iPhone SE or Galaxy A51: Battle of the $400 phone cameras

So you clicked on this video because you wanna see how the $400 iPhone SE stacks up to a $400 Android phone. Don't worry, I got you. This is the camera comparison of iPhone SE versus Galaxy A51. [MUSIC] Everything you see in this comparison has either been shot on the Galaxy A. One or the iPhone SE. So lets take a look at general photos first and then come back and talk about the differences in the cameras themselves. [MUSIC] For these photos, I left everything on default settings so you can get an idea of what each does straight out of the box. And I say this every time but so much of this comparison comes down to personal preference and the screen your viewing on. So both the Galaxy and the iPhone have and HDR mode to help balance out shadow and highlight detail and it does a great job on both phones as you can see the Galaxy does bump up the saturation slightly more than the iPhone and I noticed it particularly emphasizing flowers. Or anything with a striking vivid colour. That's because like other Galaxy phones the A51 has a scene optimizer that enhances your photo depending on the subject. So anything from flowers to portraits to food. The things that I have to do before I can eat. I noticed the scene optimizer really made food and plant photos pop but sometimes it can look a little too intense. And if you jump to the 100% crop, the iPhone attached more detail on items like the dish towel which does look a bit more defined than on the Galaxy. [MUSIC] While it might hard to separate these phones from the photos you just saw, the camera themselves are significantly different. The iPhone SE has a single 12 megapixel rear camera with a 28 millimeter field of view. But the Galaxy A 51 has four a 48 megapixel main camera at 26 millimeters a 12 megapixel ultra wide, a five megapixel depth camera and a macro camera. That ultra wide camera in particular means you can zoom out to get more in your shot compared to the iPhone. Also, the 48 megapixel mode isn't active by default. You do need to switch it on in the settings. Like the Galaxy S20 Ultra with it's high resolution mode, the A51 does capture more detail at 48 megapixels but you don't get features like HDR. If you like to take portrait mode photos, you're in luck. Both of these phones do a great job on default settings. Edge detection on the iPhone can sometimes get a bit confused with hair in particular, but it's not hugely noticeable until you zoom in. You can also adjust the intensity of the blur on both phones before of after you take the shot But the iPhone SE only lets you take portrait mode photos of people rather than pets or objects like the galaxy can. Neither of these phones have optical zoom so you're relying on digital zoom to get you closer. On the iPhone SE it's at five times while the galaxy 851 is eight times So, neither of them are particularly great to look at but you can get an okay shot at five times on both. If I had to pick I'd probably choose the iPhone as it looks less over sharpened. The eight times from the a 51 is particularly messy so, I only take it to five times zoom if you need to get closer Speaking of closeups though, that dedicated macro camera on the Galaxy, can get really close to your subject. So initially, I struggled to get a good shot indoor with the macro lens. And I soon realized, that you have to have a lot of light to get the most out of this camera. But when it works, it looks pretty impressive. The iPhone can't get as close. [MUSIC] Only the galaxy has a dedicated night mode for taking photos in dimly lit situations. Unlike other new iPhones, the SE doesn't have a night mode, but as you can see from these shots. There actually is not as big of a difference as I was expecting. The Galaxy does have a slight edge in retaining detail in the highlights and shadows, but it does output a smaller eight megapixel file. Sorry for all the photos of me in this comparison but I do have to test out the front facing cameras. The iPhone has a seven megapixel camera while the galaxy is a whopping 32 megapixels, but megapixels aren't everything and I think the galaxy is a little bit more saturated on the red channel. My hair, for example looks coppery red in pots which it definitely isn't in the real world. The iPhone image looks a touch softer overall and doesn't pop off the screen in the same way it does on the Galaxy, but my skin tone is more accurate. As you can see from the clips that I've showed you from the cameras so far, video quality from both is great. So having optical image stabilization on the iPhone makes a huge difference when recording video. This clip was hand held at 4k 60 frames a second, and comparing it to the same resolution from the galaxy the difference is night and day. That's because you don't get image stimulisation at 4k on the galaxy, there is an stimulisation setting at 1080p though and you can see in this clip it makes a huge difference if you are filming hand held. Auto focus on the galaxy is also not as smooth as that on the iPhone and for a lot of these clips, especially when filming a static subject, I had to lock the focus before filming to keep things smooth. As you've probably heard. And audio from both is good, but I think the iPhone sounds more full and rounded than Eclipse from the Galaxy. [MUSIC] So, both these $400 phones have [INAUDIBLE] Incredibly capable cameras. The Galaxy offers more flexibility if you want to be able to switch between different cameras like the ultra wide or macro, but the iPhone has stronger video recording and optical image stabilization, which makes a huge difference. Regardless of which phone you choose, you're getting a lot of camera for your buck. Thanks for watching the comparison. Let me know which phone you think won this battle, and stay tuned for lot more camera comparison coming soon. [MUSIC]