Apple iPhone 17e vs iPhone 17

With the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max present connected the marketplace but nary vanilla iPhone 18 yet successful sight, the Apple iPhone 17e and Apple iPhone 17 stay Apple's existent much affordable options. And with a sizeable terms spread betwixt them - astir €650 for the iPhone 17e versus €900 for the iPhone 17 - the question is whether stepping up to the regular exemplary is truly worthy it.

The iPhone 17e gets you into the existent iPhone lineup for considerably less, portion the iPhone 17 brings a fig of meaningful upgrades. So however overmuch amended is it successful practice, and does that warrant the premium? Let's find out.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you tin compare the implicit spec sheets.

Size comparison

The iPhone 17e and iPhone 17 diagnostic an identical premium physique – Ceramic Shield 2 front, aluminum frame, and solid back. The iPhone 17e has a somewhat smaller display, and that’s wherefore it is 3mm shorter and 8 grams lighter than the iPhone 17.

It’s besides worthy noting that some iPhones are IP68-rated and are immersible successful up to 6m heavy h2o for up to 30 minutes.

The iPhone 17e, adjacent if not that antithetic successful size than the 17, feels lighter and smaller erstwhile handled. It gave america the iPhone SE feeling, and if it weren’t for the retro-looking notch, it would person won rather a fewer imaginable buyers close retired of the gate.

At the end, portion we bash admit the smaller and compact size of the iPhone 17e, we deliberation the iPhone 17 would entreaty to much users, america included. And due to the fact that of that – we’d accidental it’s a necktie here.

Display comparison

The iPhone 17e has a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED with 460ppi, 60Hz refresh rate, and HDR10 support. It’s the aforesaid show we saw connected the iPhone 16e and not that antithetic sheet from the iPhone 16’s.

The iPhone 17 is the archetypal of the non-Pro models to bring a ProMotion sheet a.k.a. 120Hz refresh rate. The caller exemplary features a larger 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR OLED surface with 460ppi, 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10 and Dolby Vision streaming support.

The iPhone 17 has the pill-shaped cutout, portion the iPhone 17e has the infamous notch. Furthermore, having a fixed refresh complaint of 60Hz surely puts the iPhone 17 successful the winning spot.

But if that’s not enough, the iPhone 17 besides has a brighter surface successful some maximum car and highest brightness occasions.

All of these – higher refresh rate, larger estate, higher brightness, and further Dolby Vision support, springiness an casual triumph of the premium OLED connected the iPhone 17.

Battery life

The iPhone 17e is powered by a 4,005mAh battery, portion the flagship iPhone 17 has a smaller 3,692mAh cell. The 17e besides has the vantage of a smaller show to power, which usually helps to execute longer artillery life.

And, indeed, the iPhone 17e posted an Active Use Score of 15:30h, amended than the iPhone 17’s people of 14:59h. Looking deeper into those results, the 17e has notable improvements successful the telephone and web browsing times, but the iPhone 17 wins successful the video streaming and gaming scenarios.

We'd accidental this conception is simply a tie.

Charging speed

Apple hasn’t been precisely known for advancing the charging capabilities of its phones. In fact, it was the past shaper to bring accelerated charging to its smartphones.

Both iPhone 17e and iPhone 17 enactment accelerated wired charging via USB-PD protocol. The iPhone 17e’s authoritative sticker says it tin spell up to 26W, portion the iPhone 17 up to 29W.

Apple promises 50% of complaint successful 30 minutes if you are utilizing Apple’s ain 20W charger.

Both iPhones enactment MagSafe wireless charging but the iPhone 17 tin spell faster astatine 25W due to the fact that it supports Qi2 standard. The iPhone 17e covers the erstwhile Qi modular and is constricted to 15W.

In our charging trial with a 100W PD charger, the iPhone 17 was a spot faster than the iPhone 17e – 36% vs 32% successful 15mins, 63% vs 59% successful 30mins and 85min vs 94mins for 100%.

The iPhone 17 recharges somewhat faster than the iPhone 17e, some wired and wirelessly and hence it grabs the triumph here.

Speaker test

Both the iPhone 17e and the iPhone 17 connection hybrid stereo talker systems wherever the earpiece is pulling a treble duty. Both setups enactment Dolby Atmos and spatial audio.

And it appears that some phones diagnostic identical speakers by scoring likewise bully loudness points. Furthermore, some iPhones dependable marvelous with wide vocals, balanced high-frequency scope and salient bass for an wide heavy and affluent output.

As acold arsenic speakers are concerned, some iPhones present fantabulous performance.

Performance

All iPhone 17 models usage the aforesaid Apple-designed chipset, but with varying GPU cores. While the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max get the A19 Pro with 6-core GPU, the regular iPhone 17 and the fund 17e settee for the non-Pro A19 SoC with less GPU cores.

The iPhone 17e skips 1 of the GPU cores, truthful the Apple GPU wrong runs connected a 4-core design, alternatively of 5-core similar the vanilla iPhone 17 and that shows successful the graphics benchmarks. However, the GPU is inactive clocked astatine 1620 MHz successful some variants.

The processor retains the modular hexa-core configuration with 2x 4.26 GHz main cores and 4x 2.6 GHz ratio cores. The aforesaid CPU is recovered successful the A19 Pro, too.

Both phones travel with 8GB RAM and their basal retention is 256GB.

The iPhone 17 has amended connectivity bundle that includes tri-band Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and Ultra Wideband enactment vs. dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 connected the iPhone 17e.

Benchmark performance

There is lone 1 quality betwixt the 2 phones erstwhile it comes to earthy show and it’s the graphics. The iPhone 17 scores amended due to the fact that it has 1 much GPU core. But arsenic acold arsenic day-to-day behaviour and acquisition is acrophobic – you volition get virtually the aforesaid connected some iPhones.

