Apple iPhone 12 mini – iPhone for the little ones

The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max is the most expensive Apple mobile for users who want the absolute fastest performance on the market, combined with the best mobile camera on a mobile phone at the time of writing, it is regular iPhone 12 a premium mobile for most people. With the difference compared to other mobiles in the premium segment that it is almost on a par with the high-end models in the Pro series, both in terms of performance and screen.

But for the first time ever, there is now a fourth model in this year’s iPhone series, namely the iPhone 12 mini. It is quite a few details away from being completely identical to the iPhone 12, but it is as small as iPhones used to be back in the good old days of 2012 and 2013, where it was iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S we walked around with our pockets.

Appearance and construction

If you place the iPhone 12 mini side by side with the other iPhone models, it then also looks microscopically small. But in fact, the iPhone 12 mini is almost as big as the new edition of iPhone SE, which we tested a few months ago, and it is a few millimeters wider and longer than its predecessors from 2012 and 2013. With its 133 grams, it is also slightly heavier than, for example, the iPhone 5, which weighed only 116 grams.

In terms of design, the iPhone 12 mini, like the other iPhone 12 models, is unique. The smooth rounded edges we know from iPhone 11 are gone. Instead, it is the angular form factor that one invents the new iPad Air, iPad Pro as well as the classic iPhone 5 models, back on all iPhone 12 models, and of course also iPhone 12 mini.

Aesthetically, it is a wise choice, which gives Apple’s latest iPhones an exclusive design language and luxurious feel. In addition, the straight edges actually provide a more secure grip on the phone. And of all the new iPhone 12 models, the iPhone 12 mini is of course the easiest to get a solid grip on due to its size. It also fits in the smallest children’s hand if the child is of school age.

Just like the regular iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 mini is also waterproof down to six meters for 30 minutes (in terms of IP68 certification), compared to its predecessor’s four meters for 30 minutes.

The glass on the new iPhone 12 mini has also been improved in various ways to increase robustness. The so-called Ceramic Shield technology means that Apple has added ceramic crystals when casting the glass to make the phone more shatterproof, while the glass on the back is double ionized to make it more scratch-resistant.

The glass on the front and back is also flush with the metal frame around the phone, which also protects the glass better than on mobiles where the glass is curved at the edges.

Screen

Like the other three new Apple mobiles, the iPhone 12 Mini has a new OLED screen with noticeably better brightness than last year’s iPhone 11 models. Up to 1200 nit with HDR (High Dynamic Range) which really lights up, but slightly lower brightness than 12 Pro – 625 against 800 nit – when the screen is at normal brightness.

The screen also has Apple’s True Tone function which adapts the white balance to the light around you, as well as a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

Apple’s lightning – fast processor and graphics engine, as well as the OLED screen’s response time, are sufficient compensation for the fact that the iPhone 12 mini screen does not have a refresh rate of 120 Hz, like most Android mobiles in the same price range. For power consumption, it still has to settle for a refresh rate of 60 Hz.

The screen of the iPhone 12 mini can display video with HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, which are used by professionals when making movies. It provides a fatter movie experience with more contrast and greater color gamut on the screen, and this also applies when you see recordings you have made with your mobile.

But of course it is the small screen size of 5.4 ″ that attracts the most attention. The small screen can be difficult to get used to now when most of us for years have been running around with 6 ″ mobile screens or more, but you quickly discover that the resolution is so high that there is mostly room for just as much on iPhone 12 minis screen as on a more “normal” mobile phone.

With a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels, you get a slightly smaller screen area than on the iPhone 12, which comes with a resolution of 2532 x 1170, but we are in the small things department. At most one or two lines of text are missing at the bottom of the screen compared to the larger model.

On the other hand, the iPhone 12 mini has a clear advantage: It can be easily operated with one hand! And this applies regardless of whether you want to reach an app in the upper left corner of the screen, or whether you use the keyboard at the bottom of the screen to write messages. You can do everything with the help of your thumb – without fear of losing your phone out of your hands at any moment. What a refreshing feeling!

Camera

When it comes to the camera, the iPhone 12 mini is completely identical to the regular iPhone 12. That is, the phone comes with two cameras: a 12 Mp 13 mm f / 2.4 120 degree ultra-wide angle and a 12 Mp 26 mm f / 1.6 wide angle. The main camera also has Deep Fusion which analyzes each pixel and puts together an image with optimized sharpness, color reproduction and dynamics.

The front camera is called the True Depth camera in Apple language, and in addition to supporting Face ID, which identifies the user of the mobile phone, it has the same 12 Mp resolution as the other cameras.

Since the two wide-angle cameras on the iPhone 12 mini are the same as on the iPhone 12 Pro, the image quality is just as good. This means that it is one of the very best on the market, with a true-to-life and neutral color reproduction that only a few other mobiles can match.

The cameras’ properties with, among other things, night setting not only provide clear images in low light, they are also among the most noise-free, and can withstand being blown up without being ashamed of coarse-grained image noise.

The color reproduction is much better than we normally see from mobile cameras, and portraits do not look as overprocessed as we experience with other mobiles. As with the 12 Pro, the camera’s portrait mode is enhanced with greater depth of field, and the images have better defined details than with iPhone 11 Pro.

Performance and features

Below the screen is Apple’s latest and most powerful processor to date, the A14 Bionic, with which we first became acquainted with the new iPad Air.

The A14 Bionic is a 5 nm chip, which according to Apple provides space for an unprecedented number of transistors. This makes the iPhone 12 mini lightning fast, something our Benchmark tests also confirm. In just about all Benchmark tests, it sweeps the floor with top models like Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, OnePlus 8 Pro and Sony Xperia 5 II.

Like the other mobiles in the iPhone 12 series, the 12 mini of course also has 5G, which makes it a physically smallest 5G mobile on the market right now, as far as we know.

On the other hand, the small USB charger we know from previous iPhone models does not come in the box with the iPhone 12 mini. The familiar Lightning-to-USB cable is included, but the charger must be purchased separately. For example, Apple’s recently launched MagSafe charger – a wireless charger with a round Qi charging plate that is magnetic and placed on the back of the iPhone 12 mini.

It will of course irritate many users that you do not get the charger with the purchase when you pay so much for the mobile, but Apple’s argument is that it is a waste of resources, as many of us still have the small chargers lying in large quantities. And that’s not entirely wrong.

By the way, be aware that the iPhone 12 mini charges a little slower than the other three models in the new iPhone series. The mini only supports 12 W wireless charging where the others in the series all support 15 W. In practice, however, that does not mean the whole world, as the iPhone 12 mini also has the smallest battery among the four Apple mobiles.

Conclusion

For most people, the iPhone 12 is probably the best iPhone purchase among the new models. But with the smallest model in the series, the iPhone 12 mini, you actually get the most for your money. It is cheaper than its big brother, although most of the specifications are identical. In return, you get a completely unique and compact mobile phone that fits any pocket, and which can be held around even for children’s hands.

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