Farewell, mute switch! The iPhone 16e replaces it with the Action Button, which can be programmed to perform one of about a dozen functions — but only one, alas. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
Proper engine maintenance can keep a car running almost indefinitely. Alas, there's no such luck when it comes to phones; at some point, you're going to need (if not want) to upgrade. I'm in that camp: As an iPhone 13 user, I'm feeling the pull of a fresh battery, a faster processor, new features and so on. Maybe it's the same for you, especially if you're chugging along with the likes of an iPhone 11, 12 or SE.
That brings us to Apple's new iPhone 16e, the "budget" successor to the discontinued, 3-year-old third-generation iPhone SE. It is by far Apple's most capable entry-level model to date, with a bigger screen, more storage and, yes, a faster processor.
But it'll cost you: The iPhone SE started at $429; the iPhone 16e starts at $599. You're getting more for your money, no question, but this really strains the definition of "budget phone." And if you can afford that, should you just pony up for the $799 iPhone 16?
(Side note: Price considerations are decidedly fluid right now, with recent import tariffs threatening to increase costs on all manner of products — iPhones included. Meanwhile, September typically heralds new models, resulting in price drops on previous ones. A few months from now, the iPhone 16 might be $699. And I'll just say it right now: If there's only a $100 price difference between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e, I'd choose the former every time.)
This iPhone 16e review will be a little different from others you might have read. For you and for myself, I'm trying to answer a big question: Is this a good upgrade path from an older model? I'll use both the SE and my iPhone 13 as the primary comparisons, but a lot of the discussion applies to other elders as well. Bottom line: This is the least-expensive iPhone you can get, but is it the right iPhone to get?
VERDICT: It's a really good phone, no question, but it's disappointing that Apple no longer makes a small, more affordable model for those who want it.
The third-generation iPhone SE answered the call (ha!) for users seeking a small, affordable iPhone that retained the physical Home button from earlier models. You already know the iPhone 16e is less affordable; it's also larger, with a 6.1-inch OLED screen (a big jump from the SE's 4.7-inch LCD). Plus, the Home button is gone forever. (Cue grieving SE fans: "Nooooooooo!") Let's run down all the ways the 16e differs from — and, in most cases, improves on — the SE.
The 16e is a bit less pocket-friendly, measuring 5.8 inches long and weighing 5.9 ounces; the iPhone SE was 5.4 inches and 5.2 ounces. These aren't huge differences, but I think a lot of users really liked the SE's more compact design. Easier to hold, easier to carry.
The loss of the Home button means no more fingerprint recognition, either; get ready to experience the joys of Face ID. I mean that earnestly: Once it's set up (which takes all of 10 seconds), you'll barely notice it; the iPhone 16e recognizes your face and unlocks with virtually zero delay. I don't think I'd ever want to go back to an onscreen password or fingerprint ID.
What's more, there's something new to click: The Action Button replaces the mute switch on the left edge of the phone, above the volume buttons. By default, it does the same thing — toggles Silent Mode on or off — but you can choose from about a dozen other functions instead: camera, flashlight, magnifier, voice memo and so on.
These are handy shortcuts, no question, but Apple maddeningly limits you to just one of them. You can't assign a second function to, say, a double-press of the button. Or a third function to an extra-long press. This is such a missed opportunity; I'd love to have quickie access to the flashlight, but I'm not willing to give up the Silent Mode toggle, which I use frequently.
A new battery is a big benefit to any phone upgrade, and the iPhone 16e not only puts the SE to shame, it even outpaces the standard iPhone 16. That's because it's the first model to employ Apple's C1 cellular chip, which is more energy-efficient. The SE 3 and iPhone 16 were rated for up to 15 and 22 hours of video playback, respectively; the 16e lets you binge for up to 26 hours. That's arguably the sole case for choosing the 16e over the 16, though keep in mind future iPhones are likely to inherit that C1 chip or its successors — so battery improvements should be coming there as well.
This will also be your first iPhone with a USB-C connector, which has now replaced Apple's proprietary Lightning port across the entire iPhone (and iPad) lineup. The downside, of course, is that you'll have to replace your existing charging cables. (Don't buy them from Apple, though; here's a 5-pack of different-length USB-C cords for $15, just one example of less-expensive options.) Pro tip: You can recycle those old ones by dropping them at your nearest Best Buy or Staples store.
