iPhone SE (2022) camera: Everything you need to know

March 9, 2022 5

Apple’s very first event for 2022 is bringing the big heat to the compact phone market with the arrival of the third generation of the iPhone SE. Retaining the same general design as the previous iPhone SE, but scoring a much faster chipset, better camera, and most importantly, 5G support, the latest refresh of the Apple iPhone SE is definitely a worthy upgrade over its predecessor.

Still, the camera is still a single one, and many might feel that this isn’t quite cutting it in early 2022, when a phone with a single camera is an odd rarity sticking out among the sea of multi-camera phones. But it’s also true that a single good camera is a better option than a couple of “just” okay ones.

With that in mind, what makes the camera of the iPhone SE (2022) noteworthy? In this piece, we will be exploring the ins and outs of the camera of the new iPhone SE!

iPhone SE (2022) camera specs and features

Before we delve into the camera intricacies of the new iPhone SE (2022), let’s compare the camera specs with the previous model, as well as the current iPhone 13.

	iPhone SE (2022)	iPhone SE (2020)	iPhone 13
Main camera	12MP wide, F1.8, OIS, PDAF, Smart HDR 4	12MP wide, F1.8, 28mm focal length, 1/3″ sensor size, OIS, PDAF	12MP wide, F1.6, 26mm focal length, 1/1.9″ sensor size, OIS, PDAF
Secondary camera	–	–	12MP ultra-wide, F2.4, 13mm focal length
Video-recording features	3840 x 2160 (4K UHD 60fps), 1920 x 1080 (Full HD up to 240fps), cinematic video stabilization	3840 x 2160 (4K UHD 60fps), 1920 x 1080 (Full HD up to 240fps)	3840 x 2160 (4K UHD 60fps), 1920 x 1080 (Full HD up to 240fps)
Front camera	7MP F2.2, Full HD video recording.	7MP EIS, HDR, Full HD video recording	12MP EIS, HDR, 3840 x 2160 pixels 60fps video recording

Thanks to the arrival of the A15 Bionic on deck, the iPhone SE (2022) has scored many of the iPhone 13’s computational camera-centric features. We get Photographic Styles, which allow you to choose a specific look for your photos, as well as Smart HDR 4, Deep Fusion, and Portrait mode. Here’s what each of these does, as explained by Apple: “Smart HDR 4 uses intelligent segmentation to apply different adjustments for color, contrast, and noise to the subject versus the background. This ensures faces are properly exposed in challenging lighting, and renders people in the same photo individually, with different adjustments optimized for lighting and skin tone for each person.

Photographic Styles allows users to bring their personal photo preferences to every image while still benefitting from Apple’s multiframe image processing. Preset and customized preferences work across scenes and subjects, and unlike a simple filter, intelligently apply the right adjustments to different parts of the photo to ensure the important elements, like skin tones, are preserved. Deep Fusion uses advanced machine learning to do pixel-by-pixel processing, optimizing for texture, details, and noise in every part of the photo. The image signal processor in A15 Bionic delivers significantly improved videos with reduced noise, particularly in low light, with better white balance and truer skin tone.”

iPhone SE (2022) image quality

We’ve got a slew of official camera samples from Apple that showcase what you might expect from the new iPhone SE (2022). Of course, once we get our hands on the iPhone SE (2022) we will be sharing our own camera samples with the device, but until then, we are only left with the official ones.