iPhone 8/Plus iPhone 13 mini reactions

[AppleMan2015]

Went from an 11PM to a 12 Pro and decided to give the 13 mini a try.

So far, it’s a solid phone! I love the fact that the phone is light and that I can use it in 1 hand! Everything is essentially the same or unchanged as far as user experience goes. It has the same premium feel of the 12 Pro from my perspective.

By far, the most noticeable part is definitely the slightly worse battery life, but today is my first full day with the phone, so I’m very interested to see how it does.

What is everyone else’s first reactions to the 13 mini?

 

[jimmy_uk]

Coming from a 7 Plus and using a 13 Pro and 13 Mini: the 13 Mini is so much more appealing. I'm tired of heavy phones that require my hand to be fully spread to hold it. The 13 Mini shows as much content as the 7 plus, just slightly smaller text. The 13 Pro is just too heavy and the camera module is too big.

Battery has been performing better than the 13 Pro bizarrely.

It strongly reminds me of the simpler days of enjoying the 4, 5 and SE.

 

[baking soda]

I'm still sticking with the 6.1" phones but I love the iPhone mini. If they made a "Pro mini" I would definitely consider buying one. I meant with best cameras + ProMotion etc.

 

[Rayban]

Coming from an 11 pro; I’m appreciating the slightly smaller size but I still need to shift the phone and stretch my thumb to reach the top of the screen. Besides that, I can now comfortably use the keyboard with one hand. 5G is a huge plus. Wish the cameras were the same as pro.

 

[AppleMan2015]

Coming from an 11 pro; I’m appreciating the slightly smaller size but I still need to shift the phone and stretch my thumb to reach the top of the screen. Besides that, I can now comfortably use the keyboard with one hand. 5G is a huge plus. Wish the cameras were the same as pro.

I find myself shifting my phone to reach the top as well, but I feel more comfortable doing that with this phone rather than the Pro Max phones which felt like I might drop it all of the time.

 

[RoadWarrior56]

I picked up a blue 256 GB Mini on Friday afternoon from Verizon. I absolutely LOVE it. I traded in a 5.8" Xs for the phone. It is if my Xs and my old 4.7" iPhone 6s had a baby. It is small, light and powerful and easy to hold. It has the lightweight feel of my old 6s but the power, face ID and OLED screen of my Xs. And it is much faster than the Xs, and the phone just works better. And so far, the battery life seems to be good. Highly Recommended!

 

[AppleMan2015]

I’ve noticed the 5G speeds are faster for me than even on my 12P. Everything is literally just snappy overall though! It is impressive!

 

[ericg301]

i traded in my 12 mini for a 13 mini, mainly for the better battery life. after using it through the weekend, I can attest that the battery life is much better, and it APPEARS that the thermal issues were sorted out (my 12 mini would get so dim in bright sun as the phone would overheat).

this really is the perfect size phone if you value portability. I'll probably hang onto this one until there's a foldable phone or something.

 

[achappy]

I have a 12PM and I picked up a Starlight Mini on Friday and I loved the size and ease of use one handed. It's so light and even with the Apple Wallet it's hardly noticeable in the pocket and still easy to use one handed. Perfect size for me.

Unfortunately I thought I could deal not having a telephoto but I can't. I didn't realize how much I would miss it. I went to my son's baseball game on Saturday and tried taking photos/videos and digital zoom is much worse than the 2.5x lens. I went back and looked and I use the telephoto lens way too much.

So I'll be returning the Mini and may consider the 13 Pro. It's still too big for what I really want but I use the telephoto too much to give up and the 13 Pro may be a decent compromise.

 

[jm31828]

I upgraded from a 12 Mini to a 13 Mini.... I am not sure what to think yet. I love it for the better battery life, the camera improvements, and the extra storage- but it doesn't feel as good in the hand, it is noticeably thicker when holding it. I can certainly get over that, but when I pick up my 12 Mini (will be selling it), it just feels so "right".

 

[IJBrekke]

In the process of setting up, but I am overjoyed to report that the screen on this 13 mini looks great. I tried 4 times last year to get a 12 mini with a good screen and struck out all 4 times. This is finally the iPhone screen experience that was expected last year.

More to come as I test the rest of the phone.

 

[Eekamouse]

I switched from a Samsung S21 ultra and could not be more happy. Sooo much lighter and easier in the pocket and on the hand. I have been surprised just how snappy and fluid it is even on 60hz. I do wish it had the macro and tele lens but I can live without those. Battery life so far has been great getting about 5 hours of SOT from 8 am to 10pm.

 

[gnolivos]

I come from an iPhone 12 Pro which overheats VERY EASILY outdoors and dims the screen as protective mechanism. I have 4 iPhone 12 at home different family members (Pro, Mini etc) and they ALL have this issue. My older iPhones never did this under same usage.

I saw someone here post that the 13 seems to no longer have this issue. Can others confirm before I sell and switch?

 

[Rigby]

I'm super happy with the Mini. It's the phone I always wanted. My favorite iPhone design was probably the 5/5s/1st-gen SE. The Mini feels similar but obviously has a much larger screen. Feels perfect in the hand and very "pocketable". I had some concerns about the battery life, but not anymore after some testing over the weekend. With my usage patterns it will easily last a full day. You can also make some easy tweaks to improve battery life even more without sacrificing anything (dark mode, black wallpapers, disable background app refresh).

