Technologies

I Tested 3 Top Camera Phones in Dazzling Las Vegas. I’m Glad I Didn’t Bet on the Results

This camera test didn’t stay in Vegas: I pitted the iPhone 17 Pro, Samsung S25 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro XL during the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Las Vegas and Formula 1 are a perfect pairing for photography: bright colors, late-night lights and high intensity. So when I came here to cover the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which ran Nov. 20-22, I couldn’t resist bringing three top camera phones to see how they perform against one another. Between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, which would occupy spots P1, P2 and P3 at the event?

My plan quickly skidded on wet tarmac (matching the unexpectedly rainy weather in Vegas), because I discovered late that I wouldn’t be allowed to take photos or videos in race areas. The Formula 1 organization, which owns and operates the Las Vegas Grand Prix, completed the press accreditation process well in advance of this opportunity; I was invited by T-Mobile, a co-sponsor of the event, a few weeks prior to the race.

Read more: Best Camera Phone in 2025

Although I couldn’t capture any photos of the main event, there was still plenty to see in Las Vegas, which gets transformed each year for the Grand Prix. The Strip (South Las Vegas Blvd., where most of the big hotels are) and surrounding public streets are converted into the race track. That disrupts car traffic and walking routes, adding stress to everyone.

Here’s a slice of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, shot on three cameras. Keep in mind that photo quality is subjective, and in many cases, the differences between them might be hard to spot. All photos were captured using default settings using each phone’s camera app. For the iPhone 17 Pro images, the Standard photographic style was used to keep the processing as basic as possible. The photos were exported to JPEG format with no HDR (high-dynamic range) applied, no edits and resized using Apple’s Photomator app.

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Although I couldn’t publish any photos from the race or around the track, there were still opportunities to get up close to F1 cars. Several hotels had cars set up in their lobbies. This racer from the Haas team was in The Cosmopolitan Resort. It’s awash in red, on the car itself, but also that carpet, which can sometimes be a challenge for small camera sensors. Plus, despite some spot lighting, you have to remember that this is in a generally dark, indoor environment.

Although all three photos look good, the iPhone 17 Pro seems to be warmer and more saturated — a tad too much. The S25 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro XL shots have better white balance; for this comparison, I like the Pixel’s photo.

Here’s another car, from the Mercedes team. Photographically, this has a lot of challenges for a phone camera. There’s light coming through the windows, a platform that’s lit from below and lots of reflected details in the middle section of the car.

None of the cameras blew out the windows to white, which can be common when you’ve got a large light source in the background (it helped that the weather was cloudy and gray). The S25 Ultra and Pixel 10 Pro XL resolve more details in the buildings outside, but at the expense of toning down the brightness in the foreground; the white platform looks muted and green in both. The iPhone photo looks best to my eyes.

Near the Mercedes car was this helmet in glass, with racing simulators that people stood in long lines to play. All three phones have captured the variety of colors, reflections and textures well. I prefer the Galaxy S25 Ultra shot for its color, like the slot machines in the back, but it focused on the driver in the back instead of the helmet, so the foreground is a little out of focus. For that reason, I think the iPhone 17 Pro has made a successful overtake.

You’ve got to love Las Vegas for its willingness to smash together any look or influence it wants. This is the F1 Arcade, an F1-themed «ultimate bar experience» adjacent to Caesar’s Palace (hence the columnar design). The statues are clearly cast from the same mold, but I’m not sure the F1 logo and «Arcade» evoke original Greek typography.

Once again, the iPhone takes a different approach to its coloring, coming across as warmer and a little greener than the other two phones. Still, there’s plenty of fine detail, and each camera has retained the hint of blue in the sky. This is also where the zoom ranges are noticeable: The iPhone’s 4x zoom is wider than the 5x zoom on the Pixel or Galaxy.

Zoom aside, I like the Pixel 10 Pro XL image best (despite not being very level — I was distracted by a security guard looking at me funny for apparently standing in a place just off the main walkway). The «Arcade» letters are oddly crisp and bright on the Galaxy S25 Ultra image.

