{"id":215533,"date":"2026-02-20T01:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/ve-used-the-iphone-16e-for-a-year-and-the-iphone-17e-shouldnt-launch-without-these-3-upgrades\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T01:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:50:08","slug":"ve-used-the-iphone-16e-for-a-year-and-the-iphone-17e-shouldnt-launch-without-these-3-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/ve-used-the-iphone-16e-for-a-year-and-the-iphone-17e-shouldnt-launch-without-these-3-upgrades\/","title":{"rendered":"‘ve used the iPhone 16e for a year \u2014 and the iPhone 17e shouldn\u2019t launch without these 3 upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘ve used the iPhone 16e for a year \u2014 and the iPhone 17e shouldn\u2019t launch without these 3 upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/phones\/iphones\/after-using-the-iphone-16e-for-about-a-year-the-iphone-17e-shouldnt-launch-without-these-3-upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-02-20 01:30:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.tomsguide.com<\/a><\/p>\n

As a staunch supporter of all three previous iPhone SE models, I found the iPhone 16e somewhat disappointing. In my iPhone 16e review, I noted that at its $599 price point, the trade-offs make it difficult to recommend over the next model up \u2014 which was the iPhone 16 at the time and is now the iPhone 17.<\/p>\n

My sentiments about this best cheap phone contender remain unchanged after a year of use. However, with the iPhone 17e launch rumored for next month, there are key upgrades the forthcoming budget phone needs to stay relevant. Here’s what I want to see.<\/p>\n

A second rear camera<\/h2>\n

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(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2026, all phones should come with dual cameras at the very least. While the iPhone 16e\u2019s single 48MP rear camera has proven to deliver excellent results \u2014 as seen in my 200-photo shootout between the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e \u2014 it lacks the utility I crave. Quite frankly, a single rear camera limits my creativity.<\/p>\n


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Even though I\u2019m not optimistic that Apple will magically add a second camera to the iPhone 17e (which rumors indicate will recycle the previous hardware), doing so would certainly make it more appealing and provide the creative flexibility users want.<\/p>\n

The logical move would be pairing the rumored 48MP main sensor with an ultra-wide lens. While a telephoto would be equally compelling, adding an ultra-wide camera has the advantage of potentially allowing the iPhone 17e to support spatial photos and videos, while also improving portrait depth data.<\/p>\n

120Hz display refresh rate<\/h2>\n

\n

\"iPhone\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Future)<\/span><\/p>\n

Another drawback that\u2019s hard to overlook after a year with the iPhone 16e is its lack of the finesse and fluidity found on 120Hz displays. If Apple upgrades the iPhone 17e with a 120Hz refresh rate, the difference would be immediate \u2014 much like the jump I saw between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17.<\/p>\n

Honestly, it\u2019s becoming inexcusable for any new iPhone to ship without at least a 120Hz refresh rate.<\/p>\n

Many budget phones now feature 120Hz…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘ve used the iPhone 16e for a year \u2014 and the iPhone 17e shouldn\u2019t launch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/YeJBJjkTjtXS8s2cRvtW26-2000-80.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[124,80],"class_list":["post-215533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iphone","tag-iphone-16","tag-iphone-17"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215535,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215533\/revisions\/215535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}