Got my Native Union leather case for the iPhone 12 mini today. Really happy with it. It’s incredibly thin and adds hardly any weight or extra width/depth to the phone, but has just enough protection for my needs. The lip around the edge is about 0.5mm high and is nicely rounded, so I don’t experience any issue swiping across the edges of the screen.
The fit is perfect, snaps on and doesn’t feel loose or too tight to take off again
I know some people don’t like an ‘open bottom’ but I prefer it as I find it easier to attach charging cables and it feels nicer to hold. The advantage of the iPhone mini is the there’s less ‘bottom’ actually exposed.
The buttons are inlayed, rather than separate plastic or metal, which looks sleeker, although you get slightly less tactile feedback. At present the power and down volume buttons click perfectly, whereas the up volume requires a slightly harder press, but my experience with these types of buttons in the past is that after a few weeks they loosen up and click perfectly.
The cutout for the mute button is a decent size, making it easy to access (a constant frustration with other leather cases on previous phones).
On the back the cutout for the camera looks great, with no exaggerated plastic bezel. Because the case is so thin, when placed on its back there is about a 0.2mm clearance between the case and camera lens. So the lens would never come into contact if placed on a smooth surface, but some might not find it enough protection (I plan to add thin glass lens protectors anyway)
The leather itself looks amazing, and whilst it feels smooth and a bit slippery at first, this will quickly change as the natural oils from the skin will make it extra grippy. I’ll have to see how well it holds up to knocks abs scratches, and how it ages over time, but for first impressions I couldn’t be happier (particularly as I saved £20 over the Apple one!)