T-Mobile held a flashy keynote for its new 15 Minutes or Better feature for switching from other carriers, and after the keynote, the crowd was ushered into another room where musician T-Pain performed a live set. A concert like this is one of the more difficult tasks for phone cameras, since it’s in a dark environment, lit with multiple colored lights (so much magenta) and the star is moving at all times. It’s also when everyone’s phones come out to take pictures and record video.

The photos from this trio of cameras don’t stack up to traditional cameras with larger lenses, but they still hold their own. Nailing focus on T-Pain isn’t easy, so there’s a fair amount of motion blur — which isn’t a bad thing when capturing an energetic performance. Plus, since I wasn’t at the front, I was shooting with the 4x (iPhone) and 5x (Galaxy and Pixel) zooms to focus on him, and not Paris Hilton dancing at the front. On each phone, the main cameras have the best light-gathering abilities, so I was making a choice of composition over image quality by picking the telephoto options. I think the Pixel 10 Pro XL made the best shot of this test.

The Ski Lodge is a semi-secret bar in The Cosmopolitan that’s absolutely worth waiting in a line next to a blank white wall and a single nondescript door. Inside, the bar was decorated for Heavy Metal Holiday, with detail everywhere you look. Is this a cruel test of a cellphone camera? Absolutely.

Of the three photos, I give the iPhone 17 Pro a slight edge. It’s keeping up with its characteristic warmer tones, but they work here. It’s also done a better job of rendering the lights above that are wrapped in the tree boughs (they’re actually skulls, keeping with the heavy metal theme). The Pixel 10 Pro XL is a little soft, perhaps because its night mode uses a 1/7-second exposure versus 1/15 seconds for the other two phones.

Las Vegas is always associated with its elaborate neon signs, and the Flamingo is one of the classics. The fact that it was reflected on a polished surface at left was just extra candy for this photographer.

Of these three images testing the 2x zoom, the Galaxy S25 Ultra stands out to me for its color and clarity in the reflection. The Pixel 10 Pro XL is also good, but its 2x zoom is too tight for this composition; normally I would back up and reframe, but I was trying to take all shots from the same vantage point, and stepping back would put me into busy pedestrian traffic. The iPhone 17 Pro is underserved partially because it caught a moment when not as many of the bright white lights were illuminated on the flashing sign.

It rained in Las Vegas, a city in the desert that doesn’t get a lot of precipitation. Although the wet surfaces made things difficult for the F1 drivers, it was great for capturing reflected light. I’m happy with all three of these; the Galaxy S25 Ultra did a better job of catching detail in the sign to the left of the garden entrance, but I should have framed it to include more of the lions like the other shots. Also notable is the coloring on the structure — in Vegas, there’s so much light coming from screens all around that the lighting changes color frequently. So in this case, that isn’t from the cameras misinterpreting the scene.

For the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Strip is turned into the racetrack, which needs maintenance every night after practice sessions and the qualifying race. Here’s a look at the infrastructure outside the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, including the lighting, scaffolding and the crash barriers.

Of these, the iPhone stands out for its warmth and detail. It was captured using the main camera, so it didn’t need to switch to Night Mode for this shot. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is more cool, and if I wasn’t pitting it against the others I’d say it was also a good shot. The Pixel 10 Pro XL image has somehow rendered the color in the Eiffel Tower more blue than purple, though I can’t recall if the tower was changing color or not; sometimes it’s colored red, white and blue like the French flag.

These are not stellar pictures, let’s be perfectly clear. But I wanted to share the lengths the organizers go to make sure not just anyone can watch the race in Las Vegas. Temporary barriers are set up on the walkways over the Strip to ensure that you can’t see the track below. All images were shot with the ultra-wide camera on each phone. I like the Galaxy S25 Ultra the best here for its color, compared to the too-warm hues of the other two. Again, in isolation, they’re all fine, but side-by-side, the Galaxy phone takes the win.

Speaking of the ultra-wide cameras, here’s a shot you won’t get in Paris, France: the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower right next to each other. (True story: A guy I once knew had no interest in going to the original Eiffel Tower when he was in Paris because he’d already seen it in Vegas.)

