Apple released the iPhone 12 mini last year – it was hailed as the return of the compact iPhone. Over the years, smartphones have all grown to include large displays which make them difficult to “actually” operate with one hand. Most smartphones require fiddling with two hands to be able to use them. But the iPhone 12 mini brings a smaller 5.4” screen with minimal bezels which makes it usable with one hand.
The iPhone 12 mini is a flagship grade smartphone – powered by the latest A14 Bionic chip with 4GB of RAM and NVMe storage upto 256GB. The A14 Bionic is the fastest chip made by Apple for mobile devices at the moment – it powers the iPad Air as well, apart from the iPhone 12 series.
Flagship internals in a small package
On the front, the iPhone 12 mini has an OLED display with a resolution of 2340×1080 offering a pixel resolution of 476 ppi. As always expected from Apple, the display offers a premium content watching experience – it is color accurate, punchy, and bright. Of course, the screen size is small for watching a lot of movies or TV shows but for those who need a small phone, the display on the iPhone 12 mini is fantastic.
The iPhone 12 mini supports 5G just like its other siblings. Last year, Apple hyped (like “really” hyped) the next generation of wireless technology. The company invited executives from Verizon to talk about the advancements of 5G at the iPhone 12 ‘Special Event’. While 5G is still not available everywhere, it is indeed nice to have the support if you are planning to use the device for a couple of years.
Inside the iPhone 12 mini, Apple packs a tiny 2,227 mAh battery. It is physically not possible to put a larger battery in the form factor and as a result, the phone does not last long. With light use, the iPhone 12 mini can last all day but with some intensive tasks for long periods, it may die down pretty quickly.
The iPhone 12 mini retails for $729 which is not cheap. It is not supposed to be a cheap, it is a flagship-grade “mini” phone but with one caveat: below average battery life.
