Apple iPhone SE vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs Sony Xperia Z5 Compact: specs comparison

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There is a new iPhone on the block and it's...  the 4-inch iPhone SE. Yes, Cupertino decided to update its smallest device lineup with a new handset, and boy, what a handset this is! Packing the hardware of the iPhone 6s in a body that is just as small as the iPhone 5s' one, the iPhone SE is undoubtedly the most advanced 4-inch handset we've seen to date.

But how does it stack up against the current hottest topic, the oh-so-trendy Galaxy S7? Oh, and while we are at it, why don't we include another notable Android device that is considered a munchkin, the Xperia Z5 Compact? Well, we just did that!

Here is how these fare against one another:

Apple iPhone SE Samsung Galaxy S7 Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

Design

Dimensions
4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches
123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm
5.61 x 2.74 x 0.31 inches
142.4 x 69.6 x 7.9 mm
5.00 x 2.56 x 0.35 inches
127 x 65 x 8.9 mm
Weight
3.99 oz (113.0 g) 5.36 oz (152.0 g) 4.87 oz (138.0 g)
Materials
Back: Aluminum
Frame: Aluminum
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4)
Frame: Aluminum
Back: Glass
Frame: Plastic
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68 Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch) Fingerprint (touch) Fingerprint (touch)
Features
Touch sensitive control keys
Keys
Left: Volume control, Other Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key Right: Volume control, Camera shutter, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Gold, Silver, Rose gold, Space gray Black, Gold, Silver, Pink, White, Pink gold Black, Pink, Yellow, White

Display

Size
4.0-inch 5.1-inch 4.6-inch
Resolution
1136x640px, 326 PPI 2560x1440px, 16:9 ratio, 576 PPI 1280x720px, 319 PPI
Technology
IPS LCD Super AMOLED IPS LCD
Refresh rate
60Hz
Screen-to-body
60.82 % 72.30 % 70.64 %
Colors
16 777 216
Peak brightness
500 cd/m2 (nit) 855 cd/m2 (nit)
Features
Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass (Tempered Glass), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Apple A9 APL0898 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 (14 nm) Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994
Processor
Dual-core
1840 MHz
Twiste
Quad-core
2200 MHz
Kryo
Octa-core
2000 MHz
ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53
GPU
PowerVR GT7600 Adreno 530 Adreno 430
RAM
2GB 4GB (LPDDR4) 2GB (LPDDR4)
Internal storage
128GB 32GB (UFS), available to use: 24.5 GB 32GB, available to use: 23 GB
Storage expansion
not expandable microSDXC up to 200 GB microSDXC up to 200 GB
OS
iOS (14.x, 13.x, 12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x) Android (8.0 Oreo, 7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow), Samsung TouchWiz UI Android (6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop)

Battery

Capacity
1624 mAh 3000 mAh 2700 mAh
Type
Li - Ion Li - Ion
Charging
Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, Qi and Powermat wireless charging Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
Charge speed
Wired: 15.0W

Camera

Rear
Single camera Single camera Single camera
Main camera
12 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.2
Focal length: 29 mm
Sensor size: 1/3"
Pixel size: 1.22 μm
12 MP (OIS, PDAF)
Aperture size: F1.7
Focal length: 26 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.5"
Pixel size: 1.4 μm
23 MP (PDAF)
Sensor size: 1/2.3"
Flash
Dual LED LED LED
Video recording
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps)
Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps)
HDR, Picture-taking during video recording, Video calling, Video sharing
3840x2160 (4K UHD)
Object tracking, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing
Front
1.2 MP (HDR), Video capture: 1280x720 (HD) 5 MP (HDR) 5 MP, Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.2 4.2 4.1
WLAN
802.11 b,g,n,ac,dual-band
Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
USB
Lightning microUSB, USB 2.0 microUSB, USB 2.0
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T4 M4/T3
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, Glonass GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Pedometer, Compass, Barometer, Step detector, Step counter
Other
NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, AirDrop NFC, ANT+, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, ANT+, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback aptX-HD Album art cover, Background playback, Music recognition
Screen mirroring
DLNA,Wireless screen share DLNA,Wireless screen share,MHL,MirrorLink
Radio
FM
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation, Video recording Noise cancellation

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 29(700 d) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD), 28(700 APT)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+) Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+) Bands 38(2600), 40(2300)
3G
Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850) Bands 5(850), 8(900), 2(1900), 1(2100)
Data Speed
LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA, UMTS LTE-A Cat 9 (450/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
SIM type
Nano SIM Nano SIM Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes Yes
VoLTE
Yes Yes

Phone Features

Notifications
Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
Other features
Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording, TTY/TDD

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Mar 21, 2016
FCC ID value: BCG-E3042A
Date approved: Feb 12, 2016
FCC ID value: A3LSMG930F
Date approved: Sep 15, 2015
FCC ID value: PY7-PM0881
Measured SAR
Head: 1.16 W/kg
Body: 1.17 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.17 W/kg
Head: 0.43 W/kg
Body: 1.06 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.03 W/kg
Head: 0.97 W/kg
Body: 0.61 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.18 W/kg
Wireless Router: 0.72 W/kg

Buyers information

MSRP
$ 499 $ 699

Availability

Officially announced
Mar 21, 2016 Feb 21, 2016 Sep 02, 2015

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