It may sound surprising that the iPhone won the Best Value Award. But with the new iPhone SE, Apple has redefined what customers should expect from a $400 phone.

The new iPhone SE inherits the iPhone 8's premium glass and aluminum casing, making it stand out among its plastic rivals. It also features the same 4.7-inch LCD display and Touch ID home button, which is invaluable as Face ID becomes harder to use in the age of face masks.

The iPhone SE uses the same A13 bionic chipset as the much more expensive iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, offering more power than Android flagship models that cost three times as much.

Software is a key part of why the Apple experience attracts so many people, and thanks to this great gut, the iPhone SE lets you enjoy all of it unhindered. And with a newer chip, buying the SE is definitely a better deal than buying an older flagship iPhone, as the SE offers more power and will receive Apple's iOS updates for longer.

The SE continues to dominate its Android competitors in photography. Although there is only one camera on the front and one on the back, Apple makes great use of its software power. Portrait mode works very well, especially for a phone that does not have a time-of-flight sensor or LiDAR sensor, and it can shoot 4K video like other large smartphones released this year.

It will be interesting to see how Apple stacks up against Google's upcoming Pixel 4a, but they have created a phone that will serve as a benchmark for years to come. Even the best phone to be released in the future will have to ask, "Can it do more than the iPhone SE for this amount of money?" The iPhone SE is not perfect, but it is the perfect iPhone at this price point and deserves its first Tom's Guide Award for Best Value.