iPhone 16e The "e" vs the "SE" - Which was Better?

[ElPaso]

When the iPhone SE (1st gen) came out in 2016 (ten years! wow) I bought one and used it for a little over a year. Now, I use a 16e, which is today's budget device (along with the 17e). Frankly, I love both of them - wonderfully capable iPhones "stripped down" a bit for cost, but still excellent.

I have to say that I liked the 2016 SE a leetle more than my 16e. I especially liked the iPhone 5 chassis -- classic, squared off, fits in a pocket easily - - But don't get me wrong, I'm not ready to part with the 16e, but out of the two I think I liked the SE gooder.

Anyone else have experience with both the SE models and the "e"s?

 

[Juicy Box]

iPhone SE1 is still one of the best Apple devices ever produced. I still use mine on occasion.

The size was perfect for one’s hand, pockets, cars, and wallet as well (price).

It was fast for its time, had excellent battery life considering the tiny size, and didn’t have a camera bump.

It was all that while still being thin, and so light.

 

[!!!]

SE.

• Touch ID
• No OLED
• No hole in the display
• Smaller screen size

 

[JPack]

16e/17e is better because it more closely resembles a modern iPhone experience.

The original SE in 2016 had that feel, but by the time SE2/SE3 arrived, the form factor was too out of date.

 

[1rottenapple]

SE was such a good phone. I know it’s not feasible to have a small phone with 5 in screen buy still.

 

[doogm]

SE.

• Touch ID
• No OLED
• No hole in the display
• Smaller screen size

While I didn't mind Touch ID phones, Face ID is infinitely better IMO. As is OLED. There may not have been a hole in the display, but there was a ton of unused space top and bottom - I'll take the notch.

Fair note: I have the 16e as a backup device, never had the SE, but I wouldn't buy a device like the SE even with the A19 and a current modem.

 

[Sosab123]

The SE and 5 designs will always be my favorite of all designs of Apple. The size lets you see the entire screen with a single glance. There is a benefit to that.

If Apple did another iPhone Mini, i'd buy one.

 

[!!!]

While I didn't mind Touch ID phones, Face ID is infinitely better IMO. As is OLED

Touch ID simply works faster, you can unlock your phone at any time with just your hand touching it, which you'll need anyways to use your phone. With Face ID, you must have your face positioned correctly in front of the screen for a long enough time for it to register and subsequently unlock. I can have my Touch ID-based phone unlocked before it is fully in my view and ready to use. Face ID is just plain slower as a technology. Furthermore, unlocking via Face ID requires a swipe, whereas Touch ID can be set up to go directly into the phone upon fingerprint recognition. Face ID does not work with face coverings nor does it work in bed or when your phone is on a table. Another critical component is intent, with Touch ID the intent is always clear, touching the fingerprint sensor unlocks your phone. With Face ID, your phone unlocks even if you just wanted to view the lock screen, and to "force" intent Apple has to resort to weird things like double pressing the power button when making payments, which forces you to hold the phone in an unnatural way, especially with how large these phones are now.

OLED is bad because it gives people eye pain, headaches, nausea, and in some cases migraines. I don't care that my phone does not display "perfect black", this has never been an issue in all my years of owning a phone. I've never thought to myself "wow, this person's text would be so much better if the black font was imperceptibly darker!"

 

[1rottenapple]

Touch ID simply works faster, you can unlock your phone at any time with just your hand touching it, which you'll need anyways to use your phone. With Face ID, you must have your face positioned correctly in front of the screen for a long enough time for it to register and subsequently unlock. I can have my Touch ID-based phone unlocked before it is fully in my view and ready to use. Face ID is just plain slower as a technology. Furthermore, unlocking via Face ID requires a swipe, whereas Touch ID can be set up to go directly into the phone upon fingerprint recognition. Face ID does not work with face coverings nor does it work in bed or when your phone is on a table. Another critical component is intent, with Touch ID the intent is always clear, touching the fingerprint sensor unlocks your phone. With Face ID, your phone unlocks even if you just wanted to view the lock screen, and to "force" intent Apple has to resort to weird things like double pressing the power button when making payments, which forces you to hold the phone in an unnatural way, especially with how large these phones are now.

