I Tested the $599 iPhone 16E and Its Good but Also Kind of Odd

8.5/ 10
SCORE

Apple iPhone 16E

Pros

• Does most of the Apple stuff I want
• Battery life is great so far
• Matte finish back
• The rear camera is good
• A18 chip performance

Cons

• $599 price isn’t cheap
• Odd value proposition
• Lacks MagSafe
• Screen is good, but wonder how it will age

I’m holding the $599 iPhone 16E in the air – think Statue of Liberty pose – as I stand on the roof of CNET’s six-story office building to test the new phone’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature. In a matter of seconds, the 16E is connected to a satellite despite being in the middle of downtown San Francisco. I can’t think of any other $600 phone that can do this.

Satellite connectivity isn’t necessarily at the top of the list for what people want in their phone. Usually, it’s good battery life (which the iPhone 16E has), a good camera (the 16E checks that off too) and a decent price (which the 16E just misses).

Apple took a Taco Bell-like approach with the iPhone 16E, mixing and matching parts and features from prior phones to create a “new” iPhone. Its design and screen are similar to the iPhone 14. Its A18 processor is the same as the one in the iPhone 16. And this gives the iPhone 16E a weird value proposition. It’s new, but it’s old. It’s affordable, but not cheap.

Watch this: iPhone 16E Review

07:20

After testing the iPhone 16E for six days, I was surprised the most by how wonderfully uneventful it was to use. Along with all the standard iOS 18 functions and goodies, like iMessage and FaceTime, I used Apple Intelligence, made calls on 5G, took a bunch of share-worthy photos and videos and played video games like Resident Evil 4.

What more could you want, right?

I can also do all of these things on the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, but don’t need to pay as much to do so with the 16E. I wouldn’t call the iPhone 16E a budget or cheap phone. But it does plenty to earn that $600 price, even if it does miss that $500 sweet spot other affordable phones like the Google Pixel 8A hit.

If you can get a discount or a carrier deal to lower the price, the iPhone 16E’s value becomes even better.

iPhone 16E: Should you buy it?

If you’re rocking an iPhone SE, an iPhone 11 or older, the 16E will be a nice upgrade in every way, from the camera to the battery life — though you might miss that ultrawide camera. I also think that this is a good phone for people using Android phones who want to switch and dip the proverbial toe into Apple’s waters.

The iPhone 16E could be a solid option for teenagers as well as adults who don’t care about having the most cutting-edge phone tech, especially if they’re on an iPhone that’s four or five years old.

Between the 16E and the iPhone 15, I’d go with the 16E, as long as you’re OK not having the Dynamic Island, an ultrawide camera and MagSafe. The 16E’s A18 processor is its secret sauce and will no doubt be supported longer than the iPhone 15’s A16 Bionic hand-me-down chip which came out on the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022.

Choosing between the iPhone 16 and the 16E is a bit tougher. If you have the budget, I’d go with the regular 16. You get a brighter screen, MagSafe, and an ultrawide camera that doubles as a macro lens — great for taking close-up photos like of food since the main camera automatically switches to a cropped version of the ultrawide in order to nail focus. 

iPhone 16E design

The iPhone 16E’s flat-sided design is similar to every phone Apple launched since the iPhone 12, aside from the SE. The back glass has a sophisticated textured matte finish, which looks understated and gives the iPhone 16E a more premium air. There’s no camera bump sticking out of the back, just a single lens, which makes the black iPhone 16E I’ve been testing have some serious 2001: A Space Odyssey monolith vibes.

The iPhone 16E’s screen reminds me of the one on the iPhone 14. It’s 6.1 inches and has an old school-style notch at the top to house the selfie camera and FaceID tech. The notch didn’t bother me in use, but I did miss having the Dynamic Island and seeing background activities, like a timer at the top of my screen count down as I’m cooking. The iPhone 16E seems aimed at folks with older iPhones that don’t even have the Dynamic Island. So they won’t know what they’re missing.

In everyday use, even outdoors, the screen looks good. I wish the 16E (and the iPhone 16 for that matter) had a high-refresh rate screen — what Apple calls Pro Motion. Nearly all Android phones at this price or cheaper have one. I guess if you want a better screen with a high-refresh rate, there’s always the iPhone 16 Pro. I think the 16E’s screen will age better than the 4.7-inch one on the last iPhone SE did. But what will it be like to use the 16E in three or four years?

