iPhone 12 mini review: This is a revelation

Our Verdict

The iPhone 12 mini is an affordable and compact yet powerful flagship telephone that is truly in a form all its own. Awaiting the inflow of the iPhone 13 mini, this is the best small telephone there is, and an even amend 5G value now that Apple tree dropped the price

For

Perfect for small telephone lovers
Capable dual cameras
Comprehensive 5G support
Incredible A14 Bionic power
Reasonable starting price

Confronting

Only 64GB storage to start
No charger in box
Battery life shorter than other iPhone 12 models

Tom's Guide Verdict

The iPhone 12 mini is an affordable and compact nonetheless powerful flagship phone that is truly in a grade all its own. Pending the arrival of the iPhone 13 mini, this is the best minor phone there is, and an fifty-fifty better 5G value now that Apple tree dropped the cost

Pros

+
Perfect for minor phone lovers
+
Capable dual cameras
+
Comprehensive 5G support
+
Incredible A14 Bionic power
+
Reasonable starting price

Cons

-
But 64GB storage to start
-
No charger in box
-
Battery life shorter than other iPhone 12 models

"How did they make it that modest!?"

That's invariably the reaction of friends and family when I show them the iPhone 12 mini. They can't procedure how tiny this 5.4-inch device is; they didn't know smartphones could be this pocket-sized anymore.

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Truthfully, I didn't either. Small-scale phone lover though I am, I have grown accustomed to the gargantuan size of modern flagships; an historic period where my five.8-inch iPhone eleven Pro constitutes a "compact" handset, and devices like the 6.7-inch Galaxy S20 Plus that barely fit in your pocket are inexplicably the norm. The iPhone 12 mini feels like information technology was made for me.

My favorite thing near the iPhone 12 mini, though, isn't merely its diminutive frame; it's the fact that this is essentially, pound-for-pound, the very same device as the vi.1-inch iPhone 12 I've already reviewed. You expect corners to be cut in downsized premium smartphones, yet the iPhone 12 mini never makes them. Every bit yous'll encounter in our iPhone 12 mini review, aside from unavoidable sacrifices to battery life, this is withal every flake the iPhone you desire, at an fifty-fifty cheaper toll at present that Apple has dropped the price to suit the new iPhone 13 mini. (Yeah, Apple tree fabricated another one as part of the iPhone thirteen release.)

The iPhone 12 mini also happens to be a device that lovers of the best small phones and all-time unlocked iPhones are certain to adore. But be sure to check out our iPhone 13 mini review to see if Apple'south newer small phone is right for you lot.

iPhone 12 mini review: Price and availability

iPhone 12 mini: Specs

Price: $729 unlocked; $699 on contract
Bone: iOS xiv
Display: 5.4-inch OLED (2340x1080)
CPU: A14 Bionic
Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
Rear photographic camera: 12MP broad (ƒ/one.6), 12MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.4)
Front photographic camera: 12MP (ƒ/2.ii)
Size: five.18 x two.53 x 0.29 in
Weight: four.76 oz

The iPhone 12 mini debuted a fiddling less than a year ago at $699 on contract, from carriers similar Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and many others. Off contract, you'd pay $729. At that price, you'll get 64GB of storage, though at that place are 128GB and 256GB versions available.

These days, Apple sells the iPhone 12 mini for $599 ($629 if you buy the telephone unlocked) to make way for the iPhone 13 mini which inherits that old $699 starting price. The newer mini does offering 128GB of storage in its base model.

Buy your iPhone 12 mini from Apple, and you tin lower the price by trading in your current iPhone — an iPhone 8 volition net y'all upward to $110 off the iPhone 12 mini, for example, with newer models earning a larger rebate. That's ane of the many all-time iPhone 12 deals nosotros're tracking.

You lot won't get a charging adapter or wired EarPods with the iPhone 12 mini, though yous volition become a Lightning-to-USB-C cable in the box.

Like the other iPhone 12 models, the iPhone 12 mini is built to support sub-6GHz 5G and millimeter-wave 5G (mmWave) on every network. This should mean you'll go similar 5G band support no matter what iPhone 12 you buy; whatever differences yous experience in 5G service will be downward to each network's specific infrastructure and limitations.

iPhone 12 mini review: Design and MagSafe

I never expected Apple tree to release a handset small plenty to brand the iPhone SE wait big, just then 2020 has been all about subverting expectations.

