The Apple iPhone 16e went on sale on Friday after a week of pre-orders and we will see some alternatives (in addition to the ones we looked at last week). But let’s start with interesting Android deals first.
Amazon is still offering $200 gift cards with every 256GB Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Best Buy has a better offer – a free storage upgrade to 512GB (so it’s the same price as the 256GB model) and an $80 gift card.
Amazon does have the better Samsung Galaxy S25+ deal, a storage upgrade to 512GB for just $20 and a $50 gift card that you can use to buy a case or something.
For the Samsung Galaxy S25, the two retailers have different deals but both are interesting. Best Buy offers a $50 discount for a nearly free storage upgrade to 256GB (it costs just $10). Amazon, meanwhile, charges the full $860 for the 256GB model, but gives you a $100 gift card.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (256GB) is $500 off, making it just $100 more than the S25 Ultra (512GB). That’s with less storage but a more exciting form factor.
Here’s a great deal on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL with a big caveat. The 128GB model is the lowest that we’ve seen it yet, just $800. Now for the caveat – the discount is only for the 128GB model, so if you need more storage, you are looking at a much higher price tag.
The RedMagic 10 Pro is a gaming flagship with interesting features – an air-cooled Snapdragon 8 Elite and a 6.85” 144Hz OLED display with an under display camera and no excessive corner rounding. And it has a massive 7,050mAh battery. Note that this phone will receive only 2 OS updates. Still, $637 is a great price for a Snapdragon 8 Elite phone, especially one with such unique features. Note that the 16/512GB is pricey, but that’s partially because it is the transparent model.
Another value-for-money offering that focuses on performance is the OnePlus 12R – a $400 price tag buys you a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and a 6.78” 120Hz LTPO display (and a 5,500mAh battery too).
The OnePlus 13R has no discount, so it’s $200 more. That buys you a newer chipset (8 Gen 3), a 50MP 2x telephoto camera (a first for the R-series) and a 500mAh bump in battery capacity thanks to Si/C tech.
Alright, let’s look at the iPhone 16e situation. The phone is now available and will cost you $600 for a 128GB model and $700 for the 256GB model.
You could get an Apple iPhone 14 for $30 more than that at the same storage capacities. What you are giving up is performance (Apple A15 vs. A18) and the 48MP camera with in-sensor 2x zoom. And you’ll have to live with Lightning cables, unless you switch to MagSafe. What you gain is MagSafe (which is more convenient than 16e’s magnet-less charging), a 12MP ultra-wide camera and UWB.
For $50 more, you can also get the iPhone 14 Plus, which is similar to the 14, except with a larger 6.7” display (vs. 6.1” on the 14 and 16e) and a larger battery (4,323mAh).
If you are okay with refurbished phones, an iPhone 14 with 256GB storage can be yours for $500 ($230 less than a new unit). Or you can get an iPhone 14 Plus for $580, but this one only has 128GB storage.
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