iPhone 13 Mini in the test: The best small smartphone As the smallest model from Apple, the iPhone 13 Mini offers features like a large smartphone. The test shows how good the little one is. 2:43 p.m. tech stage

The iPhone 13 Mini is the smallest smartphone available from Apple. It’s even a touch more compact than the iPhone SE, but offers a larger display. While Android users usually have to make do with significantly larger mobile devices and the few mini cell phones with Android (guide) often only offer outdated technology, buyers of Apple’s mini version don’t have to do without good equipment. Technically, it largely corresponds to its bigger brother, the iPhone 13. This gives you a really handy device with flagship qualities.

It ‘s not for nothing that the iPhone 13 Mini has secured first place in our top 10 mini cell phones: the best small smartphones . We tested the small Apple cell phone and show where the little one is really great and what weaknesses can be found.

Visually, everything remains the same compared to the large model – it’s just a touch smaller. The iPhone 13 Mini is visually based largely on the previous generation of the iPhone 12. At 131.5 mm x 64 mm x 0.77 mm cm, the dimensions are extremely compact for a current cell phone. Even the iPhone SE, which is largely based on the iPhone 8 in terms of looks, is not smaller. At 140 g, it is also a flyweight among smartphones.

The case relies on clear edges and straight lines. The corners of the case are subtly rounded, the display and the back are flat. The stainless steel frame and the front and back made of glass offer impeccable and high-quality workmanship. Neither gaps nor rickety elements disturb the haptic experience. The pressure points of the buttons are extremely firm and solid. The main camera only protrudes slightly, which means that the smartphone does not wobble as much when it is lying on its back.

Less beautiful, but a typical Apple feature, is the pronounced notch on the upper edge of the display with an integrated front camera. It just doesn’t look good and is annoying. Apple should perhaps consider the idea of ​​a punch-hole notch on the screen, which has long been standard in high-quality Androids. Very commendable: As with the predecessors, the housing is effectively protected against water and dust thanks to IP68 certification.

The display of the iPhone 13 Mini has a diagonal of 5.4 inches. That’s a little about 0.7 inches shorter than the regular iPhone 13, giving it an 85 percent screen-to-body ratio. That’s a decent value, if not outstanding. Upscale Android smartphones usually offer just over 90 percent here. The resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels ensures a razor-sharp image with an impressive pixel density of 476 ppi (pixels per inch).

The display offers excellent picture quality. OLED is used as the technology and ensures pronounced contrasts and the deepest black levels. Colors appear extremely powerful and lively, but always remain natural. The only real downer is the refresh rate of 60 Hertz – which is no longer up-to-date compared to androids. The higher this is, the smoother the image appears when scrolling or playing games. If you want 120 Hertz, you have to go for the larger and more expensive iPhone 13 Pro.

The brightness is also extremely good. We measured around 825 cd/m² in sunshine and with active brightness adjustment. This means that the iPhone 13 Mini is usually easy to read, even outdoors. The Samsung Galaxy S22 (test report) is even a bit brighter with 870 cd/m². The iPhone 13 Pro even achieves values ​​of over 1000 cd/m² here. We were even able to measure 1350 cd/m² on the bulky Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (test report) .

Like its predecessor, the iPhone 13 Mini uses a camera with two lenses. The main lens offers 12 megapixels with an f/1.6 aperture as well as phase comparison AF and dual LED flash with an optical image stabilizer (OIS). The second lens for ultra-wide-angle shots uses 12 megapixels with an f/2.4 aperture. Unfortunately, there is no telephoto lens, this is only available on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max.

Daylight shots offer good image quality with harmonious contrasts and natural but powerful color reproduction. In good weather, some shots tend to overexpose. Wide-angle shots do not differ in color from normal photos. Only image details seem to be a little weaker. In twilight, the night mode helps to brighten the images noticeably. Without a tripod, however, they tend to shake slightly and have moderate image details.

Videos, on the other hand, succeed perfectly with a resolution of up to 4K at 60 fps (frames per second). The OIS does a good job here and prevents blurred moving images. Selfies are also impressive, the portrait mode ensures a successful bokeh without any noticeable image errors. Overall, the camera is convincing, but some Android smartphones are now ahead of the curve here. We explain more about this in the list of the best Google, Samsung, Apple: These are the best camera smartphones 2022 .

