iPhone SE (2022) battery life: Everything you need to know
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The third generation of the iPhone SE line aims to bring an affordable iPhone to people unfazed by the latest advancements of Apple's main flagship lineups. Indeed, the third-gen iPhone SE keeps the tried and old design of the iPhone 8, but supercharges what matters the most - the hardware inside, resulting in an improved camera experience, exceptional future-proofness, and overall, a good value for money.
The Apple iPhone 14 series is already here, and this will spell the end of regular compact flagships as the iPhone mini gets the short stick in favor of the large iPhone 14 Plus. This would make the iPhone SE (2022) the last and only one compact phone in Apple's portfolio at the moment.
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What's the battery life of the iPhone SE (2022)?
Traditionally, due to the limited form factor, iPhone SE units have arrived with modest batteries as far as raw capacity comes, the original iPhone SE and the iPhone SE (2020) didn't employ large batteries: the two phones employed 1821mAh and 2406mAh batteries, respectively, which sounds paltry when compared with the larger iPhones. However, these batteries paired with the super-efficient chips that Apple puts inside its most affordable phones meant that they used to punch above their weight when it comes to endurance.
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iPhone SE (2022) battery
Although Apple doesn't usually reveal official battery sizes, subsequent device teardowns usually reveal the prized information. The iPhone SE (2022) was no different in this regard—it was revealed that the battery inside this one is a 2,018mAh one, an improvement over the iPhone SE (2020)'s 1,821mAh battery. This was accomplished without changing the design or increasing the thickness of the device.
This bodes well in comparison with all previous iPhone SE phones. Here's a comparison:
| Phone | Battery size, mAh |
|---|---|
| iPhone SE | 1624 |
| iPhone SE (2020) | 1821 |
| iPhone SE (2022) | 2018 |
What about real-time battery life benchmarks, though?
We get a slight increase in web browsing in comparison with the iPhone SE (2020), which can probably be traced all the way back to the new chipset, whereas video streaming is mostly comparable between the new and the old phone.
Thanks to the new hardware, the new iPhone SE can now benefit from the Smart Data mode, which intelligently conserves battery life by automatically shifting iPhone to LTE when 5G speeds are not needed.
iPhone SE (2022) charging
The iPhone SE (2022) comes with no charger in the box, as is now tradition for Apple's phones.
The phone will charge up to 50% in 30 minutes, with a 20W charging adapter or higher. Of course, you will have to get one separately if you don't have one already. There's Qi wireless charging capability on the iPhone SE (2022), but don't expect dramatically faster speeds than its wired counterpart.
The maximum charging speeds this new iPhone SE supports are up to 20 watts, basically the same as on last year's model (pick a charger accordingly).
According to our measurements, with an official Apple charger, a 15-minute top-up gives you some 30% battery life back, charging for 30 minutes tops you up to 55% battery, and finally, a full charge takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's not incredibly fast, for sure, but in the ballpark of what we expected.
According to our measurements, with an official Apple charger, a 15-minute top-up gives you some 30% battery life back, charging for 30 minutes tops you up to 55% battery, and finally, a full charge takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's not incredibly fast, for sure, but in the ballpark of what we expected.
There's also classic Qi wireless charging on deck, no MagSafe support, as the phone is so thin that there's physically no space for the magnets.
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