As a proud owner of an iPhone 15 for almost two years, I have not had problems with the phone since I bought it. It runs perfectly for my needs: music, youtube, text messages and Doomscolers aimless Social networks, and integrates perfectly with my other Apple devices.
Apart from his professional brothers and a handful of Android competitors, the iPhone 15 was the first time when I bought it. They had just paid me, so I put at the height of $ 1,499 ($ 799 / £ 799) to buy it directly to replace my broken mini iPhone.
(That is a purchase that I shudder after experiencing the value that is offered from the best cheap phones, but I have fun …)
The iPhone 16 marked a larger update on its predecessor than usual thanks to the incorporation of Apple’s intelligence, even if its launch has been less than soft, with many parts of the update of Siri promised even in the air.
Even so, the iPhone 15 is an excellent smartphone in 2025, so it caught my attention when I found it for au $ 1,077 here in Australia, where I am based (which becomes around $ 692 / £ 519). There are also attractive agreements abroad, as in the US, where only $ 100 when it is changed to T-Mobile.
(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / Techradar)
However, in February, Apple launched a curved ball on the iPhone 15 when it introduced another option for Cupertino loyal ones that they seek to save in an update when it launched the iPhone 16E for $ 599 / £ 599 / AU $ 999.
Like the iPhone 5C and the three iPhone Se models, this new Apple ‘Budget’ phone has made small concessions to keep under the price, while allowing buyers to buy a really new iPhone that can access the latest iOS functions. The 16E iPhone is possibly even more attractive than its ancestors, since it offers the power to handle Apple’s intelligence.
This creates an interesting enigma: if I needed a new phone and did not want to waste on the iPhone 16, what device is the best option: the iPhone 15 or the iPhone 16E?
Techradar has a complete comparison article of iPhone 16E vs iPhone 15 based on this question and concludes that, for most people, it is worth spending a little more and opting for the oldest iPhone 15.
But after spending a week with the 16E iPhone, I do not agree.
Best battery, baby
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanooff)
For many smartphone buyers, camera quality is key, but for me, battery life is much more important and the 16E iPhone dominates the iPhone 15 in this category.
Although Apple does not reveal the exact capacity of the battery, third -party reports show that the 16E iPhone has a 3,961 mAh battery compared to the 3,349mAh of the iPhone 15.
It is not just that larger size that makes the 16E more durable either. The C1 cell chip of the 16E iPhone, which is exclusive to the device, processes the feed more efficiently, resulting in significantly improved resistance.
This was very remarkable in my time with him. According to my iPhone 15’s battery capacity, 91% is degraded in these days, but it limits its load during the night to stop at 85%. As a result, after about three hours of listening, observing, moving and sending text messages, my iphone 15 is often in less than 30% at 9:30 am
It’s 3:30 pm while writing this, and with the same battery configuration and general screen time, the iPhone 16E I am currently using is 44%.
My experience seems to completely support Apple’s own statements, with the marked brand that the 16E iPhone offers 26 hours of video playback, 15% better than the 22 hours of the iPhone 16 and a 23% increase on the iPhone 15.
Apple Intelligence is already quite intelligent, actually
Having fun creating images generated by AI in Apple’s playground application (Image credit: Future/Jacob Krol)
We are still waiting for AI Siri, and Apple could have to let users exchange Siri for other predetermined voice assistant party alternatives. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Apple Intelligence on the 16E iPhone, a set of features that the iPhone 15 lacks.
Visual intelligence is useful, allowing you to quickly search or ask Chatgpt about any object from which you take a photo. And the cleaning function is useful for eliminating bombers or photo objects of any given image, such as the similar objects elimination tool of Samsung as is found in the new Galaxy devices.
And, although I rarely used them, I appreciated the (mostly) constructive messages of messages generated by AI and suggestions of smarter phrases. Highlighting your written text opens a variety of options with AI by clicking on the Apple Intelligence logo (or ‘writing tools’). In any application, you can review or rewrite your text so that it sounds more friendly, professional or concise.
Image 1 of 3
Visual Intelligence analyzing French fries (Image credit: future)
Use of Apple’s intelligence to create a dragon genum by holding a hot dog (Image credit: future)
Use of AI to edit and review text messages (Image credit: Future / Max Delaney)
In addition, and especially useful when writing notes, it is its ability to format the text in key points, a list or a table. You also have the option of composing text with Chatgpt.
However, I think what I like most about Apple Intelligence is the ability to create my own emojis. Called Genmojis, it allows you to turn anything, such as my own face and other faces found regularly in the roll of my camera, or a cow of highlands surrounded by flowers, in an emoji or sticker.
As someone who uses emojis with enough moderation, now I am a genumji manufacturing dynamo. While AI tools and the characteristics of the iPhone 16 family are far from being revolutionary, they are fun and generally useful. It is a small but significant advantage for the iPhone 16E over the iPhone 15.
Bring the action
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanooff)
The latest small characteristic that I think puts the 16E above 15 is the action button. , As Apple Intelligence, is exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max and the iPhone 16 series.
This small practical button replaces the silence/silence switch of the oldest iPhones. There is nothing revolutionary here: all that it does is offer shortcuts for common characteristics such as silent mode, focus, camera, visual intelligence, torch and any other application, such as Instagram.
Personally, I did not find any of those pre -established options and, instead, I established the action button to control my way of not disturbing.
It is such a small difference: after all, unlock the device, mention the control center and activate the approach is not a laborious task. However, it is a small change in quality of life that I appreciated a lot, allowing me to turn it on without even looking directly at my phone.
Winner for a divided decision
The two phones are almost identical apart from the camera matrix (Image credit: Future / Max Delaney)
The 16E VS iPhone 15 iPhone contest is not at all a knockout of the newest model. There are two main reasons why the oldest iPhone can be the best option for some people: screen and camera.
The 16E iPhone only has a single 48MP fusion chamber, while the iPhone 15 combines a main 48mp camera with an ultrawide lens of 12MP that is equally useful for the shots of great nature and tries to adapt to the whole family in a single photo. More importantly, the individual lens of the 16E means that it cannot take silly photos of close to their friends or dog with the 0.5x zoom.
The 15 also has a (small) cable in the 16E in terms of screen, since the latter returns to the screen with anus of the iPhone 14 instead of the dynamic island that is found in the later devices. Personally, I don’t care, but for some users it could be the reason to spend a little more for the iPhone 15. The latter’s screen is also brighter and (slightly) higher: 1179 x 2556 with a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits compared to the 16E 1170 x 2532 and 1,200 nit.
Magsafe’s load also lacks in the iPhone 16E. It was rumored that this was to leave space for chip C1, but that has been denied by Apple according to MacWorld . The 16E can still wirelessly load, but lacks the magnet.
I had never required much Magsafe until I recently bought a magnetic energy bank, which is now almost useless with the 16E iPhone. And users who have a magnetic car support will probably lose this functionality.
The iPhone 15 still has a place, and is a wonderful purchase if you can get it for the same price as the 16E iPhone.
However, it is still more expensive than your new brother, less than you In fact He needs a teleobjective lens, I think the 16E iPhone is the budget iPhone to have.
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