The iPhone 16e takes a brand-new place in Apple’s iPhone family. With the $429 iPhone SE out of the image, the $599 iPhone 16e stands as probably the most reasonably priced new iPhone you should buy. Sure, it prices nearly $200 greater than the iPhone SE did, however the iPhone 16e is way nearer in options and performance to the $799 iPhone 16, so the worth is smart. The iPhone 16e runs simply in addition to different iPhone 16 fashions with regards to apps and Apple Intelligence, and a customized Apple-made C1 modem inside offers it energy efficiencies not out there to different iPhones. The result’s aggressive 5G and voice efficiency in a handset with one of the best battery lifetime of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display screen. The usual iPhone 16 remains to be one of the best iPhone for most individuals, because of its extra ultra-wide digicam, quicker 5G and Wi-Fi radios, and brighter display screen, so it stays our Editors’ Alternative. However the iPhone 16e is a superb entry level for rookies and anybody else on the lookout for an reasonably priced iPhone.
Design: Maintaining It within the Household
The iPhone 16e is one thing of a cross between the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 14, with components of each showing in its design. It does not resemble the iPhone SE in any respect.
Left to proper: iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
For the previous couple of generations, Apple has stored the iPhone’s inflexible steel body and glass back and front design largely the identical. The iPhone 16e depends on aluminum for the outer chassis and Apple’s previous-generation Ceramic Defend for the entrance glass; the rear panel is an undefined kind of glass. Its traces are as easy and simple as could possibly be. You may say the 16e is the minimalist iPhone.
There are solely two coloration choices: black or white. I just like the matte black remedy of the telephone I obtained for evaluate; it has a delightful texture. The iPhone 16, which has the latest-generation Ceramic Defend, is available in pink, teal, or ultramarine, along with black or white.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
As at all times, the standard of the supplies and meeting is top-notch. All the person items match collectively snugly, and the telephone feels strong and compact. It measures 5.78 by 2.82 by 0.31 inches (HWD) and 5.88 ounces, which makes it the very same measurement because the iPhone 14 and fractionally shorter and lighter than the iPhone 16 (5.81 by 2.82 by 0.31 inches, 6.0 ounces). The $499 Google Pixel 8a is concerning the closest Android phone when it comes to measurement at 5.99 by 2.86 by 0.35 inches and 6.63 ounces.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
The entrance panel is nearly all display screen, although the bezels are a bit wider than these of the iPhone 16. The earpiece is simply barely seen in opposition to the steel body close to the highest edge. The left edge holds the Motion Button—one thing out there to all iPhone 16 fashions—and the separate quantity keys. These controls have wonderful journey and suggestions. You may program the Motion Button to deal with plenty of completely different duties, together with Apple Intelligence. The precise edge holds simply the massive energy/lock button. The 16e doesn’t have the Digital camera Management of the opposite iPhone 16 fashions, nor does it have a SIM card tray—at the least for the US model of the telephone. Apple sells the iPhone 16e with a SIM card tray in markets exterior of the US. All variations help eSIM. The underside edge holds the USB-C (v2.0) port, microphone, and downward-firing speaker. The Lightning port of the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE is lengthy gone.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
A single raised digicam friends at you from the higher left nook of the rear panel. The round lens is protected by sapphire glass. A small microphone gap and flash are to its proper. The Apple emblem is the one different design ingredient on the again.
The iPhone 16e has an IP68 rating, which implies it’s nicely protected in opposition to mud and water. It will probably sit in as much as about 5 toes of water for as much as half-hour with out fear. This places it on the identical footing as the remainder of the iPhone 16 household and barely forward of the Pixel 8a, which has an IP67 score.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Show: Simply as Sharp, However Not as Brilliant
The 16e has a 6.1-inch Tremendous Retina XDR OLED show, the identical measurement and kind of display screen because the iPhone 16. The 16e’s decision is 2,532 by 1,170 pixels, simply barely decrease than the 16’s 2,556 by 1,179 pixels. Although the pixels are off by a few digits, the telephones have the identical 460ppi pixel density, which implies they’re loads sharp. The telephones share the identical 60Hz refresh rate, which is unlucky since many less expensive Android telephones can run at a lot quicker speeds.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
The 16e’s display screen is much less brilliant than the 16’s. It generates a typical brightness of 800 nits and a peak of 1,200 nits to the 16’s typical 1,000 nits and peak of two,000 nits. The distinction is evident while you maintain the 2 subsequent to at least one one other. You may nonetheless see the 16e’s display screen simply each indoors and out, however the 16’s additional nits make a distinction underneath sunny skies. Additional, the iPhone 16 can scale back its brightness to a single nit to preserve battery life in low mild. The iPhone 16e can’t. The 16e additionally does not help the All the time-On show mode of the high-end iPhone Professionals, although neither does the 16.
