iPhone 16e Budget Buster

Apple has announced its newest smartphone, the iPhone 16e, which replaces the old iPhone SE 3rd Gen. in its lineup. At $399 and finally $429, the SE was the “budget” iPhone that let you into Apple’s walled-garden without breaking the bank. But at $599, the 16e kicks your budget in the groin and says, “Get an Android.”

Phone prices generally range from a low $100 to over $1,000, so those in the bottom third may be called entry-level or budget. Mid-range and “flagship” models claim the middle and upper thirds respectively. So while everyone’s budget differs, the iPhone 16e sits around the middle, which is disappointing to me because the phone it replaces, the SE 3, was close enough to the low end to be considered “budget” for an Apple iPhone.

Maybe inflation is to blame. But there are several good to great Android phones in the $200 to $400 range, thankfully (Moto G series and Samsung A series for example). Credit to my generous family for the Android phone gifted to me last year, a low-end leaning $449 sale price for a mid-range flip phone that has as much RAM (8GB) and twice the storage (256GB) of the iPhone 16e base model. Talk about value.

The new iPhone 16e cements the fact that Android phones are better overall for cost-conscious consumers. Smartphones have matured to the point that, to paraphrase MKBHD, cheap phones got good and good phones got cheap.

For $200 to $400, you can get a very good smartphone that does basically all the smartphone things you need: good screen, good cameras, fast CPU, wireless charging, tap-to-pay, a bazillion apps, etc. What else do you need? Why pay more?

Sure, there’s more to the iPhone 16e, but I’m only focused on the price tag here because that’s one of the biggest changes to Apple’s least-expensive phone in its line-up. I was hoping to buy a new one for my wife as she needs to upgrade from her iPhone 12 mini (64GB). But the 16e higher cost is a deal-breaker out of the gate.

My thrifty tech sense can’t justify paying $600 for a phone when I can get one that does the same basic stuff for $300. But will Apple lock-in pry my wallet open? I might have to revert to a refurbished iPhone for my wife. But I was burned twice last Fall, so I’m between a rock and a hard place.

This time, though, I think my wife is going to do the refurbished buying (and potential returning) herself. As for me, I plan to keep affording and enjoying Android phones.