The iPhone 16E lacks support for MagSafe, the magnetic connection system on the back of the phone, which isn’t the end of the world. I imagine that people who don’t have an iPhone with MagSafe won’t know what they’re missing — notice a theme here? But in a household shared with someone who does have an iPhone with MagSafe as well as charging stands, I could see that being a bit annoying. My guess is that phone case companies will make iPhone 16E cases with magnets that will allow the 16E to work with magnetic stands and accessories.

iPhone 16E cameras

The iPhone 16E has a single rear camera. I’ve said it before, but I’d rather have one really good camera than the two or three mediocre ones that can often be found on budget phones. The 16E’s main camera takes lovely photos, even when using night mode. It has a 48-megapixel sensor, which has enough resolution for sensor cropping to offer a 2x magnification, and the results are decent. Images look sharp, have a nice dynamic range (good for high-contrast lighting like sunrises/sunsets), and colors are attractively subdued. 

Is the iPhone 16 more versatile with its second rear camera that’s an ultrawide lens? Yes. Does the iPhone 16 Pro take better photos? Yes. The iPhone 16E is great for someone who just wants to document a moment and share it with friends and family or post a quick selfie to Instagram or a video on TikTok.

iPhone 16E modem and 5G calls

The iPhone 16E’s actually has a new feature that no other Apple phone does: a modem. Most people have no idea what kind of modem their phone has and just want assurance that they get a signal and can reliably make voice or video calls that sound good. And the iPhone 16E delivers on both accounts. Phone calls sounded clear and video calls over 5G never froze.

Technically, it’s impressive that Apple designed the C1 modem (it’s first), and the calls I made on the iPhone 16E (indoors, outdoors around San Francisco on AT&T) sounded good and clear.

I was able to use 5G to download apps on the go like PGA Tour Pro Golf (2.4GB) in less than a minute. I was also able to stream Severance on the Apple TV Plus app over 5G with no problem.

I ran tests side by side with an iPhone 16 Pro Max that was also on AT&T using the Speed Test app by Ookla, which is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis. And while the 16 Pro Max had faster download speeds, the 16E’s results were still good. In fact, its upload speeds beat the 16 Pro Max, which means selfies and videos post quickly to Instagram and TikTok, while video calls look and sound good without any freezes.

iPhone 16E battery, iOS and services

I’ve had the 16E for six days and only had to charge it three times. I used a 30-watt wall charger, and the 16E went from empty to 59% in 30 minutes. And I’ve been using the phone heavily, testing the cameras, running Apple Intelligence tools and playing graphics intensive games.

The iPhone 16E can definitely make it through a day on a single charge and, depending on how you use it, it’ll likely make it through a day and a half before needing to be plugged in.

In CNET’s video streaming battery test with the battery charged to 100%, the iPhone 16E didn’t drop a single percent after an hour. Compare that to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15, each of which dropped to 97% after an hour in the same test. I have more battery tests to run, but so far the iPhone 16E has a great battery life.

The iPhone 16E is powered by Apple’s A18 chip, just like the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. The only difference is the version in the 16E has four GPU cores instead of five. In everyday use, the phone had no issues playing video games, editing and saving videos and using Apple Intelligence. In benchmark test for the CPU, the iPhone 16E scored higher than the iPhone 16, iPhone 15 and iPhone SE.

In benchmark test for graphic performance, you can really see the difference that the iPhone 16’s extra GPU core has over the iPhone 16E. It’s also notable that the iPhone 15 bests the iPhone 16E in terms of graphical power.

The iPhone 16E is a gateway into Apple’s software and services. iOS 18 runs smoothly. Being able to customize the home screen and control center adds a nice personal touch, and I also get all of Apple’s emergency features, including satellite support to reach emergency responders when there’s no cell signal.

The iPhone 16E doesn’t have every Apple bell and whistle, but the company wisely included many of the best ones.

iPhone 16E last thoughts

$600 is a lot of money, at least for me, but I think the iPhone 16E is worth it. I do recommend looking into carrier deals, discounts and trade-ins to drop that price a bit, unless you’re set on doing an installment plan over a couple of years. Even if Apple made a version of this phone that’s closer to $500, it would have had to omit or compromise on more features. I wonder how the iPhone 16E’s value will look in the fall when the iPhone 17 is released and there’s all the deals and discounts for it.

After nearly a week with the iPhone 16E, I’m happy to say it’s a good phone and will be a solid upgrade from older iPhone models.

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET’s initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.