iPhone 12 Mini vs Pixel 5 - What's the best $699 phone? By Scott McKenna

iPhone 12 mini vs, pixel 5. , both 699 dollar phones, iOS, vs, android. It's really what it comes down to which phone is better for 699. I also wanted to show a little camera comparison, because I think that that's one of the most important things that people look for in phones these days and then just give you my conclusions and what phone that I basically use all the time. So when it comes to these two phones, I think there's basically the same thing that most people actually care about these days, and that is the camera, so we're outside here on a pretty sunny day and there's going to be lots of shadows and lots of sun. So let's do a little camera comparison straight out of both phones to let you see what it actually looks like to see which camera is better, okay, so real, quick picture here.

This is not any sort of scientific review. I just want to show how good the camera is straight out of box- or, I guess out of camera, but now we'll take a look at the zooming capability in the camera. One thing the pixel somehow does magically is even when you digitally zoom in to crazy proportions. It somehow has this technology inside. That makes it somehow still clear so check this out.

So this is iPhone.12 mini no zoom at all, and let's digitally zoom to the max it can be, which is five times zoom to the top of this building, and then, let's do the same thing with the pixel. So that's normal, and this right here is five times the zoom crazy. So let's take a look now at portrait mode on both these cameras, obviously a very, very popular mode that everyone loves, because of that you know both, so uh, let's see how artificially they both do and see. Who does it best got Allison here my model for today's shoot? First up the iPhone 12 mini in portrait mode with backlit scene. That's just a quick little photo comparison.

Let's do a little of video comparison. This is a spot, no question that I think the iPhone 12 mini will really show a big difference in one of the biggest announcements they made with the new iPhone 12s. Is that they shoot 10 bit HDR video, which is pretty insane for a phone, but I definitely expect that because of that, especially it's going to be a huge difference in terms of the dynamic range and just what you're able to see and what you're able to pull back in post. So I really don't think it'll be a fair comparison but, like I said, I've always thought that the iPhone does shoot better video anyway. So the one annoying thing about the pixel is that it doesn't shoot.24 frames a second. It only shoots, 30 or 60.

, not sure. Why? But that's all it does so we're going to shoot.4K, we're gonna, shoot 30 frames a second because uh we don't have any other option, but let's just see what it looks like. Here's, a little dynamic range test, strong sun on the building and shade underneath and see what it looks like so now here with the pixel all right and of course, the most important camera on every phone is the one that you can take your uh selfies with so front-facing camera selfie. This is non-portrait mode, and this is portrait mode and on the iPhone, non-portrait mode and portrait mode all right. So let's do a little test here, the front-facing camera video mode.

So what does it sound like? What does it look like, obviously, with the front-facing cameras they're, never as good as you'd really hope they would be, but see hasn't improved at all? What to sound like a lot of loud sound next to me here, so lets uh give it a shot. Okay, and this is the pixel front facing camera. What's the audio sound like? What's the video look like and uh also look, I rarely ever would vlog with a front-facing camera on any phone, but yeah at least show you what it's like, maybe for Instagram stories. You know this kind of things, that's just a little straightforward camera comparison, we'd love to know which one, you think looks better, and I'm not here to tell you which one is the best I just like, showing you the difference between them straight out of camera. What you could expect, if you're just taking pictures like an everyday photographer, I'm not anything crazy, but uh.

Let me know comment below which one, you think looks better just from a camera perspective. So first things. First, let's talk about the pixel 5. I've had the pixel 5 for just about a month, and even though it is not my daily phone that I use on a regular basis, I've carried it around with me a lot because I really like comparing the cameras, and I have found that I really liked a lot of the features that the pixel 5 had, even though it wasn't my main phone out of all the pixels that I have had. I've been very, very happy with just how fast this phone feels, even though I'm not a huge android fan, it's very quick like moving around and opening applications and switching between applications and opening the camera and doing the things that I do all the time and are just very snappy.

Furthermore, I feel like it's very easy to use it's quick to use, I'm not super familiar with android, but yet I found it very easy to navigate and get around with it. So I say it's a really, really good phone, especially for the price point of only 699. One thing I really like about this phone and not something I really thought that I'd ever come to like again is the fact that it has a touch ID on the back with you know. The whole covert thing happening, we're always wearing masks and the face ID is not as convenient as it once was. So I really like that, every single time I take this phone out, it's just cleverly and conveniently right in the back of the phone.

I can unlock it and get right to work using it and I don't feel like. I have to constantly pull my Mac down to use, face ID or wait for to unlock on my iPhone to come. It's just really quick and easy to get into. I will say I really like the design of the phone. I feel like it's very, very nice.

Looking phone both the back and that really like matte green, I think, is really nice in the front. Without the know, notch up top and just having the very little camera kind of integrated in the screen and having barely any bezel at all. I feel like it's very clean and nice to look at, especially when you're watching something on YouTube. I feel, like you, notice, a big difference of just how clean the screen is and not having any sort of little notches. That obviously change anything to the actual YouTube experience.

I will say I really like it. One thing, I'm very impressed with on the pixel 5 is the battery life. I think that for a phone this size the battery lasts forever, but not only does it last forever, it charges so crazy fast. When it doesn't. I love how it has USB, which is what I use for everything else and when you plug it in it, charges from dead to 80, 90 percent so quickly, and that's really a huge benefit.

