The iPhone 16e was released only a few months ago, yet now no one is talking about it. Time to sort that out!

The iPhone 16e is a gateway phone that represents decent value for money, and yet it seems to have already been forgotten and overlooked.

How fickle we are and how quickly we forget.

I guess in some respects I was as guilty as the next person when I bought my iPhone 16e earlier this year. I figured it was affordable enough for me to buy, write about it, review and then swiftly return it and pop the money back into my account.

That was the plan, but it didn’t quite work out that way! As it turned out, I started to fall for this simple, entry-level iPhone, and I found myself using it more and more, and at times more than my 16 Pro Max. I was using it so much that there was a spell in mid-summer that I put my main SIM card in it.

This past week, I dusted off my black iPhone 16e and took it to Bath to find out why I loved it so much and to reflect on why this phone has now been overlooked.

iPhone 16e and the simple way of life

The iPhone 16e turned out to be the first of two phones that Apple would release in 2025 that only had a single camera.

When I first got my hands on the 16e, it was a bit of a throwback to the SE days, and I think it was the simplicity that I loved about it most. I know, I know, we all ask and crave for more gadgets and features on our phones, but the lack of confusion with the iPhone 16e is doubtless part of its appeal and charm.

That simplicity starts from the configs. It comes in either black or white and in three storage options – 128GB for £599, 256GB for £699 and at the top end is the 512GB option, which costs £899. That’s it. That’s all you get to choose from.

As I have said before, though, I think topping out the specs on any device is often a mistake. The USP of this phone is its affordability. If you have £899 to drop, then I’d suggest that the iPhone 16e is probably not for you.

Apple sometimes backs itself into a corner when it comes to pricing, and that is sure as hell the case with the 16e.

The iPhone 17, which has a better display, a larger battery and twice as many cameras, costs £799. An iPhone 16e with the same 256GB of storage costs £699, as I just mentioned, so there is only a £100 difference between the two.

Now don’t get me wrong, £100 is a tidy sum of money, and I’d rather it stays in your pocket than lands up in Apple’s coffers, but Apple sure makes things confusing for us, that’s for sure.

It has a glass back that gives the phone a very Apple feel to it, it’s compact and light – it actually only weighs 2 grams more than the all-conquering iPhone Air. The 16e weighs 167 grams and the Air 165 grams.

But as with any phone, choices need to be made. There are some wins and some losses for the iPhone 16e, so let’s start by looking at the wins.

iPhone 16e – the good bits

An easy and obvious place to start is the display – there are a few areas that need a little love, but on the whole, the display is a good’un.

You get a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display that is punchy, vibrant and colourful. It’s not the brightest, but 1200 nits is more than usable most of the time.

If you’re the sort of person to sit poolside or take your phone to the beach, then you get an IP68 water resistance rating, which in real-world terms means you should be safe for around 30 minutes in up to 6 metres of water if the worst should happen to your new iPhone.

From a longevity point of view, though, one of the biggest saving graces for the iPhone 16e is that it got the A18 chip. It has a 6-core CPU and a 4-core GPU, and importantly, it has 8GB of memory.

Numbers mean little, but from experience, I can tell you the phone feels snappy and fast, and of course, with that magical 8GB of memory, it means this phone is Apple Intelligence ready.

The battery is that good that you almost forget to check if it needs charging. Whenever I pick it up, there always seems to be a decent amount of battery left. I guess in part that could be down to the fact that there are fewer intensive things for the 16e to be doing in the background, but also in part it must be down to the C1 Modem.

I’ve now used two iPhones with Apple’s own modems in them, and on both occasions it’s been a resounding success. They seem ever so power-friendly, and I swear the call quality is a fraction better as well.

If 5G is a thing for you, then the 16e gets it. Ok, not the super-fast 5G, it only gets the sub-6GHz version, but it does get 5G. I’ve never experienced good 5G, so this one passes me by.

Button-wise, you get the Action Button. That simple inclusion is super handy as it can be mapped to so many different things, including Visual Intelligence.

A question!

How do you set up your new phones?

Recently, it seems to have been a hot debate. I’ve listened to a host of podcasts recently where the preferred set-up method has been chatted about at length. I set up from device to device and scan the star code thingy, but now I’m wondering if that’s the best way or not?

