The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have some of the best cameras ever seen on a phone, offering 4K video recording, an ultra wide-angle lens and a 3x telephoto lens. With many of their photo features, like Deep Fusion, being built into other iPhone models, including the latest iPhone SE, one might legitimately wonder what the difference is between the iPhone’s cheapest and most expensive cameras. Especially since both models contain the latest A15 Bionic chip, which manages digital photo tools such as Smart HDR.
Although the iPhone SE only has one rear sensor, compared to three on the iPhone 13 Pro, these phones have more in common than meets the eye. Our colleagues at CNET.com spent a week comparing the performance of the two iPhones for capturing landscapes, selfies, portraits, low-light scenes, and 4K video. Given the differences in price and build, you’re unlikely to choose between these phones based on their cameras alone, but it’s a learning exercise.
Landscapes and HDR look great on both iPhones
In ideal lighting conditions, it’s difficult for a current phone to take a bad photo. However, considering the iPhone 13 Pro’s significantly newer hardware, we were surprised to find that the iPhone SE produced photos that actually come very close to those of the more expensive smartphone. Both come with the Smart HDR feature and do a great job of balancing out shadow and highlight details. While the iPhone SE’s sensor dynamic range isn’t as good as the 13 Pro’s in more challenging lighting conditions, the difference isn’t as dramatic as the price difference might suggest.
The iPhone 13 Pro also has a larger image sensor than the iPhone SE on its main camera, meaning you’ll get a shallower depth of field in some photos. Check out the two examples below where we’ve focused on the fence post in the foreground to give you an idea of how each phone renders the background.
Both iPhones also have Photographic Styles, which is a preset that is applied prior to recording. It is important to note that this is not a filter as it identifies and applies local changes. We left the style on Standard (Standard) for all photos to get a basic comparison and found it difficult to tell the difference between the two phones. In certain situations, particularly photos of flowers or very colorful objects, we found that the SE added a bit more saturation to the images.
Deep Fusion gives the iPhone SE a boost
Both iPhones also use Deep Fusion, an image processing technique designed to enhance detail and clarity in photos taken in medium to low light conditions. While there’s no way of knowing when Deep Fusion is activated, the SE can often produce images that look almost as good as the 13 Pro in terms of sharpness in average light conditions (or indoors).
Where the latest iPhone SE struggles is in low light, as it doesn’t have a night mode like the iPhone 13 Pro. We find that the photos, taken at night without much ambient light, have a fairly noticeable amount of noise. The iPhone SE 2022 is the only current iPhone without a night mode. A major shortcoming, especially when compared to mid-range Android smartphones. All Pixel phones have a night mode, as well as the recently released Samsung Galaxy A53.
Portrait mode: Clear victory for the iPhone 13 Pro
The 13 Pro lets you use either wide-angle or 3x telephoto for portraits. The 3x frame seems much more flattering on faces. Edge detection isn’t as effective on the SE, resulting in accidental blurring or clipping of certain details that the 13 Pro correctly identifies, e.g. B. a pair of sunglasses resting on a person’s head.
The 13 Pro has another key advantage over the SE 2022. It allows you to take portrait photos of just about anything from pets to flowers. Because the SE only has one lens on the back, it can only take portraits of people. If you try to take a portrait photo of a non-human person, the message “No people detected” will appear on the screen.
Another advantage of the iPhone 13 Pro is that it takes photos in ProRaw format for maximum flexibility and latitude in image editing. In addition, its wide angle has an autofocus that allows you to get closer to the subject and play with the macro.
While the iPhone 13 Pro has obvious tech advantages, like a larger sensor, extra focal lengths, and a night mode, we’re still surprised that the iPhone SE can keep up in many categories.
CNET.com article adapted from CNETFrance
Images: Lexy Savvides/CNET