In theory, photos taken with an iPhone SE or an iPhone 6s should generally look the same, but we wanted to briefly pit both devices head-to-head just to make sure. Both phones sport the exact same iSight camera specs, although the iPhone 6s does have a camera bump where the iPhone SE does not. In this post we showcase several photos and a couple of videos from both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone SE.
I’ve only been able to use the iPhone SE for the last several hours, but as expected, its iSight camera is very much like the iSight camera in the iPhone 6s. Both shooters feature a 12-megapixel sensor with an ƒ/2.2 aperture, and both cameras are capable of shooting UHD 4K video.
The main difference that you’ll find between these two cameras is form factor. If you have big hands, then you might find it easier to acquire a steadier shot on the larger iPhone 6s. I found myself struggling a bit to keep the iPhone SE steady because there wasn’t as much surface area to hold on to. This is important to note since neither device features optical image stabilization.
As was brought out in our top iPhone SE features post, the real difference between these two devices when it comes to camera quality is with the front-facing FaceTime camera. The iPhone SE retains the iPhone 5s’ old 1.2-megapixel shooter with an ƒ/2.4 aperture. This results in noticeably worse selfie photos than the iPhone 6s. If you don’t shoot a lot of selfies, that shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s worth noting.
Brief video comparison
Below is a brief 4K video showing the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. Both phones do an outstanding job at shooting 4K video.
iPhone 6s iSight camera gallery
iPhone SE iSight camera gallery
The iPhone SE, with its $399 entry-level price point, is an impressive little device that’s able to hang with the iPhone 6s in a lot of areas. Most notably, as the photos and videos demonstrate above, the iSight camera quality between the two devices is virtually the same.
If you’re still using an iPhone 5s, and have been waiting for a new smartphone that retains the same form factor, then the iPhone SE is a worthy upgrade that includes a great camera.
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Is it just me or does the first video look better shot from iPhone 6S and the second one better shot from iPhone SE?
I’m confused I thought both had the same camera? You can definitely tell the difference between the two. Especially in the second shot their is more detail to the grass than with the SE could be just me though.
It’s probably just the fact that the SE is harder to keep steady for my giant sized hands :-/ I’ll post more pics tomorrow.
No comparison between the two. According to this video, the 6s is clearly better. I can’t believe the cameras feature the same specs.
The pics are mixed up .. If you click on the flowers under iPhone SE it’s an iPhone 6s pic .. Not all of the pics are wrong, but a few are.
These are poor choices for comparison videos. The framing is different, so the focus points are not similar. This makes it difficult for a viewer to determine differences.
If all the specs are the same and the physical parts are the same, then there should be no disparity in quality or at most a negligible difference that could only be measured by sophisticated testing. I already ordered my SE, because I need a phone that is a “pocketable”
Hey! the pix are mixed up! can we get some pros here?
Sorry, it’s been fixed.
At first I thought iPhone 6s is beating iPhone SE in camera output results, but after focusing for a bit, I figured out both results are similar.
I spent two hours at a California Apple store today waiting to have some data linked in my ICloud accounts.
While there I decided to run a few comparison tests with my current 5S work phone and the new SE. Apple essentially stated in its keynote release event that the new SE is essentially a 6S in the frame/body of the old 5S. Really???
I ran several side by side test with my 5S on the left and the new SE on the right. My test included swiping from top to bottom, bottom to top, page to page, opening Safari, Siri, Weather, the camera’s etc….. Response time was literally identical. And both the 5S and SE were only slightly slower than my personal 6S. Hum???
The 12MP camera on the SE is not the same size lens or appeture as the 6S. The 6S has the larger lens of the two. So I question the camera’s being the same 12MP isight camera as Apple advertises. Look for yourself online or in person and you will see that the camera lens and appeture is smaller on the SE. then the 6S. My hunch is that Apple was able to squeeze a 12MP camera into the same lens used in the 5S. They look identical as do the flashes. Mega Pixels are driven by software and perhaps a slight hardware adjustment not necessarily the lens or appeture size.
That said it does take 4k video and offers Live photos which the 5S does not. There are other features as well like Apple pay and the latest Hey Siri to name a few. And it’s nice that Apple updated a 4″ iPhone. But from a pure speed standpoint, the SE was not twice as fast as Apple is claiming. And it most definitely did not take better pictures than my 6S. However all iPhone camera’s are good and therefore unless you take a lot of landscape photography like myself, the average eye will not see much detail difference. The SE’e camera does focus quicker on macro shots than the 5S.
What blew me away is what the Apple store employee told me when I ran the test with him there which was, you are making very basic day to day phone use comparisons which will be the same. Run multiple apps and graphic extensive games and you will see the difference right away. So I said what you’re telling me is for the average daily user, the phones run the same. He said yes but with slightly better battery life on the SE. Wow!!!
So I did not upgrade my 5S work phone to the SE because from a day to day standpoint (gaming excluded) it ran the same.
I will let the pros do a deep dive on the heavy user metrics. The SE is an upgrade obviously and it is nice that’s it’s in the smaller phone. But I really was expecting to see the SE blow my 5S away when loading apps and testing. What a head scratcher. Still the simple echo system of Apple is hard to beat.
Conclusion, the SE will sell well with kids, first timers, emerging markets and this that buy into the perception that this is a less expensive 6s which it’s not. I’m still an Apple fan but it’s time to add a wide screen to the camera and give the 7 OIS.
iphone 6s is better by a nominal margin.