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Other 12 Mini or SE(2020) ?

JPack said:
That's a good decision. Often, when you buy cheap, you end up having to buy twice because it doesn't meet your expectations.
Click to expand...

Did this trying out Android tablets because I wanted to avoid the Apple tax on higher storage tiers. After spending $$$$ on subpar alternatives, I pretty much resigned myself to spending $1K+ on iPads.

One reason I still haven't pulled the trigger on a new iPad Pro. The 512GB models are within my normal comfort zone but I know I'm most likely gonna regret cheaping out and not getting 1TB, and the 2020 Pro is sadly a very, very minor refresh to the 2018 that it doesn't seem worth the high asking price.
 
JPack said:
That's a good decision. Often, when you buy cheap, you end up having to buy twice because it doesn't meet your expectations.
Click to expand...

if I had to choose between the new 12 and the mini, I would still choose the cheaper mini. I don't like anything over 6 inches
 
I would agree with the preference but then I think about battery life and wonder if the mini would be enough for me on a heavy day. I got the SE simply because it was $300 cheaper than the mini. But the battery life with this is meh as well.
 
JPack said:
In terms of value, the SE is hard to beat. The display area for iPhone 12 mini is only 15% larger and if you're not using 5G, it comes down to performance and camera.
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no 5G it comes down to:

Performance
- longer iOS ver support in the future,
battery life,
larger screen real-estate 15% is quiet significant enough actually,
camera and zoom quality,
Dolby in video support
dual sim support (eSIM + nanoSIM)
Spatial Audio support (I'm not certain if the 8/SE 2020 support this).
Faster Wireless charging 12W mini vs 5/7W on SE 2020 with MagSafe.
 
DeepIn2U said:
no 5G it comes down to:

Performance
- longer iOS ver support in the future,
battery life,
larger screen real-estate 15% is quiet significant enough actually,
camera and zoom quality,
Dolby in video support
dual sim support (eSIM + nanoSIM)
Spatial Audio support (I'm not certain if the 8/SE 2020 support this).
Faster Wireless charging 12W mini vs 5/7W on SE 2020 with MagSafe.
Click to expand...

SE 2020 Also supports esim

also iPhone 7 and above support spatial audio so yes 8/SE support it
 
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JPack said:
In terms of value, the SE is hard to beat. The display area for iPhone 12 mini is only 15% larger and if you're not using 5G, it comes down to performance and camera.
Click to expand...
18% actually. You cant go by diagonal, when comparing area of two different aspect ratios.

Compare Apple iPhone 12 mini vs. Apple iPhone SE (2020) - GSMArena.com

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com
However I am not sure how they calculated the screen area and if they subtracted the notch. If not 15% might actually be closer than 18%.
 
Significant1 said:
18% actually. You cant go by diagonal, when comparing area of two different aspect ratios.

Compare Apple iPhone 12 mini vs. Apple iPhone SE (2020) - GSMArena.com

www.gsmarena.com www.gsmarena.com
However I am not sure how they calculated the screen area and if they subtracted the notch. If not 15% might actually be closer than 18%.
Click to expand...

It's 15%.

GSM Arena didn't account for the notch.

I calculated the exact active display area and removed the notch area. The exact dimensions are available from Apple.

 
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Do yourself a big favour and skip the SE. I bought one for my wife last summer, and her battery is at 91% already. If you do buy one make sure you get apple care, because you will need to replace the battery every year. It has no stamina at all. Might as well be a 7. Get a good phone.
 
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rulymammoth said:
Tough to understand the other comments here. iPhone 12 mini easily beats the SE 2020. Better and bigger screen in a smaller form factor, Face ID, better camera, and much better battery life. The battery life on the SE 2020 is atrocious.
Click to expand...
how atrocious?
 claims 13 hours which is 6 hours on earth usage.
i might need a cell phone in general soon and might rent to buy the iphoneSE
 
MtLoin2020 said:
how atrocious?
 claims 13 hours which is 6 hours on earth usage.
i might need a cell phone in general soon and might rent to buy the iphoneSE
Click to expand...
Nowhere close to 6 hours. I had the SE 2020 for about a month and sold it when I got the 12 Mini. I was getting 4hrs 12min on average and Im not a heavy user. That was just social media, emails and light web browsing.
 
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DexBell said:
Nowhere close to 6 hours. I had the SE 2020 for about a month and sold it when I got the 12 Mini. I was getting 4hrs 12min on average and Im not a heavy user. That was just social media, emails and light web browsing.
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thanks, i might get an itouch instead, my second one since 2010!
 
