I have to tell the whole story bc there are a lot of parts that count into this decision:

I've used an old iPhone 5s and loved it.
Then I got an used Samsung S9 after my dad and I'm using it till now.

But I got a new job and broke the screen on my S9 so I started thinking about finally buying a flagship phone for myself that will last me for years. My sister uses her iPhone 6s and she's just now starting to think about upgrading and I want something similar.

Since I want an iPhone first place to look was the new series of iPhones. Idk why but there's something that's off-putting to me atm in the size of the basic series but iPhone 12 Mini made me go

I have big hands so the 12 mini feels kinda small but it's not toooo small and it reminds me of my 5s and I like how you can fit it everywhere.

I don't like spending that much on a phone so also the big price gap between iPhone 12 and 12 Mini was a good thing.

But then I've started doing the research and realized new iPhones have no charger and no headphones.

Since there's no headphone jack and I would spend s***load of money on a phone I'd have to rely on my 2y old cheap true wireless headphones to last me for at least another year.
And since I don't have an iPhone rn I'd have to charge my phone with a Samsung charger (it's a fast charger but from what I heard iPhones use different protocol to fast charge so the phone would charge as slow as on a stock iPhone charger) or spend additional buck on a fast Apple charger (fortunately not that expensive)

And then I realized iPhone 11 is basically exactly the same price as 12 Mini and I get headphones, a charger, and a bigger screen.

So on one hand I have:

iPhone 11 that has:

• a bigger screen (not OLED as iPhones 12 but I won't wake up in couple months thinking "Why tf have I spend so much money on a phone this small")
• a charger (not fast-charging so maybe it's not even better than my S9 charger)
• headphones
• a bigger battery than 12 Mini
• all this for exactly the same price as 12 Mini

but is:

• older

and on the other I have:

iPhone 12 Mini that is:

• the newest phone so I can be sure it'll last me for ages
• a new design that's super sexy
• new screen

but has:

• no headphones
• no charger
• a smaller screen than the 11 (currently a + but I'm not sure how this will translate with time)

Also FYI: I don't care that much about battery bc I barely hit 2/2.5h of screen on time and all these mfs saying "iPhone 12 Mini battery sucks" are hitting 5 or 6 hours of watching Netflix. And I'm charging my phone everyday so I don't need my phone to go 2 days on one charge every time.

Can some AppleHead pls help?

mini

Are you an owner?

If i was in your position the most important decider is size. And then accessories. Everything else is negligible. 1 year gen difference is nothing.

OP, I just recently “downgraded” from an iPhone 12 to an 11 pro max mainly because of the battery

What's you arvg screen on time?

I remember I bought a used iPhone 5s the year iPhone X was released and when I replaced the battery I was EASILY going through a whole day. I was amazed by how good the battery been doing.

Same way with my phone now or every other phone I've never had a problem with battery - simply bc of the fact I'm trying to be a minimalist and I tend to limit my phone usage.

On bad days (the days I tend to give in into the urge of mindless scrolling) I'll get 2.5h MAX of screen on time

On avarage I'll probably be around 1h40 to 2h10

So whenever I head someone saying "yeah the battery was actually terrible bc I only managed to squeeze out 5h SoT of watching YouTube videos and recording vlogs" I roll my eyes bc even on the days I feel like I'm sitting on my phone the whole time I get no more than 3h SoT

Battery is not a big deal here for me bc worst case scenario it'll push me to be more mindfull about my phone usage and that's actually a big reason I want a smaller phone (small phone = less urge to do s*** like watch Netflix or YouTube)

I was in this exact same dilemma a couple months ago - coming from an iPhone 6s in my case.

Were you looking at any GB size specifically for each model? Or does that type of thing not matter as much for you

I don't think it matters that much bc right now I have a 64GB (with a 30GB SD card but 26 of it is music) and I still have around 15GB left

I'd have to ask around but I remember I had no bigger issues with that on my 5s and it's biggest model was 64GB so yeah...

What was your decision in the end and how do you feel with it?

I bit the bullet and went with the 12 mini. Completely happy with it so far.

I was truly a fan of the design of the mini and size being reminiscent of the iPhone 4/5 (I definitely think that was the best design of the iPhone haha) Plus at that size it felt like an actual phone that I should use and nothing more - I don't play games nor stream alot. I also decided on the mini knowing I probably won't upgrade my phone again for another 3-5 years, so having the latest tech/processor to last until then made sense to me.

You could always buy the dongle adapter so you can use headphones that have the traditional aux input. I will also say the fast charger is very convenient - takes 1hr or less for the mini to reach 100%. If anything you could always ask a friend if they have an extra charging block and cord?

That's what I think I'm going to do also

We'll get an iPhone 13 in like two weeks so I'm not trying to spend this type of buck to get a phone two generations late

Also I fell in love with the iPhone 12 Mini design and me even thinking about iPhone 11 rn is just my materialistic self telling me to get more and bigger while in reality the 12 Mini will be just perfect

I also don't stream nor play games and I kinda hate how phones turn into these small computers where people spend 6h of their life

I want the minimalism

How is the battery life tho? With normal usage (no games, no streaming) does it last a full day out or is it really that big of a problem as some people claim?

11 Pro

@op
Wdym about the "has headphones" part?

Also what do YOU LIKE man

Me personally if I like something I won't second guess, so I know if I like the 12 mini for example I'd be sacrificing battery life a bit but you would know that so what's the problem? Are you ok with that?
If so - there's no dilemma

I got a Pixel 3, I know that when i got it it didn't have the best battery out but I knew that, i did it for the speed & here I am 2 years later never had an Android as fast as this

You might even be able to find other places start selling the 12 mini at a slightly lower price once the 13 comes out.

This definitely feels like a phone more than a small computer. A plus is you get all the same camera features as the regular sized 12 which is nice. The camera on the 12 mini is great.

Battery life is pretty good - I run a similar screentime as you and can get 1.5-2 days out of it depending on what apps are taking up that screentime. If I really get into doom scrolling on tiktok for example and my screentime jumps into the 4hr-6hr range then you'd definitely need to charge after 1 day.

Sidebar: I swear TikTok eats up battery life no problem in general hahah

iphone 11 because battery is bigger, but the problem is that the phone itself is bigger too lol

but if that doesn't bother you and you don't have small hands than 11 is the way to go.