Apple has officially launched the iPhone 16e in the global market, including India, and this latest model comes with several significant upgrades compared to the preceding budget iPhone SE lineup. The device also borrows the latest hardware and software features from the iPhone 16, including the latest A18 chip, Apple Intelligence, a 48MP main camera, and enhanced battery life.
On paper there's a price gap of Rs 20,000 between both phones. However, on online and offline stores, you easily find the iPhone 16 selling at good discounts -- approximately around Rs 69000. If you are in the market to buy an affordable iPhone, you might be confused about which option would be a better deal because of their similarities. So, in this article, we will compare these two phones and help you decide which one to pick.
Design and colour options
The iPhone 16 features an oval-shaped camera module at the rear panel, including dual cameras. However, on the iPhone 16e, you get a single circular camera at the back and a wide notch at the front similar to the one seen on the iPhone 14. The iPhone 16e is only being offered in black and white colours.
On the other hand, the iPhone 16 comes in multiple attractive colour options including teal, white, black, pink. Both smartphones offer the same aluminum and glass body and offer a USB Type-C 2.0 port with an Action button. However, you don't get the dedicated camera control button with the iPhone 16e, which helps quickly access multiple camera options.
Display
Both smartphones come with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, providing sharp visuals at 460ppi, along with support for True Tone, Wide Colour (P3), and Haptic Touch. However, the iPhone 16e maxes out at 800nits for regular brightness and 1200nits for HDR content, while the iPhone 16 offers up to 1000nits typical brightness, 1600nits in HDR, and 2000nits for outdoor visibility.
Additionally, the iPhone 16e offers Apple's latest Dynamic Island notch, whereas the iPhone 16e sticks to the traditional notch, replacing the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone SE lineup, with the latest Face ID authentication.
Performance
Both devices run on Apple’s new A18 chip, which includes a 6-core CPU, including two performance and four efficiency cores for efficient multitasking and power management. However, the iPhone 16e features a quad-core GPU, whereas the iPhone 16 comes with a five-core GPU, offering slightly improved gaming performance.
In terms of memory, both the phones are backed by 8GB RAM, coupled with up to 512GB of internal storage. Since they also support Apple Intelligence and Visual Intelligence, the devices offer multiple AI and smarter image processing capabilities.
Cameras
When it comes to cameras, both the iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 offer a 48MP main sensor. However, the iPhone 16 goes an extra mile, by providing an extra 12MP Ultra-Wide lens and some advanced photography features. For selfies, both devices offer a 12MP camera sensor.
Other advanced camera features like Action and Cinematic mode for recording videos, Spatial photos and videos, Macro photography, and the latest Photographic styles are only available with the iPhone 16.
Battery and charging
Apple has confirmed that the iPhone 16e can deliver 26 hours of continuous video playback. However, the iPhone 16 model only offers 22 hours of playtime. The iPhone 16 has support for MagSafe wireless charging up to 25W, whereas the iPhone 16e lacks this feature, limiting itself to 7.5W Qi charging. Both devices feature USB-C ports and can charge 50% in half an hour.
Price
The iPhone 16e starts at Rs 59,900 for the base model with 128 GB storage. On the other hand, the iPhone 16 kicks off with Rs 79,900 for the same storage variant. Both smartphones are available with up to 512GB of storage and have a price gap of Rs 20,000 for all of their storage variants.
Verdict
Which one to buy
Well, the answer is pretty simple, the iPhone 16e comes with almost all the features that a user would need in the phone. It has a slightly detuned A18 chipset, the same display but with a notch, and battery life is on par on both phones. Having said that, the iPhone 16 has the upper hand here with Dynamic Island, a Camera control button and 1 extra core for GPU. In fact, there's a dedicated ultra-wide lens as well. And, when the price difference -- the retail price we are talking about here -- is just Rs 9,000 or even less during sale -- makes the iPhone 16 a much better proposition than the iPhone 16e.
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