Apple iPhone 16e Evaluation: Attractive However Expensive With Caveats

	Apple iPhone 16e (begins at $699, as reviewed $899) The iPhone 16e is Apple’s new entry-level smartphone. It’s a fantastic cellphone that’s just too costly, contemplating it lacks an ultrawide digital camera and excessive refresh-rate show.
	Clear, easy design Lovely show Good cameras Glorious audio system Strong efficiency Good battery life	Costly Restricted shade choices 60Hz show No ultrawide digital camera No MagSafe magnets Apple Intelligence is half-baked

The iPhone SE ($429) is lifeless – lengthy reside the iPhone SE. However say whats up to the iPhone 16e ($599), Apple’s new entry-level smartphone. It packs the corporate’s latest A18 SoC, so it helps Apple Intelligence. It additionally upgrades the unique 4.7-inch LCD for a bigger 6.1-inch AMOLED show, its 12MP essential digital camera for a 48MP shooter, the 2018mAh battery for a 4005mAh cell, and eschews the house button with Contact ID in favor of a notch with Face ID. Lastly, that is additionally the primary iPhone to include Apple’s C1 chip, the corporate’s first in-house 5G modem.

Whereas these are all welcome upgrades, this handset lacks an ultrawide digital camera and a excessive refresh-rate show (it’s restricted to 60Hz) – options which might be thought of desk stakes on many smartphones costing $300 or extra, by no means thoughts a $599 gadget. Additionally lacking from the iPhone 16e are MagSafe magnets, which is puzzling.

Clearly, evaluating iOS and Android units is like evaluating apples to oranges (proper?). A cellphone’s software program and ecosystem are simply as necessary than {hardware} in the case of the recognition of Apple’s merchandise. You must preserve this in thoughts when reviewing an iPhone. So, on this context, does the iPhone 16e reside as much as its greater price ticket? Is Apple’s C1 5G modem any good? Are there higher iPhone choices? Learn our assessment on the next pages right here, to search out out.

iPhone 16e {Hardware} and design

Apple has just about outlined the present smartphone design language – rounded corners, steel slab sides, and flat entrance and rear glass. Each different producer has adopted this aesthetic indirectly or one other, together with Samsung, Google, Nothing, and even Chinese language producers (Oppo Discover X8, Xiaomi 15). Solely the digital camera pods differ, and even mid-range handsets (OnePlus 13R) haven’t escaped iPhone-ification.

So clearly, it’s no shock that the iPhone 16e follows Apple’s design language to a tee. And whereas we’ve by no means been massive followers of the digital camera bump on current iPhones – particularly the Professional lineup – we benefit from the iPhone 16e’s clear and easy single rear shooter aesthetic. We additionally just like the matte end on the aluminum body and glass again. Not solely does it preserve fingerprints at bay, but it surely additionally seems to be good and feels good in hand.

The iPhone 16e is simply accessible in white (with a silver body, like our assessment unit) or in black. It’s type of a bummer that Apple doesn’t provide enjoyable shade choices for this gadget – prefer it does for the brand new A16 iPad or the iPhone 16, or prefer it used to for the iPhone XR or the iPhone 5c. Additionally, no matter occurred to Bono and (PRODUCT)RED, anyway? However we digress. On the plus facet, the iPhone 16e is now IP68 water and dirt resistant.

By way of dimensions, the iPhone 16e is similar to the iPhone 14. Each have 6.1-inch shows, each are 7.8mm thick, and each even weigh about the identical (167g vs. 172g). Whereas these are smaller telephones by in the present day’s requirements – on par with the Galaxy S25 and Xiaomi 15 in Android land – they aren’t practically as small because the iPhone SE or iPhone mini. So preserve this in thoughts when you’re upgrading from an older, smaller iPhone.

In some ways, the iPhone 16e is a remix of different iPhones. The display screen is lifted immediately from the iPhone 14, the 48MP essential digital camera sensor is shared with the iPhone 16 Professional’s 48MP ultrawide, and the management and port format is just like the iPhone 15 Professional’s. You’ll discover the facility / lock key on the proper facet, and the amount rocker and Motion button on the left. There’s a speaker, USB Kind-C port, and mic alongside the underside edge, however nothing alongside the highest.

Eagle-eyed readers can have seen a SIM tray on the left facet of our assessment unit. As you most likely know, Apple made the horrible determination to take away SIM trays from its US-market iPhones, and solely help eSIMs, beginning with the iPhone 14 collection. However iPhones offered in the remainder of the world nonetheless have SIM trays. Since we desire the pliability of bodily SIMs, we requested a Canadian iPhone 16e assessment unit, which features a SIM tray.

