iPhone 12 mini Considering iPhone 12 Mini

[Sarbun96]

Hi guys, I'm notorious for chopping and changing my technology and this is the latest chapter... seeking your input.

Coming from a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (had it nearly a month and it's a great phone in ways the iPhone isn't) , and before that, having had an iPhone XR in glorious yellow ... now I'm thinking of going for an iPhone 12 Mini.

Why? Well the Samsung is great. And I planned to use it as a desktop / tablet with pen / phone all in one with DeX but it's simply just not a desktop experience and the apps lack too much. And I miss the Apple ecosystem too, truth be told. It's true that whilst Android (and W10) are better than ever and more 'apple like' than ever, they're simply not as thoughtfully baked or smooth. Also, I don't know if it's the phone of lack of daylight from WFH, but I've got a bit of a headache from what might be the OLED screen? Did they make the 12 mini OLED or LED like the XR was?

Coming back to Apple is more about getting a Mac. So I thought maybe about getting an SE, cheap, will last a few years, good performance and all that... but having had an XR and enjoying Face ID and a decent camera (for its time) I think going back to the old format might be way too hard.

But the 12 Mini will be current for a year, and still very good experience for another 3 until the next major jump in future models I presume, so it might be worth biting the bullet now and buying it outright? £700 is not much more than the £400 for the SE, but for the difference, I'm getting one of the best cameras instead of one that's arguably ancient in tech terms, '5G' ready (though it doesnt matter to me or my area yet), an OLED / better screen, Face ID ... it seems like I'll regret the old tech for longer than I'll feel the hard pill to swallow in my bank balance..

What do you think - and recommend me a colour? I loved yellow on the XR but I might go either black or white this time. i like the blue, but only if it had glossy sides. The green is just not me sadly (it's too pale).

 

[Apple_Robert]

Unless you are willing to charge during the day when needed, the mini isn’t for heavy users (eg. people on their phone all the time with social media, videos, and everything else). If you are a light to moderate phone user, the mini may work very well for you.

 

[Sarbun96]

Unless you are willing to charge during the day when needed, the mini isn’t for heavy users (eg. people on their phone all the time with social media, videos, and everything else). If you are a light to moderate phone user, the mini may work very well for you.

Hello, well currently I'm using this Note 20 Ultra for everything and it's well known (Exynos 990 chip) to be horrific for battery. But WFH and even in the office it'd be docked all day, so maybe I'd be fine with the 12 mini? But if that's what comes to mind I'm sensing the 12 mini is the worst of them all battery wise? Hopefully not to 'it's a joke' extent though?

The XR was, to me, the most impressive phone battery wise I've ever owned and I know at the time the reviews said so. So I'd not quite feel that way with the Mini?

Note: also when I'm on a long day out I drive so have the car charging option and a mobile battery in a backpack when walking so maybe I can overlook this - but its interesting to hear

 

[Apple_Robert]

The mini is a great phone. It does have the smallest battery of the new released phones. If you use the phone a lot and have easy access to power, you may enjoy the mini just fine.

I can easily go 1.5 days on my phone. At the same time, my Screen time is about an hour a day. I use my iPad Pro for most everything.

 

[snipr125]

Op, both the iPhone SE and iPhone 12 mini are great phones (I got both) but you need to be realistic about your usage as these phones are not designed for heavy media consumption like Apple Robert said. With light to moderate use you can get 1.5 days out of them in between charge. The best feature about them though is the light weight, compact and one handed use. The 12 mini in particular gives you most of the flagship features of the 12 range, however you should test out the OLED screen first to see if it gives you PWM issues, as you stated the OLED in your Note 20 ultra gives you headaches. You won’t get this with the SE, which is a solid, robust, tried and tested design even though some call it ‘old tech’.

 

[yticolev]

Yes, the Mini has an OLED screen. And yes, some are sensitive to the PWM controlling brightness. Some long threads here. Some previously sensitive find some of the 12 models don't affect them, and some find they do.

Sometimes I play a rather power hungry game on my Mini, usually spend an hour or two a day streaming audio, about an hour and a half on various tasks with screen on. I charge for about an hour a day on 5 watt charger (I time it so I don't forget to unplug), or similar time in car (I don't drive daily, but when I do, I plug into USB). If I was working, I might have to plug in overnight and start at 100%, but for the last month, I've never plugged in at night. First cell phone ever that I've not plugged in at night, starting with dumb phones 20 years ago.

So I think battery life is fine. And I think all older iPhone users except those coming from Max models will find that it lasts as long or better than prior phones.

