °C 45.7 °C
Stability 68% 78%
Graphics test 41 FPS 52 FPS
Graphics score 6878 8702

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock - 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
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 18 GB

Battery

Capacity 1821 mAh 3227 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 (54% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:32 hr 1:46 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:36 hr 13:11 hr
Watching video 07:32 hr 14:33 hr
Gaming 03:06 hr 05:23 hr
Standby 86 hr 123 hr
General battery life
36:10 hr

Camera

Specs and camera test of smartphones
Main 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: 14 mm
- Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS)
Camera features - Bokeh mode - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone SE (2020) from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 13 from DxOMark
Selfie camera
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
Network
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 0.99 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 is definitely a better buy.

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