# iPhone 16e

11 Hacker News commenters recommended iPhone 16e and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People praise its battery life, reliable connections and core performance; the most common caveat is slowdown after the Liquid Glass update.

## Why people recommend it

- Excellent battery life (3 comments): "Battery life is incredible while no issues with connections whatsoever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47228397)) "the battery in my iPhone 16e that has excellent battery life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47101651)) "I am amazed at the battery life of my iPhone 16e." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47100391))
- Lower price and refurbished options (2 comments): "You can get a perfectly fine refurbished iPhone 16e for $400." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47973891)) "can also get the 16e for a much lower price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45890565))

## What people warn about

- Slow after Liquid Glass update (6 comments): "They used an old chip and I can tell you this phone cannot keep up with liquid glass" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46986974)) "I can barely use my iPhone 16E after the liquid glass update" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47216990)) "it seems the GPU sucks, and Glass is so GPU intensive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47219284))
- Battery anxiety and drain (2 comments): "I actually now would prefer to keep my new annoyingly large 16e just to not have the battery anxiety." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49632767)) "it was buggy, cramped, confusing, and drained my battery" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46499991))
- Poor value for money (2 comments): "iPhones themselves are terrible value" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080010)) "such a blatant money grab" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45942608))
- Large size (2 comments): "I actually now would prefer to keep my new annoyingly large 16e just to not have the battery anxiety." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49632767)) "not the monstrosity that is the 16e" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45890549))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple iPhone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone.md): 706 recommend
- [Fairphone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fairphone.md): 168 recommend
- [Apple iPhone Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-17-pro.md): 144 recommend
- [iPhone 13 mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-13-mini.md): 141 recommend
- [Jolla Phone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jolla-phone.md): 88 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+iPhone+16e&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.apple.com/iphone/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "iPhone 16e", https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-16e/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).