Apple iPhone 16e vs iPhone 16

74 out of 100
Apple iPhone 16e
VS
80 out of 100
Apple iPhone 16

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 16, which is powered by the same chip and came out 5 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16
  • Delivers 102% higher peak brightness (1692 against 836 nits)
  • Shows 11% longer battery life (29:45 vs 26:44 hours)
  • 23% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1985K versus 1612K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Reverse charging feature

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone 16e and iPhone 16 crucial features
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.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 128 GB
VS
8 / 128 GB
46.4
(Average)
Value Index
67.0
(Good)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
vs

Display

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
Display tests
RGB color space 99.9% 99.7%
PWM 60 Hz 60 Hz
Response time 10 ms 3 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
836 nits
iPhone 16 +102%
1692 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

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) 170 g (6 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black White, Black, Blue, Green, Pink
Fingerprint scanner No No
Repairability Average (2.79/5) Average (2.8/5)
Drop resistance Good (C) · 90 drops Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
87.1%
86.4%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone 16e and Apple iPhone 16
SoC
Chipset Apple A18 Apple A18
Max clock 4040 MHz 4040 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 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics 4 core Apple GPU 5 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 640 640
GPU clock 1490 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS ~1907 GFLOPS ~1907 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone 16e and Apple iPhone 16
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
3281
iPhone 16 +5%
3431
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
8035
iPhone 16 +8%
8638
Compute Score (GPU)
24041
iPhone 16 +17%
28010
Compute Score (GPU) 24041 28010
Single-core score 3281 3431
Multi-core score 8035 8638
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
1612788
iPhone 16 +23%
1985600
CPU 485100 621688
GPU 445832 592569
Memory 185536 184239
UX 496320 587104
Total score 1612788 1985600
Samples [5 tests] [16 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
1226
iPhone 16 +29%
1579
Stability 82% 75%
Graphics test 9 FPS 12 FPS
Graphics score 1226 1579
3DMark Solar Bay
5507
iPhone 16 +23%
6781
Graphics test 21 FPS 26 FPS
Section 1 26 FPS 31 FPS
Section 2 21 FPS 26 FPS
Section 3 15 FPS 20 FPS
Graphics score 5507 6781
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone 16e
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy)AnTuTu 111600106
📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user)AnTuTu 111591246
📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose)AnTuTu 111721718
📘 2026-01-14 (Glib)AnTuTu 111656396
📘 2026-01-13 (киря)AnTuTu 111612788
Apple iPhone 16
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-30 (Dddd)AnTuTu 111905485
📘 2026-07-15 (vovachips)AnTuTu 111842572
📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh)Geekbench 6 CPU3531 / 9122
📘 2026-07-03 (iTzRageeh)AnTuTu 112045650
📘 2026-06-04 (Sepehr Naraghipour)AnTuTu 112018367

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Channels 4 4
Storage
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 18 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5)
OS size 24 GB 16 GB
OS updates 7 years 7 years
Security updates 7 years 7 years

Battery

Capacity 4005 mAh 3561 mAh
Max charge power 25 W 30 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (7.5 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging No Yes
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (57% in 30 min) Yes (59% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:50 hr 1:42 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 11:59 hr 13:44 hr
Watching video 15:01 hr 18:09 hr
Gaming 05:04 hr 05:56 hr
Standby 127 hr 130 hr
General battery life
26:44 hr
iPhone 16 +11%
29:45 hr
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (112th and 52nd 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
Standard lens
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) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution - 12 MP
Aperture - f/2.2
Focal length - 13 mm
Pixel size - 0.7 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh - 80
Preview - 84
Zoom - 116
Samples - Photo samples of Apple iPhone 16 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 CMOS
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 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
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
Network
Number of SIM* 1 -
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby -
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
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
88.4 dB
iPhone 16 +2%
90.4 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Flagship
Announced February 2025 September 2024
Release date February 2025 September 2024
Launch price (MSRP) $599 $799
Successor - - Apple iPhone 17
SAR (head) - 1.24 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.41 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- 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.
Notes on iPhone 16:
    - The US model is eSIM-only, while the international version offers both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

These smartphones have a lot in common, but we would recommend the Apple iPhone 16. It has a better camera, gaming, battery life, and connectivity.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
511 (44.5%)
638 (55.5%)
Total votes: 1149

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
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Avatar
Duts March 18, 2025 at 09:48 PM
In the battery, the 16e lasts longer than the normal 16, and Apple's own website says so.
+39 Reply
Avatar
fuuk1 February 23, 2025 at 01:56 AM
Nanoreview needs to leave FLOPS section empty for now. Because iPhone 16e has a binned chip with one less GPU core, you can already see it's not as powerful in geekbench and antutu gpu scores for 16e.
+5 Reply
Avatar
Timmy February 19, 2025 at 07:16 PM
The iPhone 16e actually has a slightly different processor compared to the iPhone 16. It features a GPU with one fewer core.
+31 Reply