Our Verdict
The iPhone 16 might be one of the best iPhone for many customers searching for the most recent mannequin, with notable enhancements to battery life and efficiency, alongside stellar options like Digital camera Management, new Photographic Types, and sooner wi-fi charging. This time round, there actually isn’t that a lot to distinguish it from the iPhone Professional various.
- Affordable pricing
- Wonderful cameras
- Beautiful colours
- Prime-tier efficiency
- 60Hz show
- Not a large improve from iPhone 15
- Digital camera Management isn’t that thrilling
- Apple Intelligence’s gradual rollout
The iPhone 16 and 16 Professional launched some time in the past with one loud shout: Apple Intelligence. This makes reviewing the marketed product troublesome, as Apple Intelligence isn’t rolling out till mid-to-late October (and its full set of options gained’t be round till March subsequent yr). So, if you happen to’re coming to a brand new iPhone for AI, possibly wait till subsequent yr.
Having mentioned that, the iPhone 16 presents loads of enhancements over earlier generations, so anybody with something older than the iPhone 15 ought to really feel blissful upgrading to it. Higher but, it will get some hand-me-downs from the Professional line, which means it’s this yr’s most interesting iPhone. With glorious efficiency, because of a brand new chip and further RAM, the Motion Button and Digital camera Management, in addition to a beautiful show and design, the bottom iPhone has by no means felt extra Professional. Nonetheless, how does it evaluate to the greatest gaming iPhones of latest years? Let’s discover out.
Why you may belief our recommendation ✔ At Pocket Ways, our consultants spend days testing video games, telephones, tech, and companies. We at all times share sincere opinions that can assist you purchase one of the best. Discover out how we check.
Worth and availability
The iPhone 16 is accessible from Apple and different on-line retailers like Amazon and Walmart. It begins at $799 for 128GB of storage, $899 for 256GB, and $1,099 for 512GB, whereas the iPhone 16 Plus retails for $100 extra in all configurations. All fashions include 8GB of RAM and can be found in beautiful Black, White, Pink, Teal, and Ultramarine colorways. The mannequin reviewed right here is the 256GB iPhone 16 in White.
Specs
Listed below are the iPhone 16 specs:
Options and software program
Earlier than we dive into the options, let’s simply say this: we will’t assessment Apple Intelligence proper now outdoors of beta, so whereas it is perhaps a headline characteristic, don’t purchase this cellphone for AI. It will not be as thrilling because the advertising makes out. That being mentioned, there are some thrilling options to discover with iOS 18 and the iPhone 16.
First up are the brand new buttons, that are the Motion Button from the iPhone 15 Professional and the brand-new Digital camera Management. The Motion Button is a customizable button that replaces the silence toggle, one thing many individuals would possibly discover helpful, although I simply depart it as a silence toggle. You possibly can activate the flashlight with it, activate an app, and even unlock your automotive. You possibly can additionally open the digicam with it, however there’s not any level in that.
That’s as a result of there at the moment are some ways to open the digicam from the lock display on an iPhone. One of the simplest ways is the brand new Digital camera Management, a capacitive button that Apple isn’t calling a button. Press down on it and the digicam opens; press once more to take a photograph; or press and maintain to file video. You may as well swipe alongside it to discover some fascinating digicam options, which we’ll discuss later.
Digital camera Management is an thrilling prospect, however for the massive majority of the time, I’m not altering digicam settings. So, all it’s is a shutter button that opens the digicam app, and I’m high quality with that. It’s a nicer, faster method to snap a photograph, in my view. But it surely’s no nice game-changer.
In the meantime, the iPhone 16 cameras additionally get a rejig so you may file spatial video to look at in your Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. Now, I don’t understand how many individuals spent $3,500 on a Imaginative and prescient Professional after which need to save $200 by getting the bottom iPhone, however maybe they’re on the market – for them, it’ll be good to have. Past these eight individuals, it’s not all that fascinating.
Even perhaps much less fascinating is the addition of Wi-Fi 7, which can sound a bit meaningless to you. However when you have a router that helps it, you’ll get much better Wi-Fi speeds. Most individuals don’t but, however they’re positive to turn into extra widespread over the subsequent few years.
That’s the extent of the brand new options unique to the iPhone 16. In fact, there are a bunch of recent issues with iOS 16, a number of good and a few a bit extra baffling. However everybody all the way in which again to the iPhone XR and XS customers can entry them, so it’s not a motive to improve except your cellphone is correctly historical. All in all, the 16 has some good new options, however nothing notably thrilling.
