Apple iPhone 17e Review

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Introduction

As tech gets more expensive, the cheaper models available are becoming more and more important. The iPhone 17e arrives as the most affordable current iPhone, but has Apple got to the $599/£599 price with a few too many sacrifices?

Apple has been expanding its pool of more affordable products recently, and I don’t just mean by discounting products once they’ve been superseded by something else. Instead, it has been making bespoke products for the lower end of the market.

The MacBook Neo, for example, is perhaps the most tempting Apple release of 2026. So how does the brand’s cheapest new phone stack up?

Design

• Lovely new pink colour
• Action Button, but no Camera Control
• Ceramic Shield 2 and MagSafe

In the new pink shade, the iPhone 17e looks great. This is certainly one of the best-looking phones at this price, with that distinctive Apple finish. The sides are aluminium, the back glass, and there’s the same Ceramic Shield 2 coating as the iPhone 17 on the front for better protection from scratches.

The water resistance is the same as the iPhone 17 too, and it can withstand being submerged in 6m of water for about 30 minutes. This is more common at this price than it was, but it’s still not a definite on the best mid-range phones.

Around the aluminium frame, there is the usual array of buttons. Two keys for volume, an elongated power key and a smaller, customisable Action Button. This can be attached to various functions, like switching ringer modes, enabling the torch and the like. What you won’t find is the Camera Control, although the camera can be controlled with the Action Button.

Switch to the A19 chip aside; the biggest upgrade over the 16e is the addition of MagSafe. The magnetic ring inside the back of the phone is all sorts of useful, whether it’s for stickier chargers or attaching cases and accessories.

It was odd when Apple decided against including MagSafe with the 16e last year, although I guess it needs something to dangle with the successor. And that’s exactly what it has done. Interestingly, Google hasn’t included its MagSage alternative, PixelSnap, in its mid-range Pixel 10a, so Apple does have the upper hand here.

Screen

• Notch, as opposed to Dynamic Island
• No ProMotion, so no Always-on Display
• Bright and sharp

Rumours ahead of launch had suggested the 17e would swap its notched display for one with Dynamic Island. That hasn’t come to pass. I doubt many would have expected the move to ProMotion high refresh rate, especially as that has only just come to the iPhone 17, so it’s no surprise that there’s still a locked 60Hz panel here.

The real upgrade for this display is the coating. There’s now Ceramic Shield 2, which, Apple says, offers 3x better scratch resistance compared to the Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 16e. I’ve used other phones with the second-gen shield, and it does a very good job at reducing those smaller scratches that used to litter just about every iPhone.

The OLED screen itself is standard base iPhone fare, and even if you’re upgrading from a device from 3 or 4 years ago, there isn’t much difference. It’s bright enough, although the max 750 nits I measured is below the iPhone 17 by quite some margin. This is most noticeable outdoors in bright conditions, where the standard 17 can really bright to combat reflections.

At 6.1 inches, this is the smallest display on a current iPhone, although for those still hanging on to an iPhone 13 Mini, this isn’t anywhere near the same as that. It’s a good screen, sharp enough for photos and plenty colourful – although it’s nothing standout.

Performance

• 256GB starting storage
• A19 chip is very fast for the price
• Still Wi-Fi 6

At its price, this is up there with the best-performing phones on the market. The A19 chip is very capable – and the benchmark results below prove as much, outgunning far pricier devices – for everything from intensive gaming to photo and video.

Apple has doubled the base storage for the 17e, ditching the iPhone 16e’s 128GB option for a default 256GB. More storage is always welcome, especially since the starting price has stayed the same at £599/$599. There is a 512GB option too, although at £799/$799, I am not really sure who this is for.

In daily use, the iPhone 17e feels just like the iPhone 17. It has a slightly downgraded GPU compared to the pricier option, although no game I tried seemed to play any differently. There’s ray-tracing support and 8GB of memory, plenty for an iPhone.

I can’t find fault with the performance of the 17e, especially for the price. Any app or game on the App Store will perform admirably, and updates should be plentiful for at least the next five years. This is going to be a phone that performs well over time, and gets new features for years to come.

