The iPhone SE is dead, long live the iPhone e! Okay, this may be an unfortunate development for some of you as the SE was the smallest iPhone and it was by far the cheapest. What now?
The Apple iPhone 16e is the same size as the 16 and it is almost as expensive – it starts at €700/£600/$600/₹60,000 for a 128GB model. There are 256GB and 512GB options too, but those storage upgrades follow the same pattern as upgrades on Apple’s more premium phones. Pre-orders for the 16e started this Friday, sales will commence on Friday next week.
Long story short, the 16e has a binned A18 chipset (with one GPU core less) but it fully supports Apple Intelligence. It also has the 48MP main camera of the iPhone 15 and 16, though without the ultra-wide companion. The display is an old-school setup with a 6.1” OLED panel running at 60Hz and a big, chunky notch for Face ID (Touch ID is no more). There’s an Action button (but not the Camera Control) on the side, no alert slider. Also note that while wireless charging is supported (Qi, 7.5W), MagSafe is not – this means no easy-to-attach chargers, phone holders and accessories.
Apple still sells the iPhone 15 – that’s the first “modern” vanilla model. By “modern” we mean USB-C charging, a Dynamic Island and a 48MP camera with in-sensor 2x zoom. This model uses the old A16 non-Pro chipset, so it won’t get Apple Intelligence (major omission or “who cares?”, you decide). MagSafe and UWB are supported. The iPhone 15 is available brand new for only €40 more than the 16e (both 128GB).
You could get the newer iPhone 16 – it costs €250 more if you get it from Apple, but Amazon has a pretty good deal. Either way, you get the more modern Dynamic Island look (it’s still a 60Hz display, though), a 12MP ultra-wide camera on the back, proper MagSafe support, as well as UWB for smart tags (the 16e lacks UWB, but supports satellite messaging). We tried looking for refurbished iPhone 16 deals, but there’s nothing good at the moment.
We called the iPhone 15 the first “modern” vanilla model because the 14 lacks several upgrades that are now standard on current iPhones. But the iPhone 14 Pro is mostly there – as long as you don’t mind having to use Lightning cables.
The iPhone 14 Pro has a 120Hz Dynamic Island display, a 48MP main, 12MP 77mm telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide cameras, UWB and MagSafe too, though no Apple Intelligence. A refurbished unit can be had for less than the iPhone 16e and 15.
If you’re not tied to the Apple ecosystem, you can explore Android too. The Google Pixel 9 is currently €750 for a 128GB unit. It’s a bit pricier, but it comes with a 120Hz display (punch hole), a 50MP main camera and an ultra-wide module – a 48MP one at that. There’s no UWB on this one and the wireless charging is done without magnets, but satellite messaging is supported as is Google’s quickly developing AI offerings.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 is still around, going for €600. It is about the same size as the 16e, but with a 120Hz LTPO display with a punch hole camera. It supports Galaxy AI, but no UWB or satellite messaging, no magnets either. The camera system has a 50MP main, 10MP 67mm telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide.
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