The iPhone 12 mini has a five.four-inch display that stretches nearly from edge to edge, impeded just by a notch. Because the screen dominates the device'due south surface area in the manner that it does, there'due south far more than available real estate than what the 4.7-inch SE offers, fifty-fifty though the iPhone 12 mini's footprint is about iii-tenths of an inch shorter and a tenth narrower. That's quite an achievement, considering modern phones' wealth of ability-guzzling componentry and demand for big batteries.

You almost have to relearn how to live with a device and screen this minor; I institute my thumbs clashing into each other more ofttimes when typing, for instance. Only the aligning catamenia isn't daunting, and equally an iPhone 11 Pro owner, I accept to admit there'south a office of me that wants to swap out my iPhone for the 12 mini. It's just so easy to concur and reach every corner of the display.

Aesthetically and structurally, the iPhone 12 mini is identical to the vi.1-inch iPhone 12, only smaller. You lot take the same flat-border, matte aluminum design, mostly-sleeky glass back and flat brandish protected by Apple's new Ceramic Shield cloth that promises 4x improved shatter resistance. Cupertino has also improved water resistance yet once again, as every iPhone 12 is built to withstand up to well-nigh 20 anxiety of submersion for a maximum of xxx minutes.

This is a premium-looking, premium-feeling iPhone for $700, and there'south almost nothing to complain nigh. Though, if I were forced to nitpick, I'd say the notch is harder to ignore on the iPhone 12 mini. Information technology's essentially the aforementioned size equally information technology is on other larger models, and therefore dominates more than of the mini'due south tiny display. Nevertheless, the overall package is beautiful.

The back of the iPhone 12 mini is where you'll observe Apple's new MagSafe system, which can be used for wireless charging or a range of snap-on accessories, like a leather wallet attachments, sleeves, cases and so on.

There's no significant difference in the manner MagSafe operates on the 12 mini relative to other iPhones, save for the fact that Apple has reduced the phone'south tiptop charging speed over MagSafe to 12 watts, downward from xv watts on the other models. Even so, because the 12 mini's battery is so much smaller than those in the other models, charging speeds are likely to shake out fifty-fifty — more than on that later on.

iPhone 12 mini review: Display

Apple tree has airtight the gap between the regular and Pro iPhone models this year by offering OLED displays on all of its devices. If you're upgrading from an LCD-powered iPhone viii or before, or maybe the iPhone XR, the iPhone 12 mini's screen is going to present a big bound forward.

Just virtually everything looks richer on an OLED display. Colors are more vivid, while blacks especially are deeper and truer-to-life. Watching the trailer for The Kid Detective on YouTube, I was fatigued to the pastiche of reds, yellows and oranges blanketing the copse of the bucolic autumn suburb in which the moving picture is fix.

Ane thing missing from the iPhone 12 mini's display repertoire, however, is a high refresh rate. The not-Pro iPhone 12 models were likely never in the running to receive 120Hz panels, simply it has to be said that similarly-priced handsets from other companies — including the Google Pixel 5, the OnePlus Nord or Samsung'due south Galaxy S20 FE — all offer 90Hz or 120Hz screens. The Galaxy S21 — simply $100 more than the iPhone 12 mini — offers a brandish that dynamically adjusts its refresh rate. The iPhone 12 mini's display is indeed very colorful and rich, all the same the overall experience of using the device feels less responsive all around on account of that traditional 60Hz limitation.

Under our light meter, the iPhone 12 mini'southward screen registered a maximum full-screen effulgence of 505 nits. That'southward far from the best we've e'er seen — the regular iPhone 12 reached 569 nits, for example, while the Galaxy S20 FE topped out at 679 nits. If nosotros were to wager a guess, the iPhone 12 mini's elevation effulgence is likely concise a fleck to eke the all-time possible battery life out of the device's relatively modest bombardment. Even so, information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel enough to read the brandish outdoors on a sunny day.

