Apple iPhone 16e vs. iPhone 16

There isn’t a subsequent iPhone SE; there’s solely an iPhone E now. The brand new mannequin is neither compact nor inexpensive, and but, in response to early information, it sells like hotcakes. In reality, it’s way more widespread than the final iPhone SE from 2022. The iPhone 16e is the primary in Apple’s new “economy-class” collection of units, and it is a toned-down iPhone 16 with a touch of iPhone 13. It begins at €699, whereas the vanilla iPhone 16 is no less than €200 dearer.

So, it makes you surprise – is the Apple iPhone 16e the go-to cellphone in case you are after a no-frills however up-to-date iOS expertise, or must you pay further for the Apple iPhone 16? Let’s look into it.

Desk of Contents:

For starters, you’ll be able to examine the whole specs sheets or instantly proceed with our editor’s evaluation within the following textual content.

Dimension comparability

The iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 are virtually equivalent in dimension and weight.

Greater than that, each iPhones provide related design and construct. Each units use Ceramic Defend entrance panels, aluminum frames, and glass again panels with frosted end. Each are IP68-rated for mud and water resistance and are enhanced to outlive in as much as 6m deep water for half-hour.

The Ceramic Defend on the iPhone 16e is the primary technology, whereas the vanilla iPhone 16 makes use of a second-gen Ceramic Defend, which is supposedly much more sturdy.

For all intents and functions, although, we might charge each units equally nice on the subject of design, seems and construct, and each stay among the many extra compact smartphones in the marketplace these days.

Show comparability

Each the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 include related Tremendous Retina XDR OLED panels with about 460ppi, fastened 60Hz refresh charge, HDR10 and Dolby Imaginative and prescient assist.

There are variations although. The primary, and most evident one, is the notch. The iPhone 16e has the old-school notch to make method for the Face ID tech, the trimmed down model relationship all the way in which again to instances of the iPhone 13. And it isn’t simply the notch – it is fairly presumably the entire show panel that is 3 years previous.

The iPhone 16 has a pill-shaped cutout, which Apple has magically remodeled right into a characteristic known as Dynamic Island. Cool or not, it’s higher than the notch, we might give them that.

Moreover, whereas each screens provide properly excessive brightness when controlling it manually (800nits for the iPhone 16e and 850 nits for the iPhone 16), the iPhone 16 panel additionally helps daylight increase as much as 1,708 nits when confronted with a vibrant mild.

For the extra interesting cutout and the massive increase in auto brightness, we are able to safely say the iPhone 16’s show is the higher cellphone on this division.

Battery life

The iPhone 16e is powered by a 4,005mAh battery – 12% greater than the ‘common’ iPhone 16 (3,561mAh). One would possibly count on this to translate to an extended battery life, however that didn’t occur.

Opposite to expectations, the iPhone 16 beat the iPhone 16e in battery life by a landslide. It scored notably higher throughout all battery life assessments. And for that, it will get the win right here as properly.

Charging pace

Testing with a 20W or greater USB-PD suitable energy adapter offers related cost throughout each telephones – north of 30% in 15 minutes, near 60% in 30 minutes, about 85% in a single hour, and a full cost after 90 or so minutes.

The iPhone 16 helps quick wi-fi charging for as much as 25W by way of the brand new MagSafe charger when plugged right into a 30W+ energy adapter. If in case you have a suitable Qi2 charger that is not MagSafe, then the iPhone 16 will max out at 15W.

The iPhone 16e additionally provides wi-fi charging, however there isn’t any MagSafe assist, nor Qi2 compliance. The utmost wired charging energy you may get this fashion is 7.5W and there’s no automated alignment of the charging coils such as you get with the magnets. So it is one other win (albeit small) for the vanilla iPhone 16.

Speaker check

The iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 have conventional hybrid stereo speaker setups we have gotten used to experiencing on the latest iPhones. The devoted bottom-firing speaker handles one channel whereas the opposite is serviced by the amplified earpiece, pulling double obligation.

The audio system throughout each telephones assist spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. And each setups sound extremely properly in actual life with deep and balanced audio. As teardowns have revealed, nonetheless, the audio system contained in the iPhone 16e are bodily smaller as a result of they’re the identical as those used within the iPhone 14.

Nonetheless, each the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 16 scored a Very Good mark on our speaker loudness check and demonstrated glorious speaker efficiency.

Efficiency

The iPhone 16e, similar to the iPhone 16, runs on the Apple A18 chipset, which is three generations forward of the A15, which is discovered contained in the iPhone SE (2022). This can be a second-gen 3nm chip that’s each extra highly effective and extra environment friendly.

