iPhone 16e reviews praise battery life and C1 chip, but criticize compromises and price

Apple last week announced the iPhone 16e, a new entry-level iPhone with an A18 chip and OLED display that costs $599. A day ahead of the official launch in stores, the first iPhone 16e reviews went live on the internet, and they all talk about battery life, C1 chip, and price.

First iPhone 16e reviews

From the outside, the iPhone 16e looks like an iPhone 14. It has a 6.1-inch OLED display with a notch and Face ID. Inside, it has the A18 chip with 8GB RAM, just like the iPhone 16. However, at $599, you miss out on a few things like extra cameras and MagSafe when you choose the iPhone 16e.

When it comes to performance, all the reviews are consistent in saying that the iPhone 16e is one of the best phones in its price category. Despite having a GPU with one less core than the A18 chip in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the iPhone 16e still performs well for everyday tasks.

However, CNET notes that the difference in GPU performance becomes noticeable with benchmark tests. In this case, the graphic performance of the new iPhone is on a par with the GPU of the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.

In everyday use, the phone had no issues playing video games, editing and saving videos and using Apple Intelligence. In benchmark test for the CPU, the iPhone 16E scored higher than the iPhone 16, iPhone 15 and iPhone SE.

When it comes to the camera, the iPhone 16e has a single 48-megapixel rear lens. Although this is the same resolution as the iPhone 16’s camera, MKBHD notes that the sensor behind it is much smaller, which results in photos with “way less shallow depth of field” and less sharpness in low-light environments. Because of this, the iPhone 16e relies much more on Night Mode for photos in the dark, for example.

The Verge says that “most people will be perfectly happy” with the iPhone 16e’s camera despite its compromises, as it still takes good photos and videos in most cases.

Apple C1 and battery life

As for the C1 chip, Apple’s first 5G modem, the reviews say that it “seems fine.” Apple hasn’t said much about C1 other than that it uses much less power than Qualcomm’s chips, but tests show that it performs just as well as the modem in the rest of the iPhone 16 lineup. The Verge says:

Every time I thought the iPhone 16 was faring better with video call quality or upload speeds, I’d try the same test again and the 16E would come out ahead. If I were none the wiser, I wouldn’t have given the modem a second thought as I used the phone. Given the difficulty Apple seemingly encountered building this thing and the complexity of a cellular modem, “it seems fine” is actually a great outcome for the C1.

CNET also had a similar experience:

I ran tests side by side with an iPhone 16 Pro Max that was also on AT&T using the Speed Test app by Ookla. […] And while the 16 Pro Max had faster download speeds, the 16E’s results were still good. In fact, its upload speeds beat the 16 Pro Max, which means selfies and videos post quickly to Instagram and TikTok, while video calls look and sound good without any freezes.

Speaking of power consumption, the reviews also praise the iPhone 16e’s battery. Engadget said that the phone “had no problem lasting well longer than 24 hours,” while MKBHD also seems to agree that “it’s a really good battery.”

Most reviews were also consistent in their criticism of the new iPhone 16e. They all point out how the lack of MagSafe can be a problem for someone coming from an iPhone 12 or newer. MKBHD notes that charging the phone using the old Qi technology is much slower and makes it heat up a lot more in the process. They also agree that the price may be a bit expensive considering what the iPhone 16e lacks compared to other iPhones.