In terms of colour reproduction, the iPhone 12 mini captured 117.eight% of the sRGB color infinite and 83.4% of the wider DCI-P3 gamut, indicating hues that lean toward realism, just may seem a bit muted compared to what other handsets present out of the box. For example, the Milky way S20 FE registered 133.three% in DCI-P3, which translates to far more saturation.

iPhone 12 mini review: Camera

Even the smallest iPhone 12 benefits from a dual-photographic camera system, and not just any dual-camera system. This is the same slate of optics you get in the $100 more than expensive iPhone 12: a 12-megapixel primary lens with an ƒ/one.6 discontinuity, paired with a 12MP ultrawide featuring an ƒ/2.4 aperture and 120-degree field of view.

The primary sensor is the one that'south seen the most comeback for the iPhone 12 line, with Apple's fastest-e'er ƒ/ane.6 lens contributing to a quoted 27% increase in low-light performance and a new optical image stabilization system that tin can perform 5,000 micro-adjustments per second. That same sensor can besides capture 4K HDR video at up to lx frames per second, or 30 frames per second with Dolby Vision processing enabled.

So what kind of photos can iPhone 12 mini owners expect from that new main camera? I took Apple'due south smallest flagship and the similarly-priced Pixel five out on a peaceful fall day to snap a pair of photos of a river, and came away impressed with the effect from both for different reasons. The Pixel 5 does color in more of the river bank and hillside to the left, and the final leaves left hanging on the trees pop just a bit more. Yet, the iPhone 12 mini'southward rendition is universally sharper. And though information technology's non necessarily the focal point of the frame, the iPhone's shot retains more colour in the brick wall to the correct as well.

Neither the iPhone 12 mini nor the Pixel five has a telephoto lens with optical zoom — they both rely on processing to sharpen up digital zoom. Previously, this was an area where the iPhones have struggled, but Apple has definitely airtight the gap with the iPhone 12 range, and then the biggest difference relates to color balancing and contrast here. Google's phone still may retain a slight advantage in sharpness with its Super Res Zoom organisation, simply the smoke stack itself is clad in considerably more darkness and everything has a chip of a red shift to it, whereas the iPhone 12 mini better picks up the specular highlights bouncing off the brick.

The iPhone 12 mini has an especially wide ultrawide lens compared to the Pixel 5, pulling in more of the surroundings in this example. This does certainly lead to some distortion at the fringes, simply the iPhone controls it well, and the result is an paradigm with more color and deeper dissimilarity than what Google's handset has given us here. What'southward peculiarly surprising is how Apple'due south imaging system is able to really strop in on details like the window panes and brick texture, achieving a crispness that the Pixel five can't friction match, even though it packs a higher-resolution sensor on paper.

Improvements to Apple's Night style, along with that aforementioned new wider discontinuity, certainly help the iPhone 12 mini rein in more light in adverse weather. I'grand impressed with how the tiny iPhone navigated this scene, which mixed extremely dark and shadowy regions with white-hot sources of light from lamps. I besides prefer the warmer tone and white remainder of the iPhone'due south shot, compared to the Pixel's rendition here. That said, Google'south Night Sight technology is a chip better at lighting those especially dim areas, like the roof of the building immediately alee and the brick off in the upper left. Google'due south all the same got a bit of an edge at night in my stance, though Apple'due south certainly done well to close the gap with this generation.

To go a sense of how the iPhone 12 mini'due south low-lite performance fares against its predecessor'southward, I snapped some other pair of images of a nigh pitch-black river, this time comparing it to my iPhone 11 Pro. At that place isn't much separating the two, though if you wait closely, the newer iPhone dials in a scrap more than sharpness closest to the camera, like with the leaves in the firsthand foreground and the reflection of the street lamp in the water. Throughout most of the frame, however, information technology'south clear to encounter Apple'south hasn't transformed Night Manner with this generation — the differences are few and far between.

But the iPhone 12 mini'southward greatest advantage, in my stance, is the mode it navigates selfies and portraits. Compared to Google'southward effort, I'd be much more willing to post Apple tree's showing hither to my Instagram. Non merely is the iPhone's shot generally sharper, retaining more warmth in my pare tone, merely information technology also nails those especially minute details, similar the cloth of my winter lid and the texture of the tag on the front end. This is Apple tree's Deep Fusion feature at work, snapping and melding multiple exposures together to dial upwardly the allegiance on the most intricate aspects of every scene. Look closely, and you lot'll also notice the iPhone does a improve task of isolating my hair and cap from the groundwork bokeh as well.

iPhone 12 mini review: Operation

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are the most powerful smartphones we've ever tested at Tom's Guide, and the iPhone 12 mini shares their processor — the A14 Bionic. Typically, small-scale phones are curt-changed on the functioning front, only the iPhone 12 mini is every fleck as fast as those larger, pricier variants.

