Apple iPhone 16e review: Mid-range marvel

There’s a new kid on the block. At least there is on the iPhone 16 block. After three years of the entry-level iPhone looking like a museum piece compared to the newer models, the iPhone SE (3rd generation) has been replaced with a newer, shinier option. 

Actually, the iPhone 16e (that’s the replacement) is technically not shinier, because it has a matte finish, but you get my drift. Knocking £200/$200 off the iPhone 16’s starting price, running on very similar hardware, supporting Apple Intelligence and claiming to offer the best battery life of any 6.1-inch iPhone so far, is there anything not to love? Here’s my iPhone 16e review.

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The Disconnekt Downlow

Apple’s iPhone 16e is exactly what I have wanted the entry-level iPhone to be for years. It’s a pocketable powerhouse that delivers every bit of the iPhone experience, but at a more affordable price. The design is lovely, the display is great, performance is on par with the iPhone 16, and the battery life is incredible. The camera is also decent for a single sensor device and while you make a couple of compromises choosing the iPhone 16e over the iPhone 16, you gain £200 in your pocket. If you’re new to iPhone or upgrading from an older device, the iPhone 16e won’t disappoint. It’s a superb device, so good that it makes the excellent iPhone 16 a much harder sell.

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The reasons you should choose the Apple iPhone 16e

There are a lot of reasons to choose the Apple iPhone 16e. So many in fact that this review is easier to write than the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max review was back in September. It’s funny because back then, I said that while the Pro was an excellent smartphone, there was little reason to buy it over the superb iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. 

Now, five months on, I’m going to tell you to go for the iPhone 16e and pick the Pro if you want to upgrade, skipping the iPhone 16 models entirely. In what could be described as a stroke of genius, Apple has made its top of the range iPhone more appealing by making the entry-level iPhone so good.

But why is it so good? Well, the design for one thing is a damn sight better than the iPhone SE (3rd generation). Let’s all be honest, that design was tired when the 3rd generation model launched in 2022 so in 2025, I’m thrilled it’s finally moved on. The Home Button that defined iPhones for years is no more, and those rounded edges that first appeared on the iPhone 6 have taken their last breath for now (I’d put money on it they will be back one day), with flat edges reining supreme in the modern day iPhone line up. 

The iPhone 16e has a notch at the top of its display so it hasn’t moved entirely to the latest design in that Dynamic Island isn’t anywhere to be found. The Camera Control button that launched on the iPhone 16 models isn’t here either. But let’s not dwell on those shortcomings because you can’t miss something you never had, and there’s a fairly good chance that if you’re considering this model, you are upgrading from an older iPhone and not downgrading from one of the iPhone 16 models. 

What you do get here is a really lovely design and one that is easy to manage one-handed. The matte finish is soft to the touch and it’s gorgeous, while the aluminium frame makes for a lightweight device. The 6.1-inch OLED display has plenty of punch, with colours popping, while overall performance is absolutely excellent. There was nothing the iPhone 16e couldn’t handle that my iPhone 16 Pro Max was doing, with everything smooth and fluid.

Camera capabilities were also very good and far superior to the iPhone SE (3rd generation) that went before this device. The lack of ultra-wide lens like you’ll find on the iPhone 16 might bother some but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of ultra-wide shots. They always look a little odd to me and on most devices, they aren’t anywhere as good as the main sensor. But being able to zoom – even just a little – is something I enjoy and the iPhone 16e thankfully still gives you that with what Apple is calling a 2-in-1 lens. 

Occasionally at 2x zoom, there was a little lag when it came to focusing, but on the whole, the camera experience of the iPhone 16e was what you would expect – point, shoot, get decent results. That’s what iPhones are known for and while you don’t get the same prowess as the iPhone 16 Pro models, the iPhone 16e performs well in all lighting conditions. I compared it to both the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 16e outperformed both in some shots. Overall, there’s solid performance in this department as you can see in the camera samples below.

It’s the battery life where the iPhone 16e won me over though. I’ll admit, when Apple claimed this device had the best battery life of any 6.1-inch iPhone, I thought it was marketing spiel. The iPhone 16 Plus was, in my opinion, the iPhone that couldn’t be beaten for battery. That was until the iPhone 16e arrived anyway. 

For the week I have been using this device, the iPhone 16e finished every day (starting at 7AM and ending at 11PM) above 50 per cent and that included the couple of days at the beginning of setup when apps and accounts were all downloading in the background. It is superb on the battery front.