OLED is bad because it gives people eye pain, headaches, nausea, and in some cases migraines. I don't care that my phone does not display "perfect black", this has never been an issue in all my years of owning a phone. I've never thought to myself "wow, this person's text would be so much better if the black font was imperceptibly darker!"

Ok I will say touchid has a higher failure rate vs face id for ME. My iPad mini usually fails after I wash my hands. FACEID has less failures rates, its usually d/t the angle when it fails to detect.

 

[James6s]

Touch ID simply works faster, you can unlock your phone at any time with just your hand touching it, which you'll need anyways to use your phone. With Face ID, you must have your face positioned correctly in front of the screen for a long enough time for it to register and subsequently unlock. I can have my Touch ID-based phone unlocked before it is fully in my view and ready to use. Face ID is just plain slower as a technology. Furthermore, unlocking via Face ID requires a swipe, whereas Touch ID can be set up to go directly into the phone upon fingerprint recognition. Face ID does not work with face coverings nor does it work in bed or when your phone is on a table. Another critical component is intent, with Touch ID the intent is always clear, touching the fingerprint sensor unlocks your phone. With Face ID, your phone unlocks even if you just wanted to view the lock screen, and to "force" intent Apple has to resort to weird things like double pressing the power button when making payments, which forces you to hold the phone in an unnatural way, especially with how large these phones are now.

OLED is bad because it gives people eye pain, headaches, nausea, and in some cases migraines. I don't care that my phone does not display "perfect black", this has never been an issue in all my years of owning a phone. I've never thought to myself "wow, this person's text would be so much better if the black font was imperceptibly darker!"

Some wrong statements in here… Face ID does work in bed, in complete darkness. It can register your face at more angles than when it was first launched, and while on a table.
Your face doesn’t need to be directly and perfectly aligned in front of the display to unlock your device. When you set up Face ID it asks if you want to use it with a mask/face covering. Also when you’re naturally holding your device, your thumb is near the power button making it easy and convenient using Apple Pay when double pressing it.
There is no delay in Face ID recognising your face, it’s instant.

I had a higher failure rate with Touch ID, eg any moisture or dirt/grease etc on your fingers.

 

[scrane]

Pissing away 1/3 of the front panel on bezels is no longer viable.

 

[doogm]

Touch ID simply works faster, you can unlock your phone at any time with just your hand touching it, which you'll need anyways to use your phone.

For some people, Touch ID fails to work after a while. My mother-in-law is one; my wife was another. They ended up disabling it when they had it on their phones. So, it wasn't perfect for everyone.

As for face coverings, Touch ID doesn't work when you wear gloves. Same thing. I wear gloves these days more than I wear face coverings. Plus Face ID can be set up to work while wear medical masks, as we did during the pandemic.

Furthermore, unlocking via Face ID requires a swipe

Technically, Face ID unlocks with just a glance, as you could tell if you had notifications set to not show when unlocked. A single glance can show them, since it unlocks the phone. But, I get your point, you mean to get away from the lock screen. It's not a huge advantage to me.

 

[!!!]

Face ID does work in bed, in complete darkness

It doesn't work if your face is slightly covered by sheets or pillows. Even when not covered, it's frustratingly hard to align it perfectly enough to work. I understand it works in low light. Again, none of these problems are present with Touch ID. It works without regard for lighting and I can unlock my phone while my face is planted in the pillow and my phone is on the side table.

It can register your face at more angles than when it was first launched, and while on a table.

Your face doesn’t need to be directly and perfectly aligned in front of the display to unlock your device

Not for me. Maybe that's a thing for newer iPhones, but OLED.

Also when you’re naturally holding your device, your thumb is near the power button making it easy and convenient using Apple Pay when double pressing it.

Not for me. Guess I'm "holding it wrong"?

I had a higher failure rate with Touch ID, eg any moisture or dirt/grease etc on your fingers.

