In this review, we are looking at the iPhone 13 Mini, kindly loaned to us by Three for this review. It is an interesting one for me, as the ‘regular’ iPhone 13 is my daily driver, and in everything but battery and screen/physical size, both the phones are exactly the same. There is also the bittersweet aspect of the fact that as of the time of writing, the iPhone 13 Mini was the last ever Mini version of an iPhone. iPhone 14, as we know, has no Mini on offer, just the regular sized one and the Pro models.
iPhone 13 Mini – Features
- 5.4″ XDR Super Retina display
- 5G connectivity
- A15 Processor
- Up to 17 hours playtime
- Ceramic Shield Front
- Space grade Aluminium body
- Wide and Ultra wide cameras at the back
In the box
As is now usual with iPhones, the only thing you get in the very compact and slim package except the iPhone is a USB C to Lightning cable.
Performance and day to day usage
As is expected, the phone performs reasonably well. It has now updated to iOS 16, which means you get all the features your phone allows from an iOS point of view.
Most apps will work well, and while a few games may feel heavy, the game play is good enough to allow you to carry on using this as you would.
The small size
I quite like small phones. I am old enough to remember when phones kept getting smaller and smaller till suddenly the touch screen era started making them bigger and bigger instead. The iPhone 13 Mini sits in a perfect size where it is small enough to easily slide in your pocket, while still offering a 5.4″ screen.
You can use it with one hand, and the thumb will easily reach the whole screen, meaning you can type or access pretty much all of the phone without needing two hands. A big advantage as far as I am concerned.
One thing, though it is a pretty niche one, is that if you use your phone to do drawing, the smaller screen obviously gets in the way of that.
Photography
This one was both an easy and a hard one for me, since I already have the same set of cameras on my own phone (iPhone 13). It performs really well, and the night performance has improved a huge amount over the last year or so, making photos in the dark great.
The thing you may miss is the telephoto lens, so if that is important to you, probably want to look elsewhere.
Video isn’t my main medium of shooting, but what I have done and seen, it has performed well.
Battery Life
Battery life was always going to be the one that was the risk with this phone. It is smaller, and hence comes with a smaller battery life.
The good news is that it will last you a day comfortably. However, even compared to the iPhone 13, it is just about sneaking to the end of the day while the normal one gives you a comfortable day and a half depending on usage.
So we have a big improvement over the previous phones, but somehow I would have hoped that the smaller screen would have somehow given us a comparable battery size. But then again, something has to give to fit in everything the normal phone has, and it had to be the battery in this case.
iPhone 13 Mini – Verdict
There are many great things about the iPhone 13 Mini and its small size. So much so that if you want a good iPhone experience in a small size, this is still the iPhone to go for. Now with the iPhone 14 out, it also brings this in a very nice price point, making it more affordable and attractive.
More information
More information about the iPhone 13 Mini can be found on the Three website.
At the time of writing, you could get one on a 24 month plan with a monthly contract of under £50 a month with an upfront cost of £30. This will give you unlimited everything, from data to calls. Other plans are available too.