Because not only do you get all-day battery life, but when you run out, you can charge really fast to continue using it and never feel like you're kind of tied to always having it plugged into a charger. So let's talk about the iPhone 12 mini it's a little more of what you'd expect from every iPhone device, which is beautiful hardware, a really, really good ecosystem that you're tied into if you're used to an iOS platform, and it just works really, really well, and they've made significant improvements into this new one that has really made the smallest phone. They now have been as powerful as ever, which has been awesome. I've always been a fan of smaller phones because they're more comfortable to use they're more comfortable holding your pocket. You don't have to worry about them, bulging out of your pocket or being hard to even sit down with and most of the time in the past, when you've had a small phone, specifically an iPhone, whether it was the iPhone SE when they came out the smaller version of their flagship phone.

You had to sacrifice a lot of things to sacrifice that size, and this is the first one that they've actually put everything into the phone, but yet still kept it tiny other than that additional third telephoto lens. That's on the 12 pro and the 12 max and a few little things here and there you get the fastest processor. They make the same processor that they make in all the other 12s. But yet you get a tiny portable phone that holds all of that, which is a huge bonus. You get that new 10-bit HDR video, which is just incredible for a phone.

It's unbelievable! How many advances we are continuing to make in a mobile platform to be able to have that type of video quality which is awesome for someone like me that really likes video, because when I am out and about I don't have my main camera with me. It's nice having a tool this powerful that I can actually use to record stuff. So I'm excited to continue to use that more. The battery life in the 12 mini is absolutely the lowest of the new 12's. That came out because it's obviously the smallest battery they make so that kind of comes without saying, but I will say that it hasn't really been a big huge deal to me.

I'm used to kind of having power banks with me and all that anyway. So if I'm using my phone a ton throughout the day, I kind of just get used to randomly charging it when I'm in different spots, whether I'm in my car for a little or in the office, I kind of just get used to plugging it in any way, so it hasn't seemed like a night and day difference to me. But it's definitely something I know is a big difference in comparison to the bigger phones. I will say it's a little annoying that apple still hasn't gone to USB in all of their devices, and it's really annoying that they haven't gone to a rapid charging like every other phone when you plug in the pixel, it charges so fast, even from dead, and it uses USB. I have USB on almost everything else now, except for this device, so this is the only one I still have to have a lightning cable for, and it would be nice if they would kind of update and go to a little more of that rapid charging and put that USB in there, because all their other devices have that now.

So I'm not really sure what they're waiting for when it comes to getting rid of this lightning port, but regardless it's not as fast as a charger as the pixel 5, and it also dies a little faster. So that's one thing to keep in mind: if you are someone that wants kind of an all-day battery life, the iPhone 12 mini, probably won't get you an all-day battery life if you are using it extensively, but once again it always comes down to what you're using your phone for. So what's the better phone for 699 dollars, the iPhone 12 mini or the pixel 5. I honestly feel like it's going to come down to two simple questions. You have to ask yourself: do you want to use an iOS device or an android device? I think both of these phones would be great phones to have they both are super powerful.

They both have great cameras, and they are just very, very good phones for 699, but you have to decide whether you are an iOS person or an android person. It's really hard for me to imagine not having an iPhone because of just the amount of times that I do simple things like airdrop and air dropping for unfamiliar with what that is on a Mac. It allows you to just share files rapidly, really quickly, just between any device, whether it's iPhone to iPad or iPad, to iPhone and MacBook Pro to phone it. Just you hit one button, it sends it's super quick and that's super convenient. Also, things like the AirPods Pro and yes, Google makes their own they're called the Pixel Buds, and they are pretty similar style.

They both charge. They both sound great. Furthermore, they both sync directly to the phone they're, nice and easy to use. The problem is, I can also use these instantly with all my other devices like the iPad or the MacBook Pro. So if I just start playing a video on my iPad Pro- and I have these in my ear- and I was using them on my phone- it instantly just transfers that sound and makes them play right on the AirPods, which is really quick and convenient, because I'm always switching between devices.

Now you may be a person that is completely tied to the android ecosystem, and you can't imagine having an iPhone at all, and I totally get that as well. I've seen plenty of arguments online that obviously showed that the whole iOS vs android debate is real. People are super passionate about their androids and super passionate about their iOS devices. So if you're a person that obviously has android wants to stay with android, this is a clear winner, because you get lots of great features that this phone has, and it compares in so many ways to the iPhone 12 mini, but it is android and if that's something that you want to stick with, you don't have many other options in the 699 price. Category and you'd be very happy with this phone for that price.

There are some other flagships, android devices out that are significantly more money, that have better cameras and better specs and all the performance, but for this review, as I'm talking clearly about the biggest difference between the 700 phones, it'd be hard to beat the pixel 5. At that price point I would love to know which phone you would choose so make sure you comment below, and let me know- and if you are new around here- would love for you to keep hanging out, make sure you hit that subscribe button and keep in touch thanks for watching. As always, and I will talk to you guys real soon,.

Source : Scott McKenna