Apple just announced its most affordable iPhone to include its latest specifications and advancements: the iPhone 16e.
Designed as a way to get several of the most up-to-date and best iPhone features at the lowest price, this entry-level handset is a bit of a mix of iPhone models from recent years, like the iPhone 13 and 14, along with upgraded features plucked straight from the iPhone 16 lineup.
It looks like it could be set to be a fantastic upgrade for anyone still holding onto an older iPhone, such as the iPhone 11 or the iPhone SE 3. The latest processor featured in this iPhone means it’s going to be a big upgrade – it’ll be 80% faster than your old iPhone 11 and 40% faster if you’ve got an iPhone SE from 2022.
For all intents and purposes, this is effectively a replacement to the iPhone SE in Apple’s range. That phone hadn’t been updated in three years, still had a dated design with a home button, limited storage, and a much smaller 4.7-inch screen. This new handset improves on it in all those areas.
Interested? The brand-new iPhone 16e is available to pre-order now, and will go on sale on 28 February.
Apple iPhone 16e: Key features
The new iPhone has a simple and minimalist design, featuring a 6.1-inch OLED display, a single 48-megapixel camera, an autofocusing selfie camera, the latest A18 chip for fast performance and Apple Intelligence support, a customisable “action” button, and 26 hours of video playback from its battery.
Compared to Apple phone models from three or four years ago, we think the OLED display will represent a big upgrade as it’ll make everything look richer and more colourful on the screen. The camera improvements will also be evident, as you get much greater detail from the 48-megapixel sensor, and a handy 2x zoom, all from one lens. Autofocus on the front-facing camera is great for better selfies and FaceTime calls too.
If there’s one standout feature to highlight, though, it has to be that impressively lengthy battery life. The current iPhone 16 has a claimed 22 hours of video playback on a single charge, and the iPhone 16 Pro gets up to 27 hours. Apple’s website lists the new 16e as lasting for a massive 26 hours, making its potential battery life much closer to the Pro than the regular phone – it should deliver the kind of battery life that you’d normally have to buy a bigger phone to get!
To put it in perspective, it should last up to 6 hours more than an iPhone 11 and up to 12 hours longer than an iPhone SE. That's quite the upgrade.
Apple iPhone 16e: What’s missing?
That’s not to say there aren’t a few missing features from this revamped phone. While it has wireless charging, it lacks Apple’s MagSafe for faster speeds and reliable connection. It does still have only one rear camera, like the iPhone SE. It doesn’t have the “Dynamic Island” display feature. And, it also doesn’t have the “Camera Control” button that made its debut in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models.
Apple iPhone 16e: Pricing and colours
It’ll start at £599 for 128GB of storage – a significant price increase over the old iPhone SE – but still a smartphone that’s available at a lower price than the iPhone 15 (£699) and the iPhone 16 (£799).
Unlike the other iPhones in Apple’s range, it’s also only available in two colour finishes: black and white. But, given how most people put a case on their phone, we doubt this will be a dealbreaker.
It’ll also set you back a bit more for additional storage, costing £699 for 256GB or £899 for 512GB, so it’s worth asking yourself what your priorities are. Once you start considering additional storage, the standard iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 might end up being a better buy for your needs.
Simon Cocks is Good Housekeeping UK’s Technology Editor, overseeing tech shopping content and strategy for the title. He previously also worked across other titles including Esquire UK, Digital Spy, Men’s Health UK and Women’s Health UK.
Simon specialises in testing the latest smart gadgets, home entertainment gear, headphones, speakers, portable chargers, radios, e-book readers and smartphones. He's reviewed top tech products from brands including Google, Apple, Amazon, JBL and Bose.
A magazine journalism graduate from Kingston University in 2014, Simon also worked on the Discovery and Silkroad inflight magazines. He then gained experience writing about entertainment at SFX and Total Film. He also contributed reviews and interviews to TwitchFilm (later ScreenAnarchy), CultBox and Frame Rated.
He joined Good Housekeeping UK as the Editorial Assistant for Special Projects and was part of Good Housekeeping’s Consumer Affairs Team between 2014 and 2019. In this role, he conducted price comparison research, wrote detailed household and money-saving advice guides and edited thousands of in-depth reviews for the Good Housekeeping Institute.
He has focused on technology and gadgets since 2020, where he started by testing out power banks and instant cameras. He writes reviews, roundups, news articles and deals updates, and also covers top tech deals during sales like Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
When not testing out the latest gizmos, you’ll find Simon either catching up with the newest releases at his local cinema or out shooting with his beloved compact camera.
You can follow Simon on Instagram, on Bluesky, on LinkedIn and on Threads.
