Apple iPhone XR vs iPhone 16e
48
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.1-inch Apple iPhone XR (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 16e, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 6 years and 6 months after. 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
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
- Has 2.7x more RAM: 8GB versus 3GB
- 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1612K versus 762K)
- Comes with 1063 mAh larger battery capacity: 4005 vs 2942 mAh
- Shows 29% longer battery life (26:44 vs 20:45 hours)
- Modern USB Type-C port
- 40% higher pixel density (457 vs 326 PPI)
- Delivers 30% higher peak brightness (838 against 645 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18
- The phone is 6 years and 6 months newer
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Thinner bezels – 7.2% more screen real estate
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 | IPS LCD | OLED |
| Size | 6.1 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 828 x 1792 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 326 ppi | 457 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 625 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | - | 1200 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 79.9% | 87.1% |
| Display features | - | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 100% | 99.9% |
| PWM | Not detected | 60 Hz |
| Response time | 32.8 ms | 10 ms |
| Contrast | 1920:1 | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 150.9 mm (5.94 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 75.7 mm (2.98 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.3 mm (0.33 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 194 g (6.84 oz) | 167 g (5.89 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow | White, Black |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | - | Average (2.79/5) |
| Drop resistance | - | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A12 Bionic | Apple A18 |
| Max clock | 2490 MHz | 4040 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest - 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex |
- 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 7 nanometers | 3 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Neural Engine | Neural Engine |
| Graphics | Apple A12 Bionic GPU | 4 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 256 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1125 MHz | 1490 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~576 GFLOPS | ~1907 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | - | 24041 |
| Single-core score | 1167 | 3281 |
| Multi-core score | 3020 | 8035 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 274052 | 485100 |
| GPU | - | 445832 |
| Memory | 119287 | 185536 |
| UX | 369464 | 496320 |
| Total score | 762903 | 1612788 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [5 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 82% |
| Graphics test | - | 9 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1226 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Graphics test | - | 21 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 26 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 21 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 15 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 5507 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 68% | - |
| Graphics test | 7 FPS | - |
| Graphics score | 1294 | - |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone XR
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-05-02 (sp_ayz1) | AnTuTu 11 | 762903 |
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 |
Memory
| RAM size | 3 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 2133 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7) | iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 11.1 GB | 24 GB |
| OS updates | - | 7 years |
| Security updates | - | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 2942 mAh | 4005 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (10 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:43 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | - | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 08:01 hr | 11:59 hr |
| Watching video | 11:59 hr | 15:01 hr |
| Gaming | 04:34 hr | 05:04 hr |
| Standby | 106 hr | 127 hr |
General battery life
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (#112th place)
Main camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad 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) |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 12 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode |
| Image resolution | 12 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Apple iSight X | Sony IMX972 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.4 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2316 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | CMOS | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP | LE |
| USB type | No | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | No |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM* | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | - | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 12 | - |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Mid-range |
| Announced | September 2018 | February 2025 |
| Release date | October 2018 | February 2025 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $750 | $599 |
| Successor | - Apple iPhone 11 | - |
| SAR (head) | 0.99 W/kg | - |
| SAR (body) | 0.99 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 |
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
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 16e is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 88