For some people, Touch ID fails to work after a while. My mother-in-law is one; my wife was another.

Not for me, I have to enter in my password far more often due to repeated Face ID failures than I with Touch ID.

Touch ID doesn't work when you wear gloves. Same thing. I wear gloves these days more than I wear face coverings

I never wear gloves aside from doing yard work, when I'm not carrying my phone anyways.

Technically, Face ID unlocks with just a glance, as you could tell if you had notifications set to not show when unlocked. A single glance can show them, since it unlocks the phone. But, I get your point, you mean to get away from the lock screen. It's not a huge advantage to me.

There's no clear word to mean going to the home screen, but yes of course that's what I mean. I don't see the advantage of hanging around the lock screen, other than just viewing the time.

Pissing away 1/3 of the front panel on bezels is no longer viable.

Another thing I completely forgot about, a place for you to hold onto your phone! No one cares about what some tech reviewer says about needing no bezels, we'd all be better off with smaller phones that had bezels where you could rest your fingers and not worry about accidentally touching stuff on the screen.

 

[ElPaso]

Pissing away 1/3 of the front panel on bezels is no longer viable.

It's actually just a matter of personal taste and needs. It is still "viable".

 

[ElPaso]

I'm thinking that if they introduced another SE model with modern capabilities, but with the iPhone 5 chassis (as they did in the 1st Gen), it would be a big seller even today. The "Oh No!! It has a BEZEL!!!!" group, or the "Screen has Got to be BIG BIG BIG" crowd may not like it, but there's plenty of people that would go for it. I would consider it - since I don't game or YooToob on my iPhone, the small screen wouldn't make any difference. Reading the posts above convinces me that most modern complaints about the SE 1 are things that are a matter of preference (personal taste) and not about practicality of use.

 

[ElPaso]

. . . . . Another thing I completely forgot about, a place for you to hold onto your phone! No one cares about what some tech reviewer says about needing no bezels, we'd all be better off with smaller phones that had bezels where you could rest your fingers and not worry about accidentally touching stuff on the screen.

This!! I like a little bezel on a phone for the same reasons. With my 16e, that's one of the primary reasons I use an Otterbox - it's something to GRAB without accidentally starting apps lol

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Ok I will say touchid has a higher failure rate vs face id for ME. My iPad mini usually fails after I wash my hands. FACEID has less failures rates, its usually d/t the angle when it fails to detect.

Yes, wet hands are certainly a thing. Gloves were another pain point for it. But in comparison, FaceID seems to fail when I'm laying in bed, after I shave, wearing a scarf, or randomly "just because" in a way that TouchID never did. FaceID on my iPhone 17 was significantly faster than the 13, but by that I mean it was still a sub-par experience compared to TouchID for me, where the faster experience meant it would just fail faster.

 

[1rottenapple]

Yes, wet hands are certainly a thing. Gloves were another pain point for it. But in comparison, FaceID seems to fail when I'm laying in bed, after I shave, wearing a scarf, or randomly "just because" in a way that TouchID never did. FaceID on my iPhone 17 was significantly faster than the 13, but by that I mean it was still a sub-par experience compared to TouchID for me, where the faster experience meant it would just fail faster.

So to sum it up, people are people, we have many differentiations that one system does not cover all people.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I'm thinking that if they introduced another SE model with modern capabilities, but with the iPhone 5 chassis (as they did in the 1st Gen), it would be a big seller even today.

And this is based on what?
The 16e reportedly didn’t just sell better than the previous generation SE, but twice as better. Estimates put it at 20 million units in 2025 alone.
The 12 and 13 Mini, which were similar in size and thickness to the first generation SE, were absolute failures that reportedly sold worse than both the following plus and Air models.

And keep in mind, I am absolutely a fan of the mini, I had one for three years, and I also absolutely love the design of my first ever iPhone, the iPhone 5, which had the same design as the first generation SE. so this is absolutely not coming from a place of dislike towards that type of design, I think, in theory, it would be very cool for Apple to make a product like that.

