Apple iPhone 16e vs iPhone 15
74
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone 16e (with Apple A18) that was released on February 19, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 15, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 1 year and 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
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Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
- Has 33% more RAM: 8GB versus 6GB
- The phone is 1 year and 5 months newer
- 26% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 3281 and 2612 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15
- Delivers 98% higher peak brightness (1657 against 838 nits)
- Reverse charging feature
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1170 x 2532 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 457 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 800 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1200 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Ceramic Shield | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 87.1% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 60 Hz | 306 Hz |
| Response time | 10 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 167 g (5.89 oz) | 171 g (6.03 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black | Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.79/5) | Average (2.96/5) |
| Drop resistance | Good (C) · 90 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A18 | Apple A16 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4040 MHz | 3460 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 4 core Apple GPU | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 640 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1490 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS | ~1789.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 24041 | 22764 |
| Single-core score | 3281 | 2612 |
| Multi-core score | 8035 | 6705 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 485100 | 462812 |
| GPU | 445832 | 453603 |
| Memory | 185536 | 222511 |
| UX | 496320 | 533367 |
| Total score | 1612788 | 1672293 |
| Samples | [5 tests] | [9 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 82% | - |
| Graphics test | 9 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1226 | - |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | 21 FPS | 15 FPS |
| Section 1 | 26 FPS | 20 FPS |
| Section 2 | 21 FPS | 15 FPS |
| Section 3 | 15 FPS | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | 5507 | 3979 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Graphics test | - | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2868 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone 16e
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy) | AnTuTu 11 | 1600106 |
| 📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user) | AnTuTu 11 | 1591246 |
| 📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose) | AnTuTu 11 | 1721718 |
| 📘 2026-01-14 (Glib) | AnTuTu 11 | 1656396 |
| 📘 2026-01-13 (киря) | AnTuTu 11 | 1612788 |
Apple iPhone 15
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-19 (Bear lover) | AnTuTu 11 | 1714105 |
| 📘 2026-09-14 (ZUSEPRO) | AnTuTu 11 | 1603687 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 24336 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2615 / 6477 |
| 📘 2026-08-12 (j0elz) | AnTuTu 11 | 1638319 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 24 GB | 18 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4005 mAh | 3349 mAh |
| Max charge power | 25 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:50 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 11:59 hr | 10:47 hr |
| Watching video | 15:01 hr | 16:55 hr |
| Gaming | 05:04 hr | 05:36 hr |
| Standby | 127 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#112th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX972 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/1.5" (≈ 0.67 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | - | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | - | 114 |
| Samples | - | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 23 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX714 | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | - |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Mid-range | Flagship |
| Announced | February 2025 | September 2023 |
| Release date | February 2025 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | $799 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
- The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the performance, battery life, and design are more important to you, then choose the Apple iPhone 16e. But if the camera is more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 15.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 1797
