I briefly tested the iPhone 16e camera and it surprised me

This is the time to buy a new iPhone, and the camera is not as important for you, but you will still like to take great pictures on those special occasions. It is likely that if it is you, you will probably consider the iPhone 16 Pro for your three-camera setup.

However, given that the camera battery life cannot be as important, you can also consider the new iPhone 16E. However, when we look at it, you realize that there is only one camera. In 2025? In fact? Yes, it is a 48 MP fusion main camera that offers 2x telephoto zoom, but of course, more cameras will be better.

Apple has first surprised me with her cameras, so naturally, I needed to put this camera in the test. The short version is that the iPhone 16E camera has surprised me, and in a good way. The long version is that it depends on what you plan to do with the photos. here's why.

First test of 2x zoom

The iPhone 16E single camera provides 2x optical zoom and maximum 10X digital zoom through sensor cropping. Like other phone manufacturers, Apple claims that the in-sensor crop is optical quality and uses the same sensor crop on all cameras in the iPhone 16 lineup.

Naturally, this means that you can expect some stability in overall photos, and the 2x iPhone is similar to 2x on 16 Pro.

This test was particularly interesting because the iPhone 16E improves both photos than its more luxurious brother. It is most noticeable when considering the sines of the shop sign and colors. It has more people, and the cropping on the iPhone 16 Pro samples is slightly different, but the iPhone 16E seems to be a clear winner here.

Comparing iPhone 16E camera from 16 Pro

I wanted to test the full capacity of the zoom and compared it to the best zoom of Apple on the iPhone 16 Pro. A point to note is that the iPhone 16e coincides with the maximum zoom from iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to 10X, while the iPhone 16 Pro has a maximum zoom in 25x, although it is mostly unusable at this distance.

Let's take a look at the first 1x, 2x, 5x and 10x photos at the iPhone 16E:

Now, let's see the same pictures captured on the iPhone 16 Pro:

I was particularly influenced by the iPhone 16E in the first two of these photos. Photos are crisp and vibrant and have strong color breeding, and while the iPhone 16 Pro has a better dynamic range, iPhone 16E photos are perfect for posting on social media. The iPhone 16 Pro also clearly has better zoom on 5X and 10x, but I think the iPhone 16E is enough to post, perhaps with some editing.

This was a scene where I tried to test the ultra-wide on the iPhone 16E easily, only to remind that there is no ultra-wide camera. This is not a deluge for something-Kotorola Razr Plus 2024 does not have an ultra-wide and this is completely fine-but it also means that you may need to withdraw some steps several times.

More iPhone 16e Testing on 1x, 2x and 10x

I had planned for a lot of testing and comparison for this piece, but late delivery by courier left me over time. However, I was able to test 1x and 2x photos on iPhone 16E, with a secondary focus on it I felt something missing.

Our first test shows that the iPhone 16E camera can take great photos at 1x or 2x. There is a slight fog with the sun's rays, but the iPhone 16E mostly seems impregnable for it. A missing sharp around some details in the poster is sharp, but if you do not look very closely, it looks great.

Here is another test that provides similar results. 2x looks competent, but a lot of other photographs captured on the iPhone 16E, the fine details are missing. This is probably expected from a single-camera smartphone, but it will be interesting to test further against the competition. 10x is surprisingly useful in reading large words, but is eventually unusable in search of detail. However, many times it happens that it can still be useful.

The same trend with 10X continues here, which proves to be completely unusable. He said, 1x and 2x photos are perfectly usable, especially in the latter. This is the type of photo that I will happily post on my stories or feed.

IPhone 16E camera conclusion from a brief test

A week ago ask me if I will happily use a single-camera phone, and there will be no answer. Now ask me, and after using the iPhone 16E, I am not sure the answer will be the same.

The iPhone 16E camera is not purposefully good as the iPhone 16 Pro, but from my brief test, there are times when it seems to improve its pro cousin. Of course, this applies only to 1x and 2x zoom, but it is still impressive.

It is also interesting that I did not miss the ultra-wide so much. Human nature means that it is comfortable to learn to know, but I would probably miss the ultra-wide if it was my single daily driver phone.

It leaves me to test too much, especially when I haven't tested the night mode yet, but overall, I am quite surprised by the iPhone 16E camera. This is better than my expectation, and when it does not replace the rest of the series, it will be quite good for casual photographers upgrading from an old phone. Let's see if my opinion changes because I spend more time to test the camera.