But saying that it would be a “big seller“ is just straight up delusional. It would not be. It would likely slot somewhere below 3% of annual iPhone sales, just like the mini.

 

[1st-alex]

I still have my first-gen iPhone SE, though I now keep it by my desk for MFA. My current model is the 13 mini, which is the perfect size for me and I plan on keeping it for as long as I can. I haven't even thought about what I would replace it with when the time comes. It's a shame that these small form factor phones aren't big sellers, but the market has spoken and consumers want bigger phones.

 

[James6s]

It doesn't work if your face is slightly covered by sheets or pillows. Even when not covered, it's frustratingly hard to align it perfectly enough to work. I understand it works in low light. Again, none of these problems are present with Touch ID. It works without regard for lighting and I can unlock my phone while my face is planted in the pillow and my phone is on the side table.


Not for me. Maybe that's a thing for newer iPhones, but OLED.

Not for me. Guess I'm "holding it wrong"?

Maybe that depends on what device you’re using with Face ID, the very first iPhone X needed a pretty much perfectly aligned face to unlock the device.
On newer devices it’s surprising what face angles can unlock them at a quick side glance. Why would you want to unlock your phone when your face is planted in a pillow?
You don’t even have to pick your phone up, align face and look at it then swipe up, you can do the swipe up action whilst picking it up (raise to wake or screen tap) and as soon as it registers your face it’ll unlock itself.

How do you normally hold your phone? There’s no right or wrong way I guess, but holding your phone with your thumb at the bottom hovering over the home button doesn’t sound natural.

 

[winxmac]

iPhone SE 2016 is the best and the only one to be considered SE model.

The only new thing with the iPhone SE 2020 and iPhone SE 2022 are the chipset and the higher capacity battery (SE 2022) when compared to the iPhone 8.

For those who need wireless charging with MagSafe, iPhone 17e is the better model. For those who don't necessarily need MagSafe, iPhone 16e is still an option although no longer sold by Apple brand new.

 

[ElPaso]

And this is based on what?
The 16e reportedly didn’t just sell better than the previous generation SE, but twice as better. Estimates put it at 20 million units in 2025 alone.
The 12 and 13 Mini, which were similar in size and thickness to the first generation SE, were absolute failures that reportedly sold worse than both the following plus and Air models.

And keep in mind, I am absolutely a fan of the mini, I had one for three years, and I also absolutely love the design of my first ever iPhone, the iPhone 5, which had the same design as the first generation SE. so this is absolutely not coming from a place of dislike towards that type of design, I think, in theory, it would be very cool for Apple to make a product like that.

But saying that it would be a “big seller“ is just straight up delusional. It would not be. It would likely slot somewhere below 3% of annual iPhone sales, just like the mini.

If sales of a re-issued 5 chassis totals 3% of iPhone sales as per your guess, that would be 7,410,000 sold annually; with a BOM of around 53% (which is an actual figure based on iPhone 15 PM), that would profit Apple about $317 per unit (if it is priced at $599), times the 7 million sold = over $2 Billion of re-investible profit. (Apple had a $112 Billion profit in 2025). The 17e has accounted for 4% of iPhone sales since launch, which is comparable. The 16e, probably because it was "new", accounted for 11% of sales in its first quarter (I sure like mine!).

There may be a desire for a smaller, equally powerful phone - 3% doesn't look that bad.

 

[ResolutionNZ]

The Original SE. I'd still be using mine if I had maxed out the storage. Instead a friend is using it with a new battery.

 

[Andeddu]

This!! I like a little bezel on a phone for the same reasons. With my 16e, that's one of the primary reasons I use an Otterbox - it's something to GRAB without accidentally starting apps lol

This is a peeve of mine with modern iPhones and one of the main reasons I still use an iPhone 8 while watching videos when in bed. On YouTube, a slight tap to the left or right of the screen will rewind or fast forward the video which is super annoying. I like a bit of bezel to hang on to otherwise the phone becomes uncomfortable in the hand.

I will retire my 8 in 2 weeks from now and use my old 13 with a pop socket to see if that helps.