Final, the 16e carves out a notch on the high of the show to carry the TrueDepth digicam and Face ID elements, whereas the 16 options the much less intrusive Dynamic Island.
Efficiency: On Par With the iPhone 16
The iPhone 16e has Apple’s A18 processor, nevertheless it’s not fairly the identical processor discovered within the iPhone 16. The 16e’s chip has a six-core CPU with two efficiency and 4 effectivity cores, a 16-core Neural Engine, and a four-core GPU. The iPhone 16’s chip has yet another GPU core. Apple hasn’t outlined the clock speeds of both A18 variant. Third-party apps say each telephones characteristic the identical 8GB of RAM, although we do not know if we’re speaking LPDDR4 or LPDDR5. Apple sells the 16e in the identical 128GB ($599), 256GB ($699), and 512GB ($899) storage variants because the iPhone 16.
I examined the iPhone 16e over the course of every week. Throughout that point, I did not run into any efficiency points. The telephone was constantly fast to do all the pieces, whether or not that was querying Apple Intelligence, sifting via a number of open Safari tabs, or scrolling via social media.
(Credit score: Geekbench/GFXBench/3DMark/PCMag)
Surprisingly, the iPhone 16e does higher than the 16 on some benchmarks. In Geekbench 6, which calculates CPU efficiency, the 16e scored 3,441 on the single-core check and eight,362 on the multi-core check, in contrast with the iPhone 16’s scores of three,267 and eight,004. Each telephones destroyed the Pixel 8a, which makes use of Google’s customized Tensor G3 and scored 1,545 and 4,208 on Geekbench 6.
GFXBench places the GPU underneath strain with the Aztec Ruins check, and the 16e managed to run 3,783 frames at 58.8fps. The 16 ran the identical check at 3,864 frames at 60.1fps, whereas the Pixel 8a ran 3,550 frames at 55fps.
For gaming, the 3DMark Wild Life Excessive check tells us what we have to know. The 16e obtained an general rating of three,041 with a mean body charge of 18.2fps. The iPhone 16 did higher right here, with a rating of 4,132 at 24.7fps. We are able to possible attribute this consequence to the 16’s additional GPU core.
Battery: The Longest-Lasting 6.1-Inch iPhone
Apple does not promote the dimensions of iPhone batteries. Within the case of the iPhone 16e, nevertheless, a brand new inside design allowed Apple to broaden the capability of the battery past that of the iPhone 16’s 3,561mAh cell. That, along with new efficiencies realized by Apple’s customized C1 modem, offers the 16e “one of the best battery lifetime of any 6.1-inch iPhone.” Primarily based on our measurements, Apple is not exaggerating.
Apple says the iPhone 16e can play as much as 26 hours of video, 21 hours of streamed video, and 90 hours of audio. We check battery life by streaming HD video over Wi-Fi with the display screen brightness dialed all the way in which up. Utilizing this technique, the 16e lasted 21 hours and 39 minutes—or a shocking 3 hours and 50 minutes longer than the iPhone 16. The 16e comes shockingly near the battery lifetime of the $1,199 16 Pro Max (22 hours and 5 minutes), and it simply eclipses the Pixel 8a (12 hours and quarter-hour). This important enchancment in battery life is especially welcome for the smallest iPhone and bodes nicely for future fashions.
The iPhone 16e helps quick sufficient charging speeds. Apple claims {that a} 20W adapter (or increased) will push the battery from 0 to 50% in half-hour. After I examined it with a 20W brick, it took 32 minutes to succeed in midway and 69 minutes to succeed in a full cost. That is simply barely slower than the iPhone 16 (31 and 66 minutes, respectively). In the meantime, the Pixel 8a wants 1 hour and 50 minutes. None of those telephones features a charger within the field.
Final, the 16e helps common Qi wi-fi charging at 7.5W. It does not help MagSafe wireless charging, which might enable it to cost quicker (15W) and align with chargers magnetically. You will get round this final level, although, in the event you purchase a Magsafe-compatible case for the iPhone 16e. Circumstances that embody magnets will align magnetically with MagSafe chargers although the telephone itself does not embody magnets.
Connectivity: Apple’s C1 Modem Alerts a New Period
Apple offers the 16e a combined bag of wi-fi radios. Most significantly, the 16e is the primary iPhone to ship with Apple’s C1 modem. Apple has spent a few years and billions of {dollars} to engineer the modem partly so it will probably get away from third-party suppliers like Intel and Qualcomm. Apple designed the modem from the bottom up, together with the transceiver, the baseband, the air interface, the controller, and the software program. The in-house design permits Apple to manage its energy wants and combine it with the telephone’s different elements in methods it will probably’t with third-party modems. This can be a big second for Apple and certain the primary in a line of recent modems that can seem in a lot of its gadgets down the highway.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Within the 16e, the C1 helps sub-6GHz and C-band 5G spectrum, however not the quicker mmWave out there to the opposite iPhone 16 fashions. That limits the 16e’s most velocity potential in areas the place mmWave is on the market.
