To think there’s nothing wrong with this iPhone?

[Wertui]

I’m hoping some MN’rs more technically minded than me will be able to help.

I am in the market for a new phone, and have identified the iPhone 17e as the front runner.

Two separate people have pointed out to me that this isn’t the ‘proper/full’ iPhone 17 and is cheaper than the main model for a reason.

I can’t see anything obviously wrong with it. Has anyone had the ‘e’ mode before and is able to recommend?

Think it depends on your budget and how much you want from the phone really

https://box.co.uk/blog/iphone-17e-vs-iphone-17

There isn’t anything wrong with it, it’s just a budget version. If it has all the features you want then it’s absolutely fine.

I’ve just got a 17e and am absolutely delighted with it. It’s a huge improvement on my old 13 and does everything I need - and probably loads more that I don’t even understand! I like the size too - I hate big phones.

That’s great, is the battery life decent? I have an 11 and have to charge it multiple times a day!

I have an iPhone 8 and it does everything I want.

And it has excellent battery life. I bought it two years ago on eBay refurbished.

The battery life is very good. I still charge it overnight but it’s still at around 60% at the end of the day.

Does it still do updates? I have an iPhone 11 and am getting worried it won’t be able to do updates soon.

I would save my ££ and switch to Android.

I bought an iPhone SE2 a few years back because it seemed a good size (not too big) and had a home button. It only did 4G. I wished I'd gone for something better almost from the first week. That said the 16 is absolutely great.

Edited to add that it's biggest failing was battery life

I'll beat you all in the race to the bottom Samung J3 [2016] still going top notch. Not secure but then I have never used apps or money related stuff on on it. Still perfect for interernet, phone and messaging.
My sd on the other hand, spends a small fortune on a new phone each year, loses it, drops it or it breaks and she takes the piss out of mine which has never been damaged and still has original perfect screen.
I just smile and carry on...

That's a good point. No, I don't think it does, but the only thing I haven't been able to do that I might want is the Guardian Feast app and I can live with that. I don't ask much of my phone, but I can quite see that if people want more then they need a newer model. I'm a bit resistant to constantly needing to have a better version of something that already works well - but that's a personal choice.

I loved my 6 & stuck with it past when it would update, but eventually it just couldn't cope with life & I was forced to update. It was a much better size for me! I now have a 15, but still miss using my 6.

@Wertui I don't think there's anything wrong with it at all. But I use my camera all the time & keep my phones as long as possible, so I'd spend the extra to get the better camera & battery. But it's just a personal decision. If you don't care about those things as much I'm sure the e will be perfectly fine!!

That's like people comparing top end cars, but buying a lada.

if all you want is 4 wheels, fine, but if you want performance & style it's not fine.

also compatibility with other devices.

There’s nothing wrong with the 17e camera.

I'm never paying for a new iphone again. My budget as always around £300 and I've had some cracking refurbishments over the years. There is so much discarded tech and electrical equipment around these days into k we should all be looking to recycle. Plus hit greedy Apple who have chosen to make chargers vary over the years so we have to buy new ones.

.

Apple didn’t choose to do anything it was an EU ruling

assuming you are talking about the change from lighting to USB-C which imo is much better

If you can hang on until September when the new 18 launches, the 17 might get a little cheaper.

That’s my plan - I have an SE2020 that could do with an upgrade, not sure if it will support iOS27 when it comes out. I have had the battery replaced on it - cost about £50 and made a big difference.

Just get a new battery in your 13, it’ll last a couple more years, lol

I worked for one of the networks for 30yrs, if you don’t use the majority of features, there’s no need to upgrade. I still have my iPhone 10 😆

There was only one change that was Apple’s choice - the original wider (30 pin?) lightning connector to the much smaller/narrower one. As the poster above has correctly started, the switch to USB-C was a legal requirement.

OP - as long as the model has what you want/need to use it for, go for it. If you feel you need the full features on the top spec 17, look at the iPhone 16 and see how that compares - you might find it’s better than the 17e, but might be cheaper.

For anyone looking to get an iPhone on a monthly payment plan but cheaper than £60+ a month, I did this for my sons at Xmas - iPhone 17 on Sky Mobile - £25 a month for the handset. I think there was a £12 upfront cost. Then for the tariff, I scrolled down to the one than has only 100mb data per month - unlimited calls & texts - £0 added. So you get free calls and texts for just the cost of the handset. I then googled for cheapest EE e-sim and got them an e-sim for £5.90 a month that had unlimited calls and texts, roaming minutes for free (100 I think) and 10gb or 20gb data per month. I got that on a rolling 30 day PAYG contract and set up a DD on it. Ended up with an IPhone 17 with either 10 or 20gb data for £31 a month. Obviously you get the best network e-sim for your area, but this is over half the price I’m still paying on contract for my iPhone 15 on O2. Can’t wait to get out of contract to move to a much cheaper option.

I know not everyone wants to pay monthly for their phone. For me, an interest free option over 3 years just made more sense - might as well keep the cost of the handset in my bank account earning interest and being available for an emergency that might crop up!

Hope the above helps someone… and I hope Sky haven’t cottoned on and removed this!

I had my old iPhone for 6 years and I’ve just changed it now and bought a refurbished IPhone 14 Plus for £280 because the old one stopped updating and I need my phone to always be updated for work purposes. I hope this new one lasts for years but I like it already and it’s 64gb

You are unreasonable to buy any Apple product given their support for Trump.

My iPhone is 14 years old and still works perfectly with 77% battery life 😂😍

I am a techie, and I'm currently still using my iphone 12 mini. I use it for my work - including accessing servers and using AI, for my exercise (with my apple watch - the SE ie. cheap one), for all my communications and watching TV.

Unless there's something you're planning to do that needs the latest and greatest chip (advanced photography? AI on handset?) there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 17e.

My only advice is that if you skimp on memory you will regret it. Every time I've done that I've been kicking myself within a year. For this 12 mini I maxed it out, and haven't had to delete anything in 5 years.

Stick with the e, and get it with the largest memory possible - I have 256GB on my mini, just over half used, and I'm a hoarder.