I was standing at the base of the arch, so the ultra-wide angle distortion is pronounced here, but it makes for a dramatic image. In terms of image quality, I’m partial to the iPhone 17 Pro because it caught a little glare from the sun at left, which gives it some character. The framing of the other two is better, and yet again they’re perfectly fine, if a little flat to compensate for the bright clouds at the top left, in the case of the Pixel 10 Pro XL version.

At the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, a scale replica of the Statue of Liberty overlooks one corner, providing a great opportunity to see how telephoto cameras perform. (Fun fact: When the US Postal Service designed a postage stamp of the Statue of Liberty, they accidentally did so from a stock photo of the Las Vegas version.)

Taken late at night, this subject shows the most color variation among the three cameras. The Galaxy S25 Ultra did the best with the statue’s green color, reducing the exposure slightly. The Pixel 10 Pro XL boosted the green, making a version that still looks OK. But the iPhone 17 Pro has misinterpreted the green as a color to be corrected, and bled the image of most of it. Samsung gets the win this time.

This view from the Venetian Resort is underexposed in all three cameras, each of which appears to be compensating for the bright areas of the sky. In terms of color, the Pixel 10 Pro XL looks best to my eye, keeping plenty of texture in the clouds while also making the gold windows of the former Mirage hotel pop. In the middle ground is construction on the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, which will look like the base of an electric guitar.

Finally, we come to a selfie at midnight taken in front of New York New York, after your humble correspondent had walked the entire Strip to take photos. Each destination in Las Vegas looks closer than it is, and when you’re on foot it turns out to be even farther than that. However, it still capped a day of F1 racing, meeting new people and exploring this city oddity firsthand.

The iPhone 17 Pro selfie looks natural but softer than I would expect from Apple’s newly designed front-facing camera. The Galaxy S25 camera is similarly drab, with the detail in my beard appearing smudgy. But the Pixel 10 Pro XL, while oversharpening slightly, holds onto that detail and also has the best nighttime exposure.

Which phone camera captured Vegas the best?

So how do we rank these three cameras on a podium? Adding up my preferences above, the Pixel 10 Pro XL and iPhone 17 Pro each nabbed five wins, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra trailing just behind at four. As I said at the beginning, in most cases they each do an excellent job taking photos, so you won’t go wrong with any of them.

And if you wanted to keep the F1 theme going, thanks to the IP68 rating for dust and water resistance on each one, you can spray them all with victory champagne and not worry about destroying your finely tuned machine.

Technologies

The Galaxy Watch Ultra Is Due for an Update. Here’s When It Could Arrive

Rumors point to new Galaxy Watches on the way, but the rugged Ultra may steal the spotlight this year.

We’re only two months into the year, and Samsung has already dropped two major debuts, including a surprise trifold reveal and a new lineup of flagship Galaxy phones. Now, a fresh wave of Galaxy Watch rumors is starting to take shape.

Last year, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8 debuted a slightly controversial redesign, making the return of the Galaxy Watch Classic and its physical rotating bezel all the more satisfying. This year, a new Classic model doesn’t seem likely (though another redesign isn’t completely off the table). But there may be another headliner ready to steal attention from the flagship once again.

A report from GalaxyClub cited by Android Authority suggests Samsung may launch a new Galaxy Watch Ultra alongside the Galaxy Watch 9, likely in the summer of 2026.

The rugged smartwatch, which debuted in summer 2024, received a few updates in the last cycle, such as larger storage (up to 64GB) and a new color, but otherwise remained the same.

This year’s version, likely to be called the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, may keep a similar design. At 47mm, the Ultra is already pushing the limits of wrist real estate. While a rotating bezel borrowed from the Classic line would be interesting, it feels like a tough sell for a rugged, adventure-focused watch.

