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 might over the course of that week — navigating, net looking, recording video, gaming, selfies, ferry rides, selfies on the ferry, you title 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 an excellent telephone, nevertheless it’s not meaningfully higher than the iPhone 13. Positive, it is smart to choose the 14 in case your provider is providing you with an excellent deal otherwise you spend a number of outing of cell vary the place the brand new Emergency SOS may be a literal lifesaver. Or go for the iPhone 14 Professional in case you’re after the very newest options. However for the remainder of us, the iPhone 13 is simply pretty much as good with the additional benefit of costing rather less.
I’m a lady of my phrase, so when it grew to become 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 all the way down to $600. For the reason that finish of final 12 months, I’ve spent a number of time testing the most recent technology 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 superb telephones in their very own methods. However when it got here time to make my very own determination about which telephone to purchase, I didn’t decide any of these newest and biggest gadgets. 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 regarded again.
It suits superbly 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 possible that the 13 Mini goes to be the final good small telephone. However even in case you desire a much bigger telephone, I nonetheless assume the 13 is the place it’s at. You don’t get the upgraded digicam {hardware} and processing supplied by the 14, nevertheless it’s nonetheless digicam total — first rate portrait mode images, excellent video, and an ultrawide for slightly drama. And also you do get photographic kinds and cinematic video mode — each of which I exploit frequently (wealthy distinction stans, unite!).
Exterior of the digicam, the 13 Mini stays a extremely good telephone by fashionable requirements, even a 12 months and a half after launch. Battery life isn’t its sturdy go well with, nevertheless it’s sufficient to get me by means of a day of reasonable use with a snug margin. It suits superbly into the outer pocket of my mom-at-the-playground-chic belt bag. It’s a lot 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 modify telephones as soon as every week, and eSIM makes my life a dwelling hell.
The 13 Mini isn’t excellent. There are issues I want it had however that, for essentially 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 dearer than the 13 Mini ($800 versus $600), the $1,000 14 Professional is so much dearer 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? Possibly. However not for me, not proper now.
That’s the query it all the time comes all the way down to: not which is the perfect telephone however which is the perfect telephone for me? That’s the query I spend most of my days attempting to assist folks reply. It’s enjoyable to declare winners and losers, however on the subject of one thing as private as your telephone, selecting the correct one to reside with is all the time slightly extra complicated than that.
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