Apple iPhone 12 mini (64GB) - Blue

Product Information

The biggest change here is the introduction of Dolby Vision HDR, and in our testing we found the quality to be markedly better than that of non-HDR clips we shot, with footage looking more colorful and detailed. It’s a solid upgrade for those who want better video quality, even if on its own it’s not a reason to buy the iPhone 12 mini. We found that the iPhone 12 mini would last us for a full day from a single charge, but on the odd occasion it would die off toward 10pm after a high day of usage. This was a particularly intensive day, though, and on other busy days we also found the phone would make it through to bedtime. READ NEXT: Apple iPhone 12 review – the best iPhone for most people Apple iPhone 12 mini review: Performance Use up to 5 GB of your full allowance in the EU and selected destinations at no extra cost. After this, you'll be charged 10p/MB while roaming. What's not included We found that after just a week of loading our phone with apps and media we were nearing the limit, so it’s likely you’ll need more space if you don’t want to be greeted by the 'storage full' notification at some point.

Consumer finance on the Apple Online Store is brokered by Apple Retail UK Limited, which acts as a credit broker and not the lender. Apple offers finance from a restricted range of finance providers and Barclays Partner Finance, which is a trading name of Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, a member of the Barclays Group. Clydesdale Financial Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Register number: 311753). Registered in England. Registered no.: 2901725. Registered office: 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP. Subject to application and status. Full terms apply. The display also measured up well in our technical testing. With a measured peak brightness of 640cd/m2 in auto brightness mode it’s going to be readable on the brightest of summer sunny days and its average colour accuracy Delta E score of 0.94 is also exceptionally good. This is a screen on which anything you care to watch will look wonderful, including, most importantly, photos and video shot on the phone itself. Apple iPhone 12 mini review: Cameras You can sometimes find it for a little less than the RRP in third-party stores, but being an iPhone this has held its value quite well. This is something Apple already offers accessories for, and we’re sure to see more, both Apple and third-party in the future. It’s a worthwhile update, even if you don’t need to use the available accessories from day one. iPhone 12 mini displayClaim is based on iPhone 12 Ceramic Shield front cover compared with the previous-generation iPhone. Again, this will offer a solid day of battery life for a middling amount of usage, but if you’re using your phone consistently throughout the day on mobile networks, you’ll find this phone will need a recharge mid-way through the day. Monthly rolling plansThese plans are totally hassle free and auto-renew each month. This means you don't need to do a thing, unless you want to choose a different plan. And you can do that anytime. Unlimited calls and texts

New year, new iPhone, new processor (essentially the brains of the device), and this year’s four new phones all contain the A14 Bionic chip – Apple’s fastest to date, and, it claims, the fastest ever in a smartphone full stop – the same assertion it made about last year’s A13 Bionic processor. Qi wireless charging makes a return here for the iPhone 12 mini, and this generally worked well in our testing. Using the MagSafe fast-charger (the official Apple one is 12W) we found the phone was able to charge 12% in half an hour. Its tendency to attract smudges aside, the iPhone 12 mini is a fantastic piece of design: slim and small enough to sit in the palm of a hand and – crucially – tap out texts single-handedly. Weighing in at just 135g it’s light and well-balanced, meaning it will be markedly easier for people with smaller hands to use than the gigantic Pro Max or even the standard iPhone 12 models.

