Opinion: One year with my iPhone 12 Mini

As of last week, I have now had my iPhone 12 Mini for a year.

This was an upgrade from my iPhone 8 Plus that I had received as a birthday gift in 2018. While it was a good upgrade at its time, the battery on it eventually got to a certain point where it would only charge to a certain percentage, with that being somewhere around 75%. 

That type of poor battery performance obviously was not going to cut it for me.

So, the decision for me was to get a blue iPhone 12 Mini.

Believe it or not, it is my first iPhone that is blue. This made me happy when I purchased it since blue is my favorite color of them all. 

Throughout the past year, I have come to really enjoy features like Face ID with services like Apple Pay and Sign In with Apple, and the iPhone using it to access certain parts of it like passwords when logging into other sites or apps.

Additionally, the size and form factor of it has made me love it even more. It’s not too big or small, and when I think about it, it is sad that Apple no longer makes “mini-sized” iPhones. They provide an iPhone experience that can only be related closely to the iPhone SE, and who knows how much longer Apple will continue to make that model?

The screen is nice and I have found myself watching more videos on it throughout the duration of the past year than on my iPhone 8 Plus, if that was even possible. I do enjoy my fair share of YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok videos on it.

Another major aspect of the iPhone 12 Mini has been its cameras. Even though there are higher-up models of the iPhone that do have better camera quality. However, the iPhone 12 Mini still does a great job with taking everyday photos and making them of good quality for social media.

I have found that the camera is quite clear when taking pictures of soda cans and glasses.

The only downside I have found with the iPhone 12 Mini is the battery life could be better. I wish it was better, but in the end, I don’t leave home that much and more of an introverted homebody, so that means I always have a charger nearby. On top of that, I do always have a charge in my car and at my full-time job too.

Other than the flaw with the battery, I have enjoyed my time with the iPhone 12 Mini. I look forward to this time of the year as the leaves fall, going into the stores to see all of the Christmas and holiday decorations, and taking pictures of the eventual snowfall that will come to me in Central Iowa.