A Chip Off The Current Block

iPhone 16e seems to have polarised opinions across the world since its launch in late February. There are those who claim it is the perfect ‘affordable’ (relatively) iPhone, while there are others who insist that it is an overpriced, under-specced, overhyped device from Cupertino. We suspect that the truth, as is so often the case, is likely to be strolling along the equator that falls between these two poles. 

But that will be revealed only in our review after we have used the device for a while. We have just got our hands on the iPhone 16e, and here are our initial impressions. 

Cute, Compact, Smaller Than iPhone 16

The first thing that struck us about the iPhone 16e was just how compact it was. It has a 6.1-inch display, just like the iPhone 16, but it seems smaller, and a close look at the specs reveals that this is indeed the case. The iPhone 16e is 146.7 mm tall as compared to the 147.6 mm of the iPhone 16. In terms of width, it is almost the same (71.5 mm to 71.6 mm), and the thickness is exactly the same 7.8 mm. 

It is fractionally lighter too at 167 grams, as against the 170 grams of the iPhone 16. Mind you, it looks positively pygmy-ish compared to the 160.9 mm tall iPhone 16 Plus and the 163 mm tall iPhone 16 Pro Max. It can just about be managed with one hand, which is not something we can say about most phones today. 

Switched off, the iPhone 16e looks rather classy and very distinct. We got the black variant and the jet black glass back with a single camera bump with the Apple logo, combined with the dark display and black aluminium sides, which gave us those clean graphite slab feels. 

The phone feels great to hold and does not seem like a scaled-down version of the ‘real’ thing, unlike the iPhone SEs, which looked like they were from another generation. It does not have the special camera control button of its 16 series siblings but comes with the action button on the left, right above the volume buttons.  

Them A18 Muscles

Switch the phone on, however, and that old-fashioned notch brings you down to earth. The 6.1-inch display seems impressively bright and comes with that controlled colour look of Apple’s OLED displays, although it retains the 60 Hz refresh rate of the non-Pro iPhones. 

Does the lower refresh rate jump out at you? It has not. Not yet. Perhaps it will once we have more to scroll. The display comes with Ceramic Shield Glass, and the phone itself has IP68 dust and water resistance, so it can survive a fall in the water.

The highlight of the phone, of course, is the A18 processor, which powers it and is very similar to the one on the iPhone 16, although it has one less GPU (four as compared to five). Still, it is said to pack in enough to give the iPhone 16e some serious Apple Intelligence and multitasking and gaming muscle. 

Of course, we will know only after we have used the device for a while but it does have the trademark iPhone-smoothness right out of the box. But while the absence of a high refresh rate does not seem obvious, the absence of a Dynamic Island hit us right away – we have got accustomed to seeing information about music, couriers, and cabs, and so much more than the notch on the iPhone 16e now seems almost Jurassic in comparison. 

Another blast from the past is the single 48 megapixel camera on the back, which Apple has described as a “2-in-1” camera system. Yes, it comes with OIS, has the option to shoot super high resolution 24 and 48 megapixel photos, shoots portrait photos, supports photographic styles, and supports Dolby Vision at 4K up to 60 fps, but the absence of an ultrawide or telephoto in this day and age is galling. 

The one department where the iPhone 16e claims to surpass the iPhone 16 is in battery, where it delivers 26 hours of video playback as compared to 22, but even there, the absence of MagSafe hit us. We have got used to slapping power banks onto the back of our iPhones and using them while they are being charged wirelessly, without any fear of them dropping off – a luxury the iPhone 16e does not give us (it can charge wirelessly but without MagSafe’s magnetism).  

It Has Beauty, Brains… And A Hefty Price Tag

If appearance and processor power were all that counted, the iPhone 16e would be a no-brainer on paper. It is a cute-looking, compact iPhone with a lot of processor muscle and Apple Intelligence (a work in progress, admittedly, but with potential) and iOS brains. 

The problem is that not only are the shortcomings of the iPhone 16e glaringly obvious (single camera, no Dynamic Island, no MagSafe), but it does not compensate for these with an iPhone SE-like price tag. 

The iPhone 16e starts at a price of Rs 59,900 for 128 GB, which is well below the Rs 74,900 of the iPhone 16 but rather close to the Rs 61,500 of the iPhone 15, which comes with dual cameras, Dynamic Island and MagSafe but minus Apple Intelligence. 

So, will compact beauty, processor brawn, and Apple Intelligence brains help the iPhone 16e prevail over not just its competitors but its immediate predecessor?  Stay tuned for our detailed review in the coming days.