iPhone 13 and 13 mini review: Incremental upgrades that matter

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
iPhone 13 and 13 mini
iPhone 13 and 13 mini

Last year’s lineup of mainstream, non-Pro iPhones were a big generational leap forward, with the iPhone 12 adding on an OLED display, an improved camera setup plus the all-new squared-off design at a less-than-Pro-hibitive price point. The iPhone 12 mini, for its part, made the lineup accessible to folks who wanted an all-screen, pint-sized flagship that harked back to the portability and the one-handedness of yore. At first glance, it would be tempting to view the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 mini as minor, incremental updates to last year’s models, but after having tested them in tandem for a couple of weeks, it’s safe to say all the subtle tweaks to performance, battery life and cameras deliver a compelling pair of iPhones for ‘the rest of us’.  Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

To put the series in perspective, like the Pro lineup, starting prices are the same as the iPhone 12 series (at launch), but you’re starting off with twice as much storage (128GB) for the base variants, which comes as a relief to most first-time buyers who will realize, to their chagrin, just how quickly 64GB runs out with excellent 4K footage these phones shoot. Color options include Midnight, Starlight, Blue (the iPhone mini on review), Pink (the iPhone 13 on review), and Red.

Now, if you’ve followed along our launch event coverage, you’d already know that design-wise, this is not the year to we’re expecting to see revolutionary design changes. Same flat aluminum edges, same glossy back that smudges easily and attracts fingerprints, same height and width but slightly thicker and heavier…and the all-new palette of colors. Coming from the heavier Pro models, the 13 and the 13 mini, in particular, are handily light in the hand, and it’s great to see a full-featured one-handed iPhone this year, even if it’s the last we’ll be seeing of this design for a while. Since the phones share a lot in common, know this – the small screen on the 13 mini is a delight for people coming from older, smaller smartphones but will feel cramped if you’re used to larger phones...but it’s the only true flagship in its size category. The standard iPhone 13 is certainly the one to go for if you want to game a bit or watch some Netflix, with the larger screen feeling way roomier than the mini. In terms of other major changes, there really aren’t that many – save for the new diagonal camera arrangement on the rear, and that mildly narrower notch that’s common to the entire 13 series lineup.

With the design staying largely unchanged, the phones retain their 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch OLED screens from last year, only slightly brighter (800 nits) in typical use. They’re both good displays for HDR content, with excellent color reproduction and contrast levels, but both the mainstream models lack the high refresh rate that’s now standard to the Pros of this generation and other phones in its price class. iOS, as I’ve noted in my review of the 13 Pro and the 13 Pro Max, is snappy and fluid to begin with, and the only real difference you’ll note between the regular and the Pro iPhone 13 is in apps and games that start supporting the higher refresh rate.

Under the hood, both the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 mini pack the same firepower as the Pro models by way of the A15 Bionic chipset, albeit with one less graphics core. Benchmarks place the A15 performance at anywhere between 15-20% better than the A14 Bionic, and the neural engine is now capable of 15.8 trillions operations per second, which translates to faster on-device machine learning tasks. Graphics performance is improved as well, so the few games that were pushing the limits of last year’s models run noticeably snappier. As with the Pros, A15 shows off its computing chops with Cinematic Mode and Photographic Styles on the regular iPhones as well. And of course, everyday tasks fly on these phones and there’s absolutely no lag when launching apps, multitasking or navigating the UI, even with the lesser amount of RAM on the regular iPhone 13 models.

A word on battery life - which has been the standout feature on the Pros - so I had similarly high expectations going into this review. The iPhone 13 mini is still constrained by the physical limitations of how big of a battery can be packed into this small a form factor, but it certainly does hold up better than the iPhone 12 mini. With moderate usage, the 13 mini would end a full 13-hour day at around 15% - in comparison, the 12 mini would be near about dead by then. The iPhone 13 too lasts the day (and then some) longer than the previous gen, ending the day at around 35% charge left. The iPhone 13 could go reasonably well into the next day of use, but practically it would do well being charged alongside the mini at the end of the day, even as it does a lot to address any battery anxiety one would experience at the end of a busy day (with the iPhone 12).

Coming to the cameras, the iPhone 13 system is a decided step up from last year, in that sensor-shift stabilization is now standard across the lineup instead of being limited to the Pro Max variant like last year. Improved 12-megapixel cameras on the rear, both the primary and the ultrawide, let in more light than last year’s models, which shows in greatly improved low light performance – so much so, you often need the dedicated night mode far less often while still managing sharp and balanced low-light shots. Daytime photos in good light are as detailed, crisp and well balanced as we’ve seen in the Pros, even when it comes to tricky high contrast scenes. The new “photographic styles”, which let you choose the balance between tone, contrast and vibrancy while shooting the image, work well and video is exceptional as one has come to expect from iPhones past, with the Cinematic mode a fun addition to the arsenal. The 12MP selfie camera is good at portraits, but yields softer, blurrier images in low-light settings and really could do with an upgrade. Of course, the regular iPhones skip the telephoto camera, though I’d hoped the ultrawide would be able to do the new macro tricks that the Pros had learned, but it is not to be.

The iPhone 13 mini and the iPhone 13 are great products for the mainstream, and offer great options for folks with a proclivity for small- and regular-iPhones with the latest chips and a lot, if not all of the Pro goodness at a much saner price point. There’s stiff competition for your wallet, with the iPhone 12 and 12 mini seeing spectacular discounts on festive sales and, as one has come to expect from iPhones, a promise of future updates for years to come. It’ll really come down to how much the battery life improvements and low-light photography matter to you.

iPhone 13

Pros: excellent performance, good camera setup with improved low-light photos, good display with improved typical brightness, good battery life, excellent overall package

Cons: Lacks the fast charging and higher refresh rate of the Pros and its price segment peers

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs. 79,900 for 128GB onwards

iPhone 13 mini

Pros: Portable form factor with no compromise on performance, the only viable choice if you’re looking at a small phone, good display and cameras, great performance

Cons: Average (if a bit improved) battery life, lacks the fast charging and high refresh rate of peers and Pros

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs. 69,900 for 128GB onwards

Tushar Kanwar is a tech columnist and commentator, and tweets @2shar

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