the iPhone 12 Mini review By Matt Gonzalez

The iPhone 12 mini is a phone. I have been waiting for a long time, a small phone that packs most of the same features as the bigger brother counterpart, but now that it's actually here, and I've been able to use it for about a month now, I'm not entirely sure that my wishes were actually what I was looking for well, at least kind of. I think the easiest place to kind of start analyzing. This is, with the most obvious thing, the size. This is the iPhone 12 mini, that's because it's the smallest iPhone 12 and when it comes to the know, 10 generation, with the notch, the smallest iPhone that we've ever had now. My last video- I talked a lot about this.

The iPhone 12 Pro max and all the reasons that I really don't like this phone are the exact reasons why I love this one. The size of the iPhone 12 mini is pretty much perfect. For me, I mean ever since we got the iPhone 6 or the bigger phones. I have had to just give up on using a phone with one hand and having it fit perfectly in my hand, and you know not noticing it in my pocket. I just kind of given up on that dream, but now, with the iPhone 12 mini that dream is back, and I mean it's all the things I was hoping it would be.

Furthermore, I can now type with one hand I can reach pretty much every corner with one hand. Furthermore, I have very small thumbs which uh everyone likes to point out, but I mean that's just it is what it is. So I need a smaller phone if I want to use it with one hand and when I'm using the iPhone 12 Pro max, it's a two-hand phone for me now, I'm back, and I can use everything with one hand now for a lot of people. It might not matter like. Why would you care about using your phone with one hand? It really just depends on how you're using your phone for me as much as I can.

I try to not use my phone. I want to use it as a tool, something that I can get work done on, but I don't want to be on it all day and I find that the bigger the screen, the more I have to actually focus on using it. The more time I just inevitably spend using it. My phone for me is not my primary device. I do use it to get work done.

Go on. Social media browse watch, videos all that kind of normal stuff, but it's not my primary computer. I have an iPad, I have a mac. I have all the other things available to me. So the phone is really my on the go tool but having something that fits in my hand easily makes it quick and easy I get on it.

Do what I need to do, and it goes back in my pocket, but I totally see the other side of the argument. If the phone is one of your primary tools, then having a bigger screen is better and using two hands is not a big deal. You're going to want that experience. It really just comes down to personal preference. That size, though, isn't perfect for everything like I said, if you're using this as your main device, it is a little on the small side, especially for the kind of tasks that we're used to doing on phones.

These days to me, this phone is definitely more of a pick. It up use it put away, but overall, for me, the biggest selling points of the iPhone 12 mini it being mini, really has been a joy to use and man. I miss having a small phone apple, did a pretty good job here, because, besides the size of the phone itself, I mean this features all the same things as the regular iPhone 12. But that is where I start to kind of not love this phone as much, not for necessarily bad reasons, but just for again how I use a phone. I think battery life is the biggest worry about a lot of people when looking at this phone, like the dream of having a small phone, that's pocketable.

That sounds great, but you know that battery life is not going to be nearly as good and, of course it just isn't. It's a smaller battery, it's still using tech like 5g, it does have the a14 processor, which is very efficient, but I mean battery life is just not going to be that great, but it is better than I was expecting it to be. I found I've been getting around six hours screen on time, which is not the pro max level, but it's also not horrible, and you know I think my expectations were set because earlier this year, when the iPhone SE came out, I used that for quite a while, and that battery life is quite a bit worse than what you get with the iPhone 12 mini. So this actually seems like not that big of a deal what it comes down to, I think, is unless you're on it all day. Constantly it's like what you're doing all day long the battery life is gonna, be fine you'll get through a day, but it's not a two-day phone or a one and a half day phone you're going to want to charge it every single night.

This is by far the biggest trade-off to having this small size, but it's not so bad that I think it makes this phone irrelevant. It's still completely usable, but even though the battery isn't all that bad. The fact that I am used to these bigger phones that have much better battery life means that the transition you know even coming from something like the iPhone 11, which has excellent battery life going to the 12 mini it's going to be a big transition, all right, real, quick before we continue on. I think this video's sponsor skill share now skill share is an online learning community, with thousands of classes for really anything creative. So whether that's business, photography, illustration design, I mean anything in that creative field that you want to learn and grow.

