Home > Smartphone comparison > iPhone XS vs iPhone 16e – which one to choose?

Apple iPhone XS vs iPhone 16e

49 out of 100
Apple iPhone XS
VS
74 out of 100
Apple iPhone 16e
Apple iPhone XS
Apple iPhone 16e

Here we compared two smartphones: the 5.8-inch Apple iPhone XS (with Apple A12 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2018, against the Apple iPhone 16e, which is powered by Apple A18 and came out 6 years and 7 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone XS
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 16e
  • 2.1x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1612K versus 756K)
  • Shows 66% longer battery life (26:44 vs 16:06 hours)
  • Comes with 1347 mAh larger battery capacity: 4005 vs 2658 mAh
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Delivers 32% higher peak brightness (836 against 634 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Has a 0.3 inch larger screen size
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A18
  • The phone is 6 years and 7 months newer
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Thinner bezels – 6% more screen real estate
  • Supports higher wattage charging (25W versus 15W)
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone XS and iPhone 16e crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 95% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone XS to Apple iPhone 16e is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: performance, battery life, and camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
iPhone XS
vs
iPhone 16e

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.8 inches 6.1 inches
Resolution 1125 x 2436 pixels 1170 x 2532 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 458 ppi 457 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 800 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1200 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Touch sampling rate 120 Hz -
Screen protection Tempered glass Ceramic Shield
Screen-to-body ratio 81.1% 87.1%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 98.8% 99.9%
PWM 240 Hz 60 Hz
Response time 4.4 ms 10 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
iPhone 16e
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
iPhone XS
5.8″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 12.8 in2
~10% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
iPhone XS
634 nits
iPhone 16e +32%
836 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) 146.7 mm (5.78 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 71.5 mm (2.81 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 7.8 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 177 g (6.24 oz) 167 g (5.89 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gold, Gray White, Black
Fingerprint scanner No No
Repairability - Average (2.79/5)
Drop resistance - Good (C) · 90 drops
Screen-to-body ratio
iPhone XS
81.1%
iPhone 16e +7%
87.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone XS and Apple iPhone 16e
SoC
Chipset Apple A12 Bionic Apple A18
Max clock 2490 MHz 4040 MHz
CPU cores 6 (2 + 4) 6 (2 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.6 GHz: Tempest
- 2 cores at 2.49 GHz: Vortex		 - 4 cores at 2.42 GHz: Sawtooth
- 2 cores at 4.05 GHz: Everest
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 7 nanometers 3 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Neural Engine Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple A12 Bionic GPU 4 core Apple GPU
GPU shading units 256 640
GPU clock 1125 MHz 1490 MHz
FLOPS ~576 GFLOPS ~1907 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone XS and Apple iPhone 16e
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iPhone XS
1306
iPhone 16e +151%
3281
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
iPhone XS
2770
iPhone 16e +190%
8035
Compute Score (GPU)
iPhone XS
n/a
iPhone 16e
24041
Compute Score (GPU) - 24041
Single-core score 1306 3281
Multi-core score 2770 8035
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
iPhone XS
756483
iPhone 16e +113%
1612788
CPU 229658 485100
GPU - 445832
Memory 141831 185536
UX 384994 496320
Total score 756483 1612788
Samples [5 tests] [5 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability - 82%
Graphics test - 9 FPS
Graphics score - 1226
3DMark Solar Bay
Graphics test - 21 FPS
Section 1 - 26 FPS
Section 2 - 21 FPS
Section 3 - 15 FPS
Graphics score - 5507
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 61% -
Graphics test 8 FPS -
Graphics score 1446 -
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone XS
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-31 (Дима)AnTuTu 11644981
📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 GPU7868
📘 2026-06-27 -> USAball386Geekbench 6 CPU1306 / 2770
📘 2026-05-12 -> GiahuyAnTuTu 11756483
📘 2026-02-05 (tomoclaude)AnTuTu 11655571
Add View all (7)
Apple iPhone 16e
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-03-11 (Matviy)AnTuTu 111600106
📘 2026-02-27 (iPhone user)AnTuTu 111591246
📘 2026-02-10 (Virtuose)AnTuTu 111721718
📘 2026-01-14 (Glib)AnTuTu 111656396
📘 2026-01-13 (киря)AnTuTu 111612788
Add View all (5)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 2133 MHz -
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 128 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 12 (Can be upgraded to iOS 18.7) iOS 18.3 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
OS size 11.8 GB 24 GB
OS updates - 7 years
Security updates - 7 years

Battery

Capacity 2658 mAh 4005 mAh
Max charge power 15 W 25 W
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes, Qi (10 W) Yes (7.5 W)
Reverse charging No No
Bypass charging No No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 60 min) Yes (57% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:40 hr 1:50 hr
Battery cycles - 1000 cycles
Battery life tests
Web browsing 05:44 hr 11:59 hr
Watching video 09:44 hr 15:01 hr
Gaming 03:54 hr 05:04 hr
Standby 84 hr 127 hr
General battery life
iPhone XS
16:06 hr
iPhone 16e +66%
26:44 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 8064 x 6048
Zoom Optical, 2x Digital
Flash Quad LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.6
Focal length 26 mm 26 mm
Sensor Apple iSight X Sony IMX972
Sensor size 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.4 micron 0.7 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 52 mm -
Sensor size 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3088 x 2316 4032 x 3024
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.9
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor CMOS Sony IMX714
Sensor size - 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.3
Bluetooth features SPP, PBAP/PAB, PAN, OPP, MAP, LE, HSP, HID, HFP, HDP, GAP, GAVDP, DIP, AVRCP, A2DP LE
USB type No USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort - No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 16 -
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
iPhone XS
87.3 dB
iPhone 16e +1%
88.4 dB

Other

Category Flagship Mid-range
Announced September 2018 February 2025
Release date September 2018 February 2025
Launch price (MSRP) $1000 $599
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 Pro -
SAR (head) 0.99 W/kg -
SAR (body) 0.99 W/kg -
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor		 - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
Bundled charger - Not included
Further details
Notes on iPhone 16e:
    - The smartphone doesn’t have a cinematic mode like the higher-end models in the series.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 16e is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
14 (43.8%)
18 (56.3%)
Total votes: 32

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