iPhone 16e Australian review: This could be Apple’s best buy of 2025

With a price tag that’s half of its flagship phone, you would think Apple would have left a lot more out of its new iPhone 16e. FIRST LOOK

Apple iPhone 16e photography: 2X photography.

With a price tag half that of its flagship phone, you would think Apple would have left a lot more out of the iPhone 16e.

They didn’t.

It’s fast, has a decent camera, great 6.1 inch display, Apple Intelligence, an incredible battery life, an easily customisable interface, and is good for gaming, photo and video editing, and watching your favourite streaming platform.

So what is it missing?

Well it doesn’t have the ultra wide camera, has a limited 2x zoom, has no dynamic island on the display, and can’t do portrait shots of your pooch with the bokeh effect.

It also lacks MagSafe for charging, the camera control function, and the latest Photographic Styles.

In video, there’s no cinematic mode, and it won’t automatically capture depth information for photos unless you specifically use the portrait mode.

Apple's iPhone 16e has an incredible battery life, includes Apple Intelligence features like voice recording transcription, generating cool art and invitations and help writing emails, and takes some pretty nice photos.

But there’s a long list of things it does have.

And with a starting price of under $1000, makes it a pretty smart choice for those wanting to upgrade without forking out a fortune.

Apple iPhone 16e offers exceptional value for money with lots of unexpected features.

Most days I use the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which starts at more than $2100, as my phone of choice, along with the Samsung S25 Ultra.

Both have exceptional cameras with 5x optical zooms which can be stretched out a lot further with reasonable quality for social media photos and videos.

The iPhone 16e has a 48MP ‘two in one’ camera which allows for a 2x optical zoom, which can be stretched to 10x with digital zoom.

Apple iPhone 16e takes nice shots of people and pets but you can’t do bokeh effect Portrait shots with pets. Photo: Mark Furler

Like any of the latest iPhones it takes beautiful portrait photos and is super quick in capturing photos, even the dogs whizzing by together in the park. The images are probably not quite as sharp as my other phones, though, especially in lower light.

Apple iPhone 16e captures the dogs in action but it is a little blurry in this shot. Photo: Mark Furler

Apple iPhone 16e put to the test during sunrise. Photo: Mark Furler

The smaller format iPhone probably offers the size that most people like with its 1200-nit bright Super Retina XDR display OLED display (compared to 2000 in other models).

It has an IP68 water-resistance rating meaning it can go in up to six metres of water for about 30 minutes, though salt water is never recommended.

The phone looks both sleek and premium while the back glass can be replaced more easily as it is separate from the aluminium frame.

Apple iPhone 16e has a range of photographic styles you can choose from, including this warmer look. Photo: Mark Furler

Like earlier models, it comes with the action button which can be customised to launch your camera quickly, or the torch, visual intelligence (where you can learn more about what’s around you), voice memo, recognise music with Shazam, or a magnifier to zoom in on objects around home.

Apple Intelligence features include queries using chat GPT, as well as writing tools to proofread and rewrite text, along with Genmoji, where you can ask it to create quirky images to reply to your friend’s text message or WhatsApp. It also has Playground, which I still fun to create quirky images of friends and family.

Apple iPhone 16e picks up the colour and details nicely. Photo: Mark Furler

The new Apple Invite also allows you to create cool looking invitations, whether to work parties or family events.

While some AI features of all phones are a little gimmicky, there are some very useful features like real-time audio transcription in voice memos and phone call recording.

The photo and video editing features in the iPhone 16e include being able to quickly edit out unwanted objects or people in your photos and remove background noise, wind or voices from your videos.

Apple iPhone 16e has Image Playground which is a very fun tool for generating AI images just by describing what you’re after. You can use photos of people in your photo library as a starting point as well.

When it comes to overall performance, the iPhone 16e is powered by the same A18 chip as the rest of the 16 line-up, while Apple says it will be supported by years of software upgrades.

For someone coming from an iPhone 11, the six core CPU is claimed to be 80 per cent faster, while the 4 core graphics processing unit (one down on the rest of the 16 line-up) is about 70 per cent faster.

We tested it across a range of games including the Asphalt car racing title, and found it to be more than fast enough with great graphics and sound.

Apple iPhone 16e photography: 48MP Fusion camera takes great portraits with beautiful colours and great detail.

Apps like Night Sky which show you the stars from even inside your home using augmented reality looked spectacular, even on the smaller screen.

Apple says the battery offers up to 26 hours of video playback, the best battery for any six inch iPhone.

The better battery life is partly thanks to Apple’s new C1 modem, the company’s first-ever homegrown effort, which promises better 5G connectivity along with support for multiple e-sims, which should appeal to travellers.

Apple iPhone 16e: night mode photography is exceptional.

Like other iPhone 16s, it offers emergency SOS, including via satellite, and crash detection.

Apple describes the single camera as a ‘two in one’ camera with 24 megapixels now the default.

The camera produces stunning portraits with great colour and detail and you can easily change the look by switching through filters, and adjusting tone and warmth of shots.

Apple iPhone 16e takes nice true depth portrait photos of people and you can adjust the blur of the background.

Shooting a sunrise, for example, you get photos where the colour of the sun pops a lot more by making some tweaks.

Generally, iPhones take more natural looking photos, while Samsung phones are more vivid.

In settings, you can change photographic styles from standard to rich contrast, vibrant, warm or cool.

The iPhone 16e is sleek and definitely has a premium feel.

And you can edit afterwards to change the look.

You can record video at 4K at up to 60 frames per second, while slow motion videos can be recorded at 1080HD at 240 frames per second.

Spatial sound audio can be recorded, while Audio Mix allows you to change from standard, to in-frame (to reduce noise around you), studio or cinematic.

Apple iPhone 16e picked up some nice colour in a night shoot. Photo: Mark Furler

So if you’re in the market for a new iPhone, which one should you choose out of the iPhone 16e, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max?

The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are pretty much the same except for screen size and battery life.

Apple iPhone 16e has USB C charging.

The same generally applies for both Pro models.

If you want the top of the range phone with the very best camera, you should choose the iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max.

But if you are looking to save some money, then the iPhone 16e is definitely one of the best deals we’ve seen in years in terms of the latest technology on offer.

With Face ID, USB-C charging, Apple Intelligence, great privacy measures, and the best battery life, it is a phone that will take you well into the future, especially if you are upgrading from a device that is a few years old.

Originally published as iPhone 16e Australian review: This could be Apple’s best buy of 2025