iPhone 17e | Photo Credit: Ashwin Rajagopalan

Apple’s carefully structured product line often draws comparisons with a luxury car maker. Nowhere is this comparison more relevant than the iPhone. At the top end of the pyramid is the iPhone 17 Pro Max with a starting price of ₹1,49,900 while the cheapest current generation iPhone is priced at ₹64,900. The iPhone 17e takes over the mantle of the baseline iPhone from last year’s 16e. Most value conscious smartphone buyers are likely to ask whether this device is all the iPhone you need; that’s a question likely to elicit a nuanced answer.

Design

At a time when clunky smartphones are passé, the iPhone 17e’s compact form factor is a clear win. It’s a throwback to the simple joys of one-handed navigation. At 170 gm, it’s almost as light as the slinky iPhone Air. Apple has added a new colour way – Soft Pink, that’s one of the best shades of pink on any smartphone right now. This device is geared for your adventures thanks to its IP68 certification (for dust and water resistance) and a Ceramic Shield 2 display for scratch resistance.

Display

Apple’s Notch that we first saw in the iPhone X lives on in the 17e, making it the only current generation iPhone without the pill-shaped ‘Dynamic Island’ that now sits on the top corner of newer iPhone displays. The 17e sticks with the same 60Hz refresh rate that we saw on the 2025 iPhone 16e. It’s one of the key differences between the 17e and the iPhone 17 that comes with a 120Hz ProMotion display.

I switched from an iPhone 17 Pro Max to the iPhone 17e, while the difference was more evident while I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, it didn’t matter much in a couple of days when I got used to this smaller display. It’s a difference most iPhone users looking to upgrade from older iPhones such as the iPhone 11 are unlikely to notice but could matter to screen snobs, serious gamers or Android users moving from more immersive displays. I watched the Season 3 finale of Tehran on this 6.1-inch OLED display (that peaks at 1200 hits), the colours were punchy and the audio was quite impressive too.

Camera

It’s not just the display, the camera is another feature that’s likely to spark some debate. We think it comes down to utility vs actual performance. The rear camera duties are handled by a 48MP (f/1.6) lens, there’s also a 12MP selfie shooter in the mix. At a time when triple rear cams are the standard fare, the lack of an ultra-wide lens or a dedicated telephoto lens might seem a misstep but it actually boils down to your use case scenarios. The rear cam shoots great pictures and videos in most lighting scenarios, the 2x zoom gives you extra control especially when you shoot portraits. The 17e impressed with its portraits offering a natural bokeh and clear segmentation in our tests.

Performance

The biggest changes in the iPhone 17e (vis-à-vis its predecessor) are under the hood. One of the talking points of this smartphone is the Apple A19 chip (with a 4-core GPU) that also propels the iPhone 17, giving this device a huge edge over most of its rivals. It will please heavy duty users, as it consistently clocked above 9,000 in our Geekbench benchmark (multi-core) tests. Apple has bumped up the base storage to 256GB while retaining the same launch price as last year’s iPhone 16e. I tried editing short videos on LumaFusion and it didn’t break a sweat.

The iPhone 17e scores on battery performance, it lasted us about a day and a half with moderate to heavy usage. Apple has added MagSafe support to the 17e, offering 15W wireless charging with compatible chargers and also allowing you to connect with a whole ecosystem of MagSafe accessories such as wallets and charging docks.

Verdict

The iPhone 17e makes some thoughtful enhancements over its predecessor including increased internal storage, MagSafe support and improved durability with Ceramic Shield 2. The device covers key bases for buyers looking at moving to the Apple ecosystem and older iPhone users looking at the most affordable iPhone with future-proof features such as support for Apple Intelligence. If a versatile camera and a more immersive display are deal breakers for you, then the iPhone 17 (that comes at a ₹18,000 premium over the 17e) might still be the better option. The iPhone 17e might be all the iPhone most average users need; are you one those average users?

Snapshot

Price: ₹64,900 onwards

Pros: Dependable camera, compact form, zippy and future-proof chipset, iOS experience.

Cons: No ultra-wide lens, display with a 60Hz refresh rate.

Published on March 18, 2026