aBucking the trend of buttons disappearing from phones, Apple’s latest iPhones add not one but two new controls on the outside, plus significantly improved performance from the chip inside, delivering two days of battery life. It has come true.
The standard iPhone 16 is the smallest and cheapest device in Apple’s new 16 series, starting at £799 (€959/$799/$1,399), compared to the larger and more expensive 16 Plus and 16 Pro. It is located below the model.
The vanilla iPhone pitch has remained the same for years, offering most of the best things about Apple’s phones, but with fewer extra features than the top Pro model. At first glance, the 16 looks like many phones that came before it. It has an aluminum and glass sandwich construction and weighs a relatively light 170g.
The 16 features a 6.1-inch screen, the same size as before the Pro model grew out of. The display has similar brightness and clarity as the previous iPhone 15, but it’s still locked in at a 60Hz refresh rate, which means scrolling and movement will be slower compared to models with faster screens. It can be uncomfortable. There is also no always-on display option for Pro iPhones.
The rear camera has been repositioned to have a dual lens arrangement reminiscent of the iPhone 12. This leaves two new buttons as the main physical upgrades, including last year’s 15 Pro’s handy action button that replaces the mute switch. It can be used for various functions such as turning on the flashlight, changing the focus mode, recording voice memos, and other actions using the Shortcuts app.
The standard iPhone also has the same new camera control buttons as the 16 Pro, allowing you to quickly launch the camera, change zoom and settings, and take a photo.
iOS 18 works, but it lacks the AI features that Apple is touting heavily, and the beta version as part of the iOS 18.1 update won’t be available until late October in the US, the UK, Australia, and elsewhere. In English-speaking countries outside of the United States, the deadline is December. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is out of luck for the time being.
specification
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screen: 6.1 inch Super Retina XDR (OLED) (460ppi)
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Processor: Apple A18
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Ram: 8GB
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Storage: 128, 256, or 512GB
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operating system: iOS18
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camera: 48MP Main + 12MP UW; 12MP Front
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Connectivity: 5G, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, thread, USB-C, satellite, UWB, GNSS
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water resistance: IP68 (30 minutes at 6 meters)
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size: 147.6×71.6×7.8mm
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Weight: 170g
Faster A18 chip and stable battery life
At the heart of the 16 is the new A18 chip, which is 30% faster and has 40% faster graphics than the two-year-old A16 used in the previous generation. It feels snappier, stays faster for longer periods of time, and also enables impending AI features.
This chip is also power efficient, resulting in extremely long battery life for a phone of this size. With typical usage that includes a combination of 5G and Wi-Fi, it lasts over 48 hours between charges with over 7 hours of active screen use. It should last even on the busiest days.
sustainability
Apple says the battery will last more than 1,000 full charge cycles at at least 80% of its original capacity and is replaceable for £95. Screen repairs outside of warranty will cost £289. The 16 has a repair guide and was rated 7 out of 10 for repairability by experts at iFixit.
Contains over 30% recycled materials including aluminum, cobalt, copper, gold, lithium, plastics, rare earth elements, steel, tin, and tungsten. The company details the environmental impact of mobile phones in its report. Apple offers trade-in and free recycling schemes, including for non-Apple products.
camera
The dual camera system on the back of the phone is largely the same as last year’s model, including a 48MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera, and can be controlled by touch or using the new physical camera control button next to the power button.
The main camera produces excellent images in a variety of lighting conditions, but the 2x in-sensor zoom is still useful in bright environments, but struggles a bit in low light conditions. Ultrawide has autofocus and a slightly faster lens, allowing you to take better photos in low-light environments. It also enables a macro photo mode that allows you to take close-up images up to 2 cm away from your subject. This is a fun feature that was previously limited to Apple’s Pro models.
The 16’s camera also has some interesting photo styling features on the 16 Pro, which act like advanced filters to adjust the color, tone, and palette of your photo during or after it’s taken. The camera can also take spatial photos and videos for viewing on headsets like the Vision Pro, and the 16 Pro has impressive audio mix capabilities for videos.
Overall, the 16’s camera does a good job in most situations, but the lack of a telephoto camera holds it back compared to similarly priced Android rivals.
price
Prices for the iPhone 16 start at £799 (€959/$799/AU$1,399) with 128GB of storage.
For comparison, the iPhone 16 Plus costs £899, the iPhone 16 Pro costs £999, the iPhone 16 Pro Max costs £1,199, the Google Pixel 9 Pro costs £999, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra costs £1,249, Fairphone 5 costs £499.
verdict
The iPhone 16 may not look all that different from the past few versions of Apple’s standard smartphone, but it features a variety of updates that make it more interesting than it first appears.
The action button, which was added in last year’s 15 Pro, is super useful as it gives you one-button access to the apps and features you use most (like the torch). The camera control buttons are equally useful for quickly opening the camera and taking photos, even if they’re a bit difficult to use to precisely adjust settings.
The camera itself is solid and makes it easy to take great photos. New photo style features and macro photography are a lot of fun for those who like to get creative. It’s a shame that it doesn’t have a full-fledged zoom camera, a faster, less jerky screen, or an always-on display. These are features common to rivals, but Apple has left them on the iPhone 16 Pro as well.
The much faster chip and solid two-day battery life are very welcome and should help your iPhone 16 last longer before it needs repair or replacement. It may not be the most exciting phone anymore, but the iPhone 16 has come a long way from the model from five years ago, and it’s ready to go the distance.
Strong Points: Fast, good dual cameras with macro mode, decent screen, great size, action buttons, camera control buttons, photo style, USB-C, good battery life, long software support, Face ID.
Cons: There’s no telephoto camera, the screen is slower than the competition and the Pro iPhone, there’s no always-on mode, and the design is the same.