Unrivalled Power

It may feel like an iPhone for the nostalgists, but it’s anything but when it comes to spec. The A14 Bionic chipset that powers this device might not be the fastest chipset for iPhones any more but we found it to work nearly flawlessly, whatever we threw at the phone. Plus, you've got a top-end camera array with two 12MP rear shooters that perform just as well as those on the iPhone 12. The size of the device doesn't say much about the power of the iPhone 12 mini. In fact, it is quite disproportionate since its A14 Bionic chip is among the most powerful on the market. This processor, also found in the regular iPhone 12 as well as its Pro models, easily surpasses the Snapdragon 865, which is at the heart of many high-end smartphones on the Android side. On top of the fantastic A14 Bionic processor, the iPhone 12 mini is also outfitted with 4 GB of RAM. This means that even the most demanding apps and games run very smoothly on this smaller iPhone. Camera Modules The iPhone 12 mini’s design is its unique selling point, and it’s a welcome alternative for those who want a smaller iPhone, and who’ve looked on in dismay as Apple has released ever-larger handsets (but also don't want the dated-looking design of the iPhone SE, Apple’s other mini-sized phone). Use up to 5 GB of your full allowance in the EU and selected destinations at no extra cost. After this, you'll be charged 10p/MB while roaming. Flexible plans There’s a 12MP ‘standard’ wide-angle camera with a f/1.6 aperture, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view and an f/2.4 aperture. There’s no telephoto sensor here, as on the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max, and that means your zoomed shots won’t look as impressive, as there’s no dedicated camera to do the heavy lifting.

Just like the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 mini is markedly better than previous iPhones at capturing photos in the dark via its Night Mode, the feature Apple rolled out last year to make pictures taken in low light sharper and brighter. As it’s now included in the front-facing camera, selfies taken at night now look better lit and more detailed than on older iPhones, thanks in part to Deep Fusion, Apple’s automatic image processing system that aims to replicate colours naturally and clearly.per month each for Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade after free trial. Special offers are good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device. Apple Arcade offer begins October 22. One Apple TV+ offer and one Apple Arcade offer per Family Sharing group. Plans automatically renew until cancelled. Other restrictions and terms apply; visit apple.com/promo for more information. The screen here is 5.4 inches, and you’re comfortably able to reach all corners when using the phone one-handed. The display is also HDR10-ready, meaning you’ll notice more detail in dark and light areas when watching content encoded with the technology. The difference is most notable when you’re watching video from sources like Netflix or iTunes, but it also means photos and other images look better. HDR, Panorama, Night Mode, Slow Motion, Time Lapse, Bokeh Mode, Portrait Mode, Burst Mode, Red Eye Correction, Stereo Recording One issue we do have is the onboard storage: you’ve got the choice of 64GB, 128GB or 256GB for the iPhone 12 mini. If you need more, you’ll have to opt for an iPhone 12 Pro if you’re a power user, which starts at 128GB and goes all the way up to 512GB

The display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design, and these corners are within a standard rectangle. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 5.42 inches (iPhone 12 mini), 5.85 inches ( iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone X S, iPhone X), 6.06 inches ( iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone X R), 6.46 inches ( iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone X S Max), or 6.68 inches ( iPhone 12 Pro Max) diagonally. Actual viewable area is less. The iPhone 12 mini is a strong choice for people with smaller hands who want smaller screens (Photo: Rhiannon Williams/i) The 12 mini is still using a 60Hz display, so the scrolling experience isn’t as impressive as on some other phones that cost a similar amount – and if you’re swapping from a phone that does have a higher refresh rate, you’ll likely miss it here. It’s unlikely you’ll notice otherwise, but it’s a feature we’ve enjoyed seeing come to phones, and we’d like to see Apple implement it soon. iPhone 12 mini camera The wide rear-facing camera’s larger aperture means videos look lighter and brighter in low light conditions, coupled with less noise and the ability to shoot directly in Dolby Vision – the first and only camera in the world to do so. Dolby Vision is a form of HDR (High Dynamic Range) video technology that constantly tweaks the brightness, contrast and colour performance being relayed to you on a device’s screen to ensure it appears as realistic as possible, maintaining the colours it was shot in and intended to be viewed in, free from additional overlays or saturating tech that means a video appears differently when replayed to how it was originally shot. Apple claims the 10-bit video is capable of capturing up to 700m colours (60x more than previously available on an iPhone). Apple has yet to confirm the exact battery size on the iPhone 12 mini, but filings from a mobile agency in Brazil suggest it's a 2227mAh cell. As with most recent iPhone models, the battery life has improved over older devices, but it still isn’t going to give you the best life.Night mode ultrawide images are a decent upgrade, however, as proved in the below shot versus the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The iPhone 12 mini is clearly capable of lifting more detail and colours from the scene than the older phone.