I examined the iPhone 16e on AT&T’s community in and round New York Metropolis. Whereas I did not encounter any mmWave (AT&T has far lower than T-Cell and Verizon), I nonetheless got here away impressed.
To start out, the telephone linked each name on the primary dial. It did not drop or miss any calls, and I did not encounter any odd interference issues mid-call. I examined the connection by beginning a name after which driving greater than 20 miles. The telephone hopped from tower to tower alongside the way in which with out difficulty.
Wi-fi knowledge speeds had been nearly as good as I’ve seen on AT&T’s community on this space. The 16e reached a high 5G obtain velocity of 667Mbps and a high add velocity of 111Mbps. Sadly, I didn’t have entry to a different AT&T telephone for a direct comparability. The 16 and 16 Professional telephones are able to real-world speeds in extra of 1Gbps given the fitting circumstances on T-Cell and Verizon, which have deployed extra mmWave 5G than AT&T.
Apple has constructed geolocation elements into the C1, too. I ran Apple Maps on the telephone, and it was simply as correct as Apple Maps examined on different iPhones operating on completely different networks.
The 16e helps the marginally older Wi-Fi 6 spec fairly than Wi-Fi 7 of the opposite iPhone 16 fashions. This did not matter a lot after I examined the 16e in opposition to a 16 on my dwelling’s Wi-Fi 6 community. Each telephones confirmed related speeds of about 720Mbps down and 300Mbps up. That is loads quick for Wi-Fi now, although Wi-Fi 7 help may turn out to be useful sooner or later.
A Bluetooth 5.3 radio permits you to pair the 16e with an Apple Watch or AirPods, however the telephone lacks the Extremely Wideband capabilities of the pricier iPhone 16 fashions. This implies it does not work fairly as nicely with AirTags for directional steering.
Final, the iPhone 16e helps present satellite-based providers, resembling Emergency SOS by way of Satellite tv for pc, and is suitable with T-Cell’s future voice and messaging over satellite tv for pc options.
Audio: Crisp and Potent
I have been testing mobile name high quality for greater than 20 years. After taking calls on the iPhone 16e, you’d by no means know it is utilizing a first-time modem. Voice calls are crystal clear via the earpiece and push out as much as 77.7dB of quantity, which is simple to listen to in most locations. When you swap to the speakerphone, the 16e delivers 86.2dB of sound that is simply as clear. The telephone additionally helps Wi-Fi calling.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
I performed a few of my favourite tunes via the iPhone’s stereo audio system, they usually did a wonderful job. Nothing beats a very good pair of wireless headphones, however the earpiece and down-firing speaker work collectively to create a decent stereo panorama and sufficient dynamic vary so as to add some depth. The telephone cannot fairly hit the bottom notes of our check observe, the Knife’s “Silent Shout,” nevertheless it handles your common YouTube and TikTok movies simply wonderful.
Digital camera: A Extra Highly effective Level-and-Shoot
The iPhone 16e has two of the iPhone 16’s three cameras, together with the 48MP f/1.6 Fusion digicam and the 12MP f/1.9 TrueDepth selfie digicam. Just like the pricier iPhone 16, the 16e’s fundamental digicam shoots 48MP full-resolution pictures and merges them with binned 12MP photographs. This ends in a 24MP ultimate photograph that will get sharp element from the total sensor and the added mild sensitivity of Quad Bayer binning. You may choose to take pictures utilizing all 48MP, although in jpeg solely. The digicam helps 2x zoom photographs by cropping right down to the central 12MP of the sensor. The iPhone 16e helps as much as 10x digital zoom, additionally by way of cropping. It does not have the ultra-wide digicam of the iPhone 16 nor the optical telephoto digicam of the 16 Professional.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Whereas the {hardware} is basically carried over, not all of the software program options are. For instance, the 16e helps Apple’s photographic kinds, however not as many. 5 kinds can be found on the 16e, whereas 14 kinds can be found on the 16 Professional Max. The 16e additionally forgoes macro images and the extra superior Portrait mode of the 16.
The identical story applies to the telephone’s video seize capabilities. It lacks the iPhone 16’s Cinematic background blur mode with 4K Dolby Imaginative and prescient, Motion mode, spatial video, and macro video recording. It will probably shoot 4K60 and 1080p60, gradual movement, time-lapse, and Evening mode, and contains primary optical picture stabilization, audio zoom, and spatial audio recording.