 

[1rottenapple]

I went from Xs max, to 12 pro max, to mini. When I’m streaming YouTube a lot, that’s when my battery get low so late afternoon I’ll charge. But again I stream when I’m at home where power is plenty. I don’t stream unless I’m driving in my car again I’m charging.

When I start working at the office again my commute will let me charge so I don’t see battery life as an issue. Also note that because the battery is smaller charging is faster. Fast charging is lightning quick compared to the larger iPhones like my xs max took long. My PD charger brought my battery pack from 38% to 78% in 20 mins or so.

Given the above I still enjoy the mini more and I knew what the battery issues were. I’d love for there to be a sequel with great battery life. One handed use is such a pleasure.

 

[Joho2078]

Don't do it man

 

[asleep]

The Mini is the bees knees.

If I were to venture away from my standard space gray, I might go with this combination...

 

[MartyvH]

From a Note 20 Ultra? Watch the size and battery! But I have a clear conscience about these aspects and am a moderate user. The compactness and lightness is worth charging once a day like I do my 12 mini. But you...? I adore my 12 mini and am sticking to it, but still if you can afford to chop and change, then go for it. This is my third iPhone and tenth smartphone.

The green is my runner-up colour. I have a blue 12 mini but I would buy a green iPad Air.

 

[thettareddast]

Also note that because the battery is smaller charging is faster.

The smaller battery does not charge faster. 1W is 1W.

If you have a small fuel tank, and a large fuel tank, and use the same fueling station and nozzle...the fueling rate doesn't change.

The smaller tank gets to its full state more quickly...because it holds less stuff. You still have the same energy content, after a unit of time.

 

[1rottenapple]

k that’s what I meant I misspoke. Reach a higher percentage quicker since smaller battery

 

[Apple_Robert]

Don't do it man

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

 

[Sarbun96]

Op, both the iPhone SE and iPhone 12 mini are great phones (I got both) but you need to be realistic about your usage as these phones are not designed for heavy media consumption like Apple Robert said. With light to moderate use you can get 1.5 days out of them in between charge. The best feature about them though is the light weight, compact and one handed use. The 12 mini in particular gives you most of the flagship features of the 12 range, however you should test out the OLED screen first to see if it gives you PWM issues, as you stated the OLED in your Note 20 ultra gives you headaches. You won’t get this with the SE, which is a solid, robust, tried and tested design even though some call it ‘old tech’.

I had the original SE, and at the time came from a 6 Plus (which I loved, only it was a 16GB model which ruined its usefulness to me). It was a great phone and I only replaced it for an XR when I botched a DIY screen repair and damaged the connector on its logic board lol My only concern stepping down to that new SE is not so much the 'letterbox' screen having been used to the new style on the XR of thinner bezels all around, but more so things like my photos being crappier quality than the XR. Especially now enjoying the N20Ultra with it's flaghship tier camera from 2020, you know? As for Face ID i can live without that in the age of face masks, in fact I've enjoyed the fingerprint reader on the N20Ultra to be honest. BUT, getting the SE would enable me to go for a better spec Mac which I'm also planning on buying at the same time. I can't be 110% sure the N20U is giving me the headache of if it's the time of year, or maybe I'm just stuck inside too much this winter looking at devices too much in general. But I am scared that I'm one of those people and unsure what I'll do down the line when all of Apple's lineup is OLED frankly The XR and 11 aren't enough cheaper than the 12 mini to make them worth a consideration IMO, especially with the older chips.

The idea is that I'll be on my Mac most of the time, and when I'm out I'll not be stuck on the phone in general, just need it to reliably work for me like any iPhone I've had does, connect to my car for music, not lag or let me down, take a lot of photos of things I do in life, etc. Technically the SE does do all of that - out of interest, which iPhone camera does it have, the iPhone 8's?

I didn't struggle more than a day going from 6Plus to SE back in 2017, in fact the coolness and utility of the 6 Plus at the time was outweighed by the easy to type and conveniently easy to hold SE! So the Mini size / SE being smaller than the XR isn't an issue.

One more note on the PWM thing, unlike with my Note 20, this won't be a replacement for a phone and tablet and computer (that's why I bought the Note - one 'ultimate' device with a desktop mode). So whichever phone I get will pretty much be sitting on a 5W wireless charger all day and here in Northern Ireland they've just announced yet another 6 week lockdown so I suppose I won't be staring at the OLED screen constantly, as I somewhat have been with the Note 20 Ultra... maybe that's a reason to go 12 mini?

