Apple has made a lot of talk in this period because of the iPhone SE 2020, a smartphone that uses the "old" design with a physical Home button, but has a latest generation of components under the body (including the A13 Bionic processor, the same iPhone 11). For the rest, one of the peculiar characteristics of the SE range are the compact dimensions, which in this model are 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm (the display was brought from 4 inches of the first SE to 4.7 inches of the 2020 edition).
It is a smartphone that has certainly divided the user at its launch, but in reality the critics are talking about it well and on Amazon Italy it is already sold out. In short, as we said in all the articles related to the announcement, the Cupertino company knows perfectly well what its users want. Do you think that Apple's move has sparked the curiosity of fans, who are looking for Android alternatives to iPhone SE 2020.
Given that we are clearly talking about different solutions, we are therefore going to analyze the market in search of smartphones that have compact dimensions and a hardware sector that we can define "today". We only considered devices released in 2019 or 2020.
Google Pixel 4
Launched in 2019 alongside the Pixel 4 XL variant, Google Pixel 4 does not seem to have attracted attention in the same way as the "older brother", but in reality the Californian company has created a device with top-of-the-range hardware (of the last year) with dimensions of 147.1 x 68.8 x 8.2 mm. Of course, it is not a smartphone as compact as iPhone SE 2020, but it is probably the closest device to the Apple proposal that exists in the Android field. Google has in fact a very interesting ecosystem and has already announced that the software support for Pixel 4, as well as for its XL variant, will continue at least until October 2022. There is no shortage of an excellent photographic sector, a display with a refresh rate of 90 Hz , the exceptional build quality offered by the devices of the Californian company (IP68 certification also present), a complete connectivity sector (complete with USB Type-C 3.1 and NFC, the audio jack is missing) and excellent performance (the processor is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, flanked by 6GB of RAM).
All this without counting the classic Google software features, from astrophotography mode to Motion Sense "aerial gestures". Too bad only for the non-expandable memory, for the absence of a wide-angle sensor and for an autonomy not exactly at the top.
However, Google Pixel 4 is definitely one of the best solutions in this market segment. The main differences with the XL variant that we have reviewed on these pages are found, as well as in size, in the screen and in the battery. The starting price is set at 679 euros on the Google Store (64GB of internal memory).
Samsung Galaxy S10e
One of the most appreciated compact devices by Italians, which has long been at the top of the Amazon Italy Bestseller smartphone ranking, is Samsung Galaxy S10e. Launched in 2019, the smartphone has a size of 142.2 x 69.9 x 7.9 mm. It is the most compact device that we have included in this purchase guide and it is certainly highly appreciated by users also from this point of view.
But the strengths do not stop there, from the constructive solidity to the excellent screen, passing through the good photographic sector, S10e is a complete smartphone. Unfortunately, the autonomy is not exactly at the top and the release sensors are not the fastest, but the performance is not bad at all (Exynos 9820 processor).
As for connectivity, everything is in place: there are both the headphone jack and the USB Type-C port and there is also NFC and wireless charging. A very interesting aspect is the price, which has now reached 550 euros on Amazon Italy through resellers (6 / 128GB).
Xiaomi Mi 9 SE
Launched in 2019, the Special Edition of Xiaomi Mi 9 has managed to bring the user experience guaranteed by the basic model into a device with smaller dimensions (147.5 x 70.5 x 7.45 mm) and with a "feather" weight (155 grams). We are therefore talking about a particularly handy smartphone, considered by many to be one of the best compact devices currently on the market. For more information, we invite you to consult our review of Xiaomi Mi 9 SE.
The main strengths of the smartphone are the excellent 6-inch AMOLED display, the good photographic sector and the pleasant design. However, the Mi 9 SE is not a perfect device, since an important weak point is the autonomy (we often arrived in the evening with about 10% of residual charge). The performance is not bad instead (under the body we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 712 processor).
A compromise that the Chinese company had to go down to make a compact device. For the rest, the level of connectivity is quite complete (NFC and USB Type-C port are present). Too bad for the lack of the audio jack for headphones (there is still an adapter in the package). In any case, Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is an interesting solution for those who want to point to a compact Android smartphone, even in the face of its price of about 350 euros on Amazon Italy (model 6 / 64GB, sometimes it is found at a lower price) .
Samsung Galaxy A40
Arrived in Italy in 2019, the Samsung Galaxy A40 is a device the size of 144.4 x 69.2 x 7.9 mm. Its main strengths are in the excellent screen, in the interesting software, in the good photographic sector and in the complete connectivity department (which also includes triple slots, NFC and USB Type-C). Under the body we find an Exynos 7904 processor. Too bad only for a construction quality not exactly at the top and for an autonomy below average. However, the proposal of the South Korean company is highly appreciated in the economic segment, given that it is sold at 175 euros on Amazon Italy through resellers (model 4 / 64GB).
