iPhone 12 Mini Review: The New Ruler Of Small Smartphones

iPhones are rarely small. Before the iPhone 12 lineup was introduced, your only choice for a compact Apple handset is the iPhone SE. But it’s now a thing of the past as we have the iPhone 12 Mini.

Specs, Hardware, And Features

Apple has always been consistent with its phones. Apart from the smaller screen and battery that is the direct result of a more compact form factor, the rest of the iPhone 12 Mini is identical to iPhone 12.

The sharp edges suit the phone perfectly as to be able to shrink a phone down, Apple has to make every bit of space counts.

It isn’t what you see every day that a phone of this size and price range can have the specs of a handset belonging to the premium segment. The A14 chip found in its bigger, and more expensive siblings, also powers the iPhone 12 Mini, and with that, you have every reason to expect superb performance.

Users of this compact phone have Face ID, IP68 water resistance, seemingly indestructible Ceramic Shield, excellent haptics, and decent speakers.

Apple didn’t forget to tell its customers that the iPhone 12 Mini is currently the smallest handset offering a complete 5G package with support for both mmWave and Sub-6, as well as a global band network.

A Delightfully Small Phone

True to its name, the iPhone 12 Mini isn’t just small in comparison with the iPhone 12, which has a screen measuring 6.1 inches. It’s smaller than both iPhone SE and iPhone 8 and is among the smallest full-featured phones.

Fans of one-handed handsets will be super comfortable reaching all corners of the phone with just their thumb. This size means the smartphone can fit into pockets without even stretching the fabric.

The 5.4-inch display doesn’t feel cramped at all. iOS 14 looks just the same on this phone as on its bigger siblings. Users have all the usual grid and icons at their disposal, the only difference is they appear smaller.

Apps on the iPhone 12 Mini runs smoothly and snappily as on other members of the iPhone 12 series. Multi-tasking isn’t a problem as the phone can handle all of the day-to-day tasks with ease.

The size does take a toll on the immersion of viewing content and the real estate of the viewfinder. However, in both situations, the phone is perfectly functional. Plus, those who want an immersive viewing experience will shun the Mini in the first place.

However, the screen isn’t without a drawback. While Apple claims the display is the same as that of iPhone 12, there are instances when you will find the brightness isn’t as high as on its more expensive siblings.

Apart from that, everything else is superb, you have low reflectivity, accurate colors, crisp text, and good viewing angles.

Battery Life

Another aspect of the iPhone 12 Mini that comes under criticism is the battery life.

With light use, an average user can comfortably have up to 30% of juice left when they come back from work. However, that performance is insufficient for late evenings.

If you are one of the folks who glue to the phone most of the day, you might want to look elsewhere. However, those who do might know in the first place that their habit requires a larger phone.

The smaller battery does have a perk – it recharges quickly. With the 20W charger, it fills up 50% in half an hour.

Cameras

One of the best parts of getting the iPhone 12 Mini instead of the iPhone SE is that Apple didn’t sacrifice the cameras to be able to achieve a tiny body. On the rear, the camera setup makes up of a 12MP primary camera and a 12MP ultra-wide snapper.

With enough light, users get vibrant photos that have both warmth and pop. The amount of details and sharpness is excellent even with scenes that require extra processing.

In low light, the results are great as long as you have steady hands. And the selfie camera is also top-notch, in good lighting.

The greatness also expands to videos. You get 4K footage at 60FPS with plenty of colors and stabilization.

If you take lots of photos and videos, investing in the 128GB variant is a wise choice because the 64GB version may feel a bit cramped.

Sometimes you might miss the ability to 2X zoom, which is enabled by the iPhone 12 Pro. However, the rest of the setup is on par with the Pro model.

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