iPhone SE vs. 11 Pro: Here’s how great of a distinction $600 makes

The iPhone 11 Pro is indubitably the king of Apple’s iPhone lineup (now not decrease than until the iPhone 12 arrives) because of its three rear cameras, all-day battery lifestyles and high-option OLED mask. Nonetheless it completely commands a steep stamp, starting at $999 (£1,049, AU$1,749). With so many unusual iPhones within the market, alongside side the $699 iPhone 11 and the $399 iPhone SE, it’s seemingly you’ll per chance well additionally be questioning which one to grasp. I desired to review Apple’s flagship to the price range iPhone to ogle what distinction that $600 makes.

Realistically, in case you’d love the head-of-the-range iPhone (and it fits internal your price range) you most seemingly may additionally merely now not even grasp into legend the iPhone SE. Nonetheless as I learned out after the usage of both the 11 Pro and SE for a few weeks, I make now not in reality feel love I passed over out on all that great after I switched over to the more affordable iPhone.

Read more: How the $399 iPhone SE compares to the $699 iPhone 11

Angela Lang/CNET

While the iPhone SE may additionally merely ogle love an older iPhone on the out of doorways, make now not be fooled. Paired with the same A13 Bionic chip learned on the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, it supplies broad performance and a extraordinarily succesful digicam for an entry-level stamp of $399. The battery may additionally merely now not perfect as long as the more pricey cell phone, but Apple has made some honest change-offs to defend the price low.

Read our Apple iPhone SE (2020) review.

Angela Lang/CNET

With a graceful stainless-steel chassis, broad battery lifestyles and a high-option OLED repeat, the iPhone 11 Pro in reality does in reality feel deserving of the “Pro” stamp. Or now not it’s miles the most sturdy iPhone it’s seemingly you’ll per chance well additionally buy and has three rear cameras that give you flexibility from ultrawide by diagram of to telephoto. There’s additionally the option of bumping up the mask measurement from 5.8 inches to 6.5 in case you in deciding the iPhone 11 Pro Max, and in addition you additionally compile a bigger 512GB storage option on the head end, whereas the iPhone SE taps out at 256GB.

Read our Apple iPhone 11 Pro review.

Now taking half in:
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New iPhone SE (2020) and iPhone 11 Pro when in contrast

14: 51

iPhone SE is the most compact, while the 11 Pro is awfully sturdy

With a 4.7-jog mask, the iPhone SE shares the same total make as the iPhone 8. Meaning the dwelling button is encourage! Or, it never went away if you’re upgrading from one thing love the iPhone 6 or 7. The iPhone 11 Pro has a 5.8-jog mask and sports the more moderen iPhone make with out a home button.

The iPhone SE has an aluminum physique, while the iPhone 11 Pro is made out of chrome steel. All of Apple’s phones are covered in customized glass on the entrance and encourage, made by Corning, and Apple claims the iPhone 11 Pro has the most sturdy glass of all. I’ve dropped the iPhone 11 Pro infinite cases (both in our formal drop test and when the usage of it for the past six months) and it hasn’t sustained any critical distress. 

Even so, I aloof counsel striking a case for your cell phone correct to be protected, as now not all drops are created equal. We haven’t but conducted a durability test on the iPhone SE, but would query of it to create within the same vogue to the iPhone 8 given it’s miles the same make. (The iPhone 8 suffered a cracked mask when it changed into dropped from 5 feet.)

Each and every phones additionally offer water resistance, even supposing to a little utterly different degrees: the iPhone SE is rated IP67, meaning it must reach a maximum depth of 1 meter (3 feet) for up to 30 minutes, while the iPhone 11 Pro is IP68, or 4 meters (13 feet) for an identical time. Nonetheless in my vulgar water test, I learned the iPhone 11 Pro survived great deeper water than Apple claims, so I’d now not be bowled over if the iPhone SE additionally outlived its rating. Regardless, water distress is now not covered beneath warranty for either cell phone so make now not hurry crazy attempting to check the limits of your cell phone (hurry away that to me!).

Winner: The 5.8-jog iPhone 11 Pro hits the dimensions candy field for me, even supposing the iPhone SE is less complicated for one-handed exercise.

The iPhone 11 Pro has that honest OLED repeat

The iPhone SE has an LCD liquid retina repeat, while the 11 Pro has an OLED Dapper Retina XDR repeat. There’s now not any ask that the 11 Pro’s mask appears honest because of a distinction ratio of 2,000,000:1 and HDR give a choose to. Its OLED tech is ready to ticket deeper dark ranges than the LCD on the iPhone SE.

