Apple iPhone 16e Review – Consumer Reports

Like most high-end smartphones—and certainly any new iPhone—the 16e has a display that looks pretty great. It’s a 6.1-inch OLED screen with a max brightness of 1,200 nits—which is significantly bigger and brighter than the 4.7-inch LCD display on the iPhone SE. To expand the screen, Apple ditched the Home button on the SE, replacing Touch ID with Face ID instead. The hardware for that is housed in a black notch at the top of the screen. With Face ID—the facial recognition technology Apple introduced with the iPhone X—you can easily unlock your phone, log in to apps, and even approve purchases.

This notched design means you don’t get the popular Dynamic Island feature—the pill-shaped black bar at the top of newer models that can display real-time updates from certain apps, like the ETA of your Uber, countdown on a timer, or live score from a sports game. The Dynamic Island is a fan-favorite for a reason—it’s pretty handy—but not something you’ll miss if you’re not already used to it.

The 16e has a 60-hertz refresh rate—same as the iPhone 16, but not as fast as the 120Hz refresh rate on the Pro models or, frankly, a number of other high-end smartphones. I doubt most people would notice the difference, though, at least when using the phone for basics like scrolling social media or texting.

As far as overall proportions, the iPhone 16e feels just right to me, as someone who prefers a small and light phone. It’s easy to hold with one hand, so much so that I’d be tempted to forgo a bulky case. And it weighs just 5.9 ounces, making it a hair lighter than the iPhone 16, though not as light as the 5.1-ounce iPhone SE.

When taking the iPhone 16e out of its box, the clean lines and matte white finish reminded me a bit of unboxing my first-ever iPod. (The 16e comes in matte black, too.) The sleek design also reminds me why so many of us are willing to pay a premium for Apple products: They look really good.