I was convinced that the iPhone 15 was the best “budget” iPhone to buy in 2025, but after 2 weeks with Apple’s iPhone 16e, I’m a complete convert

When you buy connections to our articles, the future and its union partners can win a commission.

As a proud owner of the iPhone 15 for almost two years, I had no problems with the handset since I bought it. He works perfectly for my needs – music, YouTube, text messages and Aimless attachment Social media – and seamlessly integrates with my other Apple devices.

In addition to their Pro Sibry and a handful of competitors on Android, the iPhone 15 was on top of the line when I bought it. I was just paid, so I reduced $ 1.499 ($ ​​799 / £ 799) to buy it straight to replace my broken iPhone 12 Mini.

(This is a purchase that I squeeze after I experienced the value offered by the best cheap phones, but I deviate …)

The iPhone 16 has noted more upgrading over its predecessor than usual thanks to the addition of Apple Intelligence -even if its launch is less than smooth, with many parts of the promised Siri upgrade are still up in the air.

However, the iPhone 15 is an excellent smartphone in 2025, which is why it caught my eye when I found it for $ 1.077 here in Australia, where I was based (which is converted into about $ 692 / £ 519). Similarly, there are enticing deals abroad in the United States, where it is only $ 100 when switching to T-Mobile.

However, in February, Apple threw a curve on the iPhone 15 when it introduced another option for Cupertino loyalists who wanted to save on upgrade when the iPhone 16E launched for $ 599 / £ 599 / AU $ 999.

Like the iPhone 5C all three iPhone SE models, this new “budget” handset Apple has made small discounts to reduce the price while allowing buyers to buy a really new iPhone that can access the most iOS features. The iPhone 16e may be even more enticing than its SE ancestors as it offers the power to deal with Apple Intelligence.

This creates an interesting puzzle – if I needed a new phone and didn’t want to shake on the iPhone 16, which device is the better choice: iPhone 15 or iPhone 16e?

Techradar has a whole article comparing the iPhone 16e against the iPhone 15 based on this issue and concludes that it is worth spending a little extra for most people and going for the older iPhone 15.

But after spending a week with the iPhone 16e, I disagree.

Better battery, dear

For many smartphone buyers, camera quality is crucial – but for me, battery life is much more important and the iPhone 16e dominates the iPhone 15 in this category.

While Apple does not reveal the exact battery capacity, third -party reporting indicates that the iPhone 16E has a 3.961mAh battery compared to 3.349mAh on the iPhone 15.

Not only this larger size makes 16E longer. The iPhone 16e cell chip – which is exclusive to the device – processes the power more efficient, which leads to significantly improved durability.

It was very noticeable in my time with him. Of course, the battery capacity of my iPhone 15 is slightly impaired to 91% these days, but I limit it overnight to stop 85%. As a result, after about three hours of listening, watching, scrolling and sending text messages, my iPhone 15 often sits less than 30% to 9:30 in the morning.

This is 15:30 as I write this, and with the same battery settings and the total screen time, the iPhone 16e I am currently using at 44%.

My experience seems to be fully supported by Apple’s own statements, with the brand that the iPhone 16e offers 26 hours of video playback – 15% better than 10pm on the iPhone 16 and 23% increase over the iPhone 15.

Apple Intelligence is already quite smart, actually

We are still waiting for AI Siri – and Apple may need to allow users to exchange Siri for other alternatives to a voice assistant party by default – I was surprised by how much I liked Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 16, a set of features that the iPhone 15 is missing.

Visual intelligence is useful, allowing you to quickly search or ask Chatgpt for any object you take a picture. And the cleaning feature is useful for removing photo bombers or items from any image, such as a similar tool for removing Samsung objects, as is the most Galaxy devices.

And while I rarely used them, I evaluated (mostly) constructively AI message-generated answers and more intelligent offers to phrase phrases. The highlight of your written text opens an array of AI-submitted options by clicking the Apple Intelligence logo (or “writing tools”). In any application, it can read or rewrite your text to sound more friendly, professional or short.

Image 1 of 3

Image 2 of 3

Image 3 of 3

In addition, especially useful when writing notes is its ability to format text at key points, list or table. You can also compose text with Chatgpt.

However, I think my favorite thing about Apple Intelligence is the ability to create my own emoji. Called Genmojis, it allows you to rotate everything – like my face and other regularly found faces in the roller of my camera or a high -sided cow surrounded by flowers – in emoji or sticker.

Like someone who uses Emoji quite sparingly, now I’m a dynamo creating Genmoji. While the AI ​​tools and characteristics of the iPhone 16 family are far from revolutionary, they are also fun and generally useful. This is a small but significant advantage for the iPhone 16e over the iPhone 15.

Bring the action

The last small feature that I think puts 16E over 15 is the action button. It, like Apple Intelligence, is exclusive for the iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max and the iPhone 16 series.

This convenient small button replaces the Mute/Sile switch from older iPhone. There is nothing revolutionary here: all it does is to offer shortcuts for commonly used features such as silent mode, focus, camera, visual intelligence, torch and any other application, such as Instagram.

Personally, I did not turn out to be using any of these predefined options and instead set the action button to control my do not Truck mode.

This is such a small difference – after all, unlocking the device, lifting the control center and focus activation is hardly a laborious task. However, this is a small change in the quality of life that I completely appreciated-I left me to turn it on without even looking at my phone directly.

Divider

The iPhone 16e competition vs. iPhone 15 is by no means a knockout from the new model. There are two main reasons that the older iPhone can be a better choice for some people: display and camera.

The iPhone 16e has only one 48MP fusion camera, while the iPhone 15 pairs a 48MP main camera with a 12MP ultravide lens that is just as useful for Grand Nature photos and tries to put the whole family in one photo. More importantly, the single lens of 16E means that you cannot take stupid photos close to your friends or dog with a 0.5x magnification.

The 15 also have a (small) lead of 16E in respect of the display, as the latter returns to the serrated display of the iPhone 14 rather than to the dynamic island found on the following devices. Personally, I don’t mind, but for some users, this may be the reason to spend a little more on the iPhone 15. The latter’s display is more bright and (slightly) higher RES also -1179 x 2556 with a maximum brightness of 2000 nits compared to 1170 x 2532 and 1200 nits of 16E.

Magsafe Loading is also missing from the iPhone 16e. There was rumors that this was to make room for the C1 chip, but since then this has been denied by Apple according to Macworld. 16E can still load wirelessly, but it lacks the magnet.

I have never required much Magsafe until I recently purchased a magnetic power bank – which is all now, but useless with the iPhone 16E. And users who have a magnetic car installation are likely to miss this functionality.

Then the iPhone 15 still has a place and it’s a great purchase if you can get it for the same price as the iPhone 16e.

Still, in the end, it is more expensive than your new brother and sisters – and unless you are really You need a telephoto lens, I think the iPhone 16e is the budget iPhone you should have.

You may like it and …