It really doesn't matter what you're doing on the iPhone 12 mini. Whether gaming, swiping through social media or using the camera, this device never drops a bead of sweat. Cobblestone 9 Legends is my graphics-pushing game of choice when I test handsets, and this little iPhone still pushes panel-quality visuals at a stable framerate — a rare feat for this detail title. I was peculiarly impressed with the smoothness of the motion blur, which really heightened the immersion of racing on this tiny brandish.

In the system-wide Geekbench 5 multi-core examination, the iPhone 12 mini totaled 4,123 points — even ameliorate than the iPhone 12's 3,859 points, and certainly worlds apart from the Galaxy S20 FE (2,928) and Pixel 5 (1,617). The Milky way S21, which came out months subsequently the iPhone 12 mini and boasts a fast Snapdragon 888 organisation-on-chip, still falls curt of the iPhone 12 mini'southward result, with a three,302 score.

As well, in our video encoding test, where we catechumen a 4K clip to 1080p using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the effect, the iPhone 12 mini needed but 27 seconds to complete the chore, compared to the Milky way S20 Iron'due south 1 minute and 24 seconds. The older iPhone 11 needed 46 seconds, so it's not simply Android phones that the A14 outperforms.

Finally, bringing it dorsum to graphics, 3DMark'south Wild Life benchmark offered yet some other glimpse at the iPhone 12 mini'south power. Apple tree's device tallied 39 frames per second in this exam — identical to the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, and much meliorate than the Milky way Note 20 Ultra (25 fps), OnePlus 8T (23 fps) and Pixel 5 (7 fps).

iPhone 12 mini review: 5G

Apple tree has gone all in on 5G for the iPhone 12 line, and that extends to the iPhone 12 mini equally well. While it'south no longer rare to run across 5G handsets for less than $700 anymore, information technology'south the iPhone 12 mini's complete support of next-generation networks in all their forms that makes it a great 5G value.

Near inexpensive or mid-range 5G phones support sub-6GHz 5G, which carries long distances across the country, but offers marginally better speeds than what LTE already delivers at all-time. But in that location's too millimeter-moving ridge (mmWave) 5G, which is mostly reserved for dense urban areas. Millimeter-moving ridge networks can achieve multi-gigabit downloads, so long as you're shut enough to the 5G small-scale jail cell node and accept an unobstructed line-of-sight view.

This latter grade of 5G is the kind that about cheaper 5G phones skimp out on to relieve costs and battery life. However, the iPhone 12 mini supports mmWave 5G on every network, and even if you buy information technology unlocked. That, coupled with Apple's claim that this device supports more 5G bands than any other handset, makes it the most futurity-proofed choice for a 5G phone on the market right now. It'due south certainly the smallest 5G telephone too, given that 5G phones tend to be larger to fit bigger batteries to offset their increased power depict.

That said, don't expect astounding speeds everywhere, especially over those depression-band, sub-6GHz networks. In eatsern Pennsylvania I only saw download speeds hovering around 50Mbps over AT&T's 5G in my testing. State-of-the-art LTE Advanced networks can download 5 times faster than that, then the presence of a 5G indicator on your iPhone's screen doesn't hateful information technology'due south going to exist lightyears faster in every example.

5G also can consume a lot of power, which explains one of the iPhone 12'due south other new features — Smart Data Mode. Enabled by default, Smart Data Mode drops the device back down to LTE to consume less power, typically when groundwork processes are running or information is being streamed when the screen is off. If you discover Smart Information Mode resulting in longer downloads or not borer into those faster data speeds as readily as you like, you lot could e'er turn it off — though, given the kinds of situations under which it operates, that's probably unlikely.

iPhone 12 mini review: Battery life and charging

With such a small-scale frame, the iPhone 12 can't help but lose out to its brethren where battery life is concerned. Apple tree doesn't publish battery life figures — y'all'll take to wait for teardowns to reveal that information — only nosotros practise know that the larger iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pack 2,815-mAh units.

