All posts

iPhone 12 Mini 1 Month Later

9:58 video

It’s been about four weeks since the iPhone 12 mini was released, the smaller sibling to the iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. Right off the top: the iPhone 12 mini is now my favorite iPhone ever.

What it has and doesn’t have

  • Chip: the same super-fast A14 Bionic as every iPhone 12 (six CPU cores, a 4-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine), faster than last year’s A13. It can handle any iOS app.
  • Display: a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR display with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, True Tone, P3 wide color and 625 nits. That’s not amazing next to the Pro’s 800, but I haven’t had issues seeing it in the sun. It does win on pixel density: 476 ppi vs. 460 and 458 on the others.
  • Cameras: the same wide and ultra wide cameras as the 12 and 12 Pro. I’m not a pro photographer, but the pictures came out great outside and in low light. When the ultra wide arrived last year, I was skeptical, but it captures very different photos and helps in small spaces; I used it more than the zoom on my iPhone 11 Pro, so I’m OK without a zoom lens (apparently Apple switches to the main camera when zooming in low light anyway).
  • What it lacks vs. the Pro: Apple ProRAW (which I wouldn’t know how to edit), LiDAR, and it’s limited to 30 fps for HDR Dolby Vision video (which most people couldn’t view anyway). It also has the smaller battery, and 4 GB of RAM vs. 6 GB, which I can’t notice in any use.

The size

I love the size: it’s so compact and light compared to the 12 Pro that it almost feels like plastic when you pick it up after a larger phone (the smaller battery, and an aluminum rather than stainless steel frame). But it doesn’t feel cheap: solid and perfectly weighted. I worried the smaller screen would bother me: Apple kept the same scaled resolution, so a webpage shows the same amount of content on the 6.1 and 5.4-inch displays, just a tad smaller. It doesn’t bother me, even though my eyes suck, and if I need to pull it closer, it’s lighter.

The flat sides help grip (more finger surface area), and it feels secure in my not-so-big hands. I can reach three of the four corners with my thumb, so one-handed typing and gestures are possible again; I just can’t reach the corner opposite my thumb without a second hand.

Matte vs. shiny

The 12 Pro has a matte back with shiny sides; the 12 mini has a shiny back and matte sides. Matte surfaces are a bit more slippery to me, so when I pick it up from a table I squeeze a little harder, and it’s slipped a few times.

Going caseless

I tried caseless because I like how compact it is: no phone bulge in my pocket, and it fits my truck’s phone holder. But it slipped off my pants while I was sitting outside and landed on concrete (there’s a little dent), so I decided on a case.

  • The Totallee clear case (see my video) isn’t slippery like Apple’s clear case, and its buttons feel really good.
  • I also bought another Apple Silicone case. I’d planned on (PRODUCT)RED but was convinced to buy Kumquat, which pairs well with the blue iPhone. It eliminates the slippery-sides issue, doesn’t pick up much lint, barely adds bulk and works with MagSafe charging and wallets.

Battery

A smaller phone has a smaller battery, and a heavy user may not get the life they want. Yesterday I got up around 6:30 AM and went to bed around 10:30 PM with 10% left, with 8 hours of screen-on time from a mix of Teams calls, YouTube, Twitter, browsing, news and a podcast, without topping off. That’s pretty dang good for this size. With a charger at your desk and topping off once or twice a day, you should be fine. If I still worked at an office, my 40-minute commute each way would charge it; at home, I toss it on my desktop Samsung Qi charger between meetings.

Verdict

The biggest draw is the size: it’s nice to move to a smaller device after years of slight increases. I’ve used every size from the original iPhone to Plus-sized iPhones, and from the HTC Legend to the Galaxy S9+. For people with smaller hands or pockets, or who don’t need the Pro features, it’s a great device. If you can’t spend time near a charger, look at the 12 or 12 Pro for a couple of extra hours of battery. For my use, there’s no advantage to the Pro except battery, which is a strange thing to admit after years of using the best phones. I purposely left out 5G, because who really benefits right now? Is the size of the 12 mini a benefit or a disadvantage? Would you prefer a smaller device for your next phone? See my unboxing video for more.

In this video

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. See my ethics statement.

Watch on YouTube

Keep reading

Related posts