iPhone 16e Review

Tom's Guide

The new iPhone 16e is now the cheapest new iPhone you can get among the best iPhone options, with the latest  A18 processor, Apple Intelligence features, and Apple's new C1 modem. However, it gets a higher $599 starting cost and comparing the iPhone 16e vs. iPhone 16, it doesn't come with features like MagSafe wireless charging and Dynamic Island. In this video, John V. will take you through the key reasons to buy or skip based on his full iPhone 16e review.

Transcript

00:00Hey guys, we gotta talk about the iPhone 16e. This is a 599 addition to the iPhone 16 family

00:08that's meant to make some of the most attractive things about owning an iPhone just a little bit

00:13more accessible, even if it is $107 more than the previous generation iPhone SE. That's only one of

00:18the reasons this phone right here has created a lot of controversy online since it was announced.

00:23But I've actually spent time with the iPhone 16e, testing it out, so in this video I'll take you

00:29through my reasons whether it's a buy or skip based on the upgrades. Right off the bat, if you're

00:35comparing this to the iPhone SE from 2022, the design is night and day, but Apple calling it the iPhone 16e

00:41is meant to reflect that it looks more like an iPhone you'd want to buy in the year 2025. The

00:46biggest difference clearly is no more home button with Touch ID. This is a 6.1 inch full-screen OLED

00:52display. No dynamic island is kind of a bummer, but at least there is now Face ID. The iPhone 16e

00:58also gets the action button, which I like for the fact that I can map it to just about anything.

01:05Another way Apple has made this a compelling phone is that it's packed by the same A18 silicon,

01:09the same chip you get in the iPhone 16. The Geekbench score shows that it's basically the same,

01:14both with a single and multi-core test. However, the GPU underperforms by little. I noticed scrolling

01:21isn't as fluid. It's not terrible, but that's just one of the small differences I notice.

01:25But it's worth pointing out that the 16e has one less GPU core than the iPhone 16. But more importantly,

01:31this phone gets Apple intelligence and it's now officially the most affordable entry point

01:35to Apple intelligence on iPhone. Some of my favorite Apple intelligence features include writing tools,

01:41photo cleanup, and Siri with ChatGPT integration. We actually have a full video dedicated to the new

01:46Siri experience on this channel, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already.

01:51We can't talk about performance without talking about battery life. I just want to remind you that

01:57the 16e has the same size display and A18 chip as a standard iPhone 16, but it seems to benefit from

02:03the new Apple C1 modem and as a result gets a little bit better battery life. Actually, it averaged 12

02:09hours and 41 minutes versus the iPhone 16's mark of 12 hours and 13 minutes. And it's also better than the

02:15Pixel 8a and iPhone SE 2022 by a wide margin. So I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. So far,

02:21the iPhone 16e sounds pretty good, right? Now for those who have been to this channel before,

02:26welcome back. You already know that the cons are coming up next. If this happens to be your first

02:31time here, I'm John V. I review phones for a living and often here on this channel, so if you're liking

02:36this video so far, consider hitting that subscribe button. Back to the iPhone 16e, and here's where I'm going to

02:42express a lot of disappointment. You guys know I love doing photo faceoffs and you guys always say

02:47I'm biased towards iPhone, but that's not the case with the iPhone 16e. Although we do get an upgraded

02:5348 megapixel camera, when I compare it to a phone like the Google Pixel 8a, I think for $600, a single

03:00camera is hard to convince people it's as versatile as other phones. However, the performance is really

03:06good. I was surprised. I'm going to throw an example up on the screen I shot off with the iPhone 16e

03:12at the beach. So in these first shots, I do notice that the iPhone 16e does a better job of boosting

03:18the shadows. You can see that on the wooden railing here, and as far as details concerned, I'd give it

03:23to the iPhone for being a little bit sharper. And here's another with their main cameras. I like the

03:28iPhone 16e more because again, it boosts the shadows, so it's a lot brighter image overall. At the same

03:34time too, there's more detail, especially around the rocks near the gazebo. For a phone that technically

03:39doesn't offer a dedicated macro mode like the iPhone 16, the 16e takes outstanding images. You got to

03:46go a little bit further. I don't get quite as close compared to the 16, but check out the details of

03:51this image here. When you zoom in, you could see more definition with the iPhone 16e. And now let's

03:56take a look at night mode. It's much improved over the iPhone SE 2022, in my opinion, and it's also better

04:03than the Pixel 8a and iPhone 16. That's a big deal. So against the iPhone 16, I got to say the 16e does

04:10a great job of brightening the scene. I wanted the exposure is the same. There's a little bit

04:13difference of color temperature. You get slightly warmer tones with the 16e, but the big difference

04:18here is when I zoom in, check out the details of the tree and the branches. There's more definition

04:23with the 16e. And against the Pixel 8a, when it comes to night mode, I got to say, it's a big jump over

04:29the iPhone SE 2022 because I shot the same photos and the iPhone SE 2022 was dark. But look at this,

04:36the iPhone 16e is just as bright as the Pixel 8a, if not brighter, but it has a lot more detail too.

04:42Of course, that's just my opinion, but you be the judge. Check the link in the description to read

04:47my full written review that's packed with a ton of side-by-side comparisons. Besides the camera

04:53limitations, what are some of the ways that Apple has decided this phone is $200 less than the iPhone 16?

04:58No MagSafe, no Dynamic Island, no camera control, no spatial video, and fewer video modes. But it does

05:06get Apple's new C1 modem. And while I'm happy about all this, I was just hoping to get a little bit

05:11more battery life. What's the deal with the $599 price? It's $170 more than the previous iPhone SE 2022,

05:20and $100 more than the Pixel 8a. You need to pay a lot more now to get the cheapest iPhone, and I think

05:25that's tough, but really force you to think more about what features matter most. You could pay $200

05:31more to get the missing features I've mentioned with the iPhone 16. And even though it's $50 more

05:36than the iPhone 16e, Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE has extra features that I love for the extra cost,

05:43like Samsung DeX for that PC-like experience, and a more versatile triple camera system. Look, you guys

05:48know that I'm furthest thing from being a flagship snub. I'm always the first person to tell you to get the

05:52standard iPhone instead of the iPhone Pro Max, considering the price difference. I genuinely

05:58love the value phones, but the iPhone 16e isn't a value phone. Don't get me wrong, it's a well-rounded

06:05phone, not a bad phone at all in fact, but it's not a value phone. Our best cheap phones guide that I

06:11linked in description only considers phones under $500, so the iPhone 16e is priced out, leaving a lot of

06:18confusion as to who this device is actually for. But that's not to say you shouldn't get it. If you're

06:23itching to pay as little as possible, the iPhone 16e is still an excellent choice, just as long as

06:29you're willing to make those compromises. I personally like the extra utility that the iPhone 16 offers,

06:34with its dual cameras and dynamic island, but you're saving yourself $200 by sticking with the iPhone 16e.

06:41So what do you guys think? Is there enough to convince you that the iPhone 16e is worth it? Let me know in the

06:46comments and if you feel that paying $200 more for the iPhone 16 is better. Don't forget to follow us

06:51on social, at Tom's Guide, and I'll see you in my next video.

Category

Transcript

Recommended