 

[scgf]

I thought I'd like the 12 mini, having been used to phones with smaller screens. I bought it and didn't like it. What Apple has done is simply miniaturise the UI, just like photocopying an A4 page to A5. That's it. I have a few old phones which I booted up just to see how it was done on other platforms. Two Nokia Lumias and a Nexus 5. These phones have smaller displays than the mini but, especially in the case of the Lumias, a lot more thought had gone into making everything on screen readable - from the choice and weight of fonts and font size. No problem at all. By simply miniaturising the iOS GUI Apple has ensured that in certain areas the fonts are tiny. I hear people saying their eyes are great and they can read what's on-screen but I would suggest they wouldn't find it comfortable reading a physical book printed in a size 4 font. Yes, you might be able to read it, but there's more to it than that.

Enabling zoom is hopeless - many apps didn't work properly and I got black bars top and bottom. It looked terrible. Increasing font size was better, but it only worked in certain apps so the overall experience was rather inconsistent.

I returned the mini and bought a 12 in its place. So much better for me. At least I tried.

 

[Phone Junky]

I thought I'd like the 12 mini, having been used to phones with smaller screens. I bought it and didn't like it. What Apple has done is simply miniaturise the UI, just like photocopying an A4 page to A5. That's it. I have a few old phones which I booted up just to see how it was done on other platforms. Two Nokia Lumias and a Nexus 5. These phones have smaller displays than the mini but, especially in the case of the Lumias, a lot more thought had gone into making everything on screen readable - from the choice and weight of fonts and font size. No problem at all. By simply miniaturising the iOS GUI Apple has ensured that in certain areas the fonts are tiny. I hear people saying their eyes are great and they can read what's on-screen but I would suggest they wouldn't find it comfortable reading a book printed in a size 4 font. Yes, you might be able to read it, but there's more to it than that.

Enabling zoom is hopeless - many apps didn't work properly and I got black bars top and bottom. It looked terrible. Increasing font size was better, but it only worked in certain apps so the overall experience was rather inconsistent.

I returned the mini and bought a 12 in its place. So much better for me. At least I tried.

Here is my 12 Mini next to an 8 Plus. Not really seeing that big of a difference as far as text size.


Here is Mini compared to 11 Pro. Again, not much of a difference.


I would never try to read a book on any phone. I guess if you're going to spend hour after hour staring at your phone, the small difference in text might make a difference. For how I use my phone, I really see no difference and my eyes aren't great. I wear glasses.

 

[kyte]

By simply miniaturising the iOS GUI Apple has ensured that in certain areas the fonts are tiny. I hear people saying their eyes are great and they can read what's on-screen but I would suggest they wouldn't find it comfortable reading a book printed in a size 4 font. Yes, you might be able to read it, but there's more to it than that.

Enabling zoom is hopeless - many apps didn't work properly and I got black bars top and bottom. It looked terrible. Increasing font size was better, but it only worked in certain apps so the overall experience was rather inconsistent.

Oh dear. I was planning to get a mini, but, I’m getting old and finding that my eyes don’t work as well as they once did... I have adjusted font sizes on my SE2, but still have problems at times. I guess its going to be a 12Pro or 12, then. Sighhhh. I was so looking forward to having a smaller phone (dimensionally speaking). Thanks for your insights!

 

[scgf]

Here is my 12 Mini next to an 8 Plus. Not really seeing that big of a difference as far as text size.

I would never try to read a book on any phone. I guess if you're going to spend hour after hour staring at your phone, the small difference in text might make a difference. For how I use my phone, I really see no difference and my eyes aren't great. I wear glasses.

This is the problem. When users want to push their choice they can always make a good case, whether it's phones, computers, cars or anything else. It's the reality that's important though. I in my early 60s, I wear contacts and my corrected vision is great for reading, but I found the mini to be uncomfortable. The 12 much less so. It was like when you're in the supermarket and there's a nutrition label in a tiny font. You go through an exaggerated blinking process to engage your eyes in macro mode and it can be headache inducing. Only you can see through your eyes.

In any case, I wasn't talking about reading a book on a phone - I just extrapolated that even people who appear to love the small fonts wouldn't go so far as reading a paper book printed in a size 4 or 5 font. I originally bought the mini because of posts like yours and I made a big mistake. Thank goodness for Apple's generous returns policy.

 

[panthro100]

128GB 6s Plus to a 256GB iPhone mini, had it 2 weeks, all good, enjoying the size, fine for general browsing, have watched the odd bit of Netflix on it.

