Apple iPhone SE (2020) vs iPhone 16e
49
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone SE (2020) (with Apple A13 Bionic) that was released on April 15, 2020, against the Apple iPhone 16e, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 4 years and 11 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone SE (2020)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Weighs 19 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
- Comes with 2184 mAh larger battery capacity: 4005 vs 1821 mAh
- Thinner bezels – 21.8% more screen real estate
- Has 2.7x more RAM: 8GB versus 3GB
- Has a 1.4 inches larger screen size
- Shows 60% longer battery life (26:44 vs 16:40 hours)
- 56% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1612K versus 1033K)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- 40% higher pixel density (457 vs 326 PPI)
- Delivers 26% higher peak brightness (838 against 664 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18
- The phone is 4 years and 11 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
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| 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 | 457 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 | 65.3% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| PWM | Not detected | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 29 ms | 10 ms |
| Contrast | 2457:1 | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone 16e
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
iPhone SE (2020)
4.7″ (16:9 ratio) = 9.4 in2
~49% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
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) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 148 g (5.22 oz) | 167 g (5.89 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Red | White, Black |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.79/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A13 Bionic | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 2650 MHz | 4040 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 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple A13 Bionic GPU | 4 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1230 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~629.8 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 13772 | 24041 |
| Single-core score | 1680 | 3281 |
| Multi-core score | 3671 | 8035 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 292054 | 485100 |
| GPU | 222419 | 445832 |
| Memory | 149701 | 185536 |
| UX | 369183 | 496320 |
| Total score | 1033357 | 1612788 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 82% |
| Graphics test | - | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1226 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | 67% | - |
| Graphics test | 9 FPS | 21 FPS |
| Section 1 | 12 FPS | 26 FPS |
| Section 2 | 9 FPS | 21 FPS |
| Section 3 | 6 FPS | 15 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2275 | 5507 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 65% | - |
| Graphics test | 10 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1768 | - |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone SE (2020)
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-05-02 (runrey) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 833 / 1454 |
| 📘 2023-11-13 (Guest #1) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 13772 |
| 📘 2023-11-13 (Guest #2) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1738 / 3119 |
| 📘 2023-10-05 (Antonio) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 1680 / 3671 |
Apple iPhone 16e
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1600106 |
| 📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user) | AnTuTu 11 | 1591246 |
| 📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose) | AnTuTu 11 | 1721718 |
| 📘 2026-01-14 (Glib) | AnTuTu 11 | 1656396 |
| 📘 2026-01-13 (киря) | AnTuTu 11 | 1612788 |
Memory
| RAM size | 3 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 13 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 8.4 GB | 24 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 1821 mAh | 4005 mAh |
| Max charge power | 18 W | 25 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 |
| Bypass charging | - | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (55% in 60 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 2:32 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 06:52 hr | 11:59 hr |
| Watching video | 10:09 hr | 15:01 hr |
| Gaming | 03:33 hr | 05:04 hr |
| Standby | 79 hr | 127 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#112th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8064 x 6048 |
| 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) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 28 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Apple iSight Camera | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | 1/3" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.22 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone SE (2020) from DxOMark | - |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2320 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
DxOMark front camera
| Photo | 103 | - |
| Video | 122 | - |
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 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | No | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 16 | - |
| 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 | Mid-range |
| Announced | April 2020 | February 2025 |
| Release date | April 2020 | February 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $399 | $599 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 16e | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.98 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 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 | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
- The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*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 16e is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 19