Apple is operating your photos via the identical processing pipeline as on the opposite iPhones. Basically, the photographs look nice. Pictures taken from the primary digicam throughout the day are clear, in focus, and correct in coloration. I admire that there is some distinction within the photographs, which provides them a little bit of vary. High quality takes only a slight step again while you use the 2x zoom perform. The colour and publicity are the identical, however there is a slight lack of element. You need to evaluate the pictures on a pc to identify the variations, although. Utilizing the 10x digital zoom software dials the sharpness again much more. Issues do not get too pixelated or painterly trying, however you possibly can inform that fewer pixels took these photographs.
Predominant digicam, 1x (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Predominant digicam, 2x zoom (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Predominant digicam, 10x zoom (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Photographs taken indoors are strong, however the telephone has extra hassle with white stability in settings with synthetic mild. You may see this plainly within the photograph of markers under. Aside from that, indoor photographs are nonetheless clear and freed from noise. I did discover that close-ups are susceptible to producing delicate optical distortion, seen within the glassware under.
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
(Credit score: Eric Zeman)
The iPhone 16e has a Evening mode, one thing the iPhone SE did not have, and it helps you’re taking higher photographs in the dead of night. Not solely does it help longer exposures, it cleans up the noise to a level. The Evening mode samples listed here are on par with photographs from the iPhone 16:
Evening mode (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
Evening mode (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
When you’re a fan of taking selfies, you may be pleased with the iPhone 16e’s TrueDepth digicam. I did not see a lot distinction between photographs taken with the 16e and the 16, and I like that you may management the depth of area when utilizing the Portrait software. The software-generated bokeh is not excellent, nevertheless it’s adequate. You will notice softer and noisier photographs when utilizing the selfie digicam at evening.
A typical selfie (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
A selfie with Portrait mode (Credit score: Eric Zeman)
For video, 4K60 footage seems excellent. I admire the correct coloration and publicity and the telephone does a strong job of sustaining focus and readability even with out the superior Motion mode of the pricier iPhone 16 fashions.
Software program: All of the Apple Intelligence
The iPhone 16e ships with iOS 18.3 preinstalled. Which means you get Apple Intelligence out of the field. You may select to disable it upon setup, however if you need AI assistance, it is there, prepared and ready.
All of the software program options out there to the broader iPhone 16 household are absolutely practical. Which means you possibly can create your individual Genmoji, use Writing Tools to scrub up your messy emails and texts, swap on ChatGPT, and generate your individual photos with Image Playground. I examined every one among these in opposition to an iPhone 16 Professional Max. All of them work, although they’re slower in some instances. Genmoji and Picture Playground, specifically, take longer to course of and apply adjustments on the 16e than they do on the 16 Professional Max. Given the latter’s additional GPU cores, that is not a lot of a shock.
Past Apple Intelligence, iOS 18 is a strong, clear, and polished platform. It is probably the most customizable model of iOS and permits you to make the iPhone 16e extra your individual. Apple does not specify how lengthy the 16e will obtain future software program updates, however you possibly can assume at the least 4 or 5 years.
Verdict: Many of the iPhone 16 Expertise for $200 Much less
The iPhone 16e sees Apple transferring its lowest-cost telephone upmarket. Priced about halfway between the discontinued iPhone SE and the iPhone 16, it is not the “price range iPhone” many anticipated. As a substitute, the iPhone 16e is a succesful new entry level that sets the stage for giant adjustments within the iPhone’s future. For $599, you get a well-made piece of {hardware} with sturdy efficiency and all of the Apple Intelligence options of pricier fashions. As well as, Apple’s C1 modem ensures quick 5G and correct location providers whereas introducing new efficiencies that contribute to battery life that beats the iPhone 16.
Pretty much as good because the iPhone 16e is, the iPhone 16’s quicker 5G and Wi-Fi, brighter display screen, and feature-rich wide-angle digicam give it the sting, so it stays our Editors’ Alternative as one of the best iPhone for many patrons. When you’re a content material creator and want the best possible digicam and video options, you may must spend twice as a lot on the iPhone 16 Professional Max. And in the event you’re in no hurry and wish to wait to see what a brand new iPhone cycle brings, we count on the iPhone 17 to reach in September with probably main adjustments. Nevertheless, in the event you merely wish to spend much less on a extremely succesful new iPhone, the 16e is a welcome addition to the household.
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The Backside Line
The iPhone 16e gracefully fulfills its position as probably the most reasonably priced member of Apple’s iPhone household with out compromising the core expertise.
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About Eric Zeman
Managing Editor, Shopper Electronics
