Apple iPhone SE (2022) review

One camera on each side

The iPhone SE (2022) has the same 12MP rear and 7MP front cameras as the iPhone 8 and the iPhone SE (2020). They both use the same old sensors and same lenses. Which is probably the reason why they don't get night mode despite the vast amounts of processing power available. Still, Smart HDR and the Deep Fusion are enabled to boost image quality.

There is no ultrawide camera, nor is there a telephoto one. Macro photography is not among the iPhone SE (2022)'s capabilities and generally any of the comtemporary niceties we've come to expect from even mid-range smartphones these days are not possible with this one. What it does have, however, it uses well.

The rear camera relies on a 12MP sensor with 1.22µm pixels and 28mm f/1.8 stabilized lens. PDAF is available, and this camera can capture up to 4K videos at 60fps.

The front camera utilizes a 7MP sensor and can use the screen as a flash. It has a 32mm f/2.2 lens and the focus is fixed.

Portraits are supported on both cameras.

Camera app and features

The viewfinder has been mostly the same since the iOS 13 and the iPhone 11. The Apple image processing includes Smart HDR, Deep Fusion, you can shoot Portraits, but there is no Night Mode.

Deep Fusion is used when light conditions aren't ideal. It triggers instead of Smart HDR and sometimes in low-light conditions. Deep Fusion captures four frames before you hit the shutter, four more once you do, and one long exposure shot. The Neural engine will select the best frames and stack them into a high-quality HDR photo that is very detailed, sharp, and more natural-looking. The Neural processor's machine learning process analyzes the image being taken and processes it according to its contents - say, sky, foliage, or skin tones. Meanwhile, structure and color tones are based on ratios obtained by the Neural unit on the A15 CPU.

The camera interface lets you swipe between modes and have a couple of settings you can uncover with an upward swipe - flash, live photo, photo aspect, exposure compensation, and filters. In video mode, you can change the resolution and frame rate from the viewfinder.

Camera app • Camera app • Photographic styles • Photographic styles

Portrait mode is available on the rear and the selfie cameras. There is no RAW mode, though.

Video • Settings

There is a new feature called Photographic Styles which automatically edits a photo, one element at a time (applying different corrections to the subject and background, for example). You can choose between Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool. You can tune each of these modes by your liking and set your preferred one as default. It's like filters, but more permanent.

Photo quality

If you have seen images from one recent Apple camera, you have seen them all. Despite the many-year difference and the multitude of upgrades introduced with more recent iPhones, the quality of the stills is very similar.

Which is good news in the sense that even dated hardware such as the iPhone SE (2022)'s can produce good images, but also bad news because it appears Apple is maximizing the potential of its latest cameras.

Anyway, the photos taken with iPhone SE (2022)'s rear camera are good in many ways - there is enough detail, noise is low, the white balance is spot on, the contrast is high, and the dynamic range is just right.

But there are two flaws that has been part of Apple's image processing for years. First - the color saturation. It is trying too hard to stay true to life and ends up looking dull. Everyone needs a little color in their life, and we think the default image processing would benefit from a boost in the color saturation. Luckily, changing the default Photographic Style now offers an easy fix.

And second, the incosistent results in areas of random detail like foliage. Sometimes foliage is great, other times it's an awful smudge fest akin to an oil painting.

We'd say the photos are great, in spite of their two flaws, especially for an iPhone on a budget.

Daylight photos, 12MP

The 12MP portraits shot on the main camera are outstanding even if the subject separation is not stellar. The blur is really convincing, while the subject rendition is outstanding - from resolved detail and sharpness, to contrast and colors.

Portraits, 12MP

There might not be Night Mode on the iPhone SE (2022), but more often than not it produces fine low-light photos. Thanks to the optical image stabilization, the Smart HDR and/or Deep Fusion, the low-light photos we took with the iPhone are great.

The resolved detail is plenty, the exposure is just right, the dynamic range is high, and we like the contrast. There is a lot of visible noise - probably because of the not so harsh noise reduction - but we think Apple has struck a good balance between suppresing noise and leaving find detail intact.

The color saturation is once again too conservative and could use a boost, and the foliage is hit and miss.

But, for all intents and purposes, for photos taken without Night Mode (read in an instant), those are some pretty good results.

Low-light photos, 12MP

And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the iPhone SE (2022). You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.

Apple iPhone SE (2022) against Galaxy S21 5G and the iPhone 13 mini in our Photo compare tool

Selfies

The selfie camera might be just 7MP, but it shows a lot more detail than many 16MP, 20MP or even 32MP Quad-Bayer cameras we've seen on other phones. The resolved detail is impressively high and the sharpness is excellent, while noise is kept relatively low.

Even better, the selfie photos show lovely dynamic range and good contrast, and even the colors are good here lively and looking, well, colorful. Overall, these are some of the best selfies you can get on a phone.

Selfies, 7MP

Finally, you can also shoot selfie portraits, and these are flagship-worthy. The subjects are well exposed, detailed and colorful, the faux bokeh is really good looking, and the separation is proficient and pleasing. Some of the best portraits selfies, for sure.

Portrait selfies, 7MP

Video quality

Apple iPhone SE (2022) main camera supports all popular resolutions and frame rates - it can do 4K at 60fps and 1080p at 240fps. - all of them are optically stabilized as usual. All modes also feature cinematic video stabilization and expanded dynamic range thanks to the Smart HDR.

The video bitrate is about 45Mbps in 4K at 30fps and 100Mbps for 4K at 60fps. Audio is recorded in wide stereo with a 160Kbps bitrate.

The 4K videos from the rear camera are simply outstanding. The resolved detail is plenty, the sharpness - just right, the noise is low, and the white balance and color presentation are spot on. The dynamic range is wide, while the contrast doesn't suffer, and everything looks good. The foliage could be a hit and miss as seen on the photos, but other than that - these are some really good 4K videos.

The low-light 4K clips are good, too. They are noisy as the night photos, but show good detail levels, great exposure and more than adequate dynamic range. The colors are good, too. The optical image stabilization surely comes in handy here and the iPhone SE (2022) offers very good night videos.

Finally, here is the iPhone SE (2022) in our video tool so you can make your own comparisons.

Apple iPhone SE (2022) against Galaxy S21 5G and the iPhone 13 mini in our Video compare tool