Lux reviews iPhone 16e camera: ‘Packs a punch’

iPhone 16e camera
The powerful 2-in-1 camera system on iPhone 16e is perfect for capturing everyday moments and important memories, including in Night mode and Portrait mode. Using computational photography, the 48MP Fusion camera takes super-high-resolution photos, so users can capture gorgeous images that balance light and detail. With an integrated 2x Telephoto, users have the equivalent of two cameras in one, and can zoom in with optical quality to get closer to the subject and easily frame their shot. And the front-facing TrueDepth camera with autofocus enables sharper close-ups and beautiful group selfies. The latest generation of HDR captures subjects and the background with true-to-life renderings of skin tones, while ensuring photos have bright highlights, rich mid-tones, and deep shadows.
iPhone 16e takes stunning videos with the ability to record in 4K with Dolby Vision up to 60 fps, and users can stop and restart a recording for more flexibility when capturing the moment. iPhone 16e also records video in Spatial Audio for immersive listening with AirPods, Apple Vision Pro, or a surround sound system, and enables more ways to edit video sound with Audio Mix. Users can adjust their sound after capture to focus on the voice of the person on camera, make it sound like the video was recorded inside a professional studio, or position vocal tracks in the front and environmental noises in surround sound. With wind noise reduction, powerful ML algorithms automatically reduce unwanted noise for better audio quality.
Lux:
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I pitted it against the iPhone 16 Pro to get some shots, and here’s my impressions. Let me preface that by saying that I think this is an unfair comparison: most people that are the target audience of iPhone 16e aren’t the type to buy the top-end iPhone, most likely. But I am sure they do care about getting great shots…
Aside from color (iPhone 16e consistently took pinker, warmer shots) — the iPhone 16e gives you a slightly narrower field of view. Its camera isn’t quite as wide angle as the iPhone 16 Pro’s, by about a 2mm focal length (26mm vs. 24mm equivalent). In practice, that felt nice to me — you lack a separate zoom lens, so a little bit closer of a zoom is a nice trade-off…
Crop things in close and you see that the smaller sensor on iPhone 16e does have less detail and a bit more ’smudging’. This gets more aggressive in lower light. It’s really not a shabby shot detail-wise, though — this camera packs a punch.
In all, the iPhone 16e has times where it shoots great shots — not quite on par with iPhone 16, but certainly on par with previous non-Pro iPhones or even the iPhone 14 Pro, a previous favorite of mine.

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MacDailyNews Take: Check out the full article for a plethora of photos and comparisons here.

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