TheiPhone 16e marks the dawn of a new erafor Apple ’s smartphone portfolio . It may not of necessity be a great epoch for customers paying for it , though . The “ SE ” lineup is retired , colour take a backseat , and a half - baked AI takes the centerstage . There are some iterative upgrade under the hood , but the most famous one is the 2 - in-1 Fusion photographic camera system .
That ’s just Apple ’s way of say that the 48 - megapixel rearward television camera on the iPhone 16e — up from the 12 - megapixel unit fitted on theiPhone SE — can also take 2x zoom shot . One would ideally be impressed to see that the iPhone 16e is match the 48 - megapixel rear snapper on theiPhone 16 .
While that is technically true , there are a healthy few feature miss on the iPhone 16e , and it even remand behind in sealed field compare to the now - discontinued iPhone 14 .
A relic of the past?
Before we dig into the nooks and crannies of the iPhone 16e ’s imaging ironware , there ’s another all-important variety deserving pointing out . It comes with a nerfed rendering of the A18 silicon .
The A18 variant Apple has fitted on the iPhone 16 offers five GPU cores , while the trimness you get on the iPhone 16e comes with four GPU cores . At a technological degree , the onboard graphics engine plays a persona in pipelines such as encryption , but rent ’s keep the word focus on the core tv camera setup here .
start with the stabilisation great deal , the iPhone 16e embraces the vanilla Optical Image Stabilization tech , which is not bad . However , all mainline iPhones , starting with theiPhone 13 , have been using the more advanced sensing element - shift stabilization organization .
Next , let ’s talk about exalt filters with a memory feature akalatest - generation photographic style . First introduced with the iPhone 16 serial , Apple has tender an updated system of rules that let user aline the note , colour , and loudness of each word picture .
go after alongside is a D - inkpad ascendency system to make the aforementioned stylistic tweaks . Notably , you may change the photographic styles and okay - strain the picture Wiley Post - capture from within the Photos app . Inexplicably , the iPhone 16e misses out on this facility , too . I have grown fond of Apple ’s fresh take on photographic styles , and it will be sorely miss on the iPhone 16e .
Another meaningful perk that the latest low-priced phone from Apple skips , is macro capture . Macro capture lets users get through detailed cheeseparing - range of mountains shots without have to dish out with a grouchy focus curl and fuzz artifacts when have too close to a field .
Skipping the signature iPhone camera traits
A running laugh on Indian social medium is hounding the iPhone - toting friend in a group for clicking picture because Apple ’s smartphones are considered the practiced , by default . That ’s the public perception in one of the world ’s biggest smartphone markets .
Apple ’s latest does n’t quite do justice to that image , especially regard the sky - high local asking terms . The iPhone 16e doles out a decrepit hand when it come to bokeh capture , one of the center strengths of Apple smartphones . On all gimmick , start with theiPhone 15series , Apple has declare oneself what it call next - gen portrait mode with focus and depth control .
As the name suggests , users can not only adjust the strength of background blur , but also change which subject to center on . The camera system of rules can also automatically pick out human and animal subjects in stills , and let exploiter convince it into a portrayal shot even if the picture was clicked in steady photograph mode .
The iPhone 16e ships with the older portrayal organisation where you may only pull off the bokeh vividness , but ca n’t change the point of focus within a anatomy .
move over into the kingdom of videos , the biggest miss is natural action mode , which has been a linchpin on Apple smartphones since the iPhone 14 ’s arrival .
It allows user to capture smooth , jitter - costless hand-held video recording while put down moving issue . This installation is nowhere to be seen on iPhone 16e , alongside reinforcement for spatial video recording transcription and macro gaining control ( both fourth dimension - oversight and wearisome motion ) modes .
The QuickTake lineament , which lets users record videos from within the photo mode and even take breeze during video seizure , is uncommitted on the iPhone 16e — but in a watered down format . Unlike the iPhone 16 , you ca n’t capture such video at 4 K 60fps quality with Dolby Vision HDR perk .
Another big omission is support for Cinematic manner video capture , which was first introduced with the iPhone 13 serial . This fast one allow iPhones record videos with a depth of domain effect , and more importantly , set aside liquid focus transitions .
On iPhone 14 and later models , you may even edit these videos in the Photos app . Apple let you play with the profoundness intensity as well as focus points in such cartridge clip .
A few of the aforementioned features are also tied to the absence seizure of a petty ultrawide or telephoto tv camera , which would otherwise do depth mapping and enable advance photo and video seizure tools .
It makes little sense
However , when one takes into consideration the request price of iPhone 16e , the deficiency of a lower-ranking camera is a massive inverse pedal in the current mart . For a lower request price , the the like of Samsung and Google deliver superior imagination ironware .
TheGoogle Pixel 8a , Samsung Galaxy S24 FE , and Motorola ’s Edge serial publication telephone offer a far more various mental imagery computer hardware than the iPhone 16e for roughly the same asking price , or even low .
Apple is predominantly pushing the iPhone 16e as a vehicle to remove the throat its Apple Intelligence stack , which is still not ready , and a novel in - house modem that will soon appear in other devices , as well .
If you are look at an Apple smartphone for its camera chop but do n’t necessarily have the budget for its “ Pro ” iPhones , you’re able to safely pick an older - generation equipment like the iPhone 15 .
Refurbished iPhones are another great option to get a more versatile camera parcel with advanced feature film at roughly the same request terms as the iPhone 16e . And that ’s just the situation in the US market , where Apple sound are usually the cheapest .
In other grocery store , the higher price tatter makes the iPhone 16e an even more unpalatable deal . In India , for example , it costs roughly $ 700 , which make it an obviously worse suggestion when far more free-enterprise phone such as the Oppo Find X8 andOnePlus 13Rare already on the shelf .
