WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.080 For some reason, everything keeps getting bigger. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.720 Oh my God, this thing is crazy. Everything's up here? 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.040 And people, they love it. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:18.080 Look how big trucks have become. But I'm not the type who thinks bigger is better. 00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:22.120 Sometimes the less popular choice is the best one. 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:25.960 I've always been a small phone person, but when the 14 Pro came out, 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.960 I wanted to try a truly premium experience. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:33.520 It's got better cameras, better battery life, better screen, really everything. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.280 And yet, I think I want to go back. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.520 Am I wrong for wanting the cheaper, smaller, older, 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.740 less popular phone? No, no, it's you guys who are wrong. 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:53.080 We've only seen two generations of this mini iPhone, and yet it's the only small premium phone 00:00:53.080 --> 00:00:56.520 you can get, period. It delivers the same experience you'd expect 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.640 from a full-size iPhone just scaled down 20%, 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:03.520 which it does beautifully. Sure, you give up on some battery life, 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:08.040 but just hold the thing. It fits in the palm of my hand like a phone should. 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:12.200 I can reach any part of this 5.4 inch screen with one hand, 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.280 which is something that most people don't seem to care about 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.520 since large phones are the norm now. 00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:23.080 But it's not only about screen size. Years ago, I created this weird rule 00:01:23.160 --> 00:01:26.880 where I would not buy a phone that's more than 70 millimeters wide. 00:01:26.880 --> 00:01:30.080 I've had an iPhone 5 and SE, which I think are great, 00:01:30.080 --> 00:01:34.080 but a touch too narrow. I've had an iPhone 6, which despite being 00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:37.760 only 67 millimeters wide, was still 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:41.560 a little too cumbersome for me. Okay, so I'm starting to sound 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.240 like a bit of a Goldilocks here, but when Apple announced the iPhone 12 mini 00:01:45.240 --> 00:01:50.960 two and a half years ago, I was ecstatic because the perfect phone finally existed. 00:01:51.960 --> 00:01:56.160 Oh, man, this is great. It was lightweight. 00:01:56.160 --> 00:02:01.280 I love the symmetry of the stacked camera lenses. I love the available mint green color. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.160 And even though the notch took up most of the top of the screen, 00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:10.560 it did so with a certain proportionality. Many of these things changed with the 13 mini, 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.160 less notch, larger diagonally placed camera sensors 00:02:14.160 --> 00:02:17.360 from the 12 pro and a bigger battery. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:23.240 But other than battery capacity and obviously screen size, the 13 mini matched the non mini spec for spec. 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:29.360 Regardless whether it's the 12 or the 13, I'm happy with any of these as long as it's a mini iPhone. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.800 And I know I'm not alone. I think I prefer the 12 mini. 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:36.880 What phone do you currently use? The iPhone 13 mini. 00:02:36.880 --> 00:02:41.400 Got an iPhone 12 mini. I have the iPhone 13 mini. 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:46.600 I have an iPhone mini 13. What do you love about the iPhone mini? 00:02:46.600 --> 00:02:53.560 In terms of just physicality, this is by far the best phone I've owned, hands down. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:57.120 It's cheaper and it's the right size. It's effectively it. Like, you know what I mean? 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:00.680 It doesn't leave me wanting anything else, which I think is important. 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:06.320 Yeah, I wish I had one, a phone that I can just hold it in my hand, 00:03:06.320 --> 00:03:09.920 like one hand, not two hands. 00:03:09.920 --> 00:03:14.000 It's compact. Second of all, it's still very much competes 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:18.120 with a lot of the regular devices you'd find. 00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:26.400 At like a very good price point as well. And with, I feel a camera that is 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.680 acceptable for a phone camera. 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:39.440 Even though there's no 14 mini, I still don't think it's too late to get a mini iPhone. 00:03:39.440 --> 00:03:43.160 At $600, the 13 mini is incredible value. 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:46.680 Like this video's sponsor, Squarespace. Now, when it comes to choosing an iPhone, 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:53.040 you are spoiled for options. But the iPhone 13 mini is the best bang for the buck. 00:03:53.040 --> 00:03:56.400 Yes, you can try and save more money and opt for an SE, 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:00.760 but you'd be giving up a lot. If you go for the full size 12 for the same price 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:06.400 as the 13 mini, you lose a ton of new features, improvements, and storage just to get the larger screen. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.480 In every way, it's a lose, lose for me. 00:04:09.480 --> 00:04:12.600 And even for the large screen loving person, 00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:17.920 I don't think the trade-offs are worth it. You could of course go for the 6.1 inch iPhone 13, 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.080 but at that point, you're so close in price and performance to the iPhone 14, 00:04:21.080 --> 00:04:24.120 you might as well go for that. But if you really want a big phone, you could get a plus. 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:27.880 And at that point, well actually you're kind of close to the iPhone 14 Pro. So maybe you get that. 00:04:27.880 --> 00:04:32.680 Oh, but then you can get the iPhone 14 Max. It's a super slippery slope. 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:35.760 And in deciding what iPhone to spend my money on, 00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:41.040 it's super easy. But it is worth considering some of the downsides. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:43.640 What do you not like about the iPhone mini? 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:51.640 The iPhone, this kind of like, it's the iOS. You know, like I use the phone because it's comfortable, 00:04:51.640 --> 00:04:55.480 because it's well-designed in spite of the software. 