After over 4 years of utilizing an iPhone 12 Pro Max, Apple’s thinner and lighter iPhone Air seemed like a refreshing change. The cellphone’s promise of offering the identical Apple-exclusive perks, like iMessage and FaceTime, whereas being extra pocket-friendly, actually appealed to me.The downside: $1,000 is just too a lot for me to place in the direction of a cellphone proper now. Plus, my present T-Mobile plan has a low month-to-month value and is now not eligible for these bigger “get a phone on us” offers as a result of it is so previous. Switching carriers to get such a promotion can also be a no-go, as practically each wi-fi plan that’s eligible would price me extra money month-to-month. Phones themselves are much more costly, with the worth of latest units fluctuating because of an unsure financial outlook and the continuing RAM scarcity. Two telephones I’ve just lately reviewed, the $180 Moto G Play and the $700 OnePlus 15R, each have increased beginning costs than the fashions they changed.And that is when it hit me: Apple made extra pocket-friendly iPhones years earlier than the Air with the since-discontinued iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 13 Mini. Both are capable of run iOS 26 and can seemingly obtain updates for a number of extra years. Even extra incentivizing, I might get a 13 Mini with 256GB of storage for a similar value as a brand-new finances cellphone.But I’ve considerations about shopping for such an previous cellphone.Apple now not makes the iPhone Mini, so the one strategy to discover one might be to purchase it used. While sellers promise that their used telephones will operate and solely present some indicators of wear and tear, will that actually be the case? And regardless that it would run iOS 26, will the cellphone be capable of sustain with my every day routine? I made a decision to make the leap and take a look at whether or not a used iPhone 13 Mini might fill a few of the iPhone Air’s promise at a a lot lower cost. Finding an iPhone 13 MiniFor the needs of this take a look at, I purchased an blue iPhone 13 Mini with 256GB of storage for $353, after taxes, from a vendor on Amazon. I take advantage of a 256GB version of the 12 Pro Max, and did not need to sacrifice storage by switching to a unique cellphone. If you do not need to undergo Amazon, yow will discover the iPhone 13 Mini on quite a few used cellphone websites, together with Gazelle, Back Market, Swappa and eBay, amongst others. I usually scope Woot for cellphone offers, and infrequently see refurbished fashions of the Mini pop up there, too.These distributors will usually value the used telephones primarily based on their situation. In this case, I purchased one in Renewed situation, which meant that the cellphone would present some indicators of wear and tear and a battery with not less than 80% capability. Amazon additionally has a Renewed Premium tier, which prices $60 to $90 extra and presents telephones with not less than 90% battery capability. Renewed is completely different from refurbished, because the latter means a cellphone has been repaired or repackaged and offered in like-new situation. In this case, a renewed mannequin ought to imply it has been inspected earlier than being offered and mailed out.I made a decision to go the cheaper route, as I imagined that the majority renewed telephones would have a battery lifetime of not less than final a day (and I later found this to be fallacious). Also importantly, the cellphone got here with a beneficiant return coverage, permitting me three months to get a refund if I made a decision the cellphone wasn’t for me. The iPhone 13 Mini arrived in a white field, and included an influence adapter with cable. Numi Prasarn/CNETUnboxing and organising the iPhone 13 MiniThe iPhone 13 Mini arrived in a reasonably nondescript field. I did not count on to obtain rather more than the cellphone, but it surely got here with an influence adapter and a charging cable (Lightning), which was a pleasant bonus. There is a few noticeable put on on the iPhone 13 Mini, however nothing that will have an effect on how the cellphone capabilities. Numi Prasarn/CNETWhen inspecting the iPhone, I seen some seen put on and tear alongside the upper-right body, however that was properly inside my expectations for the cellphone’s situation. The display screen had no cracks, and any indicators of prior use would not affect its usability.I powered it on, stunned to see that the cellphone hadn’t been manufacturing facility reset earlier than it was shipped to me. It went straight to the house display screen as a substitute of main me by way of an preliminary setup course of. Although it wasn’t logged into somebody’s account, I most well-liked a brisker set up earlier than including my private data. So I carried out a manufacturing facility reset and used iCloud to switch my account, apps and settings over. The iPhone 13 Mini’s 83% most battery capability rapidly examined my persistence. Mike Sorrentino/CNETThe iPhone 13 Mini’s battery life is shorter than expectedSince the iPhone 13 Mini is a smaller cellphone, I anticipated it to have a smaller battery. I hoped — very like the iPhone Air — that iOS 26’s battery optimizations would assist maintain the cellphone working by way of the day with presumably a night recharge. However, I did not account for a way the battery’s lowered capability would consider.The iPhone 13 Mini’s battery was at 83% capability. Apple recommends changing an iPhone’s battery when its capability is beneath 80%. My new-to-me Mini was above that threshold, simply barely. And I rapidly realized that my persistence with this reduced-capacity battery would put on out quick.On my first full day with the iPhone 13 Mini, I took it to work, totally charged, round 7 a.m. By 6 p.m., the battery life had depleted to 30%. At this level of the day, I primarily used the cellphone for checking notifications, apps and a few mild images. But it was after work once I realized how rapidly the rest of this battery would drain. The battery dropped to 15% after I used GPS over 5G for 30 minutes to get from the workplace to a bar’s trivia night time. This is the place my energy financial institution got here in useful, charging the battery to 60% inside an hour.On days once I used the cellphone’s digicam or the wi-fi hotspot function for my laptop computer, the battery was mainly toast. I take advantage of my cellphone frequently for these duties, and was shocked to see that a number of of them would drain the iPhone 13 Mini roughly 40% in an