Apple iPhone SE (2022) vs iPhone 15

Here we compared two smartphones: the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone SE (2022) (with Apple A15 Bionic) that was released on March 8, 2022, against the Apple iPhone 15, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 1 year and 6 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

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Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone SE (2022)
  • Fingerprint scanner
  • Weighs 27 grams less
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15
  • Delivers 155% higher peak brightness (1640 against 643 nits)
  • Comes with 1331 mAh larger battery capacity: 3349 vs 2018 mAh
  • Thinner bezels – 21.1% more screen real estate
  • Has a 1.4 inches larger screen size
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Shows 44% longer battery life (25:31 vs 17:41 hours)
  • 41% higher pixel density (460 vs 326 PPI)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
  • 24% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1672K versus 1346K)
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • OLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone SE (2022) and iPhone 15 crucial features
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
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
4 / 64 GB
VS
6 / 128 GB
109.9
(Excellent)
Value Index
86.3
(Very good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type IPS LCD OLED
Size 4.7 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 750 x 1334 pixels 1179 x 2556 pixels
Aspect ratio 16:9 19.5:9
PPI 326 ppi 460 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 2000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1600 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass -
Screen-to-body ratio 65.3% 86.4%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 99.6%
PWM - 306 Hz
Response time 38 ms 2 ms
Contrast 1655:1 ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
iPhone 15
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
iPhone SE (2022)
4.7″ (16:9 ratio) = 9.4 in2
~49% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
643 nits
iPhone 15 +155%
1640 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 138.4 mm (5.45 inches) 147.6 mm (5.81 inches)
Width 67.3 mm (2.65 inches) 71.6 mm (2.82 inches)
Thickness 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 144 g (5.08 oz) 171 g (6.03 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Red Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button No
Repairability - Average (2.96/5)
Drop resistance - Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
iPhone 15 +32%
86.4%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Apple iPhone 15
SoC
Chipset Apple A15 Bionic Apple A16 Bionic
Max clock 3223 MHz 3460 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Blizzard
- 2 cores at 3.23 GHz: Avalanche
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 5 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU 5 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 640 640
GPU clock 1338 MHz 1398 MHz
FLOPS ~1712.6 GFLOPS ~1789.4 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Apple iPhone 15
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iPhone 15 +9%
2612
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
iPhone 15 +11%
6705
Compute Score (GPU)
iPhone 15 +28%
22764
Compute Score (GPU) 17777 22764
Single-core score 2404 2612
Multi-core score 6040 6705
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
iPhone 15 +24%
1672293
CPU 396583 462812
GPU 363070 453603
Memory 162337 222511
UX 424045 533367
Total score 1346035 1672293
Samples [8 tests] [9 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
iPhone 15 +34%
3979
Stability 75% 74%
Graphics test 11 FPS 15 FPS
Section 1 16 FPS 20 FPS
Section 2 11 FPS 15 FPS
Section 3 7 FPS 11 FPS
Graphics score 2969 3979
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
iPhone 15 +20%
2868
Stability 70% -
Graphics test 14 FPS 17 FPS
Graphics score 2387 2868
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone SE (2022)
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-18 (Bionic)AnTuTu 111336740
📘 2026-06-19 (Bionic)AnTuTu 111375075
📘 2026-06-14 (Bionic)Geekbench 6 CPU2404 / 6040
📘 2026-06-14 (Bionic)AnTuTu 111362289
📘 2026-03-13 (Mistral)AnTuTu 111342610
Apple iPhone 15
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-14 (Iphone)AnTuTu 111585568
📘 2026-10-09 (Gurudev)AnTuTu 111226584
📘 2026-09-19 (Bear lover)AnTuTu 111714105
📘 2026-09-14 (ZUSEPRO)AnTuTu 111603687
📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig)Geekbench 6 GPU24336

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 6 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory clock - 3200 MHz
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 15.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27) iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
OS size 12 GB 18 GB
OS updates - 7 years
Security updates - 7 years

Battery

Capacity 2018 mAh 3349 mAh
Max charge power 20 W 20 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No Yes
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (61% in 30 min) Yes (58% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:18 hr 1:50 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 07:07 hr 10:47 hr
Watching video 10:31 hr 16:55 hr
Gaming 03:43 hr 05:36 hr
Standby 87 hr 112 hr
General battery life
17:41 hr
iPhone 15 +44%
25:31 hr

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)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.6
Focal length - 26 mm
Sensor size - 1/1.5" (≈ 0.67 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution - 12 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Focal length - 13 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX633
Sensor size - 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size - 1.4 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 50 80
Preview 71 84
Zoom 29 114
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone SE (2022) from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 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 - 23 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX714
Sensor size - 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
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

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- 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 LE
USB type - USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort - Yes
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 -
Type of SIM card Nano eSIM
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 18
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
85.9 dB
81.6 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced March 2022 September 2023
Release date March 2022 September 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $429 $799
Successor - Apple iPhone 16e - Apple iPhone 17
SAR (head) - 0.98 W/kg
SAR (body) - 0.98 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 Not included Not included
*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 15 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
36 (47.4%)
40 (52.6%)
Total votes: 76

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