iPhone 17e Review: The Only Budget Thing Is the Price

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The iPhone 17e does what it's supposed to do by offering a complete iPhone experience with MagSafe and sufficient storage. Making it ideal for budget-conscious users, older adults, or as an option for your child’s first smartphone.

In case you haven’t noticed, Apple is moving differently this year. Previously, the company’s low-cost iPhones were released either biannually or further spread out across a few years. The company’s first iteration was the iPhone 5c that launched in 2013. In 2016, the iPhone SE was released, and again in 2020 and 2022. And between SE launches, the iPhone XR went on sale in 2018. Following up on last year’s iPhone 16e, the company recently released its successor, the iPhone 17e.

The iPhone 17e and 16e share many features; however, Apple added some iterative yet noteworthy upgrades. Most notably, its new processor, the addition of MagSafe, a new modem, and two times the starting storage. I spent the majority of my 10 days testing the 17e for everyday tasks, viewing content, and gaming. We’ll try to answer the question: Should the 17e be your first iPhone purchase for kids, older adults, or those on a budget? Especially with the differences between the iPhone 17 and the 17e being few in between.

Hardware

The iPhone 17e design resembles that of other iPhones in recent history and mirrors last year’s 16e. An aluminum build, a glass back, a 6.1-inch OLED display with 1,200 nits of peak brightness, a single rear-facing camera, an IP68 dust-and-water-resistant body, Face ID, Emergency SOS, an Action button, and a long-lasting battery. Hey, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. However, it does weigh less than its predecessor at 5.69 oz, compared to the 16e’s 5.88 oz. Both are lighter than Google’s Pixel 10a, which weighs 6.5 oz.

And don’t worry about the 17e’s screen, as it sounds underwhelming on paper but thrives in day-to-day use. Apple still crafts beautiful OLED screens, and the 6.1-inch panel on this budget-friendly iPhone proves it. Watching various YouTube interviews and tutorials, along with War Machine on Netflix, showcased its prowess in producing deep blacks with bright, accurate colors. While faster refresh-rate screens aren’t a big deal to me, the 60Hz panel was fine. However, I do miss not having the Always-on display feature and would prefer a slightly larger display. Maybe we could get a 6.3-inch panel for next year.

The iPhone 17e includes a few mild upgrades from the 16e. It adds Apple’s newest Ceramic Shield 2 to protect its screen against scratches. With it being in the same pocket as my keys, I haven’t seen any minor screen damage, but we’ll keep you updated if that changes. Unfortunately, the rear isn’t as tough as keys, and fingernails can easily scratch it, so you definitely want to invest in a case. It’s also equipped with the same A19 processor that powers the iPhone 17 (more on that shortly), MagSafe support, double the starting storage size at 256GB, and offers faster connectivity thanks to Apple’s C1X modem.

Performance/Battery Life

As with the iPhone 17, the 17e runs Apple’s A19 chip—albeit with slightly less GPU power. Apple doesn’t disclose the amount of memory inside, but it is reportedly utilizing 8GB of RAM. With the processor and RAM combined, the 17e felt like a flagship iPhone in speed and multitasking, handling console-quality gaming and several AI-powered Apple Intelligence tasks with ease in everyday use, without any delay in the phone’s performance.

Battery life hasn’t been an issue for iPhones in quite some time now. While Apple never discloses the size of its iPhone batteries, the 17e reportedly has a 4,005 mAh cell, the same as its predecessor, and is quoted with up to 26 hours of video playback. During my use, these numbers were on par with my experience, as by the end of each day, I had plenty of battery life left.

The A19 chip provides the 17e with uncompromising performance and an enduring battery.

My days usually consist of messaging, replying to emails, a few phone calls, navigation, watching YouTube videos, snapping some photos/videos, and playing up to an hour of Battle Royale on Call of Duty: Mobile before going to bed a few nights out of the week. On lighter days, I finished the day between 50 and 65%, and with heavier usage, resulting in between 7 and 9 hours of screen-on time, I was left with between 28 and 37% of battery left. Leaving me able to go well into the next afternoon before needing to charge.

And speaking of charging, Apple did what I wish Google did with the Pixel 10a: add Qi2 magnetic charging to its mid-range phone. And not just access to the plethora of MagSafe accessories, but also the faster 15W speeds using a 20W adapter or higher. The 17e also supports fast charging, which provides up to a 50% charge in roughly 30 minutes when using a 20W charging brick or higher. A full charge from 0 to 100% took a little over an hour.

Cameras

When it comes to smartphone cameras, it’s really all about the big three here in the US: Apple, Google, and Samsung. All three companies have their own strengths and weaknesses for their shooters, but if you’re looking for the best camera that excels in both capturing excellent photos and videos, Apple has it. While this isn’t one of the company’s flagship phones, I can say it still applies to Apple’s newest iPhone.

The iPhone 17e’s camera hardware remains the same as last year’s model, with a 48MP main sensor and 12MP selfie shooter. But the new A19 chip inside this phone is doing more with that hardware. The photos I took looked good with crisp details and true-to-life colors in natural and low-light settings. Now, is it the iPhone 17’s camera? No. But it was close. The iPhone 17 images were a bit sharper by comparison, but damn near identical.

Last year's shooters, but still produces iPhone-quality photos and video.

17e portrait shots

Apple did take some time to improve the portrait shots captured on the 17e compared to its predecessor. While we didn’t have a 16e on hand to test, the portrait shots we took on our 17e review unit were impressive. It does a good job of focusing on the edges of our subjects enough not to mix them in with the background, down to a person’s hair and the in-between of a person’s glasses.

The 4K video quality is amazing, as you’d expect from an iPhone. Videos are good enough to share with friends and family or to begin your content creation journey with. Unfortunately, there’s no Dual Capture present, which allows you to record video using the rear camera and the front camera in picture-in-picture mode.

Software

The iPhone 17e runs the latest iOS 26 software, the same version as its siblings, and all that comes with it. Apple’s Liquid Glass UI is the star of the show, with its transparent menus and overall glass-like presence across the majority of its menus and first-party and plenty of third-party apps. While I’m not the biggest fan of Liquid Glass over the previous UI for iOS, I don’t hate it, and it’s slowly grown on me.

Outside of that, the software offers the usual suspects one would expect from an iPhone, such as call screening, photo cleanup, Emergency SOS, roadside assistance, and Find My via satellite. Since it’s powered by Apple’s newest A19 chip, the 17e gets access to the company’s suite of Apple Intelligence features, including Siri, Live Translation, Visual Intelligence, AI-based writing tools, and AI-generated emojis. However, only the writing tools and Visual Intelligence are worth your while—for now.

At $600, the only thing budget-friendly about the iPhone 17e is its price. That OLED screen, performance, the camera, double the base storage, and a long-lasting battery are everything you would need in an iPhone. Could it be $100 less? I wish. Could Apple add a second rear camera? Maybe, if we ever get to the point of four rear cameras. But the 17e offers a complete iPhone experience for budget-conscious users or older adults, or as an option for your child’s first smartphone.

If you’re upgrading from an iPhone 11 or older and don’t want to spend $800, it’s an easy yes. The performance jump is going to feel enormous. MagSafe will change how you use accessories. Just get it. If you’re deciding between the 17e and the iPhone 17, you have to ask yourself these questions honestly: Do you shoot a lot of wide photos? Do you want a higher-quality selfie, or do you care about having the absolute best camera in your pocket? If you answered yes to any of them, spend the extra $200. If your answer is ‘not really,’ then save it. You won’t feel like you’ve settled.