Before dismissing it, read this first!

I’ve taken a moment or two to sit down and write a piece about the iPhone 17e.

It wasn’t me being remiss, lazy or having forgotten to write a story about it. In fact, it’s the total opposite.

I’m too busy using it and enjoying it! That’s the bare bones of the matter. I’ve been going through a bit of a digital declutter over the past few weeks, which has seen me switch back to an analogue watch in favour of my Apple Watch. Not only that, I’ve turned off nearly all notifications, started to use an iPod Classic again, and I’ve even started to write with a fountain pen in a paper notebook!

That de-clutter mentality has also trickled down to my choice of phone, and for once, I feel a real clarity about the reasons I’m carrying the phone that I use.

Not for show

Looking back, I can now see that some of the reasons I’ve been using a Pro iPhone for the past five years or so were vanity and for show.

I figured, how could a guy running a tech channel not be using the best of the best? Surely, I wouldn’t be taken seriously, would I? Of course, there’s also the annual problem that I review these devices, so from that point of view, I need to buy and use the Pro to have an opinion on it, right?

God help my wallet come the autumn when the iPhone Ultra is reportedly going to come our way at a princely price of about £2000! Ouch!

But here’s the thing, I now realise, not everyone out there will be in the market to buy an iPhone Pro. I’m sure I’m not alone in having felt the financial belt tighten this year. There’s not as much disposable cash sloshing around as before, and people are looking for affordable solutions. That’s why it’s important I looked at the 17e in the first place.

The way I use my phone has altered dramatically over the past year.

Historically, my iPhone Pro has always been my main camera. The iPhone 17 Pro Max did its job so well that it got me buying lenses and pro camera apps to use on it, helping me get the very best out of the cameras that I could.

Ironically, it’s almost been guilty of doing its job too well, as it sparked off a passion for photography that saw me buy my first new Canon camera earlier this year. My days spent shooting in London with my camera are now my happy place, and I directly have the iPhone 17 Pro Max to thank for my new love of photography.

That phone taught me the basics of framing, exposure, white balance and lighting, but because I no longer use the cameras on the 17 Pro Max, it’s quickly become a heavy, underused liability of a brick that I lug around all day.

In London, the 17 Pro Max also feels like a thief magnet. A bright orange iPhone is hard to miss, and you can almost feel the prying eyes burning into you as you walk along the street.

The Pro Max also suffers from feature bloat. So much of what it can do, I either hardly ever use or have even forgotten that those features exist at all.

With my digital detox, though, I’m now more focused on having a phone on me that does what I need from it – no more, no less.

The iPhone 17e steps out of the shadows

When I bought the 17e a few weeks ago, I figured I’d simply buy it to review. What I didn’t anticipate was that it would become my daily phone and that I’d fall for it hook, line & sinker!

The train is a great place to sit and think, isn’t it? I was going into town the other day on a shoot, and I started to make a list (in my paper Moleskine notebook with my fountain pen!) about what I’d actually be using my phone for that day.

The list was alarmingly mundane. Satnav was the primary task, along with playing some music and podcasts, watching some YouTube, checking socials and glancing at emails. That was it. It was at that very moment that it dawned on me that everything on that list was just as well done on the 17e as it would be on the Pro Max.

For the rest of that day, I used only the iPhone 17e to prove the point to myself that what I had suspected was correct.

The days of me needing a Pro iPhone are behind me. I have nothing to prove, and I don’t think you’ll think any less of me if I use an iPhone 17e!

The way forward

Of course, with any digital detox, there will be some compromises that need to be made, but it’s surprising how quickly you adapt.

I no longer have the Dynamic Island, I only have a single camera, there’s no Always On Display, and the display itself is only a 60Hz refresh rate panel. But here’s the thing, out of that list, there isn’t a single thing I miss day to day.

The Dynamic Island was only generally used for carpark sessions and timers, so there is no loss there. The lack of an AOD means there’s one less distraction in my line of sight when I’m meant to be working, and the whole 120Hz versus 60Hz is something I’ve never lost any sleep over anyway.

For getting through the day, the iPhone 17e is perfect for me – maybe I’m very dull, I don’t know, but for me, it works.

It has the latest C1X modem in it, Ceramic Shield 2 and MagSafe. It’s those kinds of features that matter more to me and make the phone more usable. They may not be headline makers, but they are ever so practical.

The shining highlight of the iPhone 17e, though, must be its battery life. It’s almost indestructible. Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken the 17e with me on long days around Birmingham and London. On each of those occasions, I used the phone heavily, relying on it to get me through the day.

No matter how hard I use it though, I’ve never come home with less than 30% battery left – and we‘re talking about ten or twelve hour days. And it’s worth mentioning that I’m getting that kind of performance whilst running the public beta on it too!

Whether it’s a combination of the Apple silicon A19 chip and the C1X modem working in perfect harmony, the fact that the screen is less bright or that the latest iOS is optimising the performance of the phone, I don’t know. It could also be that it’s simply doing less in the background that is helping out, too.

Whatever it is, though, I’m for it.

The few trade-offs are worth the net gain. I’ll take a day-and-a-half battery life over needless feature bloat and battery anxiety any time.

The elephant in the room

Am I missing the cameras? Nope, not at all.

Look, I know my user case is possibly unique, but I know when I’m going to be shooting photos, and on those days, I’ll always have my camera with me. If, on the other hand, I’m out with family and friends, then the camera I have on the iPhone 17e does the job well enough.

I’ll admit, because of the sensor size, it’s not the best in low light, but so what? The 48MP camera is perfect as a point-and-shoot camera – just like the old days. It’s a camera that will record memories and moments. That’s all I need from a phone.

On those days when I’m out with friends, I don’t want to create award-winning photos – I want to be with them.

But, I can tell you this, used with just a twist of savvy, you’ll be surprised at what great quality snaps you’ll get out of the 17e.

The same applies to video. Of course, it’s not a match for the Pro Max, but it still records those memories and moments in decent 4K.

And don’t forget, you’re getting all this functionality at over 50% of the price of the Pro Max. And if I’m looking to be as financially astute as possible, I’d jump the iPhone 17 and go right for the 17e.

As far as I’m concerned, if I’m going to make a few compromises, then I’d rather go all the way and keep as much cash as I can for myself. I can live just fine without the ultra-wide camera and better stabilisation that 17 has to offer.

Happy with my choice

I’ve still got a lovely, perfectly sized 6.1-inch Super Retina display, and to highlight that point, I’ve even treated myself to a gorgeous new wallpaper design. It looks beautiful.

This is no bargain basement phone.

I’ve de-cluttered my Home Screen as much as I can, so I have as few distractions as possible. This is the most functional and pretty iPhone set-up I’ve ever had. I’m even using an icon pack too, making this phone feel very personal. With icons, you don’t get red notification dots showing you there’s a new email or message – you have to physically check.

Less distractions suit me just fine!

The other huge benefit is I’m not afraid to get the phone out and actually use it! It’s not screaming look at me. It’s a practical phone that Apple positioned just about perfectly.

Is it cheap? No, I’d rather say it’s value-driven.

The iPhone 17e snuck and surprised me. Thank god I’m no longer buying phones for the sake of vanity. Now I’m buying a phone for myself and to do only what I need from it.

Similar to the way it took a bit of getting used to not wearing an Apple Watch, at first, not packing the Pro Max in my pocket was a wrench. Now, though, the 17 Pro Max sits in my camera bag as a backup camera.

The iPhone 17e is my daily, and I couldn’t be happier!