QuoteApple's new budget wonder weapon against the competition: Apple iPhone 16e review
When your "budget" phone is US$600, then no. That's like saying a Tesla 3 is a "budget" car. It's cheap compared to the rest of the Tesla line - it might even be competitive with the other EVs out there... but most people can only afford an ICE sedan at half the price.
The average new cellphone price world-wide is around US$400. And that's just the average, a lot of people buy below that. Apple literally removed themselves from that market entirely when the dumped the SE for the 16e, and let's face it, they weren't even seriously in that market with the SE.
Let's call this what it is: a cheaper iPhone. It's "midrange" at best and upper midrange that that.
But "budget," unless you're relatively well off and don't mind being locked into one company for your products, it is not.