Unlocking new health metrics

More realistically, the Ultra 2 could bring a new processor and upgraded sensors focused on deeper health tracking. Last year’s most notable addition was Samsung’s antioxidant index, which can detect nutrition-related signals through the skin’s surface. This year, Samsung could go deeper into skin-based detection, with broader nutrition insights and potentially even noninvasive glucose monitoring — one of the long-standing «holy grails» of wearable health tech that may finally be showing progress.

Battery and processor

One of the original Ultra’s biggest advantages was battery life, which lasted roughly 2.5 days on a charge, compared to the 30 to 40 hours of the flagship Galaxy Watch 8. Both the Watch 9 and Ultra 2 are expected to get a brand-new processor, which could mean better efficiency, longer battery life, or possibly a dual-chip architecture that separates high-performance tasks from low-power background processes, similar to what we’ve seen on the OnePlus Watch 3. If Samsung pulls that off, it could bring its lineup closer to the multiday endurance of competitors like the Huawei Watch 5 and OnePlus Watch 3.

More AI and less reliance on the phone

Improved processing power could also unlock more on-device AI features, especially as health coaching and AI-powered insights continue to evolve in wearables. Satellite connectivity is another possibility, following similar additions on the Apple Watch Ultra and Pixel Watch.

All of this is speculation for now, but it’s exciting to see the next Galaxy Watch lineup start to take shape based on early industry signals.

Technologies

iPhone 17E Review: The Appeal Is Magnetic (and Pink)

Apple’s new $599 budget phone offers a premium feel, complete with MagSafe compatibility and an A19 chip. That makes the minor trade-offs easier to swallow.

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Written by Abrar Al-Heeti

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Abrar Al-Heeti Senior Technology Reporter

Abrar’s interests include phones, streaming, autonomous vehicles, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. In addition to her current role, she’s worked for CNET’s video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco — steep inclines and all.

Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET analyzing tech trends while also writing news, reviews and commentaries across mobile, streaming and online culture. Credentials

Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal’s Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club’s National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.

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The iPhone 17E in front of purple lilacs

8.6 / 10

Apple iPhone 17E

$599 at Apple

Pros

Premium feel
Solid camera
MagSafe compatibility
Higher 256GB base storage
A19 chip
Fun pink color option

Cons

No Dynamic Island
Thick bezels
No ultrawide camera or Cinematic video
Only 60Hz refresh rate means no always-on display

I never thought MagSafe’s haptic feedback could be so satisfying.

At last, Apple’s $599 iPhone 17E brings MagSafe‘s magnetic technology to its lowest-priced handset. Beyond the added convenience of easily attaching chargers and accessories, this signals Apple’s efforts to expand once-premium features across its full iPhone lineup, no matter how much you’re willing to pay. Plus, the addition of a fresh color warms my pink-loving heart.

The iPhone 17E borrows other features from the $829 baseline iPhone 17. The budget option packs the same A19 chip (albeit with a four-core GPU instead of five), an Action button and a 48-megapixel main camera. It starts with 256GB of storage, making that $599 price more enticing — even if it’s arguably pushing the limits of what’s considered a «budget» phone. But the fact that I have to double-check whether I’m reaching for the iPhone 17E or the 17 is surely a good sign that the gap between the two is narrowing — and in the right direction.

Other aspects of the 17E serve as a reminder that you get what you pay for. The bezels are noticeably thicker than on Apple’s more premium options. There’s no Dynamic Island for system notifications and Live Activities, but rather an old-school notch at the top. A fixed 60Hz display also means there’s no always-on display, so I can’t quickly glance at the time or my notifications.

There’s a lot that makes the iPhone 17E feel like a worthy lower-priced option. And for most people, the compromises shouldn’t feel too glaring, especially when you’re saving a couple of hundred dollars.

The iPhone 17E is available now.

iPhone 17E look, feel and display

One of my favorite things about the iPhone 17E is that it doesn’t sacrifice the premium look and feel of its pricier counterparts. Like the other iPhone 17 models, the iPhone 17E’s back glass has a satisfying matte finish that resists fingerprints. An aluminum frame keeps it feeling nice and light at 169 grams, compared to 177 grams on the iPhone 17.

