The Gateway Phone to the Apple Ecosystem

I’m going to be, as we millennials say, “for real” with you all about the iPhone 16e. After a couple of days with it, I prefer it over wielding the iPhone 16 Pro, at least for testing purposes. I’m not saying there isn’t a point in dropping a stack of cash on a Pro version of the iPhone or even the sub-level iPhone 16, but the iPhone 16e ticks all the boxes it needs to without this over-showmanship of everything Apple can do. Dare I say, it’s subdued Apple, and I like it.

If anything, the iPhone 16e is what happens when Apple dials it down to only the essentials. I still don’t know what the “e” stands for (I tried asking!), but I think it stands for “exactly what you need.” For Apple fans, the iPhone 16e is a chic little smartphone you buy for your kids or an elder, so you can keep an eye on them without the mental gymnastics of figuring out how to save some cash on an older model of the iPhone that can do it all. The iPhone 16e already does it all because it’s built on the same processing architecture as the iPhone 16/16 Pro. This phone is also for people who haven’t chosen a path yet; the iPhone 16e is the “entry-level” foray into the walled garden. Apple bottled up enough of the experience to entice you from your budget Android device.

iPhone 16e Review: Design

Look, it’s an iPhone 16

The third-generation iPhone SE was the last “budget” iPhone. That phone looked like it existed for fan service; it had Touch ID, which harkened back to an iPhone generation that Apple had since left when the SE 3 was announced. It had a measly 64GB of storage space and a camera that couldn’t even shoot in the dark. The 4.7-inch screen was cute, especially in 2022 when we were all clamoring for smaller phones, but in 2025, it’s a screen for ants. The Google Pixel A-series quickly surpassed the iPhone SE. Apple’s “budget” phone stayed dated.

The iPhone 16e has a renewed sense of self. It is not a “budget” Apple phone, but the entrance into the ecosystem that the company would like to invite you to sit in, even though it is very bright and slightly cold. It has all the essentials to enjoy tending in the walled garden. The design is a pared-down, lighter version of the iPhone 16. There have been complaints that the iPhone 16e is not colorful enough because it only comes in black and white, but you’ll probably end up covering this thing in a case, anyway.

The iPhone 16e doesn’t have the Dynamic Island, but it does have Face ID, which works just as quickly as the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. Don’t forget to scan yourself with sunglasses and a mask because typing in a six-digit passcode is still annoying when trying to do something fast. The 6.1-inch screen is a Super Retina XDR display, though it tops at 1,200 nits of brightness. The charging port is now USB-C, and there is Qi wireless charging but no MagSafe, which is fine because you can easily spoof the magnet anyway (I’ve been doing it on Android for years).

The Action Button also makes an appearance here. I can see this being the main selling point of this specific iPhone model. It’s beneficial for people buying this phone to help aid someone if they’re alone. Imagine setting up a Shortcut for a routine that dims the lights or setting up a FaceTime bookmark to simplify the task of video calling the grandkids.

My favorite part about the iPhone 16e is its lightness relative to the rest of the iPhone lineup—I’m not even talking about the Plus or the Pro Max. I am talking about this phone weighing just under six ounces. The iPhone 16 is right at six ounces on the chart, but it has protruding glass, which adds a smidge more heft. Apple figures some of us will be buying this as a secondary phone. I liked that I could carry it around in my purse with the Pixel 9 Pro, which weighs seven ounces, and I barely felt it in there. That was with Apple’s magenta silicone case on it.

Unlike the iPhone 16 family, only one camera sensor is on the iPhone 16e. However, it’s a 48-MP Fusion camera, a two-in-one camera system that can shoot in 24-MP and 48-MP resolutions like the rest of the iPhone 16 family. The iPhone 16e’s primary camera offers some wiggle room with features like Portrait Mode with depth control. But there is no focus control. There’s no ultrawide camera to zoom out into or macro photography, either. If you want to get close to something, you’ll have to walk up to it.

The iPhone 16e supports Dolby Vision video up to 4K at 60 frames-per-second, which is ample enough for anyone just recording for the sake of logging it. Photographic Styles are on the iPhone 16e, which feeds the inner emo in me. I even took a nighttime landscape photo by keeping the shutter open for a few seconds. All the basic camera necessities are on the iPhone 16e, and I was pretty satisfied despite the “fixed” lens experience.