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:59.720 As far as the hardware goes, I miss having a rear fingerprint sensor. 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:02.920 Yeah, but I mean, also I don't like the fact that you use a lightning cable. 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:05.720 I mostly charge it with, what's it called? 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:10.320 It's not a great phone though, for calling though. 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:13.800 I will say that, it doesn't sound great, 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:18.520 you know what I mean? And the battery life was not entirely there. 00:05:18.520 --> 00:05:22.680 Like for example, if I am like going on a road trip 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:25.800 or something where I'm going to be using my phone for most of the day, 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.240 then that is very much something I have to be super aware of. 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:33.040 The main thing is the battery life. Let's say if I'm like traveling and stuff, 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:37.000 like I will definitely bring a Mexico charger. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.800 So I just put it on here. That gets rid of the disadvantage 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.040 of like the battery life for the smaller phone. Our gripes aren't the biggest issue with the mini iPhone. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.960 The complaint everyone else has with this phone is the thing we all love about it. 00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:58.200 It's size. All things considered, the mini line accounts for just two to 3% of iPhones sold 00:05:58.200 --> 00:06:01.360 during their life cycle. That's still millions of devices, 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.520 but not enough to be considered popular. 00:06:04.520 --> 00:06:07.600 This and the opportunity to sell higher cost phones 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:12.040 seems to be why Apple decided to swap the mini for a plus this time around. 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:17.660 And that has me quite worried because there's now a possibility that we may never see a mini iPhone again. 00:06:19.440 --> 00:06:25.440 And then what? That's it. The reason I am on iPhone is because of the form factor. 00:06:25.440 --> 00:06:30.360 If that goes away, there is nothing compelling to me about staying on an iPhone. 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:34.400 Probably go for a 13 mini or find a used 13 mini. 00:06:34.400 --> 00:06:38.560 Like I don't want this to come across as cheap. I just don't value the high end stuff. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:44.480 I'll probably still go out and just buy this one because it's cheaper than the new one 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.220 and the old new fancy feature I probably don't really need. 00:06:48.220 --> 00:06:51.720 If I really had to, just for the sake of convenience, 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:55.080 I would end up switching to the current generation 00:06:55.080 --> 00:06:57.560 regular iPhone that is available. 00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:06.320 The prognosis is not good when you step outside the Apple ecosystem. 00:07:06.320 --> 00:07:09.440 All of the normal size Android phones, 00:07:09.440 --> 00:07:12.960 I find to be quite large and all of the best features are saved 00:07:12.960 --> 00:07:17.160 for the largest among them, which can be better described as monolithic. 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:22.560 I've searched high and low in the Android sphere for an alternative and the best I've been able to find 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.960 is the ASUS Zenfone 9. 00:07:25.960 --> 00:07:31.520 At first things look promising. This 5.9 inch phone has a surprisingly strong battery life, 00:07:31.520 --> 00:07:35.560 flagship specs and would you believe it, a headphone jack. 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:40.260 The wins keep on going. It also has a 120 Hertz refresh rate, 00:07:40.260 --> 00:07:43.540 which easily bests what the 13 mini offers. 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:50.380 The news isn't all good though. It lacks wireless charging and the cameras are rough. 00:07:50.380 --> 00:07:55.620 What's going on with my hand here? You can find a better camera on a cheaper phone 00:07:55.620 --> 00:08:01.180 and compared to the 13 mini, it's not even close. Look at how the Zenfone messed up this jacket. 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.260 These haptics feel as bad as phones from 2010 00:08:04.260 --> 00:08:09.260 and carrier support isn't even ubiquitous. Verizon, for instance, doesn't support this phone. 00:08:09.260 --> 00:08:12.780 And although it did eventually receive Android 13, 00:08:12.780 --> 00:08:17.160 OS updates aren't timely. There are times when it is a couple of months 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:21.260 behind on security patches and it only just got its latest one recently. 00:08:21.260 --> 00:08:25.860 You'll also only get two years of updates, which was bad a decade ago 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:29.180 and is now inexcusable for a phone of this price. 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:34.260 I'm still glad a small phone alternative exists, but this is a low bar. 00:08:34.260 --> 00:08:38.580 There should be better options. And with the 14 line dropping the mini, 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:43.280 we might be at risk of losing one good choice entirely. 00:08:43.280 --> 00:08:47.680 But I wouldn't worry just yet. We thought that the 5S would be killed for good 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:52.580 and yet we got the first gen SE. And when that was replaced with the 4.7 inch SE, 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:57.300 we thought that an all screen design that's this small would be impossible. 00:08:57.300 --> 00:09:03.660 And yet we got the 12 mini. We are a minority wanting this, but we're a vocal minority. 00:09:03.660 --> 00:09:06.780 And Apple has so far been able to fill this niche. 00:09:06.780 --> 00:09:09.540 It's not surprising, Steve Jobs was on our side. 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:15.620 Now with the current SE getting long in the tooth, 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:18.620 I think that line is primed for a new model, 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:21.820 one which could carry on the legacy of the mini. 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:27.140 When the iPhone 15 comes out, give me the body of a 13 with updated internals. 00:09:27.140 --> 00:09:32.580 Don't get me wrong, this isn't dead yet. It'll still get OS updates for years to come. 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:37.140 And even when it stops getting major iOS releases, it'll likely continue getting security updates, 00:09:37.140 --> 00:09:42.540 just as old versions of iOS do. But eventually there will come a time to replace it. 00:09:42.540 --> 00:09:46.460 And when that time comes, I hope there's an option for people like me. 00:09:46.460 --> 00:09:51.280 Thanks for shrinking this Mac Address down to size. If you like big phones, give this video a like. 00:09:51.280 --> 00:09:58.220 And if you like small phones, you might as well subscribe. I'm curious, what is the perfect size phone for you? 00:09:58.220 --> 00:10:00.700 Do you cope with a measurement policy like I did?