iPhone 16e review: Is Apple Intelligence worth the pricey proposition?

iPhone 16e review: Is it weird to be a first-time iPhone user in 2025? Well, after using the iPhone 16e for about 2 weeks, I can safely say that I do not feel like I have missed so much not being an “iPhone user.” Over the years, I have loved my experiences with Android devices and switching to the iOS ecosystem was quite tricky at first. It took me a good 3 days to get used to day-to-day functionalities, but you eventually get the hang of it.

Talking about the iPhone 16e, I have had my good and bad experiences with the smartphone. It comes with a vibrant OLED display, powerful performance, decent camera capabilities, and most importantly, Apple Intelligence. but is it worth spending Rs.59990? In my opinion, all these features make it a great smartphone for someone who is a first-time iPhone user. However, I am not so sure about the price strategy Apple has opted for its affordable phone.

During my time of usage with the iPhone 16e, I quite liked the overall look and experience of the smartphone, especially the battery. Yet, I still miss some of the Android features. Considering it's a Rs.60000 phone, it lacks several of the latest upgrades which Apple may have considered adding. Additionally, the single camera on the back may be another concern for many buyers. Now, to have a greater understanding of the iPhone 16e, here’s a detailed review that covers all the good and bad things about the smartphone.

iPhone 16e review: Sturdy but ancient

While I have never been an iPhone user myself, I was always surrounded by people with the latest generation models. One of my keen observations about iPhone designs was a boxy build, and I am not a big fan of large-sized and bulky phones. However, I love how compact and lightweight the iPhone 16e is, which makes the in-hand experience promising. The smartphone has a glass and aluminium build with a not-so-bulky camera sensor, providing the premiumness you need. But again, it misses out on colour options, as buyers can get the White or the Black variant only. Therefore, some more colour variants could have been impressive.

For durability, the iPhone 16e is quite sturdy, comes with a ceramic shield and offers an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, which we all should expect from a Rs.60000 smartphone. Now that we have covered all the goods in the design, let’s get a closer look at its flaws. While the rear panel outshines its flaws, you can not miss the thick bezels on the display, which do not look very pleasant. Additionally, the addition of a notch instead of a Dynamic Island also made the smartphone look “ancient.” In my opinion, if it's an iPhone 16 series model, it should have retained all the latest design features, but we have to bear the consequences for playing Rs.20000 less. Well, the iPhone 16e is still not a cheap phone in terms of pricing.

Also read: iPhone 16 review: Solid design, performance with a few unmet expectations

iPhone 16e review: Compact and bright display

For display, the iPhone 16e features a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, the same as the flagship sibling, the iPhone 16. Therefore, the viewing experience is not hampered at any moment. The smartphone also supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision; therefore, watching OTT content on a small screen may not be the first choice for everyone, but the smartphone provides a crisp visual, vibrant colours, and an overall pleasing experience.

Coming to the brightness and refresh rate, well, 60Hz is not something you expect from a Rs.60000 phone, but Apple has been bringing such displays for years. While the Apple users with base variants may not find a big change, but if you are transitioning from an Android midranger, the display experience would be drastically different. While the day-to-day usage is manageable, you will notice the 60Hz hampering the gaming experience, and the multitasking also gets slow at times.

In terms of brightness, the iPhone 16e provides up to 1200nits peak brightness, which is again not very pleasing, in my opinion. The usability in direct sunlight conditions gets very tricky as the screen is almost not visible. Therefore, we can assume that Apple is using an older display for the iPhone 16e.

Also read: iPhone 16 review by Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma: ‘It’s so bad…’

iPhone 16e review: Powerful with AI bonus

For performance, the iPhone 16e relies on the latest A18 chip, which is built for Apple Intelligence. While the processor is the same as the iPhone 16, it does not support similar performance cores. The chip comes with a 6-core CPU, a 4‑core GPU, and a 16‑core Neural Engine. Therefore, it has 1 less core GPU than the iPhone 16. Well, how does this single affect the performance? Well, mostly, you may notice the difference while playing heavy, graphics-intensive games such as any AAA-level game.