Having 1 much GPU halfway wrong the iPhone 17 allows this exemplary to bash adjacent amended successful games, particularly successful a fewer years. Plus, the 17 supports up to 120Hz refresh rate, truthful it astir apt needs the other power. And for that, it gets the triumph here.

Camera comparison

The iPhone 17e straight-up reuses the 16e's camera strategy and it's a beauteous basal camera strategy with a azygous rear module and a selfie camera. The rear 48MP portion is 2 tiers down from the 1 utilized successful the 17 Pros and a notch beneath that successful the iPhone 17, and it's coincidentally the sensor connected the 17's ultrawide camera. The 17e doesn't adjacent person an ultrawide camera.

Similarly, the selfie camera of the 17e isn't utilizing the company's latest 18MP multi-aspect octagonal sensor, which you volition find successful the 17, but the aged and conventionally rectangular-shaped 12MP portion of pre-17 models.

The 17e is the lone 1 of the 17s not to person the Camera Control cardinal - the iPhone 17 volition springiness you that.

The camera samples (both photograph and video) person been taken connected abstracted occasions with the 2 phones. In the low-light sections, enactment that the lights connected 1 of the buildings were changed from amber to a much neutral somesthesia during the span of clip betwixt taking the 2 sets of photos.

Image quality

Daylight

Both phones fto you take betwixt 12MP and 24MP modes arsenic good arsenic being capable to sprout successful the nominal 48MP resolution. In wide daylight, the results from the main cameras astatine 1x successful 24MP are mostly identical, giving you plentifulness of item but not a peculiarly refined rendition of it. The planetary look is arsenic iPhone-y connected some too.

Daylight, main camera (1x): iPhone 17e • iPhone 17

The 2x zoom shots, successful 12MP solution connected some phones, are consistently amended connected the iPhone 17, offering amended item definition. The 17e isn't excessively bad, caput you, but the 17 is better.

Daylight, main camera (2x): iPhone 17e • iPhone 17

Then there's the ultrawide camera. While the 1 connected the iPhone 17 is hardly industry-leading, it's inactive beauteous decent and having that is astir surely amended than having none, which is the 17e's situation. That's a quality already evident from the specsheets, but it bears repeating.

Daylight, ultrawide camera (0.6x): iPhone 17

Low light

The main cameras instrumentality precise akin images successful the dark, astir often with nary Night mode enactment and conversely successful 24MP. The 17e's photos are conscionable a small spot grainier, and the 17's images mightiness person somewhat amended item dynamic range, but for applicable purposes, there's small to abstracted the two. Maxing retired the Night mode volition besides get you virtually the aforesaid results connected some phones.

Low light, main camera (1x): iPhone 17e • iPhone 17

At 2x zoom, the 17e's results are decent, but the regular 17 volition get you superior shots - portion planetary properties are precise similar, the photos from the much upmarket iPhone are consistently sharper.

Low light, main camera (2x): iPhone 17e • iPhone 17

Again, for completeness' sake, here's a fistful of shots from the iPhone 17's ultrawide camera - the iPhone 17e has nary reply to that. That said, the 17's ultrawide results are beauteous meh astatine night, though they bash cleanable up noticeably if you unit immoderate much Night mode onto them.

Low light, ultrawide camera (0.6x): iPhone 17

Selfies

The iPhone 17 has the precocious manus successful the selfie section from the get spell - higher-resolution sensor that tin sprout vertical oregon horizontal selfies without rotating the phone, positive a wider lens for other coverage. That said, pixel size is seemingly the same, and representation prime is rather comparable. The 17e's 23mm lens is plentifulness wide capable and possibly it's not that large of a woody to rotate your telephone if you privation to sprout successful the other orientation.

Selfies comparison: iPhone 17e • iPhone 17

Video quality

Both iPhones tin grounds video up to 4K60 with each of their cameras - it's conscionable that the 17 has an other camera that tin bash it too. 4K120 is missing connected some models - lone the Pros enactment that, arsenic good arsenic immoderate different high-end features. Dolby Vision signaling is disposable connected both.

Stop america if you've heard this before, but some phones' main cameras seizure mostly identical 4K30 clips. The 17 conscionable mightiness person a miniscule vantage astatine 2x, but it's obscurity arsenic pronounced arsenic successful stills. And, yes, the iPhone 17 tin grounds ultrawide videos, beauteous decent ones excessively - the 17e can't.

Daylight video screengrabs, iPhone 17e: 1x • 2x

Daylight video screengrabs, iPhone 17: 1x • 2x • 0.6x

It's a spot much of the aforesaid aft acheronian - precise akin results astatine 1x and 2x, and ultrawide videos from the 17 that the 17e isn't equipped to vie with.

Low-light video screengrabs, iPhone 17e: 1x • 2x

Low-light video screengrabs, iPhone 17: 1x • 2x • 0.6x

Verdict

The iPhone 17e and iPhone 17 are rather absorbing offers. The iPhone 17 turned retired to beryllium the highest-selling instrumentality successful the iPhone 17 family, arsenic it's an incredibly balanced device.

Then came the iPhone 17e with the dated 60Hz surface and the previous-generation cameras. It besides does not diagnostic an ultrawide shooter connected the back. And yet, it turned retired adjacent smaller and lighter than the main entry, and arsenic almighty and interesting, notch, 60Hz screen, and everything.

And we deliberation that the iPhone 17e has recovered its footing and has go an charismatic connection to those seeking a much affordable iPhone without galore cutbacks. A reliable telephone with a premium build, iPhone OS, and plentifulness of high-end features.

You either get the iPhone 17 for the astir Apple features, oregon the iPhone 17e for the much affordable terms and yet comparable iPhone experience.