I'm actually getting better battery life on the SE2 vs 12 mini. Took the phones off the wireless chargers at the same time on Friday afternoon (all 100%). SE2 (AT&T) and SE2 (Visible) have 30% and 48% battery left respectively while the 12 mini (Verizon 5G) is dead (whoops).

Of course, my phones are on standby majority of the time. Perhaps the 12 mini with OLED display (especially on dark mode) fares better with onscreen use.
 
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I would choose the SE 2020 myself; prefer the wider design and its vastly cheaper. If I'm going to be paying a high price I want a large display.
 
rui no onna said:
I'm actually getting better battery life on the SE2 vs 12 mini. Took the phones off the wireless chargers at the same time on Friday afternoon (all 100%). SE2 (AT&T) and SE2 (Visible) have 30% and 48% battery left respectively while the 12 mini (Verizon 5G) is dead (whoops).

Of course, my phones are on standby majority of the time. Perhaps the 12 mini with OLED display (especially on dark mode) fares better with onscreen use.
Click to expand...
Are both phones set up exactly the same with the same apps open for the same period of time? Did you perform exactly the same tasks on both phones at the same time? I highly doubt it. Just the fact that they are on different networks and one has 5G will greatly vary the outcome. So that's pretty pointless. Try turning 5G off.
 
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DexBell said:
Are both phones set up exactly the same with the same apps open for the same period of time? Did you perform exactly the same tasks on both phones at the same time? I highly doubt it. Just the fact that they are on different networks and one has 5G will greatly vary the outcome. So that's pretty pointless. Try turning 5G off.
Click to expand...

Exact setup, yes. I'm lazy so I always restore from backup.

Usage? Should be exactly the same in this particular case. The phones were all inside my purse doing nothing and I always kill background apps (except Safari and Marvin). The 12 mini gives me migraines so I can't even look at its screen for more than 30 minutes. If anything, the AT&T SE2 would actually be doing more work since that's my primary number and I'm getting SMS (2FA codes, etc) forwarded from that phone to my other devices.

The main reason I bought the 12 mini is to test 5G coverage and speed. If I just wanted LTE, the SE2 serves my needs perfectly well.
 
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rui no onna said:
Exact setup, yes. I'm lazy so I always restore from backup.

Usage? Should be exactly the same in this particular case. The phones were all inside my purse doing nothing and I always kill background apps (except Safari and Marvin). The 12 mini gives me migraines so I can't even look at its screen for more than 30 minutes. If anything, the AT&T SE2 would actually be doing more work since that's my primary number and I'm getting SMS (2FA codes, etc) forwarded from that phone to my other devices.

The main reason I bought the 12 mini is to test 5G coverage and speed. If I just wanted LTE, the SE2 serves my needs perfectly well.
Click to expand...
Interesting. That goes against every tester and reviewer on Youtube and my own experiences with both phones as well. The 12 Mini definitely has better battery life than the SE 2020, by a good hour. Your case is an outlier but thanks.
 
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DexBell said:
Interesting. That goes against every tester and reviewer on Youtube and my own experiences with both phones as well. The 12 Mini definitely has better battery life than the SE 2020, by a good hour. Your case is an outlier but thanks.
Click to expand...

Again, as I mentioned, the phones were all on standby mode. In this case, the modem likely plays a very huge part when it comes to power consumption.

With display on (LCD vs OLED), the 12 mini could well have a huge advantage. Not that I can appreciate it given the aforementioned possibly PWM-induced migraines.
 
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I have the SE 2020 as a work phone and i wouldn’t class it as very good battery life. I use it for calls and e-mails and it does need a charge every day or so. Sometimes two days on standby but anytime i use it for more and it needs charge. Not an issue at all but if i were to use it as a main phone then would likely need charging before the end of a work day i I would imagine
 
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rui no onna said:
Again, as I mentioned, the phones were all on standby mode. In this case, the modem likely plays a very huge part when it comes to power consumption.

With display on (LCD vs OLED), the 12 mini could well have a huge advantage. Not that I can appreciate it given the aforementioned possibly PWM-induced migraines.
Click to expand...
I get about 36 hours usage between charges on my SE 2020 and 12 mini, so not surprised with your assessment. I didn’t do much media consumption on my SE though (have kept it on iOS 13), but do a little bit more on my 12 mini due to its higher ppi 1080p screen, although I have 5G and Face ID turned off for now.
 
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