The iPhone 17E’s 6.1-inch display is just slightly smaller than the 6.3-inch display on the iPhone 17, a difference that’s hardly noticeable. The lower-priced option shares the same Ceramic Shield 2 cover glass, which Apple says has three times better scratch resistance than the iPhone 16E’s display, and 33% less reflection. I have a knack for scratching my phone’s screen even just through everyday use, but my iPhone 17E’s screen is still unscathed.

The 60Hz refresh rate is a step down from the 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate you’ll get on Apple’s other phones, but it’s a nearly imperceptible difference unless you’re gaming. Personally, the biggest downside to this limitation is not having an always-on display, which I rely on extensively to peek at the time and see all my notifications at a glance. Going without that feature has taken some getting used to.

While the iPhone 17 supports 1,600 nits HDR peak brightness, the iPhone 17E tops out at 1,200 nits peak HDR brightness. Holding the phones side by side, I can see the difference, but the 17E looks just fine, even in the California sunshine.

The iPhone 17E’s smaller size can either be a benefit or a drawback, depending on your preferences. I tend to gravitate toward larger phones, so typing and scrolling on a smaller frame was a bit of an adjustment. But if you want a more compact device that’ll fit in practically any pocket, you’ll dig the 17E’s dimensions. I do appreciate feeling like I have a firmer grip on a more compact phone, especially when I bravely go case-less.

This year, Apple decided to branch out and add a soft pink color option to its budget line, along with the standard black and white. Luckily, I got paired with a pink model, which takes on a pastel-like, blush hue that’s certainly more subdued than the bold orange of the iPhone 17 Pro. The subtle shade is nice if you want some color without making too much of a statement. I’m always happy when fun colors aren’t limited to the pricier models.

iPhone 17E camera gets some minor upgrades

Similar to last year’s budget iPhone, the iPhone 17E has a single 48-megapixel rear camera. With sensor cropping, it can also snap 2x telephoto images, which look as good as 1x photos to my eyes. A bonus perk of having just one rear camera is that it’s significantly less obtrusive than the camera bumps on other iPhone 17 models, particularly the Pros. It’s refreshing to go back to a phone I can hold without my fingers brushing against an ever-expanding camera platform.

Like my experience with the iPhone Air, the lack of an ultrawide camera feels limiting. It’s harder to take landscape photos or capture a wider scene — though if I had to choose between an ultrawide and a telephoto camera, I’d always pick the latter. I’m much more likely to punch into something to show more detail than take a dramatically wider shot.

The iPhone 17E has a 12-megapixel selfie camera, drawing another parallel to the iPhone 16E. The 17E doesn’t get the Center Stage camera feature that debuted on the iPhone Air and 17, which can automatically switch between portrait and landscape orientation as more people come into the frame without you rotating your phone. I don’t see this as much of a loss; in fact, I keep Center Stage disabled on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, largely because old habits die hard and I just end up rotating my phone manually anyway.

Not having Cinematic mode for video on the budget line is still a bummer, since I rely on it for more professional-looking clips with blurred backgrounds. But if trade-offs have to be made, that’s a manageable one.

The hardware feature I’ve struggled without is the Camera Control button — not because I ever use it as a shortcut to Apple’s Visual Intelligence, but because that’s how I almost exclusively launch the iPhone’s camera now. I like having a physical button that’s easy to trigger (perhaps too easy for some) when I want to quickly snap a photo. Without Camera Control on the iPhone 17E, you’ll have to open the camera the old-fashioned way by tapping on your screen, swiping the lock screen to the left or using the Action button as a camera shortcut. Though I don’t think most people will mind that, especially if you’re coming from a phone that never had Camera Control in the first place. And you can access Visual Intelligence from the iPhone 17E’s Control Panel (or assign it to the Action button if you really want faster access to that feature).

Portraits get a nice boost on the iPhone 17E, compared to last year’s budget phone. Apple says the advanced image pipeline allows subjects to stand out more naturally against their bokeh-effect backgrounds. For example, a person will appear in sharper focus, including fringe details like their hair or the corner of their glasses, and the transition to the image’s blurred background looks a bit more gradual and realistic.

