iPhone 16e battery life tested — how it measures up to other iPhones

With a bigger frame leaving more room for a battery than its predecessor had, you'd imagine iPhone 16e battery life would take a big leap forward from the last iPhone SE model. And it does — but Apple's cheapest iPhone even manages to also outlast the standard iPhone 16. And that's quite an achievement for a phone that costs $200 less than one of Apple's flagship devices.

You won't find the iPhone 16e on our best phone battery life list, where a device needs to last for around 16 hours on our battery test to rank among the best of the best. But Apple's latest device does compare favorably to many rival phones in its price range — with one glaring exception.

Here's what you need to know about the iPhone 16e and how long it can last on a charge.

iPhone 16e battery stats

We don't know the size of the battery powering the iPhone 16e, as Apple doesn't post that particular spec. Instead, we'll have to wait for teardowns of the new phone to confirm what kind of battery Apple is using.

However, it's a safe bet that the battery is larger than the 2,018 mAh that teardowns found inside the iPhone SE 2022. That's because there's simply more room inside the 5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31-inch iPhone 16e than there is in its 5.45 x 2.65 x 0.29-inch predecessor.

Teardowns have told us that the iPhone 16 has a 3,561 mAh battery. And while that model is fractionally taller than the iPhone 16e, you'd assume that the batteries inside both phones are roughly the same size. Nevertheless, Apple has promised the best battery life of any 6.1-inch phone with the iPhone 16e.

iPhone 16e vs. iPhone 16 battery life comparison

On that front, Apple has certainly delivered. When we review a phone, we put it through our battery test in which devices are forced to surf the web continuously over cellular until they run out of power. We set the display of each device to 150 nits of brightness so that battery results are consistent across different phones and not impacted by display brightness.

The iPhone 16e lasted an average of 12 hours and 41 minutes when we tested its battery. That was in line with average result we recorded previously with the iPhone 16. However, when testing the iPhone 16e's battery, we also reran our test on the iPhone 16. (More on why in a moment.) This time around, the iPhone 16 didn't last as long on a charge, bringing its average result on our test to 12 hours and 13 minutes.

Long story short — the iPhone 16e lasts about half-an-hour longer on a charge than the iPhone 16, according to our tests.

As to why we retested the iPhone 16 alongside the iPhone 16e, we were trying to get a sense of what impact the phones' modems might have on battery life. The iPhone 16e is the first device to ship with Apple's in-house C1 modem, and energy efficiency is one of the chief benefits that new component is supposed to deliver.

We take that to mean the battery life of the iPhone 16e should get a boost from the C1 modem compared to iPhones using Qualcomm Snapdragon modems. For example, Apple says the C1 is 25% more efficient than the iPhone 15, which uses a Snapdragon X70. We haven't verified that claim by testing those phones side-by-side, but our updated tests do indicate that the iPhone 16e's modem certainly helped it outlast the Snapdragon X75-equipped iPhone 16.

As for comparisons with the iPhone 16e's predecessor, there really isn't one. The iPhone SE (2022) posted a time of 9 hours and 5 minutes when we tested it three years ago. The iPhone 16e blows past that below-average result.

iPhone 16e battery life vs. other midrange phones

The average smartphones lasts a little more than 10 hours on our battery life test, so the iPhone 16e finishes comfortably ahead of that. And it also happens to outperform a lot of its potential rivals when it comes to lasting a long-time on a charge.

Google's Pixel 8a is likely to invite the most comparisons with Apple's new phone, given how both devices offer extensive AI features and compete for the title of best camera phone among midrange options. On the battery front, at least, the iPhone 16e finishes ahead of Google's device, as the Pixel 8a posted a time of 11 hours and 21 minutes on our battery test. That's actually much better than recent Pixel devices, but it's behind the iPhone 16e by nearly 1.5 hours.

Samsung's Galaxy S24 FE costs $50 more than the iPhone 16e, with a starting price of $649. But it also doesn't last as long on a charge, posting a time of 11 hours and 38 minutes. That result comes even with the help of a generous 4,700 mAh battery inside the S24 FE, but we're guessing the Exynos 2400e chipset powering that phone isn't as efficient as the A18 silicon the iPhone 16e uses.

Before Apple can feel too smug about the iPhone 16e's battery performance, there is a midrange device that absolutely pastes the latest iPhone — and just about any other handset you can name. Like the iPhone 16e, the OnePlus 13R costs $599. But it's equipped with a 6,000 mAh battery and an older, yet still efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 system-on-chip. That allows this midrange OnePlus device to post a time of 18 hours and 49 minutes.

That not only beats the iPhone 16e's battery result by more than 6 hours — it's also longer than all but two phones that we've tested in the last 18 months. As solid as the iPhone 16e's battery life may be, it has a long way to go to topple the longest-lasting midrange phone.

iPhone 16e battery life outlook

Even with the OnePlus 13R's superior time, the iPhone 16e has nothing to apologize for when it comes to battery life. If you're looking for something to criticize Apple for in the power department, then focus on the lag of MagSafe magnets to help the phone stay attached to MagSafe-friendly charging pads. (That said, the iPhone 16e still supports wireless charging, albeit at very slow 7.5W speeds.)

The iPhone 16e may not be as inexpensive as the iPhone SE (2022) was. But it lasts much longer on a charge. And for a lot of people, that latter change will be the more important one.

More from Tom's Guide

• The iPhone 16e marks the end of an era — here's why
• Pixel 9a vs iPhone 16e — here's 3 ways Google can beat Apple
• iOS 18.4 — all the new features and improvements coming to your iPhone