Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority

I love to obsess over new iPhone releases as much as I do for new Android flagships, but not everyone cares about smartphones as much. If your life doesn’t revolve around tech, you’ll find that phones have become increasingly complex and overkill. Huge sizes to accommodate big displays, multiple cameras shrouded in megapixels and marketing, AI this and AI that, and a price tag that breaks the bank — it can be rather overwhelming to pick your next smartphone if you see them merely as a tool to use and not a cult to follow.

A large part of the world just wants a phone for simpler use cases like basic apps, media and social media consumption, and the occasional calls and texts. My parents are part of this demography, and to them, spending over $1,000 on a fragile phone every couple of years is a rightfully preposterous idea.

For a long time, the base iPhones were my go-to recommendations for people like them who just wanted a clean and simple phone to use as a tool. However, the base iPhone 16 at $799 is an expensive option for their simple use case.

Enter the iPhone 16e, a phone that manages to tick a lot of boxes thanks to its no-nonsense approach.

Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority

The iPhone 16e’s biggest advantage against the iPhone 14, the iPhone 15, and even Android competitors is that it comes with Apple’s A18 chip, making it a powerful but affordable option for those who don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a phone.