As far as the CPU is concerned, the iPhones have always been beyond any doubt. The Apple A15 Bionic does its job on the iPhone 13 Mini. This is based on six cores, the GPU also uses four cores. Even the A14 Bionic in the iPhone 12 Pro (test report) was extremely strong. The A15er puts a little shovel on it again.

In everyday life, this is reflected in an always brisk and smooth system that does not start to stutter when playing games or video editing for TikTok are on the agenda. In the Apple world, only the iPhone 13 Pro has even more power, which even uses a fifth core for the GPU. Unfortunately, our usual everyday performance benchmark from PCmark is not available for iOS. That’s why we exceptionally use data from Antutu (780,000 points) and Geekbench (4500 points). These are strong values ​​that are only surpassed by the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max at Apple. The A15 can definitely keep up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 here.

With “Wild Life” from 3Dmark, the test did not want to issue any points because the mobile phone was “underpowered”. We therefore immediately resorted to “Wild Life Extreme” and achieved 2370 points. The direct predecessor iPhone 12 Mini also achieves strong 2250 points in the benchmark. In the Android world, devices with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in particular achieve similar values ​​for the “Extreme” version. However, a comparison should always be treated with caution here due to the different operating systems despite the same benchmark.

At first glance, the main memory of 4 GB seems manageable compared to Android smartphones. Due to the perfect interaction of hardware and software, the RAM equipment is consistent. Only the Pro model with 6 GB offers more. The internal memory is 128, 256 and 512 GB. However, an extension is not possible, which is why we recommend the version with 256 GB.

The iPhone 13 Mini surfs through home networks with Wifi-6. Mobile 5G is available. Bluetooth 5.0, NFC and UWB are also on board. The proprietary Lightning standard serves as the physical interface. The Mini uses A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS for localization.

There is no fingerprint sensor. The 3D facial recognition Face ID is used to unlock the device . This is extremely reliable and relatively secure against attempted deception. This also works if you wear a face mask. There is the “Face ID with mask” mode, which is then mainly limited to the eye area. This increases comfort, but at the expense of safety. In times of masks in public transport, an additional solution using fingerprints would have been nice in addition to face recognition and PIN or pattern.

One of the greatest strengths of the iPhone is the years of software support with regular security updates from Apple. While some buyers of an Android smartphone do not know whether and how often they will receive an update, Apple customers do not have to worry.

The small case has one disadvantage: The battery capacity is rather low at 2438 mAh. Although that is more than 10 percent more than its predecessor, the larger iPhone 13 has 3240 mAh here – values ​​that would cause any Android user to panic. It is charged via Lightning with 20 watts in just under 90 minutes. 15 watts are possible with Magsafe and 7.5 watts with Qi for charging.

PCmark’s battery test, which we prefer, only works on Android. Therefore, we must rely on our experience in everyday life. Despite the small capacity of the battery, you can easily get through a whole day with the iPhone 13 Mini with “normal” use, mainly with web browsing and chatting. Ultimately, however, it depends on usage. If you play a lot or film videos and then edit or upload them, you won’t last a whole day on one battery charge.

The RRP for the iPhone 13 Mini in the smallest memory version with 128 GB is 799 euros. 919 euros are due for 256 GB and 1149 euros for 512 GB. The colors available are red, black, white, blue, green and rose. With a bit of luck, you can find cheaper offers for the iPhone 13 Mini with 128 GB , for example for 675 euros on Ebay. The iPhone 13 Mini with 256 GB is available on Ebay from 750 euros.

There is currently no better smartphone with such compact dimensions. In terms of features, the iPhone 13 Mini is on par with the iPhone 13 except for the battery capacity. The A15 bionic chip developed an enormous amount of power that doesn’t have to hide behind a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The compact OLED display offers great image quality, and the camera takes good pictures. This puts the small iPhone almost at flagship level.

But it’s not perfect. The display still flickers at 60 Hertz, there is no telephoto lens, and the photos are not as good as some high-priced competitors from Asia. These weak points are ironed out only by the larger and even more expensive iPhone 13 Pro. The large notch above the display also no longer looks contemporary.

If you are looking for a perfect smartphone especially for taking photos, we recommend the list of the best from Google, Samsung, Apple: These are the best camera smartphones of 2022 . In the top 10, we show other alternatives at the top level : The best smartphones – Samsung ahead of Xiaomi and Apple . We present other small smartphones in the article Top 10 Mini Cell Phones: The Best Small Smartphones .