This is the only thing holding the iPhone SE back from destroying midrange Android phones

Starting at $399, the second-generation iPhone SE is one of the best “mid-range” smartphones you can buy. And when I say “mid-range,” I'm talking about the phone's price, not its features. The 2020 iPhone SE doesn’t pack the best hardware Apple has to offer, but it comes with a critical component that makes it a formidable competitor.

The iPhone SE runs on the same System-in-Chip (SoC) as the iPhone 11: A13 Bionic. That means the iPhone SE is just as fast as all iPhone 11 line, including the Pro models. That SoC only comes in second to the A14 Bionic of the iPhone 12 series, so the iPhone SE will be faster than most Android-based contemporaries. It outperforms the Galaxy S20, OnePlus 8, and Pixel 5, all handsets launched in 2020. And there’s no point comparing its power to the mid-range Galaxy A51, OnePlus Nord, and Pixel 4a phones that cost about as much as the iPhone SE.

At $399, the iPhone SE does feature a massive compromise that Android vendors can exploit to steal customers away to their own mid-range phones. However, all it's going to take is a simple design change for Apple to ensure the iPhone SE keeps beating every Android rival.