What the Apple iPhone 16e could do better

We all have room for improvement and the same applies for phones. It would be boring if they were perfect, and this would be a very short section to the review. But truth be told, there’s really not a huge amount to complain about when it comes to the iPhone 16e so this section will still be reasonably snappy. 

I’d like to have seen an Always On display here. It’s something the iPhone 16 Pro models offer, enabling them to show notifications along with the time and date even when the screen is locked. But given the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models don’t have this either, it’s hardly a surprise it’s not on the entry-level iPhone. 

I’d also have loved to see the Camera Control button. The Action Button is here, which I really am thrilled about because I use this hundreds of times a day, and a lot more than I ever used the silent toggle it replaced. The Action Button on my iPhone 16e is set to open WhatsApp through the Siri Shortcut option, but there are a number of options available, including Visual Intelligence. I maintain (I’ve said it before in other iPhone 16 reviews) that the Action Button could do more by Apple offering options if you single press, double press or even triple press it, but it’s a good feature to have. 

The only other complaints I have are the lack of colours and no MagSafe. The latter isn’t a huge issue as wireless charging is on board, but I have a great Belkin iPhone and Apple Watch charger that doesn’t work as well for the iPhone 16e as it has to be placed flat rather than upright in Standby Mode.

The lack of colours make me a little sad as while the white is fresh, I’m a girl who loves colour – the Ultramarine iPhone 16 is incredible – and I’d have loved iPhone 5c vibes coming back in this model. In reality though, it’s a small compromise to make.

Apple Intelligence and iOS 18 on the iPhone 16e 

I haven’t touched on software much yet, and that wasn’t by accident (I know, I know, occasionally us writers have a plan). The reason I’ve given software its own section in this review is because the iPhone 16e not only supports iOS 18, but Apple Intelligence too, and that means it delivers the same experience you’ll get on the more expensive iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models. 

With iOS 18, that includes features like the ability to customise your Home Screen and even make all apps the same colour if you want – I’ve done this and people think I am crazy but I can’t go back now. There’s also a redesigned Photos app that while it takes a bit of time to get used to, is much better. A new Passwords app is one of my favourite iOS 18 features, while the Phone app being capable of record and transcribing live calls is great for me as a journalist.

Apple Intelligence adds an extra layer however, and while I don’t use all the features available regularly, there are some I use day-in-day-out and have done since Apple Intelligence launched in the UK in December. Clean Up in Photos allows you to remove unwanted people or objects from your images, and it works well. It also means I no longer have to send pictures to a Google Pixel or Samsung Galaxy user to get the person ruining my shot out of it. 

The Notification Summary feature is one I use a lot too. This will attempt to summarise multiple notifications from the same app into a bite-sized notification. It gets it wrong sometimes, and that was especially true of news and entertainment summaries, but that’s now been pulled. When it comes to summarising WhatsApp messages from the school mum’s group, it does a good job and saves me reading 30 messages of everyone saying nobody has come home with poor little Timmy’s school jumper. 

Image Playground isn’t too dissimilar from Samsung’s Sketch to Image. It’s fun and you’ll probably enjoy it the first couple of times you play with it, but it’s not going to be the soul reason you buy the iPhone 16e. Elsewhere, Siri is smarter and Writing Tools will help you rewrite, summarise, proofread or describe a change to text. At the moment, I don’t think AI is changing our lives for the better, and that includes Apple Intelligence.

But, I do think the foundation of the software experience on iPhone and the iPhone 16e is excellent so take that away from this section of the review, with the idea of Apple Intelligence and AI offering some bonus features you night use every now and then.

Should you buy the Apple iPhone 16e?

This is the easiest question I have had all week. Yes is the answer, do buy the iPhone 16e. The design is lovely – I’m especially fond of the matte finish, the display is great, performance is on par with the iPhone 16 based on my experience, and the battery life is incredible. 

The camera is good too for a single sensor device and while you make a couple of compromises choosing the iPhone 16e over the iPhone 16, such as no ultra-wide sensor, no Camera Control button and a lack of colour choice, you gain £200 in your pocket and you get an experience that’s almost identical in terms of software.

Apple’s iPhone 16e is exactly what I have wanted the entry-level iPhone to be for years. It’s a pocketable powerhouse that delivers every bit of the iPhone experience, but at a more affordable price. If you’re new to iPhone or upgrading from an older device, the iPhone 16e won’t disappoint.

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