Skill share has a class for you, and they also have classes in various different skill levels. So, whether you know you're just getting started, you want to dabble see if it's something that you like or if you are an expert- and you just want to see, if there's some new techniques that you've never heard of before skill share again has a class for you. You know I think it's important to just always be learning, especially in a time like right now I mean there's no reason not to get better at your craft, learn something new and just express yourself. One of my favorite classes right now is plants at home from Christopher griffin. It just shows you how to liven up your space a little with actual plants, which is something I've been really trying to do, especially since I've been home.

So much just you know, change things up a bit and if that's something you want to check out or any of the other classes, you can get skill share premium for less than 10 dollars a month, but for the first 1 000 of you to check the link down in the description you get. A free trial of skill share premium so go check it out and get learning. The camera is the biggest feature. I always look for in a new phone, and it's the reason why I always opt for that top end or that pro model. It's because I want the most out of that camera system and coming from using the iPhone 12 Pro max, which has a different camera setup as the 12 and 12 pro it's one area that has given me a little of pause now.

By no means is the iPhone 12 mini a bad camera. It is excellent. I mean for the size of phone and for the features that you're getting. I mean it's pretty hard to beat and there are some features that I was expecting to miss that I didn't like the telephoto camera. Furthermore, I have actually found over the past few months.

Furthermore, I've been using it less and less, and now I don't really miss it at all and when it comes to actual photo quality, I mean you're, just you're, getting a great photo out of the iPhone. Whichever iPhone you choose this year, smart HDR 3 is doing its job. Deep fusion, I think, is probably one of the biggest changes where you are in that kind of not great lighting situation, but not dark enough for night mode, not bright enough for smart HDR. In those situations, you notice a pretty big difference, and you know their iPhone photos. You pretty much know what to expect they're balanced, and they look relatively natural, and that really applies to video as well.

I've said it before I'll say it again. The iPhone just takes the best video out there. You know 8k is great and everything, but when it comes to just the actual quality dynamic range, all that kind of stuff the iPhone you just can't beat it, and you still get things like Dolby HDR. You still get 10 bites. It's an it's an impressive video setup so for just taking photos when you're out and about this camera is excellent, but I did find myself not taking photos that often I would use it more as a snapshot camera, or you know.

Let me show you something kind of camera rather than let me go out and take pictures kind of camera if that makes sense, but I did interestingly find myself taking my normal, like real camera out a little more because I wasn't relying on my iPhone as my photo device anymore. I was treating the iPhone as the need to get a quick shot camera and then using my normal camera. When I wanted great photos, even still, I did find myself missing using the iPhone as my main camera. There was some kind of uh joy, some kind of challenge there, and I just haven't found myself doing that with the mini I knew going in the camera was going to be a bit of a downgrade from what I personally am used to. I was up for the challenge, but I am kind of missing it, and I'm not really sure why I don't enjoy taking photos with the mini quite as much because the camera is the same as you get on the 12 and the 12 pro.

Basically for the main cameras, I think it really just has to do with the size of the phone, the screen being smaller means. I don't really enjoy taking pictures with it as much, even though the end result of the photos is still great. The iPhone 12 mini is interesting because it's such a personal, unique phone there's some people that would absolutely love to have this phone and there's some people who I mean this would never be a phone they would purchase after using this phone for a bit. This is not the perfect phone that I was dreaming of, and it's mainly because I'm just so used to not having a small iPhone anymore. You know I'm trying to train my habits back to the days of you know smaller phone, and it really just depends on how you use your phone.

What are your goals with your personal technology? What do you want your phone to give you, and you know it's interesting, I'm the only person in my you know real life with my friends and family that actually want the iPhone 12 mini every other person? I've showed it to have not wanted it at all like they think it's way too small. But when I go online, and you know check twitter or my colleagues people in this space, they love the idea of a small iPhone and that's an interesting little data point. There, obviously anecdotal, but really solidifies, that this is a very, not polarizing, but just unique phone people are either going to want it or they aren't. But if you are someone who's, you know kind of like me, you want the latest phone. That has, you know great features and everything up to date, but also that you can use with one hand fit in your pocket, and you just don't want to be on all day.

The iPhone 1 mini really is a great way to go, but for me more importantly, I'm just excited that apple is actually making this phone, and I'm really just hoping that this isn't the last of the mini iPhone. Hopefully it's not a one and done because having a small iPhone, even if it's not, you know the perfect iPhone. I was dreaming of I'm just happy. It's here.

Source : Matt Gonzalez