I started using the iPhone 16e and it’s better than I expected

Yesterday marked a crucial moment for Apple as it launched the iPhone 16e around the world. Every iPhone launch is important, but the iPhone 16e is particularly important for a few reasons.

It’s the evolution of the Apple iPhone SE lineup, and like its spiritual ancestors, the iPhone 16e features a more affordable yet cutback version of the rest of the lineup. Unlike its ancestors, it also features several trademarks of the iPhone experience, including Face ID, an OLED display, and the latest-generation processor.

All this costs $599 but comes with many cutbacks from the more expensive phones that may be dealbreakers for some. These include an OLED display without the 120Hz refresh rate, an Always-On Display from the iPhone 16 Pro lineup, and just a single camera. Then there’s the Apple C1 modem, with the iPhone 16e being the first phone to feature Apple’s modem.

The cutbacks over the iPhone 16 Pro meant that I expected to dismiss it near instantly, but after a few hours with it, I like the iPhone 16e more than I expected to. Here’s why.

A modern, small-ish iPhone

The iPhone SE lineup felt like a relic as Apple moved over to a more modern, all-screen design. Most recently, it was the only phone in the lineup that had a home button, and the last time I reviewed it, I remember that there was a strong learning curve from Apple’s latest iPhones.

The iPhone 16e changes all of this, and unlike the SE, it’s a phone that feels familiar as soon as you pick it up. It’s got the same ergonomically friendly design featured in the iPhone 16, but it lacks the colors of the latter, and if you’ve used any recent iPhone, it’ll be second nature to start using.

I wish there were more colors for this release — iPhone 5c anyone? — but it’s fundamentally a lovely, small iPhone. I say small lightly; the 6.1-inch display is only 0.2 inches smaller than the iPhone 16 Pro, but the iPhone 6e is 0.5mm thinner, 32 grams lighter, and a fraction shorter than the Pro. The weight difference, in particular, makes it extremely comfortable in the hand, and it’s even slightly lighter than the regular iPhone 16 despite the same size display.

Considering the middling sales of the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 13 Mini, I think there’s also a case to be said that while I like small phones, most people want a bigger display. With this in mind, I think the iPhone 16e hits the mark; the display is big enough for any user to feel like they have a big screen, but it’s small enough that it feels comfortable in one hand.

The display is great… mostly

There’s no getting around it: The 60Hz display on the iPhone 6e is noticeably less smooth at scrolling than the iPhone 16 Pro. This is to be expected as the latter has a 120Hz refresh rate, but perhaps it’s the quality of every other smartphone display that makes the lower refresh rate even more noticeable. I don’t remember the iPhone 16 display feeling this way, but that was also six months ago.

However, every user won’t notice the 60Hz, especially considering the quality of the OLED panel. This is a huge upgrade over the iPhone SE lineup and ostensibly uses the same Super Retina XDR OLED technology found in the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup. Yes, these have other features that set them apart, but the iPhone 16e has a beautiful display, and at 1200 nits peak brightness, it’s likely bright enough for most scenarios.

Aside from the refresh rate, the iPhone 16e also frustrates with the lack of Always-on Display. The display supports it, so this is a conscious choice on Apple’s behalf. It remains to be seen how this impacts battery life overall, but this is an area I’m excited to test further.

Solid hardware and the promise of battery

The iPhone 16e is powered by the same A18 processor as the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, and so far, I’ve yet to see any overall difference in the performance. Without a doubt, this is far more improved over the past iPhone SE, but time will tell as to how well this processor performs.

Under the hood, we expect that the iPhone 16e has 8GB of RAM, which meets the minimum requirements for Apple Intelligence. The iPhone 16e is designed to bring Apple’s take on AI to the masses, as one of the setup screens focuses on Visual Intelligence. I like some parts of Apple Intelligence, and it’s improving, but it remains to be seen whether this is enough of a draw to attract new customers.

Apple’s choice of the C1 modem for the iPhone 16e means the modem should be more efficient. I’m excited to see how this performs, but my early tests show it to be slower than the iPhone 16 Pro. That was a handful of tests, so it’s purely anecdotal, and I’ll have a more detailed test on this soon.

The entire package is powered by the largest battery in an iPhone yet. The base iPhone 16 offers 22 hours of video playback, and the iPhone SE 3rd Generation is rated at 15 hours. The iPhone 16e? 26 hours. Yes, the best battery life on an iPhone this size and similar to the battery life of the behemoth iPhone 16 Pro Max. I hope this delivers, as it’ll be a game-changer for my battery life.

The iPhone 16e has drawbacks, but I like it so far

The iPhone 16e feels very familiar, but it isn’t going to replace any of the existing iPhone 16 lineup. Instead, it’s designed for a subset of users who prioritize two things above all: battery life and price.

Yes, many affordable Android phones have better specs at a better or similar price — namely, the OnePlus 13R and Pixel 8a — but the iPhone 16e isn’t competing against those. I spent years in phone retail, and I think the iPhone 16e will be extremely popular for those who don’t need a fancy camera — yes, millions of people don’t care about the camera — but want a long-lasting iPhone.

I’ve not spoken about the single camera, but it’s better than I expected as well. You can read my first impressions of the camera, but the tl;dr is that it’s surprisingly capable. Of course, there’s no ultrawide camera, which could be a deal breaker, but that’s who the iPhone 16 is for. I’m particularly surprised at the quality of the 2x zoom, as you can see from the gallery above.

From my first impressions, the iPhone 16e is the best affordable iPhone I’ve ever used. $600 may not seem that affordable — especially given the iPhone 16 is usually discounted to this price through carrier deals — but this is a surprisingly nice phone. The best iPhone 16e deals can snag you the phone for next to nothing with your carrier, and that just makes it sweeter.

Of course, I’ve only spent a few hours with the iPhone 16e, so my findings may yet change, but I’m excited to keep trying it.