Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3: After REVIEW comparison, we pick a WINNER

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3: For less than Rs. 50,000, which of these phones should you pick up? We find out.

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3: Which one to opt for? (HT Tech)

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3! Two phones taking two extremes of smartphone design, and yet locking horns to grab hold of your attention. We have had the iPhone SE 3 for a while and despite its vintage design, it has proven to be a great phone. In fact, the iPhone SE 3 has impressed us with its reliability in the hot and dry conditions of Delhi NCR, a time when other Android phones almost give up. It looks old and is pricey, but it is a damn good phone for the money.

And so is the Samsung Galaxy A73 5G. We reviewed the phone recently and it kind of earns its marketing nametag – Awesome! It may not be as well built as the iPhone SE 3 but with its superb display, a nice set of cameras, good performance, and respectable battery life, it makes the grade. Hence, for the same price as an iPhone SE, you are getting a lot of phone.

So, if you have got around Rs. 40,000 to spend on a phone and got to choose between these two, which one of these should you pick up?

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3 (HT Tech)

Samsung Galaxy A73 5G vs Apple iPhone SE 3 (HT Tech)

Design

Unless you have a thing for retro-looking smartphones, it is the Samsung Galaxy A73 you would be an easy picking. The A73 looks big and modern with its edge-to-edge display and its multiple camera array on the rear. The iPhone SE 3 is a cute looking thing though and if you are into compact phones, you will love it, despite its puny display. The iPhone is also better built too with its glass-metal combo; it makes the plastic-built Galaxy A73 feel…well… plasticky. Both phones are IP67 certified from water and dust resistance.

Display

No-brainer here, the Samsung Galaxy A73 takes an easy win here. Its 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate is simply in a league of its own, complete with the fingerprint scanner under the display. It looks beautiful to the eyes. The iPhone SE's small 4.7-inch IPS LCD display looks uninspiring in comparison, with its fat vintage bezels and the fingerprint scanner sitting outside.

Performance

This is where it flips around. The iPhone SE 3 with its A15 Bionic chip offers the same flagship levels of performance as the iPhone 13, which means it can handle almost anything with ease. Paired with iOS 15, it makes for a very reliable and smooth user experience. The Samsung Galaxy A73 with its One UI 4.1 experience feels a tad slower and the Snapdragon 778G chip inside is inferior when it comes to raw performance. It runs fast but it is nowhere as close to the iPhone SE. Moreover, the One UI interface is riddled with bloatware and adware.

OS Support

Apple doesn't say it but the iPhone SE 3 could be getting at least six more years of iOS updates based on the records. Samsung, on the other hand, promises four years of Android OS updates on the Galaxy A73 and five years of security support.

Camera

This is where it gets tricky. The iPhone SE with its single 12MP rear camera works almost as nicely as the Samsung A73 with its 108MP camera in most day and low light situations. The Galaxy A73, however, is more versatile with a Night mode, and its 8MP ultra-wide as well as 5MP macro camera. Both are equally good with selfies, with the iPhone having a slight edge in sharpness and processing.

Battery

This may sound weird but the Samsung Galaxy A73 with its massive 5000mAh battery and a more power efficient chip lasts for almost the same duration as the iPhone SE with its much smaller battery (2000mAh-ish) and a very fast flagship A15 chip. Due to the differences in the battery size, both phones take almost the same time to charge as well.

Price

This is where it gets close. The Samsung Galaxy A73 starts at Rs. 41,999 for the base 8GB/128GB variant, and Rs. 44,999 for the 8GB/256GB variant. The Apple iPhone SE 3 starts at a price of Rs. 41,900 on Flipkart for the base 64GB variant. The 128GB variant costs Rs. 46,900 whereas the 256GB variant costs Rs. 56,900.

Conclusion

This is the toughest “After Review” comparison we have ever done. Both have their positives and negatives! The iPhone SE offers unparalleled performance with its A15 chip, is built better, has a slightly better camera, and will last years. The Samsung Galaxy A73, on the other hand, has a much nicer display, slightly better battery life, versatile cameras, and a feature-rich user experience.

If you want a phone to browse, watch web shows, and good cameras, get the Galaxy A73 5G. If you can make do with the small display, then the iPhone SE ends up being the better choice, and hence is our pick.