After over 4 years of utilizing an iPhone 12 Pro Max, Apple’s thinner and lighter iPhone Air appeared like a refreshing change. The telephone’s promise of offering the identical Apple-exclusive perks, like iMessage and FaceTime, whereas being extra pocket-friendly, actually appealed to me.
The issue: $1,000 is just too a lot for me to place in direction of a telephone proper now. Plus, my current T-Mobile plan has a low month-to-month worth and is now not eligible for these bigger “get a telephone on us” offers as a result of it is so outdated. Switching carriers to get such a promotion can also be a no-go, as almost each wireless plan that’s eligible would price me more cash month-to-month. Telephones themselves are much more costly, with the value of latest units fluctuating attributable to an unsure financial outlook and the continuing RAM shortage. Two telephones I’ve not too long ago reviewed, the $180 Moto G Play and the $700 OnePlus 15R, each have greater 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. Each are capable of run iOS 26 and can possible obtain updates for a number of extra years. Much more incentivizing, I may get a 13 Mini with 256GB of storage for a similar worth as a brand-new price range telephone.
However I’ve considerations about shopping for such an outdated telephone.
Apple now not makes the iPhone Mini, so the one strategy to discover one will probably be to purchase it used. Whereas sellers promise that their used telephones will perform and solely present some indicators of wear and tear, will that actually be the case? And though it’ll run iOS 26, will the telephone be capable of sustain with my each day routine? I made a decision to make the leap and take a look at whether or not a used iPhone 13 Mini may fill a number of the iPhone Air’s promise at a a lot cheaper price.
Discovering an iPhone 13 Mini
For 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 exploit a 256GB version of the 12 Professional Max, and did not wish to sacrifice storage by switching to a unique telephone. In case you do not wish to undergo Amazon, yow will discover the iPhone 13 Mini on quite a few used telephone websites, together with Gazelle, Again Market, Swappa and eBay, amongst others. I typically scope Woot for telephone offers, and infrequently see refurbished fashions of the Mini pop up there, too.
These distributors will typically worth the used telephones based mostly on their situation. On this case, I purchased one in Renewed situation, which meant that the telephone would present some indicators of wear and tear and a battery with at the least 80% capability. Amazon additionally has a Renewed Premium tier, which prices $60 to $90 extra and provides telephones with at the least 90% battery capability. Renewed is totally different from refurbished, because the latter means a telephone has been repaired or repackaged and bought in like-new situation. On this case, a renewed mannequin ought to imply it has been inspected earlier than being bought and mailed out.
I made a decision to go the cheaper route, as I imagined that almost all renewed telephones would have a battery lifetime of at the least final a day (and I later found this to be unsuitable). Additionally importantly, the telephone got here with a beneficiant return coverage, permitting me three months to get a refund if I made a decision the telephone wasn’t for me.
The iPhone 13 Mini arrived in a white field, and included an influence adapter with cable.
Unboxing and organising the iPhone 13 Mini
The iPhone 13 Mini arrived in a reasonably nondescript field. I did not anticipate to obtain rather more than the telephone, nevertheless it got here with an influence adapter and a charging cable (Lightning), which was a pleasant bonus.
There may be some noticeable put on on the iPhone 13 Mini, however nothing that will have an effect on how the telephone features.
When inspecting the iPhone, I seen some seen put on and tear alongside the upper-right body, however that was effectively inside my expectations for the telephone’s situation. The display had no cracks, and any indicators of prior use would not impact its usability.
I powered it on, shocked to see that the telephone hadn’t been manufacturing facility reset earlier than it was shipped to me. It went straight to the house display as a substitute of main me by means of an preliminary setup course of. Though it wasn’t logged into somebody’s account, I most popular 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 endurance.
The iPhone 13 Mini’s battery life is shorter than anticipated
For the reason that iPhone 13 Mini is a smaller telephone, I anticipated it to have a smaller battery. I hoped — very like the iPhone Air — that iOS 26’s battery optimizations would assist preserve the telephone operating by means of the day with presumably a night recharge. Nevertheless, I did not account for a way the battery’s diminished 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 endurance 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, absolutely 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 telephone for checking notifications, apps and a few mild pictures. However it was after work once I realized how rapidly the rest of this battery would drain. The battery dropped to fifteen% after I used GPS over 5G for half-hour to get from the workplace to a bar’s trivia evening. That is the place my power bank got here in useful, charging the battery to 60% inside an hour.
