Budget Smartphone Comparison: Google's $449 Pixel 6a vs. Apple's $429 iPhone SE

[glenayre]

"affordable"

 

[aParkerMusic]

I don’t think Portrait Mode looks better on the Pixel in this case. The background looks aggressive and fake. More doesn’t mean better. The iPhone SE blur looks more natural. Maybe it’s just a bad example, I dunno.

 

[Xanix]

Sorry, but regarding design/specs/price; currently, nothing can't beat the Nothing Phone (1).

Regarding the glyph lights; is a big QOL improvement, for hearing impaired people.
Even a deaf person can easily maintain a message conversation, with the help of the led lights.

499,00€ on any Amazon.(europe) 8GB+256GB

 

[Honza1]

I'll repeat myself every time the topic comes up: The iPhone SE isn't Apple's phone intended to compete with other midrange phones; that's the $499 iPhone 11, which has exactly what you'd expect from a budget phone: Slower CPU, less storage, not-as-nice screen, older-model camera, no 5G. Yes, it costs more than the competitor's lower-end phones. That's not surprising, it's how Apple rolls.

The SE is an outlier that's clearly not designed like a bottom-end device. It has an incongruently top-of-line CPU (two versions newer than the 11), 5G (unlike the 11), and up to 256GB storage (twice what you can get in the 11) in a 7-year-old form factor with an old-school button. It might be Apple's cheapest phone, but everything about it is designed as a fully modern phone for people who "just want a phone like my old one" or are change-averse for whatever reason and actually want it to look like that.

If the SE was really just supposed to be cheap, then Apple would have put a slightly older CPU in it and/or cut corners on the storage so they could get the price to $399 and not make it way higher-specc'd than the 11 that price-wise sits above it in the model lineup. It's not like someone settling for an incongruently old-style phone to save a few bucks will care that much about processor speed and 5G.

The only reason you'd slap a brand-new CPU, 5G modem, and up to 256GB storage into an anachronistic form factor is to make sure it'll be able to stay in service as long as possible, and because you're expecting people to buy it because of the old-school design, not in spite of it.

Not to say that there aren't some people who will buy one solely because it's $70 cheaper than the 11, but it just makes no sense as a product unless it's designed for people who want it to look like that.

Exactly. My wife could get any iPhone they make, she picked SE. There are people who want SE form factor, button and do not care about other stuff...

 

[falainber]

So when the user likes it, and specifically chooses it…they’re wrong?

Tens of millions have been sold, so those buyers are wrong?

They are not wrong, they were just wronged by Apple. That's the only "cheap" Apple phone one can buy. If someone wants a cheap-ish iPhone then that's the only available choice. It would be much better for customers if this phone had modern design.

 

[Rafterman]

So when the user likes it, and specifically chooses it…they’re wrong?

Tens of millions have been sold, so those buyers are wrong?

The OP wasn't judging other peoples' taste, but those huge bezels just look bad in 2022.

 

[ahurst]

One can also be a tech enthusiast and appreciate a smaller display (and features like TouchID).

The SE3 is powered by the same chip as the “Pro” models, and battery life has improved, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s up to date where it counts. The design being an “embarrassment” is overly dramatic assessment and sounds more like a personal problem for an insecure middle schooler or high schooler.

Yeah, as someone currently using a first-gen SE my only hesitation with the current SE design is that it might be *too* big relative to the iPhone 13 Mini and that I'd regret not getting the smaller size. In all other respects it's pretty much everything I want in a phone, iPhone 8 form factor and all (except for maybe a headphone jack).

9 times out of 10, no one cares what phone you’re carrying around.

And even if they did, if they're not a client or executive you're trying to impress or something, why would anyone care what someone else thinks about your phone? If someone is shallow enough to silently judge me because my phone is old, that's their problem, not mine!

 

[Honza1]

They are not wrong, they were just wronged by Apple. That's the only "cheap" Apple phone one can buy. If someone wants a cheap-ish iPhone then that's the only available choice. It would be much better for customers if this phone had modern design.

Not really. It is not cheap for what it provides, it provides features which others have abandoned but large fraction of users want. I was trying to talk my wive out of SE with arguments like "it looks awafgul" etc. She forced me to buy this one, not anything else. Button with touch ID won by far. Form factor ("it is small enough for phone") helped. "I love this device" was the end of discussion. I expect my mother to be same when we finally can replace her 7.
Just get it, Apple is really smart in having SE. They make lots of money on oldish device which has large enough customer base. Why are we having argument?

