Apple iPhone 12 Mini review: A pocket rocket

Note: This review was first published on 10 Nov 2020.

The iPhone goes small

Holding the iPhone 12 Mini is an otherworldly feeling. Not since the iPhone 5S have we had an iPhone that is as small. It feels as if I’m holding a TV remote rather than a state-of-the-art smartphone.

The iPhone 12 Mini is the latest addition to the iPhone lineup. Since 2018, Apple’s lineup consists of a single “standard” phone and two “top-of-the-line” or “Pro” phones. Now, there’s a compact version. And it’s not just compact, it’s the smallest phone Apple makes now – even smaller than the second-generation iPhone SE. That’s remarkable, not just because the iPhone SE is already a very small phone, but also because of the market’s fixation on phones with ultra-large displays. Look at the current crop of flagship Android phones, none of have displays smaller than 6.5 inches. And even if you expand the scope to entry-level and mid-range phones, there are very few are smaller than 6 inches – off the top of my mind, I can only think of Google’s Pixel 4a.

Now, on paper, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini have identical specs – save for the smaller display and battery. So this review is going to focus on the user experience of the iPhone 12 Mini. If you are completely new to the new iPhones, I suggest you read my review of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro first.

Design & features

The iPhone 12 Mini is aesthetically similar to the iPhone 12. It’s just smaller. I’ve already spoken about the new design at length in my iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro review so I'll move on to other aspects like handling and comparisons.

But the gist of it is that the iPhone 12 Mini has squared-off edges with flat sides that is reminiscent of the old iPhone 5. This is subjective but I love the look. It’s distinctively different from older iPhones and also from just about any other phone in the market.

The iPhone 12 Mini has all the other features that the iPhone 12 does and here are the highlights:

• 5G-ready
• Aluminium chassis
• Glass front and back
• Front glass is Ceramic Shield
• Water-resistant up to six metres of water for up to 30 minutes
• Lightning port
• Wireless charging
• MagSafe
• Dual camera system
• Dolby Vision HDR video recording

To give you a better sense of scale, here’s how the iPhone 12 Mini looks next to the iPhone SE, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

It’s a diminutive phone (by 2020 standards) and I suspect most people will need some time to adjust the smaller body and display. I have been using the iPhone SE for the past couple of months so I got used to the iPhone 12 Mini easily. Typing, in particular, could be a little tricky mainly because the keys are quite small. But persevere and you should get the hang of it quickly in a day or two.

The upside, of course, is that iPhone 12 Mini can be used quite comfortably with one hand. Depending on how you hold your phone, it's still a bit of stretch to reach the top of the screen with your thumb. But, by and large, I could operate the phone with a single hand with just my thumb. If you have always felt that phones were too big to be used easily with one hand, the iPhone 12 Mini could be for you.

Display & sound

The iPhone 12 Mini has an OLED display just like the iPhone 12, which Apple calls Super Retina XDR. Size is down from 6.1 inches to 5.4 inches but a resolution of 2,340 x 1,080 pixels results in more or less the same pixel density count (476 PPI). Contrast ratio and brightness figures are identical.

Apart from the obvious size disparity, the iPhone 12 Mini’s display is every bit as fantastic as the iPhone 12’s. It’s wonderfully sharp, gets eye-searingly bright, and colours are vivid and punchy. The only downside is that it isn’t a high refresh rate display so refresh rates are limited to 60Hz. Against flagship Android devices, the differences in fluidity are quite apparent. But even so, it is easily one of the best displays on a smartphone.

If you like phones with expansive displays, then obviously the iPhone 12 Mini isn’t for you. Given a choice, I would rather watch videos and read on the iPhone 12’s or iPhone 12 Pro Max’s larger screens. But if you put aside pleasure, the iPhone 12 Mini’s smaller 5.4-inch display is entirely functional and usable. But for pleasure, bigger is always better.

Despite the smaller body, the iPhone 12 Mini's stereo speakers still sound mighty. It doesn't play as loud as the larger iPhone 12 but it's totally usable for playing music, videos, or podcasts in the background. I play music through the speakers whenever I'm doing the dishes.

Photography

The iPhone 12 Mini has the same camera system as the iPhone 12, which also means the same wide and ultrawide camera as the iPhone 12 Pro. Video recording capabilities are identical to the iPhone 12. This means the following highlights:

• All cameras shoot at 12 megapixels
• Main wide camera has faster f/1.6 lens with new 7-element lens
• Lens correction for ultra wide camera and TrueDepth camera
• Smart HDR 3 for all cameras
• Deep Fusion on all cameras
• Night mode for wide and ultra wide cameras
• Dolby Vision HDR video recording, up to 4K 30fps for all cameras

Let’s take a look at following images which were taken using the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Mini. Can you tell which photos were taken by which phone? As usual, click the image to see it in its original resolution.