I also really like the Apple leather case. Perfect fit, just the right amount of grip, looks like it's part of the phone (I have both phone and case in "midnight").

 

[philipthegreat79]

Still thorn between 13 Pro and Mini. BOE batches of screens for 12 Mini were really piss yellow, really hope LG this year makes them right.

 

[lkalliance]

I have a 12PM and I picked up a Starlight Mini on Friday and I loved the size and ease of use one handed. It's so light and even with the Apple Wallet it's hardly noticeable in the pocket and still easy to use one handed. Perfect size for me.

Unfortunately I thought I could deal not having a telephoto but I can't. I didn't realize how much I would miss it. I went to my son's baseball game on Saturday and tried taking photos/videos and digital zoom is much worse than the 2.5x lens. I went back and looked and I use the telephoto lens way too much.

So I'll be returning the Mini and may consider the 13 Pro. It's still too big for what I really want but I use the telephoto too much to give up and the 13 Pro may be a decent compromise.

This exactly. I'm really torn between which one to order. I like every single thing about the mini. But I shoot telephoto ALL THE TIME.

I have considered in the past getting the mini and getting a Moment external telephoto lens. I'm not sure on that. Trying to avoid carrying around more stuff.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I upgraded from a 12 Mini to a 13 Mini.... I am not sure what to think yet. I love it for the better battery life, the camera improvements, and the extra storage- but it doesn't feel as good in the hand, it is noticeably thicker when holding it. I can certainly get over that, but when I pick up my 12 Mini (will be selling it), it just feels so "right".

That was my thought too. I used a Spigen Tough Armor on my 12 mini, and it had a slightly curved back, where as the 13 mini Tough Armor has a flat back. I'm not sure if it's the case or the phone itself, but the 12 was definitely more easy to use single handedly.

Probably my next step will be to replace the Spigen case with a thinner leather one, hopefully that will help it feel better in my hand.

 

[hemon]

Still thorn between 13 Pro and Mini. BOE batches of screens for 12 Mini were really piss yellow, really hope LG this year makes them right.

I'm torn between both too and I hate to feel like that, I just cannot take a decision . Any tipps for this decision? I'm not 100% sure that I like the smaller screen of the mini over the screen of the 13 (pro). The camera is not important for me...

 

[jimmy_uk]

Still thorn between 13 Pro and Mini. BOE batches of screens for 12 Mini were really piss yellow, really hope LG this year makes them right.

My 13 Mini is whiter/brighter and more uniformed than the 13 Pro which is a little yellower/duller. I could tell immediately at setup screen.

 

[ssledoux]

I’m so jealous when I read mini threads. I would LOVE to do the mini, but I just struggle SO much with typing - the SE2 made me realize I just can’t do small anymore, although I would absolutely love to.

That said, I’ve never had a pro (well, I had the 11 pro for a couple days and returned it), and my 13 pro arrives today. I am not sure quite what to expect after reading reviews. Curious to see how bad those camera bumps really are, and how heavy it feels compared to my 12.

 

[AppleMan2015]

I'm torn between both too and I hate to feel like that, I just cannot take a decision . Any tipps for this decision? I'm not 100% sure that I like the smaller screen of the mini over the screen of the 13 (pro). The camera is not important for me...

So far, I’m really enjoying the 13 mini! The camera wasn’t really important for me either. I just wanted the smaller screen and like someone previously said, it feels very similar to the 5/5s phone. It’s super light and it actually feels like a phone - a premium one too! I notice no difference in the screen (obviously besides the size) from the 12 Pro. The notch isn’t terribly noticeable, but the smaller notch doesn’t even really do much since they haven’t adjusted the top bar at all. I’d love for the battery % to show all the time instead of having to swipe down, but that’s a software issue. Overall, I’d suggest the 13 mini!

 

[felixroqu3]

So far, I’m really enjoying the 13 mini! The camera wasn’t really important for me either. I just wanted the smaller screen and like someone previously said, it feels very similar to the 5/5s phone. It’s super light and it actually feels like a phone - a premium one too! I notice no difference in the screen (obviously besides the size) from the 12 Pro. The notch isn’t terribly noticeable, but the smaller notch doesn’t even really do much since they haven’t adjusted the top bar at all. I’d love for the battery % to show all the time instead of having to swipe down, but that’s a software issue. Overall, I’d suggest the 13 mini!

How’s the battery life for you?

 

[probablytom]

How’s the battery life for you?

I’d love to know too. Especially comparisons with the 12 mini!

 

[Poppleropples]

13 Mini here, moved from an XR which I was always felt was a little too big. I didn’t like how it felt in jeans, or a jacket pocket on a night out, just a little too big. I love the size of the Mini, it’s perfect, blown away by the picture quality as well, especially how it’s processing images for highlights and shadows, crazy. I would love a telephoto on it, but not over the form factor, I think…

 

[maxsquared]

Coming from 11 pro, I feel the size is perfect, sad they are getting ride of it next year. The battery life FEELS on par with the 11 pro, or maybe even better... Only thing I miss was zoom in, but I carry a mirrorless camera with me everywhere so it's not a big deal.