00:00Hey guys, we gotta talk about the iPhone 16e. This is a 599 addition to the iPhone 16 family
00:08that's meant to make some of the most attractive things about owning an iPhone just a little bit
00:13more accessible, even if it is $107 more than the previous generation iPhone SE. That's only one of
00:18the reasons this phone right here has created a lot of controversy online since it was announced.
00:23But I've actually spent time with the iPhone 16e, testing it out, so in this video I'll take you
00:29through my reasons whether it's a buy or skip based on the upgrades. Right off the bat, if you're
00:35comparing this to the iPhone SE from 2022, the design is night and day, but Apple calling it the iPhone 16e
00:41is meant to reflect that it looks more like an iPhone you'd want to buy in the year 2025. The
00:46biggest difference clearly is no more home button with Touch ID. This is a 6.1 inch full-screen OLED
00:52display. No dynamic island is kind of a bummer, but at least there is now Face ID. The iPhone 16e
00:58also gets the action button, which I like for the fact that I can map it to just about anything.
01:05Another way Apple has made this a compelling phone is that it's packed by the same A18 silicon,
01:09the same chip you get in the iPhone 16. The Geekbench score shows that it's basically the same,
01:14both with a single and multi-core test. However, the GPU underperforms by little. I noticed scrolling
01:21isn't as fluid. It's not terrible, but that's just one of the small differences I notice.
01:25But it's worth pointing out that the 16e has one less GPU core than the iPhone 16. But more importantly,
01:31this phone gets Apple intelligence and it's now officially the most affordable entry point
01:35to Apple intelligence on iPhone. Some of my favorite Apple intelligence features include writing tools,
01:41photo cleanup, and Siri with ChatGPT integration. We actually have a full video dedicated to the new
01:46Siri experience on this channel, so be sure to check that out if you haven't already.
01:51We can't talk about performance without talking about battery life. I just want to remind you that
01:57the 16e has the same size display and A18 chip as a standard iPhone 16, but it seems to benefit from
02:03the new Apple C1 modem and as a result gets a little bit better battery life. Actually, it averaged 12
02:09hours and 41 minutes versus the iPhone 16's mark of 12 hours and 13 minutes. And it's also better than the
02:15Pixel 8a and iPhone SE 2022 by a wide margin. So I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed. So far,
02:21the iPhone 16e sounds pretty good, right? Now for those who have been to this channel before,
02:26welcome back. You already know that the cons are coming up next. If this happens to be your first
02:31time here, I'm John V. I review phones for a living and often here on this channel, so if you're liking
02:36this video so far, consider hitting that subscribe button. Back to the iPhone 16e, and here's where I'm going to
02:42express a lot of disappointment. You guys know I love doing photo faceoffs and you guys always say
02:47I'm biased towards iPhone, but that's not the case with the iPhone 16e. Although we do get an upgraded
02:5348 megapixel camera, when I compare it to a phone like the Google Pixel 8a, I think for $600, a single
03:00camera is hard to convince people it's as versatile as other phones. However, the performance is really
03:06good. I was surprised. I'm going to throw an example up on the screen I shot off with the iPhone 16e
03:12at the beach. So in these first shots, I do notice that the iPhone 16e does a better job of boosting
03:18the shadows. You can see that on the wooden railing here, and as far as details concerned, I'd give it
03:23to the iPhone for being a little bit sharper. And here's another with their main cameras. I like the
03:28iPhone 16e more because again, it boosts the shadows, so it's a lot brighter image overall. At the same
03:34time too, there's more detail, especially around the rocks near the gazebo. For a phone that technically
03:39doesn't offer a dedicated macro mode like the iPhone 16, the 16e takes outstanding images. You got to
03:46go a little bit further. I don't get quite as close compared to the 16, but check out the details of
03:51this image here. When you zoom in, you could see more definition with the iPhone 16e. And now let's
03:56take a look at night mode. It's much improved over the iPhone SE 2022, in my opinion, and it's also better
04:03than the Pixel 8a and iPhone 16. That's a big deal. So against the iPhone 16, I got to say the 16e does
04:10a great job of brightening the scene. I wanted the exposure is the same. There's a little bit
04:13difference of color temperature. You get slightly warmer tones with the 16e, but the big difference
04:18here is when I zoom in, check out the details of the tree and the branches. There's more definition
04:23with the 16e. And against the Pixel 8a, when it comes to night mode, I got to say, it's a big jump over
04:29the iPhone SE 2022 because I shot the same photos and the iPhone SE 2022 was dark. But look at this,
04:36the iPhone 16e is just as bright as the Pixel 8a, if not brighter, but it has a lot more detail too.
04:42Of course, that's just my opinion, but you be the judge. Check the link in the description to read
04:47my full written review that's packed with a ton of side-by-side comparisons. Besides the camera
04:53limitations, what are some of the ways that Apple has decided this phone is $200 less than the iPhone 16?
04:58No MagSafe, no Dynamic Island, no camera control, no spatial video, and fewer video modes. But it does
05:06get Apple's new C1 modem. And while I'm happy about all this, I was just hoping to get a little bit
05:11more battery life. What's the deal with the $599 price? It's $170 more than the previous iPhone SE 2022,
05:20and $100 more than the Pixel 8a. You need to pay a lot more now to get the cheapest iPhone, and I think
05:25that's tough, but really force you to think more about what features matter most. You could pay $200
05:31more to get the missing features I've mentioned with the iPhone 16. And even though it's $50 more
05:36than the iPhone 16e, Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE has extra features that I love for the extra cost,
05:43like Samsung DeX for that PC-like experience, and a more versatile triple camera system. Look, you guys
05:48know that I'm furthest thing from being a flagship snub. I'm always the first person to tell you to get the
05:52standard iPhone instead of the iPhone Pro Max, considering the price difference. I genuinely
05:58love the value phones, but the iPhone 16e isn't a value phone. Don't get me wrong, it's a well-rounded
06:05phone, not a bad phone at all in fact, but it's not a value phone. Our best cheap phones guide that I
06:11linked in description only considers phones under $500, so the iPhone 16e is priced out, leaving a lot of
06:18confusion as to who this device is actually for. But that's not to say you shouldn't get it. If you're
06:23itching to pay as little as possible, the iPhone 16e is still an excellent choice, just as long as
06:29you're willing to make those compromises. I personally like the extra utility that the iPhone 16 offers,
06:34with its dual cameras and dynamic island, but you're saving yourself $200 by sticking with the iPhone 16e.
06:41So what do you guys think? Is there enough to convince you that the iPhone 16e is worth it? Let me know in the
06:46comments and if you feel that paying $200 more for the iPhone 16 is better. Don't forget to follow us
06:51on social, at Tom's Guide, and I'll see you in my next video.
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