First things first - they were so right about its being cute. The iPhone 16e is the smallest of the new iPhones, and although it has the same 6.1 inch display as the iPhone 16, the phone itself is a little smaller in size. It is 146.7 mm tall, which is shorter than the 147.6 mm of the iPhone 16. It is Also marginally less wide (71.5 mm to 71.6 mm) and exactly as slim as the iPhone 16 at 7.8m mm, while being a feather lighter: 167 mm to 170 mm.

While it is the most affordable of the iPhone 16 series, it does not look 'cheap' from any angle. You get the Ceramic Shield glass front, a glass back and an aluminium frame. Also on board are IP68 dust and water resistance - this phone will easily survive a fall in the water. It also does not look like an "iPhone from the past" like the previous iPhone SE did.

The innards are also reasonably impressive - you get an A18 processor similar to the ones on the iPhone 16 series (although with one lesser GPU as the geeks will be quick to point out), and while there is only camera on the back, it is a 48 megapixel one with OIS. You also get a 6.1 inch OLED display similar to what the iPhone 16 has., Apple Intelligence, and what Apple claims is significantly better battery life than the iPhone 16. Pretty cool, huh?

But of course, it is not all roses. You get hit by a half-decade old notch rather than new Dynamic Island the moment you switch on the display. There is no dedicated telephoto or ultrawide camera on the back, and while the battery life is supposed to be great, there is no MagSafe support, so you cannot charge the phone through a magnetic attachment (you can charge it wirelessly, though). And then there is the price.

The iPhone 16e starts at a rather pricey Rs 59,900 for its 128 GB variant. That's much lower than the Rs 75,000 at which the iPhone 16 is selling, but hey, it is almost next door to the Rs 61,000 of the iPhone 15, which does not support Apple Intelligence and has an older chip, but comes with dual cameras, a proper Dynamic Island and MagSafe charging. So a lot is going to depend on how much you value Apple Intelligence, and phone size. If you give both a lot of value but are short on bucks, then the iPhone 16e could be just the phone for you. We will update you with more as time passes.