Phone Comparisons: Apple IPhone 16 Vs Apple IPhone 16e

Apple announced a successor to the iPhone SE 3 quite recently. Well, a successor in spirit. The iPhone 16e is its name, and it’s notably different than the iPhone SE 3. The company finally ditched the iPhone 8 design and moved on. The iPhone 16e is the cheapest iPhone 16 series smartphone now, it’s $200 cheaper than the iPhone 16. Is it worth it, though? Well, in this article, we’ll compare the Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e to try and help you make a purchasing decision.

These two smartphones do have some similarities, of course, but there are also quite a few differences. There is no doubt in our mind the iPhone 16e is inferior to the iPhone 16, but it may be worth it for some of you. As already mentioned, there’s that $200 price difference. So, let’s see what these two smartphones have to offer. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to a number of other categories.

Specs

Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e, respectively

– Screen size:
6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 60Hz, HDR, 2,000 nits max brightness)
6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 60Hz, HDR, 1,300 nits max brightness)
– Display resolution:
2556 x 1179
2532 x 1170
– SoC:
Apple A18 (3nm, 5-core GPU)
Apple A18 (3nm, 4-core GPU)
– RAM:
8GB
8GB
– Storage:
128GB/256GB/512GB (NVMe)
128GB/256GB/512GB (NVMe)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.6 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor size, 1.0um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree FoV, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF)
48MP (wide, f/1.6 aperture, 1/2.55-inch sensor size, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF, OIS)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, 1/3.6-inch sensor size)
– Battery:
3,561mAh
4,005mAh
– Charging:
30W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2), 4.5W reverse wired
30W wired, 7.5W Qi wireless
– Dimensions:
147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm
146.7 x 71.5 x 7.8 mm
– Weight:
170 grams
167 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
– OS:
iOS 18
iOS 18
– Price:
$799+
$599+
– Buy:
Apple iPhone 16
iPhone 16e

These two smartphones do have a similar in-hand feel. They’re both made out of metal and glass, and they both have a flat frame all around. Their front and back sides are also flat, and even their dimensions are almost identical. On top of that, the iPhone 16e is only 3 grams lighter, so they’re basically level on that front too. Both smartphones are made out of aluminum and glass.

The in-hand feel may be different, but there are some visual differences here to consider. The iPhone 16 has a pill-shaped cutout on the front aka Dynamic Island. The Apple iPhone 16e, on the flip side, includes a notch. On the back, there are two vertically-aligned cameras on the iPhone 16, while its sibling has a single camera in the top-left corner. The Apple logo has the same placement on both.

The iPhone 16 has a power/lock key on the right side, along with a Camera Control key. On the left, you’ll find its volume up and down buttons, along with an Action Button. The iPhone 16e has all that except the Camera Control key, Apple decided to ditch that one here. Both smartphones are quite slippery in the hand. They both also come with an IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Both of them do feel like premium devices in the hand, though.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e: Display

The iPhone 16 includes a 6.1-inch 2556 x 1179 Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is flat, and it supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision content. Its brightness goes up to 2,000 nits, while the screen-to-body ratio is at around 87%. The display aspect ratio here is 19.5:9. The iPhone 16’s display is protected by the Ceramic Shield Glass.

The iPhone 16e, on the other hand, also has a flat display. That panel is also 6.1 inches in size, and it’s a Super Retina XDR OLED panel. HDR10 content is supported, and the peak brightness is 1,200 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 87%. This display has a resolution of 2532 x 1170, and the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. The display is protected by Ceramic Shield Glass.

Both of these displays support a 60Hz refresh rate, by the way. They don’t offer a high refresh rate. They also don’t support high-frequency PWM dimming either. The viewing angles are good, though, and they’re both quite vibrant and more than sharp enough. The blacks are also quite deep on both. The thing is, the iPhone 16’s display does get a bit brighter outdoors, if that’s something you’re concerned about.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e: Performance

The Apple iPhone 16 is fueled by the Apple A18 processor. That is a 3nm chip, and it’s paired with 8GB of RAM here, and NVMe storage. The iPhone 16e is also fueled by the Apple A18, but it has one less GPU core. It has 4-core graphics, instead of 5-core graphics like the iPhone 16. The iPhone 16e also comes with 8GB of RAM and NVMe storage. Do note that neither of these two phones supports storage expansion.