 

[Adamantoise]

I don't doubt that the Pixel 6a is a better phone than the SE, but the pseudo bokeh effect on the 6a just looks awful. I'm surprised that Google's cloud processing isn't better than it appears to be.

All that compute is done locally just fyi.

 

[Danoc]

Apple's softwares, updates, services and privacy are missing in the comparison.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

They are not wrong, they were just wronged by Apple. That's the only "cheap" Apple phone one can buy. If someone wants a cheap-ish iPhone then that's the only available choice. It would be much better for customers if this phone had modern design.

The iPhone 11 is "only" $70 more than the SE.

 

[lfaa]

'Budget' phones at 450$... lol

 

[jntdroid]

I don't doubt that the Pixel 6a is a better phone than the SE, but the pseudo bokeh effect on the 6a just looks awful. I'm surprised that Google's cloud processing isn't better than it appears to be.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that. The SE's bokeh was much more natural looking around the head, though I wish it was a bit closer.

 

[jntdroid]

It's 2022. Everybody (but Apple) is using underscreen fingerprint sensor.

And honestly, they all suck relative to capacitive fingerprint sensors... and not just on iPhones. On Galaxy's and previous Pixels, the capacitive fingerprint sensors were great as well.

The underscreen ones work pretty good, and are improved over a couple of years ago. But for their purpose, they still can't touch (sorry...) the capacitive sensors.

 

[jntdroid]

I think the 2022 SE is a miss, personally. The 2020 SE made sense, like a souped up 8. The 2022 is just… stale. It’s a 2020 with 5G and an extra GB of RAM.

That being said, I can’t recommend an Android over iOS until Android figures out an adequate way to update devices after 3 years.

There's some truth to that, but you can't ignore the top of the line processor, and the 10-20% bump in battery life in general (vs the SE 2020). The '22 is still a souped up 8... it's just more souped up.

 

[genovelle]

Coming from a Mac website, I appreciate the unbiased review - thanks Juli!

Only by name these days

 

[Doomtomb]

Apple really needs to step it up on the SE. I predict they will adopt iPhone 11 body in the next iteration.

 

[Rookbird¥]

Boy times have changed. Talking about smart phones that cost $400+ and calling them budget phones. I remember when a budget phone cost below $100. 😂

 

[CE3]

iPhone SE battery life is atrocious and quite embarrassing for its price point.

Thanks to the new chip and a slightly larger battery, the SE3’s battery life has been solid for me. Most of the time I can easily get a full day of use without needing to charge. And I’ve been using the SE3 more than I’ve used an iPhone in years.. too much really.. so I should know! How much I’ve loved the switch after years of using larger iPhones was a big surprise (it just took me about 24 hours to adjust to the smaller display),but now I’ll probably never go back to carrying around a larger smartphone again.

 

[CE3]

Apple really needs to step it up on the SE. I predict they will adopt iPhone 11 body in the next iteration.

The iPhone Mini, maybe, but there’s a big difference in form factor and weight with the 11 (which was my last iPhone). Like I said in a previous post, one the main reasons the SE came out wasn’t just to be a “budget option” it was because people still wanted a 4” iPhone. And there’s still a market for smaller iPhones, which is why Apple currently has two of them in their lineup.

 

[Funny Apple Man]

iPhone SE is a solid phone for the price, and I'm glad the battery is much better than previous gen.

I'm hoping they'll change the design of the SE in the next one. I don't care if it's in the design of a XR or mini, either are better than the current iPhone 8 design.

Edit: typo

 

[HMWausau]

I've tried several form factors of phones, and I'm still back to my iPhone 8. It does everything I need and then some and the form factor while 'dated' is still usable. The edge to edge screen doesn't really offer much benefit especially when using the device with a single hand. If your thumb can't get there, then it causes more of a hinderance in usage than helps.

Face ID is nice, but touch ID seems more predictable. I can press the home button and glance at my phone and it's showing me what I want. Face ID requires more attention to the device, which is the last thing I want to do.

Bigger phones are not always better.

 

[flofixer]

Apple's softwares, updates, services and privacy are missing in the comparison.

I agree. To me the ability to use IOS outweighs small differences in hardware.

 

[mpavilion]

People here keep trying to ding the Pixel for supposedly not getting software updates… it’s not a Samsung in 2014, people. Whether you like Pixel or not, Google supports it well, update-wise.

 

[dba415]

Apples camera makes that white dude look orange. Terrible