Speaking of charging, the iPhone 16e supports wireless charging pads, docks, etc., as did the iPhone SE. However, it doesn't have MagSafe, meaning you have to position the phone in exactly the right spot on the charger — and make sure it doesn't get jostled loose. You also lose out on all the great MagSafe accessories: wallets, battery packs, etc.
That's the bad news. The good news is you can add MagSafe to your iPhone 16e by putting it in a MagSafe-compatible case. (They're very affordable, too; I recently bought one for just $6.) But charging won't be anywhere near as fast as on other iPhone 16 models, as the 16e uses the older, slower 7.5-watt Qi standard. Qi2, when used with a compatible charger, is considerably faster.
Stocked with Apple's A18 chip — ever-so-slightly less powerful than the one found in the higher-end iPhone 16 — the 16e is three processor generations ahead of the iPhone SE (and my iPhone 13). Of course, everything is relative; my model was the "fastest iPhone ever" back in 2021, and in the 3.5 years since, I've never found it to be slow.
What I have noticed on the iPhone 16 is that certain functions run just a bit faster. For example, I use my password manager (Bitwarden) to unlock various apps and websites; on the iPhone 13, it would take a few seconds to open the app, unlock it (via my face), then auto-fill the password. The iPhone 16 whips through this process more quickly, shaving off a second or two. Does that matter in the grand scheme of things? Hardly.
Indeed, while Apple routinely touts the gazillions of transistors and X-multiplier performance improvements for each new processor, the real-world gains are marginal. I feel the primary benefit is support for new features, such as Apple Intelligence (see below).
Like the iPhone SE, the iPhone 16e has just one rear camera. The main improvement is resolution: 48 megapixels versus just 12 on the SE. That enables a 2x telephoto zoom, though it's virtual, not optical: Anything shot that way will be cropped — and end up at 12 megapixels. (Still very sharp.)
The 16e also gets an aperture bump to f/1.6 from f/1.8, meaning a bit more light hits the lens. That's important for low-light photography; anything you shoot in a dim environment should look smoother, less grainy.
Sort of related to the camera, a couple audio-specific improvements to video recording: The 16e captures Spatial Audio, which gives you a much more immersive experience when watching back your videos with AirPods or other earbuds/headphones that support the technology; and the phone can reduce wind noise from your recordings as well.
So, yeah: evolutionary upgrades, not revolutionary. And from one perspective, it's actually a step down from my iPhone 13, which has two cameras (one standard, one ultrawide) that together can still outpace the 16e on a handful of photo features. Is it still, objectively speaking, good for everyday snapshots and video? Absolutely. But if you're a bit more serious about photography, you may want to consider an iPhone model with more and better cameras.
Finally, we get to Apple's cleverly named take on AI: Apple Intelligence. This wide-ranging set of tools aims to help you with all kinds of things: proofreading and rewriting emails and other text; summarizing long emails and generating "smart" replies to save time; cleaning up photos and letting you search albums with natural language ("trips in 2023," for example); transcribing audio into text; and generating custom emoji for your text messages.
Apple also promises a smarter Siri. For example, Apple's virtual assistant can now handle on-the-fly corrections to your instructions, like if you ask for a 5-minute timer and then decide mid-stream you want to make it 10. You can "type to Siri" if you want to enter a request without speaking (like if you're in a library and need to keep quiet). There's also optional integration with ChatGPT, which adds considerably to Siri's ability to provide useful information.
Another spoke in the Apple AI wheel: Visual Intelligence (which I'm glad they didn't shorten to "VI" because people would likely confuse it with a Roman-numeral six). It's basically a camera-powered visual search tool, able to provide results from ChatGPT or Google Images. (These are represented by icons labeled "ask" and "search," respectively, which I found a little confusing.)
Thus, not only does it identify virtually anything the camera sees — a business, an animal, the mysterious thing you found on the floor — it also converts foreign languages, reads text aloud and (my favorite) scans event flyers. (It can then add the date and time to your calendar.)
Weirdly, however, you can't access this feature within the Camera app; you have to either program the Action Button to launch it or tap the Visual Intelligence icon inside Control Center. I can't fathom why there's no such icon in the Camera app itself.