When you’re snapping pictures in the camera’s standard Photo mode, it’ll now automatically detect cats and dogs in addition to people, and enable portrait shots without you having to switch to that mode.

And now, you can also adjust the focus point of a photo after you’ve snapped it by going to Edit in the Photos app and tapping where you want to focus. You can modify the amount of background blur, too. It’s great to see that flexibility and customization on Apple’s lower-tier phone.

Here are a few of my favorite photos I’ve taken on the iPhone 17E:

iPhone 17E battery and MagSafe compatibility

The iPhone 17E touts the same 26 hours of video playback as the iPhone 16E. On Apple’s product pages in the European Union, where it’s required to disclose battery capacity, that’s listed as 4,005 mAh (the same as the 16E). Apple says the battery is aided by the power-efficient A19 chip, the new C1X cellular modem and the «advanced power management of iOS 26.»

The battery can easily last me more than a day. For instance, I started with a full battery at 10:12 a.m. on a Saturday, and still had a healthy 48% by 8 p.m. When I woke up the next morning at 5:15 a.m. (yes, my sleep schedule was completely thrown off by jet lag from Mobile World Congress), the phone was at 38%. Another day, I unplugged my phone with 77% charge at 1:45 p.m., and it reached 32% at 11:25 p.m. I feel confident I can go about my day without worrying about the iPhone 17E dying mid-way through.

The iPhone 17E supports 20-watt wired charging. And with MagSafe and Qi2 compatibility, it can charge wirelessly up to 15 watts — double the 7.5 watts on the iPhone 16E. That’s still less than the 25-watt wireless charging (Qi2.2) the iPhone 17 supports, but it’s a worthy step up from last year.

With wired charging, the iPhone 17E went from 8% to 61% in half an hour. And using wireless charging, it went from 0% to 23% in 30 minutes.

In CNET’s 45-minute endurance test, which involves streaming, scrolling through social media, joining a video call and playing games, the iPhone 17E’s battery went from full to 97%. That tops the Google Pixel 10A, which finished at 95%, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, which hit 92%. It also beat the iPhone Air, which reached 95%, but was topped by the iPhone 17, which ended at 98%.

In a 3-hour streaming test over Wi-Fi, in which I watched a YouTube video in full-screen mode at full brightness, the 17E’s battery dropped from 100% to 86%. That places it above the Pixel 10A, which finished at 78%, and the Galaxy S25 FE, which landed at 83%. It’s just slightly topped by the iPhone 17’s 89%, and is on par with the iPhone Air’s 85%.

I’ve enjoyed snapping MagSafe accessories such as cases and wallets onto the iPhone 17E simply because I can. I’ve also been tapping into Apple’s StandBy feature, which displays widgets while you charge your phone in landscape mode, including a calendar, clock and photos.

Benchmark tests for the CPU in Geekbench 6 place the iPhone 17E well above other budget phones like the Pixel 10A and Galaxy S25 FE. It’s on par with the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air.

In a graphics test using 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme, the iPhone 17E also topped the performance of the Pixel 10A, and it aligns with results from the Galaxy S25 FE. The 17E is beaten out by the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air.

Check out the graphs below for more specifics.

Geekbench v.6.0

Apple iPhone 17E 3,320 8,531Google Pixel 10A 1,664 3,984Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 2,118 6,819Apple iPhone 17 3,612 9,180Apple iPhone Air 3,554 9,057

Single-core
Multicore

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme

Apple iPhone 17E 3,936Google Pixel 10A 2,579Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 4,078Apple iPhone 17 4,885Apple iPhone Air 4,295

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance.

Final thoughts: Should you buy the iPhone 17E?

The iPhone 17E brings subtle yet welcome changes to Apple’s budget line — namely, MagSafe charging, a higher base storage level and a more advanced A19 chip. This year’s phone shares a lot in common with the iPhone 16E, especially when it comes to the cameras and battery capacity, but it still shines in both areas.

