After two years from the latest model from the lineup, Apple just launched its new affordable iPhone: the iPhone SE 2022. And it is even the most affordable last-generation Apple phone. After its launch, a lot of people are wondering whether or not it is the best affordable compact flagship or you can get something better with similar prices. This year, the main Chinese smartphone manufacturer came up with a compact flagship as well. We are talking about Xiaomi and the vanilla Xiaomi 12: it is not as compact as the iPhone, but its display diagonal is below-average and the phone is very powerful just like the iPhone SE 2022. In this article, we decided to compare the latest Apple affordable phone to the Xiaomi 12 in order to understand which one offers the highest value for money depending on your personal needs.

Xiaomi 12 vs Apple iPhone SE 2022

Xiaomi 12 Apple iPhone SE 2022
DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.2 mm,
179 g		 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm,
144 g
DISPLAY 6.28 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels (Full HD+), OLED 4.7 inches, 750 x 1334 pixels (HD+), Retina IPS LCD
PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, octa-core 3 GHz Apple A15 Bionic, octa-core 3.22 GHz
MEMORY 8 GB RAM, 128 GB – 8 GB RAM, 256 GB – 12 GB RAM, 256 GB 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – 4 GB RAM, 256 GB
SOFTWARE Android 12, MIUI iOS 15
CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS
CAMERA Triple 50 + 13 + 5 MP, f/1.9 + f/2.4
32 MP front camera		 12 MP, f/1.8
7 MP f/2.2  front camera
BATTERY 4500 mAh, fast charging 67W and fast wireless charging 50W 2018 mAh, Fast Charging 18W, Qi wireless charging
ADDITIONAL FEATURES 5G, dual SIM, reverse wireless charging 5G, Touch ID, IP67 water resistant

Design

The design of the iPhone SE 2022 is very outdated: it has an amazing build quality, but it looks like the old iPhone 8 with its thick bezels and the presence of the Touch ID. On the other hand, it is one of the most compact phones out there; it could be more compact without those big bezels, but it remains one of the most compact handsets thanks to its small display. Coming back to the build quality, the iPhone SE 2022 has the same Ceramic Shield glass as the iPhone 13 series and it is even water resistant thanks to the IP67 certification. But the Xiaomi 12 is the handset with the most suggestive design: it has very narrow bezels around the display, as well as a punch-hole panel protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. It is bigger in terms of dimensions and it is not water resistant, but it is more beautiful.

 

Display

The Xiaomi 12 is the device with the most advanced display. It is an AMOLED panel with one billion colors, a diagonal of 6.28 inches, a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, a 120 Hz refresh rate, the HDR10+ certification, and Dolby Vision. Besides having a higher resolution, it provides a better color reproduction if compared to the LCD display of the iPhone. But the latter is not disappointing in terms of color accuracy. The Xiaomi 12 comes with an in-display fingerprint reader, while the iPhone has a Touch ID under its panel, on the lower bezel. In both cases, you get good stereo speakers but no audio jack.

 

Specs & Software

The iPhone SE 2022 is affordable but it is powered by the same Apple A15 Bionic mobile platform as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This processor gives it amazing performances in every scenario. It comes with a lower amount of RAM than the iPhone 13 lineup, but the optimization of the iOS operating system makes its performance better than almost every Android phone. However, the Xiaomi 12 is still an amazing flagship thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 mobile platform (the best one by Qualcomm). The iPhone runs iOS 15.4 out of the box, while the Xiaomi flagship comes with Android 12 and MIUI 13.

 

Camera

If you are looking for the best cameras, then go for the Xiaomi 12 without thinking twice. It has three sensors on the rear side, including the main one with a 50 MP resolution, OIS, and phase detection autofocus. Then there is a 13 MP ultrawide camera and a 5 MP telephoto macro camera. The iPhone SE 2022 has a single 12 MP camera so its photographic experience is not so versatile, but photos still look great.

 

Battery

The Xiaomi 12 has a much bigger 4500 mAh battery than the 2018 mAh unit found on the iPhone SE 2022, that is why its battery life is way longer on a single charge. Further, it features 67W fast charging and 50W wireless charging, providing way faster charging speeds.

 

Price

In the European market, Xiaomi 12 starts from €799/$880, while the iPhone SE 2022 costs €529 in the base 64 GB configuration ($429 in the U.S. market). The Xiaomi 12 is definitely a better phone thanks to its superior display, cameras, and battery. But the iPhone comes with amazing performance and higher build quality. Further, it is more compact. Which one would you pick?

 

Xiaomi 12 vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: PRO and CONS

Xiaomi 12

PRO

  • Faster charging
  • Better cameras
  • Bigger battery
  • Superior display
  • Better design

CONS

  • Nothing particular

 

Apple iPhone SE 2022

PRO

  • Better software optimization
  • Compact
  • Water resistant
  • Optional eSIM

CONS

  • Inferior display and cameras

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