The Apple A18 has a six-core processor with two efficiency cores working at 4.04GHz and 4 environment friendly cores clocked at 2.2GHz – similar as on the iPhone 16.

However the iPhone 16e’s GPU has a 4-core design, 1 core lower than on the iPhone 16. It nonetheless helps improved {hardware} raytracing, amongst different novelties.

The iPhone 16e comes with 8GB of RAM, similar to the iPhone 16, and it makes use of quick NVMe storage – you get a selection of 128, 256, or 512GB on each.

Benchmark efficiency

The CPU check reveals that the iPhone 16e has an equally highly effective processor as the newest iPhones, which is nice. The identical goes for its AI capabilities.

The GPU assessments present about 30% drop within the uncooked efficiency, which was considerably anticipated. This additionally mirrored on the compound AnTuTu remaining rating.

Whereas each iPhones are highly effective, the iPhone 16 provides extra oomph on the subject of gaming.

Digital camera comparability

The iPhone 16e has just one digicam on the again – a 48MP main with 2x high-quality zoom, which mechanically makes the iPhone 16 with its twin digicam (extensive+ultrawide) setup – the extra versatile imaging equipment.

Nonetheless, the iPhone 16e seems to have the identical selfie digicam because the dearer iPhones with autofocus and every part, with solely minor omissions within the feature-set (like Cinematic mode).

The primary cameras aren’t the identical, although. The iPhone 16e makes use of a 48MP 1/2.55″ sensor with 0.7µm pixels, whereas the iPhone 16 has a much bigger 48MP 1/1.56″ sensor with 1.0µm pixels.

Moreover, the 16e kind of focusing is not the identical both – the 16 makes use of ‘100% Focus Pixels’, whereas the 16e makes do with ‘Hybrid Focus Pixels’, and the 16 has sensor-shift stabilization, whereas the 16e’s is lens-based.

Clearly, there isn’t any Digital camera Management key on the 16e – solely the correct iPhone 16 will get that.

And on the software program facet, the iPhone 16e has the earlier technology Photographic Types, however we are able to think about few individuals would discover.

Picture high quality

Let’s begin with the default 1x zoom shot within the default 24MP decision. Since Apple is closely processing its photographs – Photonic Engine, Sensible HDR, Deep Fusion, and whatnot, the usual 26mm pictures are equivalent.

Most important digicam: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

Identical goes for the selfies.

Selfie digicam: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

However for the reason that iPhone 16 has a bigger sensor, its 2x zoomed photographs are ever so barely cleaner in comparison with the iPhone 16e. You additionally get higher grass rendition.

2x zoom: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

The bigger sensor performs an excellent greater function in low-light, the place each 1x and 2x photographs taken with the iPhone 16 have decrease noise ranges.

Low-light 1x and 2x: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16 (taken at completely different instances)

Video high quality

The iPhone 16e and 16 can document video as much as 4K60 with all cameras. 30fps and 24fps modes are additionally on the menu, in fact. Dolby Imaginative and prescient recording can also be obtainable (requires HEVC), and spatial audio recording, too.

Beneath now we have just a few framegrabs from the movies taken by the 2 telephones

Most important digicam: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

2x zoom: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

Low-light: iPhone 16e • iPhone 16

The video high quality in daylight scenes is equivalent in each 1x and 2x zoom ranges.

Nonetheless, in low-light situations, the bigger sensor on the iPhone 16 as soon as once more yields extra detailed and fewer noisy footage.

Verdict

Each iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 provide a stable iOS expertise with a well-rounded characteristic set. Each telephones have premium construct high quality and recognizable seems. They each provide Dolby Imaginative and prescient OLED screens, highly effective {hardware}, spectacular audio system, and succesful cameras.

The iPhone 16e is a less expensive cellphone with one much less digicam and one much less GPU core than the iPhone 16, in addition to not as vibrant display with a much bigger notch. However it has all of the necessities for a significant iOS expertise.

Then again, the iPhone 16 offers you correct gaming energy and digicam versatility, in addition to a extra trendy show with a smaller cutout. Let’s not overlook the higher battery life and the quicker wi-fi charging with magnetic help. And its USB-C port has video-out, one thing the iPhone 16e doesn’t provide.

General, the iPhone 16e is a good different to the iPhone 16 for somebody who won’t admire these options – like a child or a grandparent. However for anybody else, we predict the value premium to get the iPhone 16 is properly price it.