On days once I used the telephone’s digicam or the wi-fi hotspot characteristic for my laptop computer, the battery was principally toast. I exploit my telephone usually 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 high quality on the smaller display.
Apple’s iPhone 13 Mini runs iOS 26 so effectively
Regardless of its sparse battery life, I actually loved utilizing the iPhone 13 Mini. Apple’s iOS 26 optimizes so effectively on the smaller display that I barely needed to change how I used it: operating apps, video games, video calls and even watching TV reveals.
Despite the fact that the iPhone 13 Mini’s 5.4-inch show is way smaller than each the 12 Professional’s 6.7-inch display or the iPhone Air’s 6.5-inch one, it simply meant I held the telephone a little bit nearer whereas watching HBO Max and varied cooking movies.
I did, nevertheless, really feel restricted by the display’s actual property when typing. It was a bit too comfortable for utilizing each thumbs. I received round this by utilizing the swipe keyboard for one-finger typing, though it is tougher 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.
The iPhone 13 Mini’s cameras have aged gracefully
I am not going to fake that the iPhone 13 Mini’s 12-megapixel digicam system can go toe-to-toe towards the iPhone Air’s newer 48-megapixel digicam. However the Mini does have a devoted ultrawide digicam that is absent on the Air. Even with older cameras, the iPhone 13 Mini continues to be capable of take good photographs. I usually take a look at low cost telephones, and I can comfortably say that the Mini’s cameras are nearly as good, if not higher, than what’s out there on most new $300 Android phones — keep in mind I paid about $350 for the used iPhone.
Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini’s huge digicam.
Beginning off with this sausage, egg, cheese and tomato sandwich taken whereas outdoors, this photograph from the principle 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. Whereas not terribly dynamic, the photograph is an correct illustration and does not want a filter or additional enhancing.
Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini’s huge digicam.
On this photograph of a espresso store’s foyer, discover the vibrancy of the colour. You possibly can even see the yellow wall’s texture. On different telephones I usually overview within the $300 worth vary, these sorts of element typically will get softened or would mix into the wall’s yellow coloration. I like the way in which the daylight pours throughout the body from the window to the proper and the way it’s contrasted by the plant’s shadows.
Taken on the iPhone 13 Mini at 5x zoom.
I anticipated to overlook my iPhone 12 Professional Max’s telephoto lens because the Mini does not have one and depends solely on digital zoom. This picture taken at 5x zoom of a chook alongside the Siesta Key, Florida seashore is just not a terrific photograph by way of picture high quality. It suffers from picture noise. The chook’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 chook at 5x with a Samsung Galaxy S24, which has a devoted 10-megapixel 3x optical zoom telephoto digicam. The picture appears higher and you’ll even make out a number of the feathers on the chook.
Taken with the Samsung Galaxy S24’s telephoto digicam.
The 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. Additionally you’ll be able to even make out the main points and textures within the tree and plant which are within the background.
Taken with the iPhone 13 Mini’s front-facing digicam.
iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini digicam testing: See how Apple’s new telephones take photographs
Might I actually improve to this used iPhone 13 Mini?
Functionally, I loved utilizing the iPhone 13 Mini. Despite the fact that the telephone is way smaller than my iPhone 12 Professional Max, not one of the apps I usually use felt compromised. I particularly appreciated the way it took up a lot much less area 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 is sufficiently small that I even used it as a quasi-fidget spinner (you’ll be able to 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, various choices I may take to treatment this however that will contain discovering one other pocketable machine. I may return this one and get one other iPhone 13 Mini in Renewed Premium situation on Amazon, which is currently going for $403, and would promise a battery with at the least 90% capability out there. That upcharge can be much less cash than paying Apple to exchange the battery, which might price $89.
And if I am increasing my price range to the $400 vary, there are additionally a number of different telephones that could be a greater improve. For example, Apple’s iPhone 15 has a bigger 6.1-inch show, nevertheless it’s nonetheless smaller than my iPhone 12 Professional Max, and it may be discovered for round $470 in Renewed condition at 256GB of storage. I may even take into account an Android flip telephone, just like the Motorola Razr or the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, since each are being provided within the $450 to $600 worth vary, both used or marked down from vacation gross sales.
So whereas I will be returning this particular telephone over its poor battery life, there’s at the least loads of different choices to contemplate in my seek for an reasonably priced and extra moveable smartphone.