Here's my take on Apple Intelligence, as it exists in the spring of 2025: It's a start. It all feels pretty "1.0," if that. In fact, Apple has taken some heat for promising more than AI is actually delivering. Certain features promised at launch have yet to arrive; others are just broken. (Example: Genmoji doesn't currently work across Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram.)
I found AI photo search to be pretty anemic; I asked to see "tropical vacations," for example, and it came up empty. (I have plenty of away-from-home photos with palm trees in them.) Some of the AI-generated auto-replies for text messages are laughably bad. And Siri may be smarter overall, but I tripped it up pretty easily with a calendar entry: I asked it to schedule "dinner with Mom" at 5 p.m., then asked it to make it 5:30. Instead of making the correction, it popped up a "delete appointment?" box.
Still, some of what's there is good; I like being able to quickly remove unwanted elements from photos and instantly see transcription in the Notes app while I'm recording myself. Most of the writing tools work quite well, too.
All this is to say that AI is here to stay, not just on the iPhone 16e but across the entire product line. Just keep your expectations in check, at least for now.
If it's been a few years since your last iPhone upgrade, allow me to discuss the experience — or, at least, my experience. Yours may differ; anecdotally, I know it's smooth-sailing for many users, but I definitely encountered some hiccups along the way.
As part of the initial setup, you're given the option of choosing standard, medium or large text and icons, a nice nod to users with aging eyes or actual visual impairments.
Apple has also greatly simplified the process of migrating from an older iPhone to a newer one (especially if you have an active iCloud backup, which you should). A few taps, a quick scan with the camera and everything happens more or less automatically.
However, after walking through these steps, I was asked if I wanted to install an update. I said, sure, go ahead, but after about 10 minutes, I was back to square one; I had to repeat the entire setup process. That was irritating.
I then ran into a problem transferring my phone number, but that was most likely due to my MVNO carrier, US Mobile. In the end I had to use US Mobile's app to initiate the transfer. What all this will entail for you depends in part on your carrier and whether you have a physical SIM card or an eSIM.
Be aware that while all your apps and data should make their way from old phone to new, there will be various apps and services that require you to sign in again. (Here's hoping you've got all your passwords organized and available.)
I was particularly surprised at having to re-pair all non-Apple Bluetooth devices: speakers, headphones, car stereos and so on. Only my Apple Watch and AirPods "made the move" to the new phone.
Finally, it took literally hours to restore all my apps and data from iCloud. And unfortunately my text messages never restored. I found no useful help on Apple's support pages; ultimately I turned to Reddit for a solution, which was a forced sync of the iMessage app.
Likewise, two of my four e-mail accounts wouldn't display any messages; I had to delete the accounts and add them back manually.
Other weirdness: Post-migration, profile photos started disappearing for all my contacts — not all at once, but gradually over several days. (Thankfully a reboot brought them all back — except for my wife's. Go figure.)
These issues aren't specific to the iPhone 16e, and it's entirely possible you'll encounter few, if any, migration problems of your own. My guess is that the older your current iPhone, the greater the likelihood. Or it could be that because I'm a power user with a ton of apps and data, there were more opportunities for glitches.
Whatever the case, just be prepared. You could even pre-schedule an Apple Store appointment at the Genius Bar, so help is at hand if it's necessary.
If your current iPhone is long in the tooth and you want the least-expensive current-generation replacement, the iPhone 16e is worth considering. It improves on its budget predecessor, the iPhone SE, in nearly every way, even if it means pocketing a larger device and paying more for the privilege.
In return, you get a bigger screen, a faster processor, more storage, new features and better battery life than the pricier iPhone 16.
Normally I'd advise looking to "last year's model" as an alternative, meaning the iPhone 15. It's currently $699 with 128GB of storage and dual cameras, but actually has a slightly slower processor and lacks support for Apple Intelligence. Thus, I'm not sure it's the better option of the two.
Just keep in mind what I mentioned earlier: If Apple follows its usual cadence — and tariff impacts don't flip the script — the iPhone 16 would get a price cut in September, alongside the release of the presumed iPhone 17 line. At that point, it becomes an easy $100 upgrade over the 16e.
Indeed, with a lower price tag, the iPhone 16e would be easier to recommend to budget-minded shoppers. It's still a very good phone, just nowhere near a bargain.