iPhone SE 2020 vs iPhone 8: What’s different?

Apple recently announced the second generation of its budget smartphone, the iPhone SE 2020. Some might be wondering if it’s worth the wait, most especially to some who’ve been wanting to switch to iPhone. Looking more like the base model of the iPhone 8 series than its predecessor, we decided to compare the iPhone SE 2020 next to the iPhone 8. Here’s what we found out.

Table of Contents

Performance

The latest iteration of iPhone SE bears the same A13 Bionic chip found in the iPhone 11-series. Partnered with 3rd generation Neural Engine, the iPhone SE 2020 can handle every task smoothly and deliver flagship-like performance without breaking the bank. This is made possible by the two machine learning-powered accelerators and a machine learning controller on the chipset. The processor mainly improves camera performance, battery life, and gaming experience. Meanwhile, the iPhone 8 is equipped with A11 Bionic chip w/ Neural Engine.

The graphics card of the iPhone SE is more advanced, having Apple’s GPU in four cores instead of iPhone 8’s three cores.

Memory and Connectivity

Storage-wise, the iPhone SE provides more options. It now offers up to 256GB of internal storage, trumping iPhone 8’s 128GB. Apple’s most affordable phone also boasts faster download speeds made possible by WiFi 6 and Gigabit-class LTE. Although it does not support 5G connectivity, it does improve LTE network connectivity. The iPhone 8, on the other hand, only has the standard LTE-Advanced connectivity.

Camera

Hardware-wise, both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone SE 2020 features the same single 12MP rear and 7 MP front cameras with the former sporting optical image stabilization. It does, however, differ on some camera features. It now shoots amazing photos and stunning portraits, thanks to Smart HDR and Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and depth control. To make portraits more dramatic, the camera app also includes six Portrait Lighting effects: Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, and High-Key Mono.

For video recording, the iPhone SE 2020 comes with an extended dynamic range of up to 30 fps. It also has QuickTake video on both rear and front cameras that allows video recording without switching out of Photo mode. Videos recorded are also now more immersive with stereo audio recording and cinematic video stabilization.

Other features

For other features,  the iPhone SE 2020 allows Apple Pay with Power Reserve. This allows users to quickly pay for their rides for five hours even when the smartphone needs to be charged. However, Apple Pay isn’t available yet in the country so you may need to hold your wheels for that. It now supports a more simplified touch-and-hold gesture through Haptic Touch, enabling secondary gestures in just one, long tap instead of multiple taps from iPhone 8’s 3D Touch. The 2020 variant of the iPhone SE now ships with Dual SIM, with one in nano and the other an eSIM. Just like other previous iPhones, the iPhone SE 2020 offers the iconic Product Red colorway.

Now, we proceed to the price. Although it is packed with a more advanced processor and comes with more special features in the camera department, the 64GB variant of the iPhone SE 2020 seems to be more affordable than the iPhone 8 at PHP 26,490USD 451INR 38,267EUR 430CNY 3,287. The iPhone 8, on the other hand, starts at PHP 30,990USD 528INR 44,768EUR 503CNY 3,846. The 128GB version of the iPhone SE 2020 only costs PHP 30,490USD 520INR 44,046EUR 495CNY 3,784 compared with the 128GB iPhone 8 priced at PHP 33,990USD 579INR 49,102EUR 552CNY 4,218. Should you want to have more space for your media files, there’s the 256GB iPhone SE which costs PHP 36,490USD 622INR 52,713EUR 592CNY 4,528.

If you want an upgraded camera, optimized performance, larger memory, and faster connectivity, go for the iPhone SE 2020. But if you prefer an old school iPhone as a spare phone, then stick to the iPhone 8.

And there you have it. As for the rest of the specs, both are the same in terms of design profile, rear and front cameras, display, fingerprint scanners in the Home button, battery life, lightning port, and OS versions.