The iPhone 17e is the classic, practical iPhone we’ve been missing.
I wrote my thoughts so I hope you could appreciate that too!
I’ve always known iPhones for their clean, practical design, a form factor that just works and feels premium. If you handed this iPhone to somebody 10 or 12 years ago, they’d immediately say, "Yes, this is an iPhone." The boxy sides, the silver rails, and the clean white back. The fact that it has Ceramic Shield 2 and satin glass on the back is just nice.
Back in the day, iPhones with the home button and fingerprint biometrics were completely practical. Sure, they had bezels, but they were built in a premium, sensible way. You get that exact same feeling with this iPhone. It’s not overwhelmingly large like a Pro Max. It’s not trying to do too much. It’s just practical, and you still get Face ID.
60Hz is fine, don't get it twisted, this is an OLED HDR display with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Yes, it’s 60Hz, and practically speaking, that is more than enough for a smartphone. Obviously, there is a fluidity and lifelike naturalness that comes with 120Hz. However, this is a practical device. It's a phone where your life does not revolve around staring at it, so it doesn't need to be buttery smooth to do its job.
The display itself is gorgeous, and the way the 6.1-inch screen falls snug into the palm of your hand so effortlessly—without being too weighty—is exactly what I’ve always appreciated iPhones for.
Sure, the single 48MP Fusion camera doesn’t have that 0.5x ultrawide, but I never liked or used that anyway. I’ve always wanted to take a picture of what's right in front of me without the distortion of an ultrawide lens. And regarding the telephoto: for somebody who is *very* into their photography and needs 100% clarity on a zoom, yeah, go for that triple camera setup.
But for the practical user? Look at the history. Back when every phone had a single rear camera, the iPhone still took the best shots and the best videos. The balance of the exposure and color is incredibly true to life—it captures what is actually before your eyes without being overly unnatural or over-sharpened.
I’m coming from the Pixel 10 Pro, and this camera honestly takes better photos for me. I don't care about a 5x telephoto zoom if the camera gets the colors and exposure dramatically wrong and over-sharpens everything. This single iPhone camera, processed by the A19 chip's Photonic Engine, just gets it right. We've managed for a long time snapping cherishable memories and posting enjoyable photos to social media with a single lens, and a triple camera setup wouldn't change what this phone fundamentally is and can do.
My favorite iPhone was the iPhone 7, and over the years I’ve had the 12 mini, 13 mini, 15 Pro, 16, and 17 Pro. It had a practical premium build, speakers on the top, fingerprint Home button at the bottom with the display just blends away when it’s off, having water resistance at last, clean practical OS and app design especially Apple Notes, and that simple elegantly put rear camera which was reliable and took good photos and smooth videos, which fits in your pocket and fits in the palm of your hand, it wasn’t too bulky or weighty; it was practical; it was sleek; it was a nice smart phone and what I’ve always known iPhone for.
I found the 17 Pro and 16 to be almost *too* flashy. Features like Camera Control, the Dynamic Island, and 120Hz made it feel like the device was begging me to engage with it more than I needed or wanted to. Unless you're passionate about photography, constantly tweaking exposure etc, Camera Control is just an extra touch-capacitive button along with the other features above trying to make the device overly enticing. I missed the iPhone's roots—a premium, simple, practical tool that was just enough.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate what is actually packed into this 170g, 6.1-inch chassis. A 4000+ mAh Battery. In an efficient 6.1-inch iOS device. That is great. A19 Chip & 8GB RAM, all the capable "smartphoning" you could ever need, with years of security support ahead of it. Action Button and USB-C are just sweet. Better water rating (6m for 30 mins), improved C1X modem for connectivity, MagSafe, Dolby Vision, and on-device ray tracing. A 12MP front camera and Face ID.
Even though this starts at 599 (for 256gb, though I have the 512gb variant) and is the entry model for the 17 lineup, just compare that value for what you’d get now for that price in comparison to the iPhone back then not too differently priced; let’s not get it twisted—this is Apple at its roots.
Honestly, it's just a combination of folks sleeping on it or being insecure about not having a triple camera to show off in the mirror, afraid of looking "cheap” or sum but this device is nothing of that sorts. It’s the classic, premium, practical iPhone we have always known and appreciated, just updated with today’s internals. Gorgeous OLED Ceramic Shield two with anti-glare, classic silver boxy rails, white satin glass back, aerospace-grade aluminum, sapphire crystal lens, and a simple camera that takes amazing shots. This is what the iPhone always was, y'all.