iPhone 17e: First impressions of Apple’s newest ‘value’ cellphone

KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Affordable and Apple as ideas are far aside.

Apple’s positioning as a premium model implies that the “cheapest” Apple product nonetheless feels pricier than any of the competitors.

Then the iPhone 17e comes alongside and is surprisingly priced equally to Samsung’s personal “value” cellphone, the Samsung S25FE.

Value is just not the identical as price range, perceive.

This section belongs to telephones which may not go for the highest-end mannequin within the vary, however as an alternative gives sufficient options to not really feel such as you’re lacking an excessive amount of.

Like Samsung’s FE or “fan editions” and the iPhone SEs.

This isn’t low-end

But ‘Erna, isn’t that only a midrange cellphone?’

No, midrange telephones are the dullest telephones, typically.

Better than entry-level however unexciting.

While the iPhone 17e is the most cost effective iPhone, it doesn’t really feel low cost and that’s what makes the distinction.

The iPhone 17e is what the 16e ought to have been—with MagSafe assist and beginning at 256GB storage.

With cellular working techniques rising in measurement, the earlier 128GB beginning storage could be insufficient.

As a successor to the iPhone SE, the 17e nonetheless feels premium within the hand with out the heft of the bigger iPhone fashions.

While you’ll need to surgically detach the iPhone 17 Pro Max from my wrist, I discover that for lots of people the 17e could be “good enough.”

Examining your aspirations

“I don’t actually take that many photos with my phone,” my pal mentioned, saying that the 17e was what he was possible upgrading to as soon as he retired his present iPhone.

Apple is aware of that many individuals don’t or received’t reap the benefits of Pro options—the perfect digicam, the perfect battery (on the Pro Max), extra GPU cores.

The common individual will use their cellphone like this: discussing the place to eat for the upcoming birthday within the household WhatsApp group chat, take photos of the occasion’s attendees and the receipt or in the event you’re my mom, reply my WhatsApp messages the following day.

Her cellphone, I believe, exists solely to ahead me WhatsApp or YouTube hyperlinks.

With telephones it has come down as to whether you favor Android to iOS however that apart, most individuals received’t want a Pro; they only need one.

What it is best to know

The 17e has a extra sturdy show because of an upgraded Ceramic Shield however if you wish to slap one on anyway, iPhone 13/13 Pro and 14 display screen protectors will match simply high quality as they share the identical 6.1-inch display screen dimensions.

You may have a barely higher gaming expertise on the 17e because it makes use of the A19 chip that can be used within the iPhone 17 line although its chip has a 4-core GPU as in comparison with the Pro fashions’ 6-core GPU.

Now the digicam—it comes with a 48mp broad rear cam with 2x zoom and a barely improved 12MP TrueDepth entrance digicam.

Since I’m in Kota Kinabalu for every week, I’ll be writing an replace devoted principally to mentioned digicam, which had only one foremost shortcoming for me… which you’ll discover out subsequent week.

My evaluate unit is within the shade Soft Pink, a pleasant different to the present black and white shades the 16e got here in.

It’s a really delicate pink, suppose blush rose pink, that can enchantment to those that like their shades muted, their tones not-so-garish.

(I nonetheless suppose a scorching pink iPhone Pro may have emptied out cabinets throughout Barbie yr however that’s one other story.)

Stay tuned for subsequent week the place I determine whether or not this cellphone is “not bad” or “spend more money on the 17 instead.”