Samsung or Apple? It’s a common question among tech fans, and there’s never an easy answer. Here, we’ve got two of the brand’s most popular devices facing off against each other in a camera shootout, but instead of putting the most expensive models into battle, it’s a pair of far cheaper ones — the Apple iPhone SE (2022) and the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G.
Is it a fair fight? The Galaxy A53 comes with four cameras on the back, making it look far superior next to the iPhone SE (2022)’s lowly single camera. And even the selfie camera on Samsung’s phone has more than four times the amount of megapixels! Surely, this is a battle that can only go one way? Well, not necessarily.
What are the differences?
If you’ve got under $500 to spend on a new smartphone, both the iPhone SE (2022) and the Galaxy A53 5G should be on your list. You can get the Samsung phone for around $450, while the iPhone SE is yours for $429. There’s not a big difference in price, but there’s one big difference when you pick them up.
The iPhone SE (2022)’s 4.7-inch screen makes the phone feel very small by modern standards, while the 6.5-inch Galaxy A53 could easily be mistaken for an expensive, high-spec flagship. The iPhone’s small size does have its advantages. It is perfectly pocketable, daintily styled, and wonderfully ergonomic. While the Galaxy A53 does have a slick, modern design, it’s definitely not dainty and pockets need to be deep to accommodate it.
Flipping the phones over, the iPhone is made of glass and the Galaxy A53 is plastic. There’s a single, 12-megapixel camera on the back of the iPhone with optical image stabilization and an f/1.8 aperture. The back of the Galaxy A53 has a 64MP main camera with optical image stabilization, plus a 12MP wide-angle camera, and a pair of 5MP cameras for macro and depth duties. The two phones really couldn’t be any more different.
That makes the test more fascinating. We’ve long said the low-megapixel sensors that pad out the camera lineup on many cheap Android phones are a waste of time, so do Samsung’s sensors offer tangible benefits over a high-performing single camera in the real world? That’s what we’re going to find out.
Focal length and apps
Before we get started, you’ll probably notice the Galaxy A53 and iPhone SE (2022)’s photos appear quite different — making it look like I was sometimes standing a lot closer to the subject when shooting with the iPhone. I wasn’t, and it’s because the two cameras have different focal lengths. The Galaxy A53 has the equivalent of a 26mm focal length lens and the iPhone SE (2022) has the equivalent of a 28mm focal length lens.
A word on the camera apps, too. I activated the camera from the lock screen most of the time, and the Galaxy A53 felt ponderous next to the lightning-fast iPhone SE (2022), with a several-second pause while it opened the camera ready for use. It’s an important thing to note, as often moments we want to capture can be over very quickly, and every second can count. The iPhone SE (2022) is always ready for action faster than the Galaxy A53. Now, on to the photos.