The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 lasted 8 hours and 25 minutes in our battery test, where devices repeatedly load web pages over mobile data (in this case, AT&T 5G) while set to 150 nits of screen brightness. The iPhone 12 mini, on the other hand, averaged vii hours and 28 minutes on the same network.

Any consequence in our test nether 8 hours isn't platonic; the Pixel 5, for case, lasted two hours longer, too on 5G, likely thanks to a significantly larger 4,000-mAh battery. At one bespeak during my testing of the 12 mini, I streamed video and briefly gamed for three straight hours, and the phone'south battery life dropped to 50%. This probably won't be the best device for users who really need every minute of longevity they can go during the solar day.

The iPhone 12 mini doesn't ship with a charger, though using Apple'due south new 20-watt brick, we saw 60% in 30 minutes. The new MagSafe charging organization, which offers peak speed of 15 watts, really tops out at 12 watts for the iPhone 12 mini in particular. Given the smaller size of the mini's bombardment, 12 watts should exist fast enough to equal the other, larger iPhone 12 models in terms of charging times, but it is a small stipulation to be enlightened of nevertheless.

iPhone 12 mini review: iOS 14

All iPhone 12 models launched with iOS 14 — the latest version of Apple's mobile operating organization at the time. That update actually packs a number of sizable changes and upgrades compared to iOS 13. Most notably, the update adds back up for more than colorful, informative widgets that tin can be placed on any home screen, and introduces the App Library which organizes your apps into folders by type.

Notifications are now more compact, obscuring less of the screen; Maps and Messages take been redesigned a bit to add extra functionality; and in that location's a picture-in-picture mode that allows you to lookout man or listen to video no matter what app y'all're currently using, among many other additions. For a deeper look into all of iOS 14's features, cheque out our iOS 1 4 .5 review.

When iOS 15 arrives on Sept. 24, await an piece of cake upgrade for your iPhone 12 mini. We've got a look at the all-time iOS 15 features coming to all iPhones.

iPhone 12 mini review: Verdict

The iPhone 12 mini is exactly the kind of device I wish more telephone makers had the confidence to build. And Apple has, in the form of the iPhone 13 mini that offers more storage, a faster chipset and camera improvements.

In a way, the iPhone 12 mini felt similar the most impressive fellow member of the iPhone 12 lineup, considering it does everything the larger, more expensive models do, only amazingly fits all that capability into an impossible small frame.

As I said when the iPhone 12 mini was announced, the arrival of 5G has forced u.s.a. to take then many compromises in the phones we buy. They've had to go significantly bigger, to conform more spacious batteries and all the necessary antennas and modems to back up next-generation networks (especially the mmWave kind). They've also had to become more expensive, to commencement the cost of all these new and emerging technologies and components.

I could contend that the iPhone 12 mini isn't as corking a "bargain" as information technology may seem. Sure, it now starts at $599 — on contract, mind yous — but it's as well likely smaller than many consumers would exist comfy with. The bulk of shoppers may flock to the 6.1-inch iPhone 12, which has also seen a price cut to $699.

For some discerning buyers, though, this will be exactly the iPhone they've been waiting for, at a very agreeable price. The iPhone 12 mini answers the call for a premium small iPhone, and in doing so immediately rockets to the top of our list of the best small-scale phones. Information technology is an accomplishment of packaging, and a device without a true competitor, except for the newer iPhone thirteen mini. So long as you tin can put up with a slight hitting to battery life and don't need Apple's latest compact telephone, the iPhone 12 mini is truly a phone in a class all its ain.

More: Treat your new phone to one of the all-time iPhone 12 mini cases

Adam Ismail is a staff writer at Jalopnik and previously worked on Tom'southward Guide roofing smartphones, car tech and gaming. His love for all things mobile began with the original Motorola Droid; since then he'south owned a variety of Android and iOS-powered handsets, refusing to stay loyal to one platform. His piece of work has likewise appeared on Digital Trends and GTPlanet. When he'due south not piffling with the latest devices, he's at an indie popular bear witness, recording a podcast or playing Sega Dreamcast.