The iPhone 12 mini has undoubtedly been one of the models that attracted the most attention in its presentation. The reason? The possibility that it offers to have a next- generation iPhone in a size that many miss in today’s telephony. But is everything as nice as it seems? I will discover it below.
iPhone 12 mini: not for everyone
That the iPhone 12 mini is very small is something that has been repeated ad nauseam, although it is true that deep down … it is not so incredibly small. What happens that for some time this afternoon we have gotten used to phones so big that now it seems tiny. The iPhone 12 mini is really like an iPhone SE, to give you an idea, only now it is a little more compact without giving up having more screen.
And is that what you find now is a better use of the front . If you remember correctly, the iPhone SE 2020 has horrible stripes in the upper and lower area that greatly tarnish the frontal experience. In the iPhone 12 mini they disappear completely, thus giving way to a larger screen that greatly improves the experience when viewing content. It still does not disappear, yes, the notch , which is that it is also exactly the same size as in its older brothers. That means that here it takes up even more, leaving less space on the visible screen sides.
As for the performance of the panel, it is fantastic. We are talking about an OLED-type Super Retina XDR screen with Full HD resolution, more than enough to enjoy images of good quality and definition . At the same time it is also true that on a phone of this size you are not going to consume much multimedia content, since it does not exactly invite you to spend a lot of time watching it, watching a series or playing games.
This inevitably leads to another reflection and it is about your processor. As you well know, this phone has the same chip inside it ( A14 Bionic ) as the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, so I feel that perhaps here, precisely because of the user profile to which it goes dedicated to this phone, its great potential is going to be wasted a bit .
Beyond this, the other fundamental aspect to point out is that of the battery. And, of course, a “mini” size generally also carries a “mini” battery . In this sense, this iPhone is going to last you practically a day; never more of that, maybe even less. As always, the use you give it will determine this assessment: not too intense browsing, consulting social networks, online all day connected and watching some videos or taking some photos, will result in you perhaps reaching your nightstand with a small percentage, which you will necessarily have to load.
If you raise the bar in this regard, and put more work into it, you may even need the plug earlier than expected. Be that as it may, you have to be clear: you are going to have to charge it practically every night, yes or yes.
As for the rest of the specifications, I will not delve into them because they are traced to those of the iPhone 12, of which I already told you my impressions (also with video) recently. This 12 mini has from the same processor to the same design (and finish), going through the same version of the operating system or through the cameras, which are also the same (and therefore take the same photos). The phrase “it is the iPhone 12 but smaller” could not therefore be more representative: it really is a high-end packed into a smaller body.
In any case, I did not want to end this review without commenting on two details that may not be talked about too much. The first has to do with the speakers. Look at the image you have under these lines. As you can see, the iPhone 12 mini -top phone- has fewer holes in the area of the speakers than its brothers, and, although obviously we have not opened them to buy them, it is to be expected that the sound unit will be smaller in the mini than in his brothers. This, as you will walk, suspecting translates into a somewhat less powerful sound. The difference is not very big, everything has to be said, but exist, it exists.
The second thing I wanted to sign up for you has to do with its accessories. As you know, among the new proposals that Apple launched to take advantage of its Magsafe, there is a rather original card holder that is placed on the back of the new iPhone. If you were wondering if the accessory works for the mini, I confirm that it does. It is millimetrically measured to fit your body and although I personally don’t like it because it takes up too much of the back of the phone (I prefer how it looks on larger iPhones), it is still an option to consider for those who are thinking of acquiring it. .
Buy the iPhone 12 mini, yes or no?
The iPhone 12 mini is a good phone, but it has limitations that you should be aware of. Returning to a terminal that you can operate with one hand is a fantastic experience – do you remember what that was? -, but by doing so you forgo the comfort of a large screen to watch videos (something that we consume more and more frequently) or even to play.
Everything is very compact and very manageable, but you will also have to accept that the autonomy is not that extensive. The battery of the iPhones is never that it has excelled, but here it returns to the standard of some time ago: to be thankful that it reaches the end of the day. Little more.
For the rest, it is a smartphone at a very Apple price (we are talking about a high starting cost of 809 euros, almost double that of the iPhone SE 2020) and that allows you to have the “iPhone 12” experience (in performance, cameras , etc.) in an extremely compact format. Personally I prefer to spend 100 euros more on the iPhone 12 and not give up the screen and battery, but if these aspects are not so vital for you, this is undoubtedly your phone.