 

[scgf]

Oh dear. I was planning to get a mini, but, I’m getting old and finding that my eyes don’t work as well as they once did... I have adjusted font sizes on my SE2, but still have problems at times. I guess its going to be a 12Pro or 12, then. Sighhhh. I was so looking forward to having a smaller phone (dimensionally speaking). Thanks for your insights!

No problem, as I said earlier I'm getting old too, and even though my eyes are corrected by contacts, I still struggled to feel comfortable engaging with the iPhone mini. I wanted a smaller format, but really the 12 isn't bad. I bought the blue one with an Apple leather case and it seems smaller than the 11Pro I had previously since the sides are nice and flat. It slips into pockets of trousers, jeans and shorts and weighs a lot less than the 11Pro too.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Oh dear. I was planning to get a mini, but, I’m getting old and finding that my eyes don’t work as well as they once did... I have adjusted font sizes on my SE2, but still have problems at times. I guess its going to be a 12Pro or 12, then. Sighhhh. I was so looking forward to having a smaller phone (dimensionally speaking). Thanks for your insights!

It isn’t logical to use one random stranger’s personal preference as a reason not to try the iPhone 12 mini.

 

[RRC]

Have the 12 mini and it’s awesome!

Battery life, especially since the last update has been superb. As others have said, usage will determine what is good or bad battery life for each individual though.

And if you buy outright from Apple, you can take advantage of the extended return window if you decide it’s not for you.

I’d also consider the regular 12 if battery life looks like it might be an issue.

Reading on the Mini is fine, nothing is blurry or squashed, not sure what the person above was seeing but I’m certainly enjoying the screen size using social media, forums such as this and Reddit etc, and can read it all fine even with the small text size selected in settings and my eye sight isn’t what it once was!

 

[snipr125]

I had the original SE, and at the time came from a 6 Plus (which I loved, only it was a 16GB model which ruined its usefulness to me). It was a great phone and I only replaced it for an XR when I botched a DIY screen repair and damaged the connector on its logic board lol My only concern stepping down to that new SE is not so much the 'letterbox' screen having been used to the new style on the XR of thinner bezels all around, but more so things like my photos being crappier quality than the XR. Especially now enjoying the N20Ultra with it's flaghship tier camera from 2020, you know? As for Face ID i can live without that in the age of face masks, in fact I've enjoyed the fingerprint reader on the N20Ultra to be honest. BUT, getting the SE would enable me to go for a better spec Mac which I'm also planning on buying at the same time. I can't be 110% sure the N20U is giving me the headache of if it's the time of year, or maybe I'm just stuck inside too much this winter looking at devices too much in general. But I am scared that I'm one of those people and unsure what I'll do down the line when all of Apple's lineup is OLED frankly The XR and 11 aren't enough cheaper than the 12 mini to make them worth a consideration IMO, especially with the older chips.

The idea is that I'll be on my Mac most of the time, and when I'm out I'll not be stuck on the phone in general, just need it to reliably work for me like any iPhone I've had does, connect to my car for music, not lag or let me down, take a lot of photos of things I do in life, etc. Technically the SE does do all of that - out of interest, which iPhone camera does it have, the iPhone 8's?

I didn't struggle more than a day going from 6Plus to SE back in 2017, in fact the coolness and utility of the 6 Plus at the time was outweighed by the easy to type and conveniently easy to hold SE! So the Mini size / SE being smaller than the XR isn't an issue.

One more note on the PWM thing, unlike with my Note 20, this won't be a replacement for a phone and tablet and computer (that's why I bought the Note - one 'ultimate' device with a desktop mode). So whichever phone I get will pretty much be sitting on a 5W wireless charger all day and here in Northern Ireland they've just announced yet another 6 week lockdown so I suppose I won't be staring at the OLED screen constantly, as I somewhat have been with the Note 20 Ultra... maybe that's a reason to go 12 mini?

Sarban, the iphone SE 2 has the same camera hardware as the iphone 8, however the images are improved on the SE via the A13 bionic chips computational photography. I can definitely confirm that the pictures taken on my SE2 are noticeably better than my iphone 8 plus. At only £399 the iphone SE2 is a bargain for the performance you get in my opinion. No other phone on the market can match it for price and performance right now.

 

[scgf]

It isn’t logical to use one random stranger’s personal preference as a reason not to try the iPhone 12 mini.

OK. I shall exit the discussion and leave you tribalists to continue.

 

[Apple_Robert]

OK. I shall exit the discussion and leave you tribalists to continue.

Thanks for the insult.

There was nothing wrong with your post. The member who respond to and quoted your post, was engaging in logical fallacy. Pointing that out to said member was not a statement for or against your post.