That said, I wasn’t dissatisfied after I switched over to the iPhone SE. Colors ogle devoted and the mask is discreet to read in shiny, start air light. To my eyes, looking out at a movie looked better on the iPhone 11 Pro because of the mask being bodily bigger.

Winner: Or now not it’s anxious to compete with the iPhone 11 Pro’s OLED repeat.

Touch ID vs. Face ID: Home button or facial recognition?

After the usage of the unusual iPhone SE for several weeks, I count myself among the diversified folk who grasp the usage of a fingerprint to liberate their cell phone. Face ID is solid, but has boundaries no topic turning into more responsive as time goes on. Touch ID correct works better for me in a form of eventualities. Face ID struggles to acknowledge me first thing within the morning after I roll out of bed — maybe I ogle tremendously utterly different within the a.m., but I in reality make now not think I make. (Or now not it’s additionally incompatible with face masks.) Switching to the iPhone SE and the usage of my fingerprint to liberate my cell phone the least bit times works.

On the iPhone SE, you make sacrifice mask proper property to accommodate the dwelling button and I realized the bezels loads on the SE when when in contrast with the nearly edge-to-edge mask on the iPhone 11 Pro (even supposing there may be a notch for the TrueDepth digicam).

Winner: iPhone SE for seamless Touch ID.

The iPhone 11 Pro has three rear cameras, but make you will have them?

There are three rear cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro: ultrawide-perspective, wide and 2x telephoto. The iPhone SE has a single, wide rear digicam. Nonetheless as I learned when taking a ogle at images from both facet-by-facet, the adaptation changed into now not as dramatic as I changed into looking out at for.

The principle cameras on both phones exercise Tidy HDR to even out shadow and spotlight ingredient. The iPhone 11 Pro produced images with increased dynamic range in now not easy lighting conditions, but on some photographs, it changed into anxious to picture them apart by diagram of colour and total processing. The iPhone 11 Pro has Apple’s Deep Fusion processing, which helps to ticket sharper photographs in medium-lighting conditions (think indoors). Read more on how Deep Fusion works in my colleague Patrick Holland’s broad explainer.

You may well additionally contemplate the adaptation Deep Fusion makes when taking a ogle on the same photo on the SE and 11 Pro at full magnification — contemplate the photo of the orchid beneath.

Naturally, the iPhone 11 Pro supplies increased flexibility when composing your photographs because of its ultrawide and telephoto lenses. I esteem the ultrawide level of view and it’s miles the best thing I miss when the usage of the iPhone SE.

Additionally, that digicam on the iPhone 11 Pro diagram you compile more flexibility with selfies, love making Animoji and Memoji that mimic your facial expressions, and filming in 4K.

The perfect distinction between these two cameras is evening mode — the iPhone 11 Pro has it while the iPhone SE doesn’t. Photos from the 11 Pro ogle diagram better in low light than these taken on the SE as evening mode helps illuminate the scene and elevate a clearer, brighter shot. Keep tuned for my full digicam comparison between these two phones coming rapidly, where I’m going to additionally duvet video recording and the selfie cameras.

Winner: iPhone 11 Pro in case you’d love utterly different cameras and evening mode.

The A13 Bionic chip makes both iPhones blisteringly snappily

Or now not it’s no secret that these phones fragment the same processor and in consequence, I did now not undercover agent critical variations in performance when the usage of them both facet by facet. I ran a few benchmarks on both phones and the outcomes had been shut, with the 11 Pro pulling forward for multicore performance on Geekbench.

Within the proper world, both loaded apps snappily and did now not cling any noticeable fade when trimming down a 4K video. Truly, the more affordable SE changed into a hair faster in my anecdotal test. 

Apple doesn’t expose official battery ability for any of its phones, but we make know the iPhone SE has a identical battery to the iPhone 8. The iPhone 11 Pro, within the intervening time, has a bigger ability battery than the more affordable cell phone. (Unofficial third-occasion teardowns printed the 11 Pro has a 3,046mAh battery and the 11 Pro Max 3,969mAh.)

There’s now not any ask the battery lifestyles differs tremendously in day-to-day exercise. The 11 Pro with out problems received me by diagram of a day, often to a day and a half of barely heavy exercise while the iPhone SE lasted a full day with lighter exercise. If I changed into looking out at video or the usage of the digicam reasonably a piece, I reached for the iPhone SE’s charger as a technique to procedure it by diagram of a total day. Each and every phones additionally give a choose to wi-fi charging and snappily charging, but finest the iPhone 11 Pro ships with an 18-watt snappily charger within the sphere.

Winner: General performance feels love a tie, but the iPhone 11 Pro pulls forward for battery.