iPhone 17 vs iPhone 17e

Apple's iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e sit side by side at the accessible end of the range, and they share more than their names suggest — the same core chip, the same 256 GB starting storage and the same wireless charging. The 17e is the cheaper "e" model, built to hit a lower price by trimming a handful of features. The question is whether those cuts matter to you, or whether the savings are the smarter buy. Here is how they compare, drawn from independent expert reviews of each, with current UK prices.

At a glance

The iPhone 17 (around £799.00) is the fuller phone: a bigger, much smoother 120 Hz screen, a second rear camera, the pill-shaped Dynamic Island and a slightly quicker chip. The iPhone 17e (around £599.00) keeps the important part — nearly the same everyday speed — plus MagSafe and generous storage, while giving up the high-refresh screen and the ultra-wide camera to save £200. If raw value matters most, the 17e is tempting; if you want the modern iPhone experience, the 17 is worth the extra.

Check the iPhone 17 price on Amazon · Check the iPhone 17e price on Amazon

Design and screen

This is the biggest gap between them. The iPhone 17 finally brings a 120 Hz ProMotion screen to the standard model — a genuinely overdue upgrade — on a 6.3-inch OLED panel that also hits an eye-searing 3000 nits of peak brightness, making it as readable in sunlight as the pricier Pro. It carries the Dynamic Island and Apple's tougher Ceramic Shield 2 front glass, and at around 8 mm thick it stays easy to pocket.

The iPhone 17e keeps a smaller 6.1-inch OLED and, crucially, sticks at 60 Hz. Reviewers were clear that a 60 Hz screen is starting to feel dated at this price, and the 17e also keeps the older notch rather than the Dynamic Island, with no always-on display. Day to day the 17e's screen is perfectly sharp and well calibrated; it just lacks the fluidity and the modern look of the 17. If the screen is what you stare at all day, the 17 pulls clearly ahead.

Performance

Here the two are remarkably close, which is the 17e's trump card. Both run Apple's A19 chip, built on a 3 nm process. The only difference is the graphics: the iPhone 17 gets the full five-core GPU, while the 17e uses a four-core version. In practice both feel fast and fluid, sail through everyday tasks and handle games well; the 17 has a little more headroom for the most demanding graphics, but the 17e is no slouch and matches the 17 for general speed. Both come with 8 GB of RAM and start at 256 GB of storage.

Cameras

The camera is the other meaningful cut. The iPhone 17 has a dual rear system: a 48-megapixel main camera (f/1.6, with sensor-shift stabilisation) that can also crop in to a 2x zoom of about 50 mm with little loss of detail, joined by a 48-megapixel ultra-wide, so you can go wide for landscapes and groups. Its front camera is an 18-megapixel sensor.

The iPhone 17e drops to a single 48-megapixel rear camera — the same high-resolution main sensor, with optical stabilisation, but no ultra-wide at all, and a 12-megapixel selfie camera. For everyday shots in good light the two main cameras are close, but the 17's ultra-wide gives it far more versatility. If you shoot landscapes, architecture or group photos, the 17 is the better tool; if you only ever use the main camera, the 17e loses little.

Battery, charging and MagSafe

Both are comfortable all-day phones. Apple quotes around 30 h of video playback for the iPhone 17, and the 17e carries a 4005 mAh battery that easily lasts a full day; both support fast charging — roughly 50% in around half an hour with a 20 W adapter (not included in the box). The headline here is that the 17e finally brings back MagSafe, with Qi2 wireless charging up to 15 W; it is the first affordable Apple phone to include the magnets, and reviewers welcomed it warmly. On charging and magnetic accessories, the two are effectively level.

Storage and features

One of the 17e's best moves is storage: it starts at 256 GB, double the outgoing model at the same launch price, and matches the iPhone 17's 256 GB base. Both run iOS 26 and share Apple's ecosystem features. The iPhone 17 does add a couple of extras the 17e goes without — most notably it feels the more complete, modern device — but on core storage and software the two are well matched.

Price and verdict

At the time of writing the iPhone 17 is around £799.00 and the iPhone 17e around £599.00, a £200 gap that frames the whole decision.

Buy the iPhone 17 if you want the complete modern iPhone: the 120 Hz ProMotion screen, the brighter and larger display, the second ultra-wide camera and the Dynamic Island. It is the better all-rounder, and the smoother screen alone justifies the step up for many people.

Buy the iPhone 17e if value is your priority. You keep almost all of the iPhone 17's real-world speed, gain MagSafe and 256 GB of storage, and give up mainly the high-refresh screen and the ultra-wide camera. If you can live with a 60 Hz display and a single camera, it is a lot of iPhone for £200 less — a genuinely sensible choice rather than a compromise.