I spent an thrilling, exhausting week final September with the brand new Apple iPhone 14 in hand earlier than it went on sale. I did every part I may over the course of that week — navigating, internet looking, recording video, gaming, selfies, ferry rides, selfies on the ferry, you identify it — to attempt to reply the $800 query: must you purchase it?
The reply then, which I stand by now, is “most likely not.” It’s a terrific telephone, but it surely’s not meaningfully higher than the iPhone 13. Certain, it is sensible to select the 14 in case your provider is supplying you with a terrific deal otherwise you spend quite a lot of outing of cell vary the place the brand new Emergency SOS may be a literal lifesaver. Or go for the iPhone 14 Professional if you happen to’re after the very newest options. However for the remainder of us, the iPhone 13 is simply nearly as good with the additional advantage of costing rather less.
I’m a lady of my phrase, so when it turned clear that it was time to improve my iPhone 11 earlier than its trade-in worth fell off a cliff, I headed straight for the iPhone 13 — the Mini, to be exact, which is right down to $600. For the reason that finish of final 12 months, I’ve spent quite a lot of time testing the newest era of high-end telephones: the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, Google Pixel 7 Professional, and a current revisit of the iPhone 14 Professional. They’re all wonderful telephones in their very own methods. However when it got here time to make my very own resolution about which telephone to purchase, I didn’t choose any of these newest and biggest units. Nope, I traded in my 11 (together with a small piece of my soul) to Verizon for the standard little iPhone 13 Mini, and I haven’t appeared again.
It suits fantastically into the outer pocket of my mom-at-the-playground-chic belt bag
I opted for the Mini as a result of I like a small telephone, and it appears very doubtless that the 13 Mini goes to be the final good small telephone. However even if you happen to choose an even bigger telephone, I nonetheless assume the 13 is the place it’s at. You don’t get the upgraded digital camera {hardware} and processing supplied by the 14, but it surely’s nonetheless a superb digital camera general — first rate portrait mode pictures, excellent video, and an ultrawide for a little bit drama. And also you do get photographic types and cinematic video mode — each of which I take advantage of commonly (wealthy distinction stans, unite!).
Exterior of the digital camera, the 13 Mini stays a extremely good telephone by trendy requirements, even a 12 months and a half after launch. Battery life isn’t its robust swimsuit, but it surely’s sufficient to get me by way of a day of average use with a snug margin. It suits fantastically into the outer pocket of my mom-at-the-playground-chic belt bag. It’s lots quick and responsive with its A15 Bionic processor. It has MagSafe and, due to this fact, wi-fi charging. It additionally has a bodily SIM tray, whereas the iPhone 14 is all eSIM. Most individuals don’t want to fret about this; I alter telephones as soon as every week, and eSIM makes my life a residing hell.
The 13 Mini isn’t excellent. There are issues I want it had however that, for probably the most half, I wouldn’t get on the iPhone 14 anyway — they’re options reserved for the pricier 14 Professional. And whereas the 14 is simply reasonably costlier than the 13 Mini ($800 versus $600), the $1,000 14 Professional is quite a bit costlier by comparability. A smooth-scrolling 120Hz display screen, telephoto lens, always-on show: all Professional-only. They’re very good issues to have, however are they $400 nicer? Perhaps. However not for me, not proper now.
That’s the query it all the time comes right down to: not which is the most effective telephone however which is the most effective telephone for me? That’s the query I spend most of my days attempting to assist individuals reply. It’s enjoyable to declare winners and losers, however in relation to one thing as private as your telephone, choosing the right one to reside with is all the time a little bit extra complicated than that.