iPhone 17e: 5 reasons to buy and 3 to skip

The iPhone 17e officially here, and the return of that $599 price tag is making some people wonder whether we'll ever see a truly budget-conscious iPhone ever again. It's quite a lot to spend, more so considering the iPhone 17 is, at most, $200 more. So is it worth it?

We're here to help you figure that out. The iPhone 17e may have added some much-needed upgrades, while also offering everything the iPhone 16e could do, but it's still making some trade-offs to knock down the price.

Here's what we like about the iPhone 17e so far, and also a few things we don't like. And don't forget to stay tuned for our full iPhone 17e review.

Reasons to buy

Double base storage at no extra cost

I'm a little bummed that the iPhone 17e still costs $599, but I do like the fact that Apple has copied one of its best ideas from the iPhone 17. Namely, it's doubled the amount of base storage without increasing the price. So while a 256GB iPhone 16e would have cost you $699, the equivalent iPhone 17e is actually $100 less.

As someone who struggles to keep enough free space on a 128GB phone, the fact Apple is offering this upgrade at no extra cost is very exciting. It's uncharacteristically generous of a phone company to do something like this, so it's worth celebrating when it does happen.

MagSafe

Every iPhone Apple sells officially supports its magnetic wireless charging standard for the first time, and that's pretty exciting. The main benefit to be had is that MagSafe officially doubles the available wireless charging speeds, letting the iPhone 17e charge at up to 15W instead of the 7.5W the iPhone 16e had to suffer through.

The magnetic rings in both the phone and charger also ensure perfect alignment, which improves the efficiency of the charging session. Less energy is lost as heat, increasing your charging speed and preventing your phone from getting hotter than it needs to be. And, of course, you can snap on magnetic accessories and stands whenever you like.

The iPhone 17e also supports Qi2 at 15W, opening up the number of chargers and accessories beyond what Apple has stamped its approval on.

It's available in pink now

The problem with the iPhone 16e and the iPhone SEs that preceded it was that Apple never got particularly creative with colors. You got black, white and maybe a Red model a little later down the line if you were lucky. So the fact that the iPhone 17e is available in light pink is cause for celebration.

At the very least, it means you can enjoy a little bit more color on your phone without resorting to using a case or accessories.

A19 performance

Apple's not compromising on performance with the iPhone 17e, and the obvious upgrade from iPhone 16e's A18 chipset is the A19. The same A19 you'll find in the iPhone 17, and managed to impress during performance benchmarking tests.

We haven't had the chance to test the iPhone 17e for ourselves, but if it manages to come close to the iPhone 17's scores, then we will be very happy. Especially in the graphics department.

A more durable display

Another upgrade ripped straight from the rest of the iPhone 17 series is the addition of Apple's Ceramic Shield 2 display glass. According to Apple it's 3x more scratch resistant than the first generation Ceramic Shield.

In fact, the glass is so tough that notable phone-torturer JerryRigEverything only managed to make light scratches at level 7 of the Mohs scale of hardness. Most phone screens cave at levels 5 or 6, which just goes to show how much better Apple's formula seems to be. This should prove very beneficial for the iPhone 17e.

Does it mean you can skip the screen protector? Maybe not, but if you do decide to go with a naked screen, you should fare a lot better than if you'd bought an iPhone 16e.

Reasons to skip

$599 is not cheap

There are a lot of great features here, including the extra storage, but it's debatable as to whether this device is worth $600. Especially when you consider that the iPhone 17 offers a whole lot more for an extra $200, and can likely be found with some kind of deal or discount if you look hard enough. To top it all off, mid-range phones like the Google Pixel 10a, Samsung Galaxy A56 and the best cheap phones offer comparable features and performance for under $500.

Single camera

It's rare to find a phone that only comes with a single camera lens these days. Especially at the $599 price point. Yes, there's a 2x "optical quality" zoom feature, but you don't get an ultrawide camera or macro mode.

To make matters worse, it doesn't look as though the camera has had any meaningful updates this year. You get one single 48MP camera on the back and a 12MP camera on the front. You should enjoy better-looking portraits with improved segmentation and a more natural looking bokeh effect, complete with focus and depth control. But otherwise there's not much new.

There aren't that many upgrades

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that a new phone has arrived feeling more or less identical to its predecessor. While the iPhone 17e offers more noticeable upgrades than the Pixel 10a, it still doesn't have a whole lot of new stuff to offer. There's a few typical upgrades like the A19 chipset, MagSafe and so on, but for the most part, it seems to be offering a very similar package to last year.

Granted, we can't make a full comparison without thoroughly testing the iPhone 17e, and performing a full Tom's Guide review. But on paper, it seems as though Apple hasn't done a whole lot to try and make the iPhone 17e stand out. Considering the iPhone 16e might drop in price over the coming days and weeks, it might be worth saving a bit more cash and trying to find one of those before they sell out for good.

Outlook

There are plenty of reasons to be interested in the iPhone 17e, especially if you haven't purchased a new iPhone in a very long time. Compared to an iPhone SE, or something older like the iPhone 13, this phone has a heck of a lot to offer without too many compromises.

But at the same time, it's hard to get over the fact that Apple isn't offering much that's new. Nor is it actually offering a cheap, good value iPhone the way that it used to with the iPhone SE series. It may cost less than an iPhone 17, but the iPhone 17e still doesn't feel like it has enough to warrant the $599 price tag.

Only time and a full review of the phone will tell if there are secretly more upgrades hiding under the surface.

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