Not solely do Canadian-market iPhones have SIM trays, however additionally they incorporate eSIMs, and help the identical 4G LTE and sub-6GHz 5G bands as US fashions. The one factor lacking from Canadian fashions is mmWave 5G, however that’s not accessible on the iPhone 16e, no matter market, for the reason that C1 chip doesn’t help it. Presently, that is not a showstopper, nevertheless, as Sub-6 5G efficiency throughout broad areas of the US and CA, is great. 

iPhone 16e Specs And Options

iPhone 16e Show High quality

The iPhone 16e principally inherits the iPhone 14’s show. You’re getting a 6.1-inch FHD+ (2532 x 1170 pixels, 460dpi) OLED panel with a 19.5:9 facet ratio, a 60Hz refresh charge, and HDR10 help. It’s a stupendous display screen, with vibrant colours, deep blacks, and large viewing angles. However at 800nits (max) and 1200nits (peak), it’s not fairly as vibrant because the iPhone 16’s show which tops out at 1000nits (max) and 2000nits (peak).

It’s additionally a step down by way of look and bezel thickness. In contrast to the remainder of the iPhone 16 lineup, the iPhone 16e comes with the outdated bathtub-style notch for the selfie digital camera and Face ID sensor, as an alternative of the brand new pill-like cutout (aka. Dynamic Island). Bezels, whereas uniform all the best way round, are thicker too (roughly 2.5mm vs. 2.25mm). This display screen is roofed in Apple’s previous-generation Ceramic Defend glass.

Total, other than the 60Hz refresh charge, we’re completely glad with the iPhone 16e’s show. For $599 nevertheless, we’d anticipate an OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh charge. We understand that the iPhone 16 can be restricted to 60Hz, however 120Hz screens are the norm as of late.

iPhone 16e Digicam Efficiency And Picture High quality

Sure, the iPhone 16e solely encompasses a single rear shooter. And sure it is a drawback, particularly for $599. Whereas we respect the magnificence of Apple’s method right here – with the rear digital camera rely growing by one and the worth growing by $200 as you leap from the iPhone 16e ($599, one shooter), to the iPhone 16 ($799, two cameras), to the iPhone 16 Professional ($999, three shooters) – however the lack of an ultrawide digital camera is solely disappointing.

In 2025, any handset costing $300 or extra affords an ultrawide. That is the best way. Now that we’ve (hopefully) made our level, let’s dive into the small print. The iPhone 16e’s 48MP essential shooter makes use of the identical 1/2.55-inch 0.7-micron sensor with PDAF because the ultrawide digital camera on the iPhone 16 Professional collection, however paired with a 26mm f/1.6 lens with OIS. It helps in-sensor cropping for “optical-quality” 2x zoom, like different iPhones with 48MP sensors.

Whereas the iPhone 16 additionally encompasses a 48MP essential shooter, it makes use of a bigger 1/1.56-inch 1.0-micron sensor with dual-pixel PDAF and sensor-shift OIS. The iPhone 16e helps pixel binning (combining 4 0.7-micron pixels into one 1.4-micron pixel) for higher low-light efficiency, leading to 12MP photos. It additionally consists of the 24MP mode discovered on some iPhones, which blends 12MP photographs for dynamic vary with a 48MP shot for element.

In entrance, the iPhone 16e makes use of the identical 12MP selfie digital camera as the remainder of the iPhone 16 lineup. It consists of a 1/3.6-inch 1.0-micron sensor with PDAF alongside a 23mm f/1.9 lens. Each shooters are able to recording video at as much as 4k 60fps with Dolby Imaginative and prescient (HDR) help, and as much as 1080p in sluggish movement (240fps rear, 120fps entrance). There’s additionally an choice to shoot video at 24fps (4k) and even at 25fps (4k and 1080p).

Picture modes embrace portrait and panorama (rear solely). Portrait mode allows you to regulate the digital aperture (depth) and apply six Portrait Lighting results, However, not like iPhones with a number of rear cameras, the iPhone 16e requires a human face within the shot for portrait mode to work. Evening mode is computerized (and may be disabled), however shouldn’t be accessible in portrait mode. There’s no devoted macro, however zooming in and pulling again achieves respectable outcomes.

The iPhone 16e makes use of Apple’s Photonic Engine (computational pictures imaging pipeline), and consists of options like Deep Fusion (neural picture processing) and the earlier model of Photographic Kinds. However it lacks some video choices accessible on different iPhones, like Cinematic mode and Motion mode. Video recording is stabilized, and audio is captured in mono, stereo, or 3D (Spatial Audio), with audio zoom and non-compulsory wind noise discount.

Whereas the iPhone 16e takes beautiful photos within the overwhelming majority of circumstances, it doesn’t match the iPhone 16 and 16 Professional collection – particularly in low mild. And truthfully, that’s to be anticipated. Then once more, it’s just like the iPhone 14, and blows away the iPhone SE. Regardless, we’re nitpicking right here. Most individuals will probably be properly served by the iPhone 16e cameras, as a result of they ship the type of consistency Apple’s shooters are well-known for.

The ensuing photos have pure colours, correct publicity, loads of element (when there’s sufficient mild), and stable dynamic vary. Zooming maxes out at 10x (6x for video) and is okay as much as about 4-5x for images, however high quality drops quickly past this. iPhones at all times excel at video recording, and so does the iPhone 16e. Right here once more, it doesn’t carry out in addition to the iPhone 16 or 16 Professional, but it surely nonetheless beats the overwhelming majority of Android telephones.

Subsequent up: audio, efficiency, and battery life…