What I like about it is that it means my new phone is still signed in to all my apps and accounts, and it makes the switch fairly quick & painless. I don’t have too many apps, which I guess helps, but it just works for me.

But recently, I have been hearing that the right way to set up a new phone is via a cable and Finder.

So, what way do you set up a new phone and is there a right or wrong way to go about it? Let me know.

iPhone 16e – the not so good bits

Firstly, that display only has the original Ceramic Shield glass, and it is not ageing so well.

Before you ask, no, I don’t use screen protectors, as it gives me a better way to test the durability of the phone’s glass. But the poor track record of the glass on the 16e goes to show what a massive step forward Ceramic Glass 2 has been.

After nearly a month, both my iPhone 17 Pro Max and my iPhone Air are scratch-free. Finally we have iPhones that don’t scratch up the moment you touch them.

The biggest loss of all from my perspective is that we get no MagSafe. I love MagSafe, and the fact that it’s not on the iPhone 16e is a pain – not a deal-breaker necessarily, but a pain nonetheless.

You do get 7.5W Qi wireless charging, but other than that, you’re gonna be charging via the cable, which seems so old hat now. A workaround would be to buy a case that has a magnetic ring on it. OK, you still won’t get MagSafe charging, but at least you’ll be able to use MagSafe mounts in the car and at home.

There is no Camera Control Button, it’s not an Always-On Display, and it’s not ProMotion. The lack of ProMotion doesn’t affect me too much, but I know that for a lot of iPhone 16e users who dabble in a bit of light gaming, its exclusion might be more of an issue.

The front camera is the basic 12MP TrueDepth camera, not the latest fancy 18MP camera with the square sensor that can also now record Dual Capture content. Although I’ve used it to highlight in videos and stories, it’s not a feature that I’ll be using that often. Although the selfie camera is massively popular, it doesn’t feature that much in my life, so again, not a big loss for me.

There are no Cinematic or Action modes, but again, for the kind of folks who’ll likely end up buying this phone, I don’t think that will be a big issue. It’s a case of if you’ve never had ‘em, how can you miss ‘em?

And as we are about to talk cameras, it’s worth reminding you that you won’t be getting the ultra-wide or tele lenses on the 16e.

The camera

The 48MP 2-in-1 Fusion main camera gets the job done. Is it the best out there no, but it’s a camera that won’t let you down either. It’s a case of quality, not quantity and of course, simplicity.

You get a choice of 1x or 2x, and on the 2x, there is an option for a 10x optical zoom, but I suggest you go steady with it. It’s not great in low light, as you can see, and I reckon that is the camera’s biggest failing, but other than that, it’s an OK camera, and it should be, as it came directly from the iPhone 16 and no one was moaning about that camera!

With good enough conditions, you get to shoot in either 24MP or 48MP, and you even get a basic set of Photographic Styles to help personalise your photos after the fact.

Video-wise, you can record up to 4K 60FPS, which is probably all that a phone like this needs to be able to do.

Tempted?

If you are, and you should be giving it a thought, then it might be worth waiting before buying your 16e.

The rumours are that Apple is about to change the release schedule of its phones next year. The flagship 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, Air 2 and the new foldable are set for an autumn release, meaning that the more budget-friendly phones, the 17e and iPhone 18, will now be released in the spring. So with only 6 months to go, and the prospect of the iPhone 17e having the A19 chip, if you can bide your time, it might be worth it.

Overlooked

I know tech moves at a pace, but it’s such a shame that the 16e is now almost shunned to one side.

It’s the cheapest way to buy a new phone that is a gateway into the Apple Ecosystem. Rather than having to rely on hand-me-downs or risk buying something second-hand, for £599 you can buy a brand new iPhone and enjoy all that it unlocks.

Suddenly, you’ll be able to use CarPlay, AirPlay, and if or when you get a Mac, you’ll have iPhone Mirroring and AirDrop too.

I mentioned earlier that I found myself reaching more and more for the 16e this spring and summer, and the reason for that was that it did all I wanted a phone to do without the bloat or weight of its bigger brothers.

Sure, from time to time, because of what I do, I need the grunt of the Pro Max, but most days the simplicity of the iPhone 16e more than hits the mark. Sadly, we move on and forget too quickly.

The 16e is a neat phone and one that I hope Apple continues to bring us. It honestly was a breath of fresh air.