In terms of performance, they’re basically on the same level. Yes, the iPhone 16e has one lass GPU core, but that’s not something you’ll actually notice. They’re both quite snappy during day-to-day tasks, as you’d expect, considering their internals. Apple’s animations do slow things down a bit, but as per usual, you can dig into the settings and change that. The point is, you don’t have to worry about day-to-day performance on either device, and chances are it’ll stay that way for quite some time.

What about gaming? Well, both of these phones can handle even the most demanding games from the App Store. The iPhone 16e is technically inferior when it comes to the most demanding games, but that’s probably not something you’ll notice. Still, if you’re planning on gaming a lot, the iPhone 16 is a better choice. Do expect them both to get quite warm if you’re gaming a lot, though.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e: Battery

A 3,561mAh battery sits inside the iPhone 16. The iPhone 16e, on the other hand, includes a 4,005mAh battery. It seemed interesting that Apple decided to make this change, despite the spec similarities between the two phones, and despite the fact the iPhone 16 already offered great battery life. Do note that the iPhone 16e has Apple’s very first in-house 5G modem, while the iPhone 16 uses Qualcomm’s.

We’re not sure if that’s a direct reason for the better battery life on the iPhone 16, despite the fact it has a smaller battery pack, but chances are it is. The iPhone 16 is a road warrior in terms of battery life, and the iPhone 16e doesn’t even come close. It’s not bad in terms of battery life, not at all, but it’s not near the iPhone 16 either. It’s much better than the iPhone SE 3, though, it seems, so that’s something. The iPhone 16 can easily push you through the day on a single charge, even if you’re a power user. The iPhone 16e may not be able to do that for power users.

What about charging? Well, both of them support charging speeds of up to 30W via a wire, though that’s the absolute maximum and not a constant. It’ll likely fly under that most of the time, closer to 20W. The iPhone 16 also supports 25W MagSafe charging and 15W Qi2 wireless charging, not to mention 4.5W reverse wired charging. The iPhone 16e supports 7.5W Qi charging. Neither phone comes with a charger. It’ll take the iPhone 16 a bit less to fully charge, but they’ll both take between an hour and 40 minutes and an hour and 50 minutes for a full charge.

Apple iPhone 16 vs Apple iPhone 16e: Cameras

The Apple iPhone 16 has two cameras on the back. It includes a 48-megapixel main unit (1/1.56-inch sensor size), and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera (120-degree FoV). The iPhone 16e, on the other hand, has a single camera on the back. It includes a 48-megapixel main camera (1/2.55-inch sensor size). So, it’s not the same camera sensor as the one in the iPhone 16, not even close.

The iPhone 16 does have a notably larger camera sensor and does provide better pictures overall. The difference is especially visible when you’re shooting in low light. The iPhone 16 is able to pull out more details from such scenes, with ease. The images also do look better in terms of colors.

In good lighting, the differences are less visible, but the iPhone 16 still pulls ahead. If you pixel peep, you’ll notice some sharpness differences, and detail differences in general. The iPhone 16 shots simply offer a better balance in comparison, which is unsurprising. The iPhone 16e doesn’t do a bad job in terms of photos, it’s just not at the same level as its sibling. We would say this is a notable compromise to lower the price.

Audio

Both of these smartphones have stereo speakers, and the loudness they provide is basically the same. The same goes for sound quality. There is no audio jack on either one of these two smartphones, but you can use their Type-C ports instead.

When it comes to wireless audio connectivity, both of these smartphones come with Bluetooth 5.3. It’s not exactly the latest Bluetooth standard, but it’ll do the trick, that’s for sure. It’s more than good enough.