In search of the perfect compact phone: iPhone 12 mini

Funny thing, though. At 135 grams the mini doesn’t feel feather-weight. It feels substantial, probably because the weight is distributed across a smaller volume. It doesn’t feel heavy, it actually feels nice and premium. It’s also so pocketable! I even thought I've lost the damn thing a couple of times. Nothing more to report, 10 out of 10.

(My) Thumb comfort, one-hand operation

Now, my iOS experience has been far from perfect in the past few days. However, I won’t complain or make this article into the run-of-the-mill iOS vs Android stuff. I acknowledge the differences, the learning curve, and the potential too. What I can say for sure is that iOS feels snappy and smooth, even when it refuses to do the things I want it to do.

When you rest the iPhone 12 mini on your fingers, it’s really easy to reach all parts of the screen with your thumb without any hand gymnastics. My hands are of average size, so the above statement should apply to most of you, too. If you grip it more tightly, reaching the corners becomes a bit of a stretch but nothing to complain about.



The Volume buttons are placed perfectly but I wish the power button was a bit higher on such a small device. My thumb often lands above it when I hold the phone but that’s just nitpicking. One-hand operation is not only a possibility with the mini but the only way you would use the phone. Correction, the only time I need to use both my hands is when I play a game in landscape mode.

Typing and media consumption

Typing on such a small phone is not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s actually decent even in portrait mode. The only gripes I have with the keyboard is that some of the most commonly used symbols are stuck on the second sheet. I need to go switch between letters and numbers every time I want to use a comma, question mark, or exclamation. This slows down my writing process significantly. Again, nothing you can’t cure with a third-party keyboard if you can’t bear it.

I’m currently binge-watching The Crown on Netflix, so I gave this one a go and watched a whole episode on the mini. Not bad but the screen is kinda small, no way around it. And to make matters worse, the notch is really obtrusive on such a compact device. If you want a clean video experience you need to shrink the active screen area further to hide the notch and that’s a 2010 experience right there. I won’t count this as a con, though - it’s the laws of physics - small phone, small screen (foldable phones far from ready, sorry). 

I played some GWENT on the iPhone 12 mini (a Hearthstone-like card game) and surprisingly, the experience was great. It was actually better than gaming on the Mate 20 Pro with its 6.39-inch touchscreen. Maybe it’s the curved edges on the Huawei or better optimization and touch sensitivity on the mini, I really don’t know. One last thing - the sound is also very good - loud and clear. I mean really loud - for such a compact device. I had to turn it down and keep it at 50%.

Battery life

We’re onto the sensitive stuff now, right? After reading so many reports on the “less than stellar” battery life of the iPhone 12 mini, I was prepared for the worst. How was it, then? Well, not as bad as I thought it would be. I used the phone as a daily driver and got 19 hours out of the battery with 3 hours screen-on time. I probably spent more time on the phone too, as with any new gadget.