iPhone SE vs Galaxy S24: The $429 iPhone Against a $799 Android Flagship
One is Apple's cheapest current phone with 2016-era looks. The other is Samsung's compact flagship with AI features built in. The price gap tells only half the story.
The iPhone SE and the Galaxy S24 aren't really competing for the same buyer, but they get cross-shopped constantly anyway — both show up when someone searches "best iPhone under $500" or "cheapest way into iOS versus a real flagship." At $429 versus $799, the iPhone SE undercuts the Galaxy S24 by nearly half, and the spec sheet explains exactly where that money goes.
Design and Display
Start with the body. The iPhone SE is built on the iPhone 8 chassis from 2017 — a 4.7-inch LCD screen with thick top and bottom bezels, a Home button with Touch ID, and a design that looks dated the moment you set it next to almost anything released in the last four years. The Galaxy S24 is a modern slab: 6.2-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, thin bezels, no Home button, and a design language that doesn't scream "budget compromise" anywhere on it.
That screen difference alone is the biggest reason most people should lean toward the S24 if they can afford it. A 60Hz LCD at 750p resolution feels genuinely sluggish once you've used a 120Hz OLED panel, and colors on the SE look washed out by comparison. Our full iPhone SE verdict covers the specifics on how that screen holds up day to day — the short version is that it's the single weakest part of the phone.
Performance
Performance tells a more complicated story. The SE runs Apple's A15 Bionic, the same chip that powered the iPhone 13 Pro, and it remains faster in raw CPU terms than most midrange Android silicon even years after launch. The Galaxy S24 runs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy (or Exynos 2400, depending on region), which is a genuine flagship chip and wins on GPU-heavy tasks and sustained multitasking, but the SE isn't the underpowered budget phone its price suggests. If raw single-core speed and years of guaranteed performance headroom matter more to you than screen quality, the SE's chip is not a downgrade in the way you'd expect from a $429 phone.
Cameras
Camera is where the price gap becomes obvious again. The SE has a single 12MP rear camera with no ultrawide, no telephoto, and none of the computational photography tricks Apple reserves for its higher-end phones. The Galaxy S24 packs a 50MP main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP 3x telephoto lens, plus Samsung's Galaxy AI features for editing and generative fill. If you take photos of your kids' soccer games, food, or anything that benefits from zoom or a wider field of view, the SE simply can't do what the S24 does — there's no way to fake a second lens with software.
Battery and Charging
Battery life splits differently than you'd expect. Apple's efficient chip and smaller, lower-resolution screen mean the SE comfortably lasts a full day of light-to-moderate use despite its modest battery capacity, though heavy use will drain it by evening. The Galaxy S24's 4000mAh cell and 120Hz display balance out to roughly similar real-world stamina, helped by more efficient power management on the newer Snapdragon silicon. Neither phone will impress anyone used to a 5000mAh flagship, but neither is a disappointment either. Charging speed is close, too — the SE tops out at 20W wired, the S24 at 25W, both fairly modest by 2026 standards.
Software Longevity
Software support is arguably the most important long-term factor, and it favors the more expensive phone significantly. Samsung now promises seven years of OS updates for the Galaxy S24, matching Apple's own typical support window, but the S24 starts that clock from a newer, more capable software base — One UI 6.1 with Galaxy AI features that will keep expanding well after the phone's design starts to feel dated. The SE runs iOS well, and Apple's own software support for this hardware generation historically runs five-plus years, but it's inheriting a design that was already old when the phone launched in 2022.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
Where the SE genuinely wins is size and simplicity. In a market where every flagship keeps growing, the SE remains one of the only new phones you can comfortably use one-handed, and Touch ID is still faster and more reliable for many people than Face ID, especially with a mask on or a phone lying flat on a desk. Both phones carry solid water resistance — IP67 for the SE, IP68 for the S24 — and both use aluminum frames, though the S24's Armor Aluminum and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 back feel more premium in hand than the SE's older glass.
Resale Value and Total Cost of Ownership
Price tags at launch only tell part of the story — resale value and how long each phone stays genuinely useful matter just as much over a typical two-to-three-year ownership cycle. iPhones as a category hold their resale value dramatically better than nearly any Android phone, the SE included, which softens the effective cost of owning one if you plan to sell or trade in every couple of years. The Galaxy S24 depreciates faster in absolute dollar terms, but starting from a higher price with a longer seven-year update runway, its cost-per-year-of-usefulness can still work out competitively for buyers who keep phones a long time rather than upgrading annually. Trade-in programs from both Apple and Samsung regularly knock $100-200 off either phone, which is worth checking before assuming the sticker price is what you'll actually pay.
Who Actually Buys the SE in 2026
It's worth being specific about who the SE's remaining audience actually is, four years after its release. It's rarely a first-time smartphone buyer's top pick anymore — cheap Android phones with better screens exist at similar or lower prices. Instead, the SE tends to sell to three groups: parents buying a first phone for a child where simplicity and a smaller screen are actively desirable rather than a compromise, existing iPhone users who specifically want the smallest possible iPhone and are willing to sacrifice camera versatility for it, and budget-conscious buyers who specifically need iOS for work or family ecosystem reasons (shared iMessage threads, Find My family sharing) and refuse to consider Android at any price. If you don't fall into one of those three groups, the calculus tips further toward the Galaxy S24 or another modern Android alternative.
Verdict
If you specifically want a small, simple phone and don't care about camera versatility or screen quality, saving the $370 with the SE is a legitimate choice. For nearly everyone else, though, the Galaxy S24 is the phone that will still feel current in three years, and the SE is the phone you buy because it's the cheapest legitimate way into iOS, not because it's the better device on paper. The extra $370 buys a dramatically better screen, a far more capable camera system, and comparable long-term software support — real, tangible upgrades rather than brand markup.