hour. Two-hand typing on the iPhone 13 Mini is a problem, however iOS 26 is in any other case optimized simply effective on the smaller display screen. Mike Sorrentino/CNETApple’s iPhone 13 Mini runs iOS 26 so wellDespite its sparse battery life, I actually loved utilizing the iPhone 13 Mini. Apple’s iOS 26 optimizes so properly on the smaller display screen that I barely needed to change how I used it: working apps, video games, video calls and even watching TV reveals.Even although the iPhone 13 Mini’s 5.4-inch show is far smaller than each the 12 Pro’s 6.7-inch display screen or the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch one, it simply meant I held the cellphone a little bit nearer whereas watching HBO Max and numerous cooking movies.I did, nevertheless, really feel restricted by the display screen’s actual property when typing. It was a bit too comfortable for utilizing each thumbs. I obtained round this through the use of the swipe keyboard for one-finger typing, regardless that it is more durable to appropriate a phrase when it predicts incorrectly. The cameras on the used iPhone 13 Mini could also be a little bit dated, however are nonetheless fairly succesful. Numi Prasarn/CNETThe iPhone 13 Mini’s cameras have aged gracefullyI’m not going to faux that the iPhone 13 Mini’s 12-megapixel digicam system can go toe-to-toe towards the iPhone Air’s newer 48-megapixel digicam. But the Mini does have a devoted ultrawide digicam that is absent on the Air. Even with older cameras, the iPhone 13 Mini remains to be capable of take good pictures. I frequently take a look at low cost telephones, and I can comfortably say that the Mini’s cameras are pretty much as good, if not higher, than what’s obtainable on most new $300 Android telephones — bear in mind I paid about $350 for the used iPhone.
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Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini’s extensive digicam. Mike Sorrentino/CNETStarting off with this sausage, egg, cheese and tomato sandwich taken whereas exterior, this photograph from the primary digicam reveals loads of element on the bagel (discover the all the pieces seasoning). The tomato within the picture even has a slight glisten to it. While not terribly dynamic, the photograph is an correct illustration and would not want a filter or additional modifying.
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Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini’s extensive digicam. Mike Sorrentino/CNETIn this photograph of a espresso store’s foyer, discover the vibrancy of the colour. You may even see the yellow wall’s texture. On different telephones I sometimes assessment within the $300 value vary, these sorts of element usually will get softened or would mix into the wall’s yellow shade. I really like the way in which the daylight pours throughout the body from the window to the suitable and the way it’s contrasted by the plant’s shadows.
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Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini at 5x zoom. Mike Sorrentino/CNETI anticipated to overlook my iPhone 12 Pro Max’s telephoto lens for the reason that Mini would not have one and depends solely on digital zoom. This picture taken at 5x zoom of a fowl alongside the Siesta Key, Florida seashore just isn’t an excellent photograph when it comes to picture high quality. It suffers from picture noise. The fowl’s feathers and the sand’s texture are smoothed to a blur from all of the noise discount.I took the photograph beneath of the identical fowl at 5x with a Samsung Galaxy S24, which has a devoted 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom telephoto digicam. The picture seems to be higher and you may even make out a few of the feathers on the fowl.
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Taken with the Samsung Galaxy S24’s telephoto digicam. Mike Sorrentino/CNETThe iPhone 13 Mini has a 12-megapixel front-facing digicam, which is greater than adequate for fast selfies and FaceTime calls. I like how the photograph beneath reveals the smaller particulars of my hair and face. Also you may even make out the main points and textures within the tree and plant which can be within the background. Taken with the iPhone 13 Mini’s front-facing digicam. Mike Sorrentino/CNET
iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini digicam testing: See how Apple’s new telephones take pictures
See all pictures Could I actually improve to this used iPhone 13 Mini?Functionally, I loved utilizing the iPhone 13 Mini. Even although the cellphone is far smaller than my iPhone 12 Pro Max, not one of the apps I frequently use felt compromised. I particularly preferred the way it took up a lot much less house in my pocket, which I seen on walks or on the fitness center, as a result of I did not really feel as weighed down. It’s sufficiently small that I even used it as a quasi-fidget spinner (you may watch the tip of my video journal embedded into this story to see what I imply).The draw back is that I simply cannot get previous the battery life points. There are, nevertheless, a variety of choices I might take to treatment this however that will contain discovering one other pocketable machine. I might return this one and get one other iPhone 13 Mini in Renewed Premium situation on Amazon, which is at present going for $403, and would promise a battery with not less than 90% capability obtainable. That upcharge could be much less cash than paying Apple to switch the battery, which might price $89.And if I’m increasing my finances to the $400 vary, there are additionally a number of different telephones that may be a greater improve. For occasion, Apple’s iPhone 15 has a bigger 6.1-inch show, but it surely’s nonetheless smaller than my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and it may be discovered for round $470 in Renewed situation at 256GB of storage. I might even think about an Android flip cellphone, just like the Motorola Razr or the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, since each are being supplied within the $450 to $600 value vary, both used or marked down from vacation gross sales.So whereas I’ll be returning this particular cellphone over its poor battery life, there’s not less than loads of different choices to contemplate in my seek for an reasonably priced and extra moveable smartphone.
iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini: Check out the redesigned digicam module and smaller notch
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