iPhone 17e review: the smart entry point into iPhone ownership

As time goes on, smartphones become more advanced, but there's something quite strange happening, to me at least. I've noticed that the gap between mid-range phones and flagship ones is increasingly narrowing. One can get away with what is deemed mid-range with specs just below what is considered flagship. This is, of course, dependent on doing your homework to find a diamond in the rough, as it's not an outright rule.

With that in mind, what about entry-level phones? The market for entry-level smartphones is certainly occupied with many players, each vying for the public's attention. Do current entry-level smartphones, however, have the same characteristic of being so good it punches near the mid-range? Yes, but the same thinking needs to be applied: some are great and affordable, and some are not worth it, so a closer examination needs to be done before making a purchasing decision.

I recently spent time living with the entry-level option to the iPhone, the 17e, the successor to the 16e. On paper, the 17e, to a certain extent, matches what a mid-range offers, in large part to its A19 chip, 48MP Fusion camera and Ceramic Shield 2.

But because it's an iPhone, its camera quality is certainly the most scrutinised aspect. Does it compare to other new iPhones, or is it outright a miss? Well, the iPhone 17e has a 48MP Fusion camera with 2x telephoto that results in great daytime shots for its class. Where it does fall short is low light. Night mode and low-light photography are noticeably weaker, and this is the one area where the "entry-level" is more obvious.

Notice the low-light areas

The battery life was interesting. If I used the iPhone continuously throughout the day, switching between apps and listening to music, it wouldn't make it to the end of the day without a charge. However, with two phones at my disposal at times, the 17e lasted on most occasions for a full day without a charge. It's good for its class, again. MagSafe charging at 15W is a welcome convenience too. Apple cites up to 26 hours of video playback, as a side note.

The ecosystem and software are really the heart of what the 17e is about. Running iOS 26 with Apple Intelligence baked in, it's a genuinely easy way to step into the Apple ecosystem without paying flagship prices. Face ID, iMessage, FaceTime, AirDrop, all of it just works the way you'd expect from any iPhone. If you're coming from Android, or upgrading from a much older iPhone, this is a low-friction, low-cost way in.

Verdict

Coming back to the question I posed at the start: does the 17e punch above its price the way some mid-range phones do? For the most part, yes. It's a great everyday phone. Performance is the standout surprise here; the design feels considered rather than cut-down.

The camera holds up well for daytime and portrait shots, though night photography is not the best, and the display, while perfectly usable, won't impress anyone used to higher refresh rate screens.

The iPhone 17e is a great choice first-time iPhone buyers, anyone upgrading from a much older iPhone, and people who want genuine Apple hardware and software without Pro-tier pricing.

Full specs at a glance:

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB
• Dimensions and weight: 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.80mm, 170g
• Colours: Black, White, Soft Pink
• Durability: IP68 water and dust resistant (6m for up to 30 minutes)
• Safety: Crash Detection
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, 5G with C1X modem
• SIM: Dual SIM (nano-SIM + eSIM), dual eSIM support
• Location: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, NavIC
• Video recording: 4K Dolby Vision up to 60fps, slo-mo up to 240fps, cinematic stabilisation
• Front camera: 12MP TrueDepth, ƒ/1.9, autofocus, Smart HDR 5, portrait support
• Audio/video playback: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG, AV1 support
• Sensors: Barometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, dual ambient light sensors
• Accessibility: VoiceOver, Zoom, Magnifier, Eye Tracking, Switch Control
• Sustainability: 30% recycled content overall, including 85% recycled aluminium enclosure and 100% recycled cobalt/rare earth elements in battery and magnets)
• In the box: iPhone 17e with iOS 26, USB-C Charge Cable (1m), documentation (no power adapter)