Design
One of many nicest issues concerning the new base iPhones is the general design. The metallic sides and matte glass again look beautiful in all configurations, whereas the display and dynamic island give the entire system a premium really feel. It’s gentle, sturdy, and well-built.
The Motion Button, at the very least for the 6.1-inch mannequin, is straightforward to make use of and in a great place. Nonetheless, Digital camera Management is a bit bit weirder. It’s very easy to activate along with your left hand, however if you happen to’re the kind that retains your cellphone in your proper pocket, it might be much less clean.
In the meantime, utilizing the Digital camera Management in a horizontal orientation, as feels most pure, is a bit bit clumsy. You possibly can’t wrap your finger across the rails of the cellphone. As an alternative, it’s important to put your finger a bit bit in entrance of the display. That is no massive challenge, however it isn’t a very pure place, like when utilizing most actual cameras.
Show
The OLED show on the iPhone 16 is great, with excessive brightness and a brand new lowest brightness of 1 nit. When you’re coming from the iPhone 15, it most likely gained’t really feel like an improve, however something older and also you’ll be blissful. The brand new lowest brightness is helpful in solely a handful of conditions, like studying one thing very first thing within the morning, however it provides to the completely different circumstances the place this cellphone nonetheless excels, somewhat than having weak factors in several, much less widespread use instances.
The most important challenge for many might be the 60Hz refresh charge. A cellphone that prices at the very least $800 with out having a 120Hz display is outrageous. The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is round $400 and has a 120Hz OLED; the bottom mannequin iPhones are very late to the get together.
For me, nonetheless, it doesn’t matter. Ever since I upgraded my Xbox, I’ve been incapable of going again to 30Hz gaming. I at present have a 60Hz iPad and MacBook; I concern that an improve to 120Hz on my cellphone might lead to the identical impact, making my different costly and more-than-capable gadgets really feel older and fewer luxurious to make use of. For that motive, I’m high quality with 60Hz.
iPhone 16 cameras
The again cameras on the brand new iPhone 16 actually impress me, although it have to be mentioned I’ve upgraded from an iPhone 13, so the distinction is extra dramatic. Whereas on paper there’s no massive improve to the primary digicam (it’s a 48MP Fusion digicam as an alternative of a 48MP Foremost on the 15, the distinction being unclear), the pictures regarded higher after I did a mini check in my native Apple Retailer (I don’t have an iPhone 15 handy to do a full comparability). The ultrawide boasts a extra apparent enchancment, letting in additional gentle and making ultrawide photographs higher at night time.
Essentially the most thrilling factor, nonetheless, is the brand new photographic types. Apple has rejigged its “Photonic Engine” (no matter which means) so you may seize your pictures in precisely the type you need. Somewhat than including a filter excessive after taking a shot, you may select a photographic type beforehand that reacts to various things within the photograph in several methods.
These photographic types are, nonetheless, not everlasting. When you take a photograph within the Rose Gold type and notice it appears to be like higher with the Dramatic one, you may simply change it afterward. The photograph may be edited in a non-destructive manner, so you may fiddle round along with your pictures quite a bit with out having to be an enhancing whizz.
What this ends in is the flexibility to fully change the character of iPhone pictures shortly and simply. Need it to appear to be a wealthy and nostalgic Fujifilm? Gold does a beautiful job. Desire a extra mossy, action-flick vibe? Dramatic is fairly critical. The selection is yours, now — which appears to be Apple’s pattern now. You may make your private home display and your pictures distinctive; you simply need to need to.
And that is perhaps the difficulty. See, how many individuals really get pleasure from twiddling with settings? I do, as a result of I like know-how, but when I really needed to dive into tweaking my expertise on a cellphone, I wouldn’t get an iPhone. So maybe all this customization will go straight over individuals’s heads.
When you depart the digicam in its regular settings, every thing appears to be like high quality. Pictures really feel very iPhone-y however for me, every thing is simply too washed out and flat. I now use the Gold photographic type with the tone setting round -.5, and it appears to be like actually pretty.
So, if you happen to take the time to fiddle a bit with the settings, your relationship along with your iPhone digicam might turn into very completely different with all the 16 fashions, however if you happen to’re not , it’ll simply really feel like one other iPhone.
Efficiency
Whereas the iPhone 16 has a really massive bump in efficiency, noticing it is perhaps fairly troublesome. What it actually presents is longevity (and sufficient RAM for Apple Intelligence when it arrives).