There are a couple of interesting omissions compared to the standard iPhone 17, although none are what I would consider a dealbreaker. It’s restricted to Wi-Fi 6, so no 6E or 7, and Bluetooth 5.3 rather than Bluetooth 6. 

There’s no UWB chip, no Thread support, and the GPS isn’t quite as accurate. If any of these stand out, go for the iPhone 17. There is, of course, 5G support, and you can use either a physical SIM or an eSIM.

Camera

• Single 48MP Fusion camera system
• Dolby Vision 4K up to 60fps
• 12MP front camera

There are just two cameras on the iPhone 17e. One 48MP sensor on the hack, and a 12MP sensor on the front. Both are capable, reliable cameras that produce images very similar to the iPhone 16e.

What you will notice if you’re coming from an older iPhone, more so than the improved image quality, is just how quick it is to. Opening the app, focusing, and processing are done almost instantly, whatever the conditions. There’s very little slowdown, anywhere.

You can capture excellent shots with this phone. Images have lots of detail, nice and accurate skin tones and colours that pop just enough, without going too far. It works well at night too, where plenty of detail and colour are retained.

The use of a single camera sensor is quite restrictive. Similar phones, like Google’s Pixel 10a, come with two different focal lengths on the back so you can get those wider shots for some added versatility. 

On the iPhone 17e, you can zoom in slightly to a 2x crop, but that’s all. There is a very good portrait mode for adding some nice depth effects to snaps, and you can add this after a shot is taken. It’s impressive how good the depth effect is, especially as there’s just a single sensor.

On the front, the 17e sticks with the same 12MP selfie shooter as the 16e, rather than the upgraded 18MP version with its wider field of view to cram in more faces.

Video quality is great, much better than many of the best mid-range phones and comfortably better than even the best Pixel. Video can be recorded in up to Dolby Vision 4K 60fps, and while it lacks the Cinematic modes of the pricier iPhones, it still looks sharp, colourful and smooth.

Software

• Usual Apple Intelligence features
• Liquid Glass UI
• Plenty of software updates

Like the iPhone 16e, the 17e supports Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection. If you’re upgrading from a much older iPhone, these are nice features to have. 

For many, this will also be the first experience of Apple Intelligence. Apple’s first stab at AI hasn’t really taken off yet, and has mostly been relegated to a secondary feature, likely until the tie-up with Google’s Gemini comes in to help out.

The AI features include writing tools to alter tone, remove unwanted elements from photos and such like. I can’t say I have used many of these after my initial testing, as they just can’t compare to what’s on offer in the competition from Google and even Samsung. Maybe one day Apple Intelligence will be good, but in 2026, it has a long way to go.

The iPhone 17e’s design really suits the Liquid Glass aesthetic, and it feels like a cohesive combination of hardware and software.

Battery Life

• MagSafe, Qi2 and Qi wireless charging
• Up to 50% charge in just over 30 minutes
• Cable included, but no plug

Apple has improved battery life across the iPhone 17 range this upgrade cycle, and even though the 17e doesn’t run for much longer than the 16e, it is still a phone that’ll get most through a day of use without much chance of slipping into the red.

This is clearly a very efficient phone, with an A19 chip, Apple-designed C1X modem and no always-on display to eat through juice. All the parts combine to give great endurance.

Throughout my week of testing, I have only had to charge in the evening once – and that was a day filled with camera testing and benchmarking, two things that deplete any battery. On a typical day of unplugging at 7 am and going to bed at midnight, I would be, on average, left with 15-20% left. Not quite iPhone 17 Pro Max, but workable for most.

MagSafe is a key feature here, and it’s great to have it on the cheapest iPhone 17 model. Not only does it allow for loads of magnetic accessories, but it also enables faster 15W wireless charging than the 7.5W supported by the 16e.

The phone doesn’t come with a MagSafe charger, or a plug for that matter. All you’ll find in the box is a USB-C to USB-C cable. I tested the charging speeds with a 20W plug, and like Apple claims, you can get from 0-50% in under 30 minutes.

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Should you buy it?