More notably, the iPhone 17E borrows a handful of features from the baseline iPhone 17, which costs $200 more. The phones have a similar feel, a 48-megapixel main camera and that A19 chip. You’ll spot some notable design differences, including the iPhone 17E’s prominent notch, wider bezels and the lack of a Camera Control button.

If you’re switching from an older iPhone like the iPhone 11 or 12, these are trade-offs you’ll hardly notice, especially in light of all the relative upgrades. Similarly, if you’re coming from another budget phone that’s a few years old, like the iPhone SE (2020) or an older Android counterpart, the improvements are sure to outweigh any missing premium features.

If you’re using last year’s iPhone 16E, the incremental changes don’t justify the upgrade, even with the long-awaited addition of MagSafe. Apple doesn’t appear to be targeting this demographic anyway, since its promotional materials largely compare the iPhone 17E to older models like the iPhone 11. That’s where the differences really stand out.

The iPhone 17E is a solid choice for someone who wants the basics — a good camera, long battery life and solid performance — without sacrificing a high-end feel. The $599 price is a little steep for a «budget» phone, but for what you get, it may well be worth it.

Apple iPhone 17E specs vs. Google Pixel 10A, Apple iPhone 17, Apple iPhone 16E

	Apple iPhone 17E	Google Pixel 10A	Apple iPhone 17	Apple iPhone 16E
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate	6.1-inch OLED display; 2,532×1,170 pixels; 60Hz refresh rate	6.3-inch POLED, 2,424×1,080 pixels, 60-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.3-inch OLED; 2,622×1,206 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.1-inch OLED display; 2,532×1,170 pixels; 60Hz refresh rate
Pixel density	460 ppi	422 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi
Dimensions (inches)	5.78×2.82×0.31	6.1×2.9×0.4	5.89×2.81×0.31	5.78×2.82×0.31
Dimensions (millimeters)	146.7×71.5×7.8	154.7×73.3×8.9	149.6×71.5×7.95	146.7×71.5×7.8
Weight (grams, ounces)	167g (5.88 oz.)	183 g (6.5 oz)	177g (6.24 oz.)	167g (5.88 oz.)
Mobile software	iOS 26	Android 16	iOS 26	iOS 18
Camera	48-megapixel (wide)	48-megapixel (wide), 13-megapixel (ultrawide)	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide)	48-megapixel (wide)
Front-facing camera	12-megapixel	13-megapixel	18-megapixel	12-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Apple A19	Google Tensor G4	Apple A19	Apple A18
RAM + storage	RAM unknown + 256GB, 512GB	8GB + 128GB, 256GB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB	RAM unknown + 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	None
Battery	4,005 mAh	5,100 mAh	3,692 mAh	4,005 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	None, Face ID	Under display	None, Face ID	None, Face ID
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None	None
Special features	MagSafe, Qi2 charging (up to 15W), Action button, Apple C1 5G modem, Apple Intelligence, Ceramic Shield, Emergency SOS, satellite connectivity, IP68 resistance	7 years of OS, security and Pixel feature drops, Gorilla Glass 3 cover glass, IP68 dust and water resistance, 3,000-nit peak brightness, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 30W fast charging with 45W charging adapter (charger not included), 10W wireless charging Qi certified, Satellite SOS, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 6, dual-SIM (nano SIM + eSIM), Camera Coach, Add Me, Best Take, Magic Eraser, Magic Editor, Photo Unblur, Super Res Zoom, Circle to Search; colors: lavender, berry, fog, obsidian (black)	Apple N1 wireless networking chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6, Thread, Action button, Camera Control button, Dynamic Island, Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence, dual eSIM, 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range, IP68 resistance; colors: black, white, mist blue, sage, lavender; fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable; fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger	Action button, Apple C1 5G modem, Apple Intelligence, Ceramic Shield, Emergency SOS, satellite connectivity, IP68 resistance
US price starts at	$599 (256GB)	$500 (128GB)	$829 (256GB)	$599 (128GB)

How we test phones

Every phone CNET’s reviews team tests is used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode, and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily, as well as running a series of battery drain tests.