Apple launched four new iPhone models this fall, but only one is worth upgrading.
Despite being the smallest flagship iPhone since the iPhone 5, the iPhone 12 Mini is a device for stealing scenes and one of the best phones Apple has ever produced.
It’s a welcome respite from the years of “bigger is better” maximalism in which Apple has leaned, which has left customers like me melancholy over the previous days, when smaller phones talked about the city.
Having owned an iPhone 4, 6, 8, XS and 11 Pro over the years, this reporter can safely name the iPhone 12 Mini as my favorite. It has some drawbacks, but overall, the Mini is on the head and shoulders above the rest.
While smaller phones typically have worse features than their larger counterparts, the iPhone 12 Mini is virtually identical to the iPhone 12. It has the same front-facing cameras, the same OLED display, the same materials, and the same construction and the same 5G antennas. It even has the same cutting-edge processors as the 12 and 12 Pro models, making it as fast and responsive as any iPhone you can buy.
The only notable difference is the size, as the Mini features a 5.4-inch screen compared to the huge 6.1-inch screen of the 12. Changing my iPhone 11 Pro for the mini immediately crystallized a which I suspected for a long time: my last two phones were too big. Not only is it possible to reach all four corners of the screen without adjusting its grip, but the 135-gram Mini is 30% lighter than the 188-gram 11 Pro.
No one would ever accuse an older iPhone of being heavy, but after more than a month of using the Mini, I found the slight annoying discomfort in my hands and wrists, which I had long attributed to a habit of Twitter and text message addiction. .
The pocket capacity is also drastically improved and it’s good to be able to slide the phone into the front pants pocket without creating a huge bulge or seeing it come out of the top. Similarly, grabbing your phone with one hand to take photos and send text messages feels safer than years ago.
However, there are some trade-offs for size. While it’s more comfortable to hold and use, the Mini is definitely less enjoyable to view photos. Sometimes the smaller screen can be narrow, especially for those who have become accustomed to larger phones. I came across the phone less to look at photos and videos and opted to do it on my computer.
The battery life of the Mini has nothing to write about, as adapting the same components, chips, and antennas to the smaller body requires Apple to reduce the battery size. While it’s brand new, the Mini’s battery lasts significantly less than even my one-year-old iPhone 11 Pro. While my old iPhone would take me until 8 or 9pm without warning me of low battery, the Mini will get me until 6pm or so.
It’s not a breaker in any way, and settings like keeping the mode dark can help extend battery life, but it’s something to know for advanced users running intensive apps on their phones throughout the day.
5G, which Apple has incessantly boasted about, isn’t widespread enough to take into account decision-making for someone at the fence about a new phone. Aside from the form factor change, the phone isn’t noticeably faster than its predecessor, even when it says it’s on a high-speed network.
At $ 729, the Mini isn’t cheap, but it looks like a direct bargain alongside the $ 829 iPhone 12 and the $ 999 iPhone 12 Pro. Reducing my monthly payments and at the same time reducing wrist discomfort is a welcome development after getting used to bigger and more expensive Apple products.
With the iPhone 12, Apple has extended an olive branch to users with smaller hands, smaller pockets or those who just don’t want a giant smartphone. Hopefully the Mini form factor is here to stay.