Performance-wise, the iPhone 16e provides a promising experience like any flagship smartphone and meets the expectations you have from an iPhone. The multitasking is swift if you do not have problems with the 60Hz refresh rate, games run smoothly, and overall, it matches user expectations. I also ran some games, such as Genshin Impact and BGMI, at higher graphic settings and provided a pleasing gaming experience. However, after about 40 minutes, the smartphone got extremely hot, but it did not have any effect on the game. Therefore, you can enjoy a lag-free gaming experience but overheating, which I guess every iPhone user experiences.

Coming to Apple Intelligence after the iOS 18.4 update, I was able to test most of the Apple AI features. I quite liked the Visual Intelligence feature; it's quite seamless to translate text and search anything with Siri or ChatGPT. The writing tools are also very useful at times, especially when drafting emails or formatting a formal text message. The fun AI feature for me was Genmoji, as it just requires simple prompts for generating funny stickers. It also brings a personalisation to the conversation.

I also tested the popular Clean Up tool, well, it performed as expected in most cases, but the finishing touches are not as smooth as Galaxy AI’s object eraser. Overall, I believe Apple is in the right direction to introduce AI to the iPhone; it just needs to speed up the process.

iPhone 16e review: Is a single rear camera enough?

I believe many iPhone 16e buyers are currently concerned about the camera, as I also got many queries from people asking about the camera or if they should buy the iPhone 15. Looking at the specs, the iPhone 16e features a single rear camera with 48MP resolution with an f/1.6 aperture, optical image stabilisation, and Hybrid Focus Pixels. Therefore, just to clear the dust, the camera is not the same as the iPhone 16 model.

The iPhone 16e’s rear camera captures images in 12MP and 24MP. Users can also activate the 48MP full-res mode via the camera settings. I mostly captured the images in default 24MP mode, which, in my opinion, provided great quality images. The colours appeared bright and natural, the details were clear, and overall, it was a vibrant output. However, I noticed that the camera struggles to capture enough light during bright lighting conditions. Therefore, it should be noted that night photography is not for iPhone 16e, as the results appear slightly grainy or dark.

One of the standout camera features was the portrait mode, as it provided instant focus to the subject, and the final image provided a pleasing result, as you should be expecting from a higher mid-range smartphone. While the iPhone 16e misses out on several flagship features of its siblings, such as ultrawide lens, macro capabilities, Cinematic Video, and others, its main camera fulfils the primary requirement by capturing pleasing images and beautiful portraits.

Coming to the 12MP selfies, well, it captures decent selfies with natural skin tones and lighting, but the camera struggles in low light conditions and brings a weird dark shadow to the face, which may not be appreciated by many.

iPhone 16e review: Battery that’s better than flagships

One of the most liked features of the iPhone 16e is its lasting battery life and fast-charging support. The iPhone 16e claims to offer 26 hours of battery life, which is greater than the flagship iPhone 16 model. During my time of usage, you can easily use the device for up to 12 to 14 hours with a single charge. Even after constant usage throughout the day, I was still left with about 15 to 20% of charge at the end of the day, which is quite impressive.

In terms of its fast-charging capabilities, it juices up quickly in comparison to some of the flagship competitors. The iPhone 16e takes about a little more than an hour to fully charge from 10% to 100% with Apple’s 20W adapter, which, in my opinion, is adequate.

iPhone 16e review: Verdict

Now, who should buy the iPhone 16e, and is it worth paying Rs.59999? Being a first-time iPhone user, I will recommend this smartphone to someone who wants to experience the iPhone, its performance, camera, software, etc, for the first time. With Apple Intelligence onboard, it offers all the latest features, a powerful performance, and a seamless UI. While the camera is average, it does not disappoint in providing high-quality images with great detailing and vibrant colours. However, the Rs.59990 price tag is expensive considering the competition. Therefore, if you are to buy the iPhone 16e, you may want to wait for the upcoming festival sale on the e-commerce platform to get great value for the smartphone. If you are building between Rs.45000 to Rs.50000, then I would say you should not think twice before buying.