screenrant.com iPhone SE 3 Vs. iPhone 7: Is It Time For You To Upgrade?

The iPhone 7 was at the top of its game in 2016. But in 2022 with the iPhone SE 3 now available, there's never been a better time to upgrade.

The iPhone 7 was an excellent smartphone when it launched in 2016, but now that Apple has the iPhone SE 3, it may be a good time for you to upgrade. One of the strongest aspects of the iPhone is its longevity. More so than almost any other phone, you can usually hold onto an iPhone for a few years and expect it to remain an enjoyable experience. This is thanks to long-term software support from Apple, incredible chipsets, and iOS's tight integration with the rest of the hardware.

That said, there always comes a point where even an iPhone becomes outdated. Take the iPhone 7 as an example. The iPhone 7 is over five years old at the time of publication and is now considered an 'ancient' handset in the consumer tech world. Then there's the iPhone SE 3. It has the same design as the iPhone 7, but its specs are vastly improved across the board — and it's available for just $429. If you're still holding onto your iPhone 7 here in 2022, here are a few reasons why it's probably worth switching to the iPhone SE 3.

Related: iPhone SE 3 Vs. iPhone 13 mini

Most of Apple's latest iPhones now have big displays and bezel-less designs. That's great for folks who prefer that modern aesthetic, but what about people who still like having a compact smartphone with a physical home button? That's precisely what you get with the iPhone SE 3. Just like the iPhone 7, the iPhone SE 3 has a 4.7-inch display and a home button below it with a built-in Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Does it look dated compared to the more recent iPhone 13 lineup? Sure. But if you aren't ready to give up the home button and small display, the iPhone SE 3 preserves that design beautifully. And it does so with a couple of big upgrades over the iPhone 7! Where the iPhone 7 has an aluminum body, the iPhone SE 3 has an aluminum frame and glass back – thus enabling wireless charging support. And while the display panels are virtually identical on both phones, only the iPhone SE 3 has True Tone technology to make the screen more comfortable to look at in different lighting situations.

More Reasons You Should Upgrade To iPhone SE 3

Where things get really impressive is with the internal specs. At the heart of the iPhone SE 3 is Apple's A15 Bionic chip — a chip that's five generations newer than the A10 Fusion that powers the iPhone 7. Everything about the A15 is better than the A10. It has a vastly more powerful CPU, much more capable GPU, and a more power-efficient design. In daily use, this means the iPhone SE 3 can run apps and games much more smoothly than the iPhone 7 (all while using less battery). Where Apple promises just 13 hours of video playback for the iPhone 7's battery, the iPhone SE 3 is promised up to 15 hours. The A15 Bionic chip also means the iPhone SE 3 can connect to sub-6 5G networks. Sub-6 5G isn't a dramatic upgrade over the 4G LTE networks supported by the iPhone 7, but it still means faster download/upload speeds if you're in an area with 5G coverage. The iPhone SE 3 also has better Wi-Fi performance, touting Wi-Fi 6 support over Wi-Fi 5 on the iPhone 7.

There are also considerable improvements in the camera department. Hardware-wise, the iPhone SE 3 and iPhone 7 share the same 12MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture. Where the SE 3 has the advantage, however, is with Apple's more recent computational photography tricks. Thanks to Deep Fusion image processing and Smart HDR 4, photos taken with the iPhone SE 3 look better than ones from the iPhone 7 despite the identical image sensor. The iPhone SE 3 also gets a few camera features that are missing on the iPhone 7 — including Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, Photographic Styles, 4K video recording at 60 fps, and Night Mode Time-Lapse recording. It's a similar situation with the front-facing camera. Both phones have a 7MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. But once again, the iPhone SE 3 beats the iPhone 7 with similar features (Smart HDR 4, Portrait Mode, Photographic Styles, etc.).

Last but certainly not least, there's the matter of software support. The iPhone 7 is currently running the latest version of iOS 15 and is expected to get iOS 16 later this year. But considering that'll be the sixth major update for the iPhone 7, it could also be the last. By comparison, the iPhone SE 3 ships with iOS 15 out of the box and is expected to keep getting updates until at least iOS 21 (or whatever it's called then). Where the iPhone 7 is a phone that's nearing its end of life, the iPhone SE 3's life has just begun. And that's really what makes it such a fantastic upgrade over the iPhone 7. The iPhone SE 3 is vastly more powerful, has longer battery life, more capable cameras, and is guaranteed years of additional software support — all packed into a design that iPhone 7 users will be immediately familiar with. And you get all of that for a starting price of $429 (or $379 if you trade in your iPhone 7 when buying the SE 3 direct from Apple). If you have the cash and have been itching for an upgrade, the iPhone SE 3 is really difficult to say no to.

Next: Does The iPhone SE 3 Have Face ID?

Source: Apple

Joe has been actively writing and talking about consumer tech since 2012. His biggest passion lies with smartphones, but he's happy to talk your ear off about just about anything with a CPU. He lives in Kalamazoo, MI with hiswife, two cats, and pit bull/boxer mix.