Apple iPhone 16e in for review

It's iPhone 16e day and we were insistent enough to get one on launch day! Apple boldly states "Latest iPhone. Greatest price." but that proclamation works best in the States or the UK, where the phone starts from $599/£599. In Europe it's €699 in Germany, €719 in France, €729 in Italy, which isn't exactly a bargain for a phone, and it's dangerously close to some 2024 Android flagships with superior specs.

Apple provides a braided USB-C cable in the box and a SIM tool.

The iPhone 16e is a compact phone by today's standards. But a lot of people's first sentiment when they get it in their hands is that it's bigger than they expected. Perhaps that's the weeks of iPhone SE-related leaks, which have conditioned us to expect a tiny phone.

But the iPhone 16e is much bigger than the iPhone SE (2022). With a 6.1-inch display, it's more or less identical in size with the iPhone 16.

Moving over into Android's world, the iPhone 16e is about as big as the Galaxy S25 - the Samsung is 0.2mm taller, 1mm wider, and 0.6mm thicker, but it's 5g lighter. The Galaxy also packs a 0.1-inch bigger display thanks to slimmer bezels.

Quality-wise, it's not even a contest - the Galaxy S25's display, despite being less pixel dense, gets much brighter and is twice as fast at 120Hz.

The iPhone 16e and Galaxy S25 are virtually identical in size

Back to the iPhone. Apple always presents a positive narrative when it comes to its devices, but the 16e is more than a little compromised when compared to its peers. The first thing you'll notice is the old-school notch, now gone even on the base iPhone 16.

At least neither entry-level iPhone 16 has an above-60Hz display. We have to say, the slower refresh rate is noticeable - animations are choppy.

The other major downgrade is the camera - singular, because you only get one. The 48MP snapper may sound the same, on paper, as the main one on the iPhone 16, but it has a smaller 1/2.55-inch sensor to the 16's 1/1.56-inch imager.

You should expect tangibly inferior 2x in-camera zooms from the 16e than from the 16.

To end this quick first look on a positive note, the iPhone 16e feels just as well-made as any other iPhone - you're really getting a premium experience out of this one. Slower screen refresh aside, the phone is also brisk and capable. The Apple A18 is a potent SoC, even if it drops 1 GPU core in this phone - it will surely crush any application you can throw at it.

We also expect superb endurance from the iPhone 16e. Our review is underway, stay tuned!

Apple iPhone 16e

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