Against the odds, I’ve fallen in love with the iPhone 17e

I’ve been lucky enough in my time as a tech journalist to test out some of the priciest phones on the market and yet, as of right now, I’m currently using Apple’s cheapest iPhone as my daily driver and I’m enamoured with it.

For context, I recently had to send back an iPhone test unit which meant that I either had to use one of the Android phones I had lying around or, deep in the cost of living crisis, go out and find an iPhone that doesn’t cost a fortune. Being properly embedded in the Apple ecosystem meant that an iPhone was the preferred option.

After briefly trying an ecosystem escape, I eventually caved and found a refurbished iPhone 17e going for a great price, so I snapped it up.

Being completely honest, if I had a larger budget, I would have opted for something different. However, out of sheer necessity the 17e was the best available option. But I didn’t expect to love it. After spending two weeks with the phone, I have to say that it has exceeded my expectations and then some.

Where the iPhone 17e shines

The best thing about the iPhone 17e is that on raw performance, it’s an absolute winner. Thanks to the A19 chip inside (the same as in the iPhone 17, minus one GPU core), I’ve been able to edit video taken on my DJI Osmo Pocket 3, get IT processed and uploaded, all without issue. The fact that it also comes with 256GB storage by default is also brilliant as I haven’t had to worry about constantly deleting clips.

Something that I didn’t fully appreciate until becoming a dad is that, despite the benefits of a larger display, I need a phone that can be used one-handed. In my brief stint of going full-time with Android, I tried responding to a text on the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra while carrying my daughter with one arm, and I could barely type out a sentence on the massive phone.

In comparison, I can reach every part of the iPhone 17e’s display without any hand gymnastics.

Britta O’Boyle

Plus, the fact that it also boasts Apple’s more durable Ceramic Shield 2 fills me with more confidence that this phone is more likely to survive a drop.

One of the biggest criticisms levelled at the iPhone 17e is the fact that it only has a single 48Mp camera on the back. Before using the phone, I was very much part of that mob. To my surprise, instead of feeling trapped by the single lens, the limitations have forced me to think more creatively about how I might achieve a shot or a certain angle with the tools I have.

Honestly, it’s taken me back to my days of studying GCSE and A-level photography, where I was finding out how to use a camera and encouraged to explore points of interest that caught my eye.

It’s a strange feeling, but instead of just pointing my phone at an object and taking a picture, I’m now far more involved with the framing. It’s brought back a lot of the fun of smartphone photography.

What I’d like to see in the iPhone 18e

As much as I love the iPhone 17e, there are still areas that I would like to see tweaked in a successor to elevate it as a solid entry-level iPhone for everyone (particularly after Apple’s most recent price hikes).

While I do accept that the iPhone 18e is likely to stick with a single camera on the back, I’d like to see the phone adopt some of the selfie smarts that were introduced on other handsets in the iPhone 17 range. The front-facing 18Mp Center Stage is genius in the way it lets you take landscape selfies without rotating the phone, and it’s desperately needed as the 17e’s 12Mp equivalent feels outdated.

Britta O’Boyle

Having a Camera Control button in the mix wouldn’t go amiss either. It’s a very handy feature for quickly accessing the camera app, and I got a bit obsessed with using it to flip through different photographic styles on previous iPhones. I still think the Stark B&W filter produces some of the best-looking shots I’ve seen on any smartphone, and I’d love to have access to it here.

As a final point, the charging speed really needs kicking up a notch or two. Thankfully, battery life on the iPhone 17e is great, but 20W wired charging is simply too slow for a modern phone and is frankly embarrassing for a handset that maintains such a high bar elsewhere.

Still, if you’re thinking about picking up a new iPhone, I’d suggest giving the iPhone 17e proper consideration, especially if you can find it reduced. The allure of the iPhone 18 Pro might be tangible, but for most people, the 17e packs all that you really need.