As an Android enthusiast, it’s easy to poke fun at the Apple iPhone 16e. Its spec sheet is underwhelming, and its price tag is hefty. The iPhone 16e is classic Apple, as it lacks plenty of features you’d expect for $600.
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However, while I disagree with Apple about the price, I envy iPhone users. I’d love an Android manufacturer to duplicate the same formula as the iPhone 16e and SE series before it. If Samsung were to repackage an old design like the Galaxy Note 4 with a 2025 spec sheet, I’d throw money at the company — and I think more than a few of you would, too.
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I understood the concept
The iPhone SE had a purpose
I liked the iPhone SE series. The third generation was a fantastic option for Apple buyers, packing ample power and iOS for under $450. I also didn’t mind the older form factor. I enjoyed the fact that the iPhone SE had a physical fingerprint reader and a smaller display. Apple fitted the iPhone SE with an A15 Bionic chipset, ensuring it could run the latest and greatest games and applications. An older design was a compromise worth making for powerful hardware under the hood at a lower price point.
An updated Galaxy Note 4 offers a chance to regain many fan-favorite features that Samsung phones have lost over the last few years.
An updated Galaxy Note 4 would provide a similar option for Samsung fans. I’d love to see a Snapdragon 8 Elite or a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside a Galaxy Note 4 shell with 12GB of RAM. It would give us fantastic performance in an older design, but the compromise would be worth it, especially if the price stayed between $500 and $600. I would consider picking up a hypothetical Galaxy Note 4 SE before looking at a phone like the Galaxy S24 FE. Companies often give us phones with compromised internals for less to get a newer design. Why not reverse the proposition?
It wouldn’t be all compromises
We’d pick up some features
An updated Galaxy Note 4 offers a chance to regain many fan-favorite features that Samsung phones have lost over the last few years. I’d love to see the notification LED return, as it’s still easier to read across a room than an always-on display. A removable battery would be excellent to get back in 2025, allowing us to swap out batteries on the go as needed. The return of a 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot would be a given, especially since a new, old design like an updated Note 4 wouldn’t be compromised by Samsung trying to make the phone thinner.
Not worrying about aesthetics, weight, and thickness would allow Samsung to add back other features lost over the years. I’d enjoy seeing MST put back in a Galaxy phone for payments on legacy credit card machines. Thicker front bezels allow room for the iris scanner to return, improving the phone’s biometrics. I’d be pushing my luck, but I’m sure a phone that size could also add back the charging coils for a Bluetooth S pen with Air Actions — a guy can dream.
A Samsung equivalent to the iPhone 16e solves problems
Galaxy awkwardness is catching up to Samsung
The Galaxy S25 Ultra highlights a significant problem for Samsung. When the Galaxy Note was discontinued, enthusiasts were left without a home. Most eventually moved to the Galaxy S22 Ultra when the S pen returned, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra drove home the point that the Galaxy Note is gone forever. Galaxy S users don’t want to buy a Note, and Galaxy Note users don’t want to buy a Galaxy S — no one is happy.
Samsung has a chance to write a love letter to all the enthusiasts it has left behind. A Galaxy equivalent to the iPhone 16e would quiet some criticisms and offer a niche device that wouldn’t interfere with its regular Galaxy S line releases. Casual smartphone users browsing through their carrier stores wouldn’t be affected and could still buy phones like the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Still, hardcore users who want legacy features and designs will finally have a home on a device eligible for current software updates and features.
Apple might be on to something with the iPhone 16e
I disagree with Apple’s pricing for the iPhone 16e. However, the phone makes sense from a certain point of view for a particular customer. Similarly, I know there would be Samsung fans so turned off by the company’s modern devices that they’d pay decent money for an older design with updated specs.
Some users stick with older devices or underpowered midrange phones because they want to retain features like a microSD card slot. Samsung has a chance to bring them back into the fold with a newer device that would offer the power and performance of a flagship model at a lower price, with the only compromise being an older design. I know I’d sign up for that trade-off, and I’m sure plenty of you would, too
