One Month With The iPhone 12 Mini
By: Benny Lim
Tags: Review, Iphone Review, iPhone, Iphone 12 Mini, Apple

Time passes by really quickly, doesn’t it? In just a short 10 days, the year 2020 as we know it will come to an end. Whether 2021 will be better or worse, we can only speculate at the moment. I can only pray and hope that it gets better.

Another thing that has passed by really quickly is the fact that I’ve now spent exactly a month on my iPhone 12 Mini.

I bought the 12 Mini on the 21st of November and after getting a case and screen protector for it, I popped in my sim card and started using it as my primary phone from the 22nd of November onwards. Today is the 22nd of December and thus marks an entire month that it has been used on a daily basis.

How then has it stacked up to all my previous iPhones over the years and what’s my verdict on it? Let’s find out!

What I like

I’ll start off with the things that I’ve really enjoyed most about the iPhone 12 Mini because let’s add positivity to our articles, why not?

Screen size and design

The best thing (for me, personally) has to be the 5.4-inch screen on the phone. If you’ve read my previous iPhone related articles, you’ll know by now that my favourite iPhone is the 5S in terms of size and design. That phone for me was THE perfect iPhone.

So, when Apple decided to go down the route of the bigger screens with the iPhone 6 and above, I was a little disappointed. Until today, I’ve never bothered to get the Plus or Max versions of any of the iPhones. The biggest screen size I’ve owned is the iPhone XR which had the 6.1-inch.

I was also never a fan of the rounded edges that Apple debuted with the iPhone 6. That’s why when they went back to the design of the flat edges with the iPhone 12 lineup and introduced the Mini, it was a no-brainer for me to get it.

Ever since day one of using it, I’ve loved how it feels in my hand. The ease of being able to type with just one hand, not worrying so much about it slipping out of my hand because I’m able to really grip it, and the ease of it fitting nicely in the pocket of my jeans/trousers, I really hope Apple never does away with this size (or design) ever again because I will want to keep upgrading to a new iPhone that’s similar in size to the Mini.

Honestly, if you already have an iPad or a MacBook, you really don’t need a big screen on your iPhone. Though it may not be as great for browsing the internet, watching movies or playing games, I find that the size is not that bad, to be honest. If you’ve been using a big screen before this (like I have), then you’ll need some getting used to but if you’re upgrading from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 8, it’s actually better.

And because it’s a smaller screen than that on the iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, but with the same OLED technology, everything appears so beautifully clear on it. The colours are vibrant, texts are crisp and sharp, and the details of everything that appears on its screen are just very clear.

This for me is the best feature of the Mini.

Small but powerful

It goes without saying that every single time Apple releases a new iPhone lineup, it comes with their latest and greatest technologies and the iPhone 12 lineup isn’t any different.

Packed with their latest Apple A14 Bionic chip, this phone is just super fast. And I mean SUPER fast.

Of course, it helps that it’s still new but I’ve not had any issues with any app not opening up. I’ve not had any issues with the phone crashing or restarting on its own. Apps open up really quickly and immediately available to use. If I’m to be honest, I don’t remember the iPhone XR being this quick when I first got it after it was released.

The fact that the iPad Air is also powered by the same chip, for it to be powering such a small device is just extraordinary.

Double the lense, double the quality

For someone who’s only had a single camera setup all these years, it’s not surprising that finally having a phone with at least a dual-lens setup excites me and that’s exactly how I feel with the 12 Mini’s camera.

Equipped with two 12MP cameras (one wide and one ultra-wide), pictures are sharp and clear. It’s also now able to record videos in 4K up to 60 fps and HDR video recording with Dolby Vision of up to 60 fps. That’s cinema-quality and you’re able to do that with such a tiny device.

I’ve not done much recording in 4K but the few that I’ve done (test videos) are just incredible in quality.

Honestly, if I ever have a work project (or just any video recording project) that requires me to shoot videos, I’m just going to use my 12 Mini to do all the recording because the cameras are just that good. Imagine just how much better it is on the 12 Pro series.

What I don’t like

Just with anything, there are pros and cons and the 12 Mini is no exception. As much as I’ve loved it, there are things that I’m not too happy about it (not many but there are a few) so here they are.

Battery

I’ll start with the obvious. Being a smaller phone and still packing all the awesome stuff of its bigger siblings, you can’t expect it to be exactly the same. Because of its size, the battery is obviously smaller in the 12 Mini and that really shows.

I won’t even compare it to its siblings. I’ll just compare it to my previous phone, the iPhone XR.

Just before I swapped the XR for the 12 Mini, I was easily getting a good 8–9 hours of usage with the XR on a daily basis. I would wake up and start my day with my battery level at 100%.

My average usage of my phone sees me mostly calling, messaging and some social media browsing. Very little video watching or internet browsing are done. At the end of the day (at around 8pm), I would still have around 40% with my XR while my 12 Mini would see me with around 20% which isn’t great but isn’t too bad.

Honestly, I have avenues to charge my phone most of the time, especially when I’m working from home or in the office. Even when I’m out and about, I have my trusted power bank with me that easily charges my 12 Mini from almost empty to full at least 3 times with a single full charge. So, I’m pretty covered in that sense.

Again, not ideal but with the size, not surprising.

I honestly have not much to complain about the iPhone 12 Mini except for the battery which I can fully accept because of how small it is. Aside from that, I’ve truly loved every single day that I’ve had with it over the past month and I can’t see myself hating it.

Honestly, I still think Apple should have made this phone the 2020 iPhone SE instead and just have 3 options for the iPhone 12 lineup which would be the regular iPhone 12, the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.

But in true Apple fashion, as long as it can squeeze every single penny out of you, they will and they know people will buy whatever product they release. The fact that new stock runs out really quickly the moment it comes in, despite being over a month since it launched shows how popular and in-demand these phones are.

However, if Apple were to ever release the 3rd-generation iPhone SE in the current iPhone 12 Mini design but with the price point of the current iPhone SE, you can bet it will be one of their best selling phones and yours truly will definitely be one of its owners.

Until that day arrives though, I will just continue to enjoy the joy that has been the iPhone 12 Mini. Didn’t regret getting it and after a month of using it, still don’t regret it.