Main wide camera set 1

Main wide camera set 2

Ultra wide set 1

Night mode set 1

Night mode set 2

Main wide camera set 1

• Image 1A: iPhone 12 Mini
• Image 1B: iPhone 12 Pro

Main wide camera set 2

• Image 2A: iPhone 12 Pro
• Image 2B: iPhone 12 Mini

Ultrawide camera set 1

• Image 3A: iPhone 12 Mini
• Image 3B: iPhone 12 Pro

Night mode set 1

• Image 4A : iPhone 12 Mini
• Image 4B: iPhone 12 Pro

Night mode set 2

• Image 5A: iPhone 12 Mini
• Image 5B: iPhone 12 Pro

Here are the answers.

How many did you get right? The point I’m trying to make is that the iPhone 12 Mini will give you results that are identical to the larger iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. In other words, you can expect flagship-class imaging performance from this little phone.

A word on video

The iPhone 12 Mini is capable of shooting in Dolby Vision just like the rest of the new iPhones. It's a big deal, and you can read about why here in my earlier review of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro.

Videos taken with the iPhone 12 Mini looks just as good as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, with outstanding sharpness and vibrant but balanced colours. Image stabilisation performance is just as good too. And for some people, they could find the smaller and lighter body of the iPhone 12 Mini easier to hold steady, which could potentially make for less jittery clips.

But of course, the caveats with Dolby Vision still applies. Unless you are viewing it on the phone, sharing it with another device that supports Dolby Vision, or on a video-sharing platform that supports Dolby Vision (YouTube doesn’t, btw) you won’t be watching the video in its full glory. Still, I expect these compatibility issues to fade away with time especially since Apple is now onboard with Dolby Vision.

Performance analysis

The iPhone 12 Mini has the same A14 Bionic processor as the rest of the iPhone 12 lineup. In recent years, however, Apple has made significant improvements in performance by maximising the thermal envelope and squeezing out every ounce of performance from its processors. What this means for smaller phones is that they could potentially be a little slower because their compact bodies are less effective at dissipating heat and so the processor cannot run as hard. Let’s look at the charts below to see if that’s the case with the iPhone 12 Mini.

Looking at the results, it’s clear that the iPhone 12 Mini is every bit as fast as the larger iPhone 12 and that the smaller body hasn't had a negative impact on perfomrance. Even on AnTuTu, which is one of the longer running benchmarks, the iPhone 12 Mini held on and recorded results that are similar to the iPhone 12. Actually, what’s more interesting from these charts is how much better-performing the iPhone 12 Pro Max was. It seems that the larger body of the iPhone 12 Pro Max has gave it a leg-up over the smaller iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Mini.

Battery life

Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:

• Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
• Constant data streaming through email

The iPhone 12 Mini has a considerably smaller battery compared to the iPhone 12. A capacity of 2,227mAh means its battery is 20% smaller than the iPhone 12’s 2,815mAh battery and it's possibly the smallest out of any phone released in 2020 – I haven't seen a phone with a smaller battery. Unsurprisingly, battery life has taken a nasty hit. It lasted just 237 minutes (3 hours and 57 minutes) in our battery test, which is nearly 1.5 hours less than the iPhone 12. But to put the numbers into perspective, in terms of actual power consumption, the iPhone 12 Mini wasn't any much more power-hungry than any of the new iPhones.

In the real world, I managed to go 12-14 hours and have about 20% to 30% of charge left. But bare in mind because I'm working at home I was mostly on Wi-Fi. Even with the phone's Smart Data Mode, if you are out and about and mostly on cellular (5G consumes even more battery than 4G), I think most people will struggle to get through a day without a mid-day charge at some point.

Refreshingly small

Do you remember a time when flagship phones were the smallest phones in the lineup instead of the biggest? I do. So the arrival of the iPhone 12 Mini brings back fond memories of the Motorola StarTACs and Nokia phones like the 8210 and 8850. For once, it’s refreshing to be able to slip your phone into the pocket and not worry about breaking it whenever you need to take a seat. Perhaps 2021 will be the year compact flagship phones make a comeback.

With prices starting at S$1,149, the iPhone 12 Mini is pricey like any other top-tier phone. And with Apple insistent on not giving expandable storage options on their phones, I suspect most users will raid their wallets and stretch for the pricier 128GB and 256GB models to future-proof their investments.

The only criticism I have of the iPhone 12 Mini is its battery life. I suspect most people will find it tough to get through a day without having to charge it at some point. Of course, this won’t be an issue if you already have a habit of charging your phone mid-day or utilise standing wireless chargers that perpetually charge your device by your side. But I think a large number of people would rather not have to deal with the anxiety of their phones running out of juice. Having said that, I also think this is something you have to put up with when you have a processor this powerful and a display this bright into a body that’s this small. Ultra-thin notebooks face the same problem and it’s no different with smartphones.

If battery life issues don’t bother you or you could manage it effectively, there’s a lot to like about the iPhone 12 Mini. Its compact pocketable size is refreshing (not to mention cute), the build quality is very high, the display is fabulous, performance is class-leading, and it takes outstanding photos and videos. If you have always felt that the size of phones was getting out of hand, the iPhone 12 Mini is the perfect antidote.

***Read next***

1) Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro review

2) Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max review

3) iPhone 12 telco price plan comparison

4) iPhone 12 buying guide

5) 12 cases to consider for your new iPhone 12

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