The newest member of the iPhone family is the iPhone 16e, a new model that packs many of the capabilities of the existing iPhone 16 models but at a lower price and with some feature compromises. The more budget-friendly iPhone 16e, though, actually has one big advantage over its more expensive sibling.Battery life on iPhone 16e is a big feature advantageApples iPhone 16 comes with a variety of advantages over the new 16e model, such as the Dynamic Island, Camera Control, MagSafe support, and more.However, theres one key spec where the iPhone 16e has an advantage.Battery life on the cheaper model is actually significantly better than the already strong iPhone 16s performance.Per Apples website, heres the expected battery life for each model:iPhone 16e: Up to 26 hours video playbackiPhone 16: Up to 22 hours video playbackVideo playback is one of Apples standard ways to measure battery life these days. It doesnt necessarily mean your device will run that long, since we all do a variety of different things on our iPhones that drain the battery to different degrees.However, this benchmark at least shows how the new iPhone 16e gets nearly 20% better battery performance than its more expensive counterpart.Apple attributes this gain to the iPhone 16es new C1 modem. This Apple-design 5G modem is the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone. Thus, Apple is able to get better battery life in its testing than the iPhone 16 gets, despite the two models having other comparable components.Battery life is one of the most important features on an iPhone, so its nice to see the more affordable iPhone 16e be so strong in this area.Are you surprised by the iPhone 16es battery life beating the iPhone 16? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel