Midrange handsets are one of the most popular smartphone categories in the SA market due to affordabilityIn recent months, two big competitors were released, the iPhone SE and the Huawei P40 lite, but which should you go for?The iPhone SE uses the same design as the older iPhone 8, which looks dated given the large bezels around the screen. At the bottom you will see a fingerprint sensor and on the top is the selfie camera and speaker. On the back sits a single lens camera.
The Huawei P40 lite is larger, has a full view display and very thin bezels, giving you the best screen experience. The fingerprint sensor is located on the side button, which also doubles up as the power button. On the back you will see the four prominent camera lenses.The iPhone SE has a smaller 4.7-inch HD display with a 1334x750 pixel resolution and pixel density of 326 pixels per inch . Given its dimensions of 138.4mm x 67.3mm x 7.3mm, it has a screen-to-body ratio of roughly 65%.
The P40 lite has a big 6.4-inch IPS display with a higher 2340x1080 pixel resolution and a pixel density of 398ppi. Its dimensions are 159.2mm x 76.3mm x 8.7mm, giving it an over 90.6% screen-to-body ratio, which is great for a full view experience.The SE is powered by the latest A13 Bionic chip, 3GB of RAM and has storage options of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB with no option to expand on it.
The P40 lite has a quad-camera set-up on the rear, which comprises a 48MP wide-angle; 8MP ultra-wide; 2MP macro and 2MP bokeh lenses. It shoots portraits, panoramic, supports night mode, image stabilisation, and lets you shoot macro from 4cm. It has a 16MP selfie cam that supports portrait and night modes, and shoots video in 1080p.The SE has a smaller battery capacity of 1820mAh, which is the same as the iPhone 8, and supports wireless charging.
The P40 lite has a huge 4200mAh battery capacity and comes with a SuperCharge 40W USB-C plug. It is capable of a 70% charge in just 30 minutes. Battery life can be prolonged dramatically using Ultra Power Saving Mode.The P40 lite runs on Android 10 but uses Huawei’s Mobile Services instead of Google Mobile Services. This means Play Store or Google Apps are not pre-installed.