I took my very own recommendation and acquired a last-gen iPhone — I remorse nothing

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 all the things I may over the course of that week — navigating, net looking, recording video, gaming, selfies, ferry rides, selfies on the ferry, you identify it — to attempt to reply the $800 query: do you have to purchase it? 

The reply then, which I stand by now, is “most likely not.” It’s an important cellphone, but it surely’s not meaningfully higher than the iPhone 13. Certain, it is sensible to select the 14 in case your service is providing you with an important deal otherwise you spend a variety 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 the event 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 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 all the way down to $600. Because the finish of final yr, I’ve spent a variety of time testing the most recent 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 choice about which cellphone 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 common-or-garden little iPhone 13 Mini, and I haven’t seemed 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 cellphone, and it appears very probably that the 13 Mini goes to be the final good small cellphone. However even in the event you favor an even bigger cellphone, 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, but it surely’s nonetheless digicam total — respectable portrait mode images, superb video, and an ultrawide for a bit drama. And also you do get photographic kinds and cinematic video mode — each of which I exploit repeatedly (wealthy distinction stans, unite!). 

Exterior of the digicam, the 13 Mini stays a very good cellphone by trendy requirements, even a yr and a half after launch. Battery life isn’t its sturdy swimsuit, but it surely’s sufficient to get me by way of a day of average use with a cushty margin. It suits fantastically 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, subsequently, 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 per 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 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 much more costly by comparability. A smooth-scrolling 120Hz display, 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 at all times comes all the way down to: not which is the very best cellphone however which is the very best cellphone for me? That’s the query I spend most of my days making an attempt to assist individuals reply. It’s enjoyable to declare winners and losers, however in terms of one thing as private as your cellphone, selecting the correct one to dwell with is at all times a bit extra advanced than that.