I spent practically a decade with iPhones till I switched to the Google Pixel 6a in 2022, and haven’t appeared again. Android sucked me in. But I used to be inquisitive about how the Apple expertise has modified since I left, so I made a decision to return to iOS with the iPhone 16e.
Apple’s newest is the precise iPhone I needed three years in the past, leaps and bounds forward of the iPhone SE it replaces. It’s not a ‘price range’ cellphone, but it surely’s removed from being a flagship, too.
Among its rivals, it holds up exceptionally effectively in benchmarks, however has important tradeoffs in comparison with some telephones which might be half its worth.
Having been out of Camp Apple for thus lengthy, I’ve seen what it’s like on the opposite facet – and coming again, I’m each impressed and puzzled with the hands-on expertise.
There is an assured certainty and luxury when the producer has full management over an ecosystem – ie, having {hardware}, software program, cloud and content material administration (by way of apps like Home and Music) discuss to one another seamlessly. And when this comes from Cupertino, it is extra in regards to the expertise relatively than the efficiency of the machine.
It’s additionally why the Google Pixel vary stays my most advisable Android household of gadgets, and that is regardless of Samsung providing higher tech on all fronts and in any respect worth factors – Google’s vary feels extra like Apple. The Pixels really feel extra mastered and uniform: once more, as a result of it is in regards to the expertise relatively than the efficiency.
The iPhone 16e makes the expertise extra accessible than the usual vary, providing shaved-off specs at a decrease (however nonetheless appreciable) worth.
So turning to the iPhone 16e, figuring out how snug I’ve gotten with the Android ecosystem, I’m left asking if that is sufficient. Many of the spec selections are baffling, however others are nonetheless ones that I want extra Android producers would be taught from.
An Androider’s tackle the iPhone 16e
I’m impressed with how effectively Apple continues to make all these things merely work collectively – from FaceID biometrics to permitting purchases and app downloads, to the immediately recognizable and comprehensible Home, Lock and Control Center screens, all of them make for an expertise that’s immediately operable.
Performance is according to the bottom iPhone 16 (which I contemplate to be Apple’s finest handset in years) and much forward of equally positioned Android telephones. It’s nice for a combined use of gaming, social media, messaging and note-writing.
Coming from Android, I’m additionally drawn to the simplicity. The cuteness of FaceTime, the flexibility to share contacts with a faucet of an NFC sensor between iPhones, and the extra user-friendly method to residence display customization (centered on colours as an alternative of palettes) give off an awesome feeling of coziness. It’s cute, it really works, and it’s enjoyable!
What on Earth is up with this display, although? 60Hz on such a dear unit, and the identical goes for the usual iPhone 16. This is grating as I do not just like the scrolling and app-opening expertise.
That makes the 16 and 16e appear to be they carry out worse than they do, and look much less clean than less expensive Androids.
There’s nothing stopping these telephones from working a 120Hz show just like the Pro counterparts, aside from Apple’s unwillingness to offer such screens. It breaks the seamlessness I referred to earlier.
Moving on: one thing I’ve been fairly jealous of whereas utilizing an Android cellphone has been Apple’s Action Button. I really like the thought of an additional button with customizable performance, however I’m not offered on its usability. I want it had greater than only a ‘maintain to open’ set off, however relatively extra just like the stand-by button that works with a single or a double press.
I nonetheless recognize the Action Button although. An additional bodily management on Android handsets would allow a lot flexibility, say to rapidly open a messaging app, use Google Lens, or rapidly pull up your favourite contact record.
Finally, and this can be a gripe particular to the iPhone 16e, however solely providing a single digicam at this worth level appears like an enormous step backwards for Apple. There are competing telephones out there at half the worth of this handset which have two lenses, enabling extra spectacular zoom capabilities or better element up shut.
Don’t get me mistaken; the iPhone 16e can produce nice images, however a local zoom that maxes out at 2x is meager in comparison with what the Pixel 8a and Galaxy A56 are able to – at a lower cost level.
‘e’ is for…
When I first noticed this cellphone’s title, I assumed that the ‘e’ meant ‘important’. There’s no official phrase from Apple on what it means, however I feel I could have hit the mark.
Firstly, it is price ticket – whereas nonetheless costly, it strips again some non-essentials from the premium vary however contains the Apple A18 chip, an IP68 resistance ranking, a particularly spectacular 30-hour battery life, and even Apple-specific options like its superior biometric FaceID sensor and Action Button. In different phrases, the ‘necessities’.
It suits the sweetspot between the now grandfathered SE and the bottom mannequin 16 – dearer than the previous however providing the necessities of the latter, most likely filling an important marketshare objective. I can completely see it being successful in markets like India, the place Apple has solely simply managed to grow to be one of many nation’s high 5 smartphone manufacturers.
Paradoxically restrictive and releasing, the iPhone 16e is a snug cellphone. It’s the proper choose in case you’ve been holding out for an entry-level machine to improve to within the Apple household, but it surely’s not nice worth in case you’ve damaged out of the Apple ecosystem.
At this finish of the cellphone market, Apple has the aggressive edge on uncooked benchmarking efficiency – however its rivals are far inexpensive with cameras simply outpacing the only lens on the iPhone 16e.
Performance benchmarks be damned, the Samsung Galaxy A56 and Google Pixel 8a really feel rather more common function and appropriate for day-to-day use, with extra spectacular cameras besides. Not to say the bigger screens on each.
It’s an ungainly spot for Apple to put such an awesome cellphone – it’s extra highly effective, but it surely’s not as sensible as cheaper rivals. That stated, it will likely be a superb handset to select up on sale, in any other case its customary worth is probably a bit too excessive.