By all of the benchmarks on the market, the iPhone 16 isn’t far off the 16 Professional in efficiency, and that’s with out having to help a 120Hz show. What this implies is that the brand new 3nm chip, the A18, can run massive, triple-A console video games in respectable sufficient high quality.
When you’re worrying about Sweet Crush or different informal cell video games, don’t. You’ll be high quality. When you’re worrying about Genshin Impression or Name of Responsibility, additionally don’t. You possibly can simply get 60fps with out the cellphone getting annoyingly sizzling. Something that your outdated iPhone might do, this will do.
Higher but, the improve means you can now run video games that have been beforehand unique to the 15 Professional. That’s the brand new Resident Evil video games, Murderer’s Creed Mirage, and an entire host of different massive console video games. They give the impression of being good, and the iPhone doesn’t get as sizzling as you’d anticipate.
Now, as I write this on my 6.1-inch iPhone display, I wish to say one factor: don’t purchase this iPhone to play AC or RE; it’s too small. Maybe the expertise on the Plus can be higher, however for me, they’re extra marvels of huge graphics in a tiny package deal, somewhat than any manner you’d really need to expertise the ambiance of Racoon Metropolis or Digital Baghdad.
Battery
All this efficiency doesn’t hurt the battery, both. Because of small battery measurement will increase and maybe effectivity positive aspects, the iPhone 16 battery is great. I cost it at night time whereas I sleep and by no means have any worries when the night time out stretches longer than anticipated. That’s adequate, proper?
When you want something higher, the iPhone 16 Plus’ battery is, by all studies, astoundingly good. However I wouldn’t spend the additional cash only for the battery life except your cellphone is continually looking for a sign since you journey throughout work otherwise you’re utilizing it intensively for gaming. You’ll be high quality with a bit much less with the smaller 16.
When it comes to charging speeds, the iPhone 16 is respectable sufficient, juicing from flat to 100% in round one hour and 45 minutes, or a bit longer if you happen to’re wi-fi. That’s nowhere close to the speeds of Android alternate options from the likes of Xiaomi and Honor, however it’s respectable for iPhone and means you may get a 25% increase in round 25 minutes.
Do you have to purchase the iPhone 16?
General, the iPhone 16 is a neat little piece of tech. There’s actually nothing incorrect with it. There’s extra it might do, positive, however there’s nothing extra I would like it to do. On a primary day-to-day degree, it appears to be like nice, performs with out a hitch, takes good pictures, and has a superb consumer interface. By the point I finish my day, its battery isn’t perilously low, and by the subsequent morning, it’s able to go once more. Good.
Crucial query, maybe, is: do you have to purchase it? I might say an improve to the iPhone 16 could be very worthwhile for anybody on a 13 or earlier, particularly if you happen to really feel like that cellphone is struggling. Any earlier Professional customers are certain to note the refresh charge distinction, however anybody else will probably be blissful.
However, whereas it appears to be like a bit completely different, it’s not that completely different from the final technology. Somewhat, it’s fairly like the brand new Apple Watch. It feels just like the near-perfect model of a kind issue and concept Apple has labored with for the reason that iPhone X. Maybe the iPhone will take one other shift sooner or later, however who is aware of? Possibly telephones now are simply instruments that put on out and we exchange. And if yours wants changing, this is a wonderful system to exchange it with. There’s nothing incorrect, however there’s additionally no actual surprises, which is gorgeous, if not particular.
Alternate options
If our iPhone 16 assessment hasn’t bought you on the Apple flagship, take a look at our strategies for alternate options beneath.
Google Pixel 9
If you’d like AI proper now, Android is the way in which to go. Google’s Pixel 9 is nice, the pictures are good, and the efficiency is respectable sufficient. And given it prices the identical quantity and has long-term software program updates, the choice is, nicely, right down to choice. At the very least it doesn’t wobble when laid down on a desk; maybe that’s sufficient of a motive.
Samsung Galaxy S24
The Samsung Galaxy S24 is a bit higher and a bit worse than the Pixel 9, however it’s a worthy various all the identical. Whereas in order for you Android and its AI integration to really feel absolutely full, Pixel is the way in which to go; the S24 has sufficient of it. Oh, and it’s extra performant, and for my cash, the design is nicer. However all in all, it’s an actual toss-up between all three. Normally, smartphones are converging, so that you’re not dropping out an excessive amount of irrespective of the place you go. For extra on this one, take a look at our Samsung Galaxy S24 assessment.
