SpecEagle review · Apple

iPhone 13 mini review: The last true small iPhone — a 5.4" flagship that fits any hand.

SpecEagle Editorial·Sep 2021·$699
Overall
78/100
Class rank
#1 of 5
Tier
Premium
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

The small-phone holdout’s favourite — just keep a charger nearby.

The 13 mini is the last truly compact iPhone, with full A15 performance in a 5.4" body. Battery life is the price of that size; for fans of small phones, it is still the one to hunt down.

01Display

80/100

80/100 — right at the average for premium phones of 2021.

TypeSuper Retina XDR OLED, 60 Hz
Size5.4 inches
Resolution2,340 × 1,080 px (476 ppi)
Peak brightness1,200 nits HDR
ProtectionCeramic Shield

02Camera

80/100

80/100 — right at the average for premium phones of 2021.

Main12 MP, f/1.6, sensor-shift OIS
Ultrawide12 MP, f/2.4
Selfie12 MP, f/2.2
Video4K @ 60 fps · Cinematic mode

03Performance

80/100

80/100 — right at the average for premium phones of 2021.

ChipsetApple A15 Bionic (5 nm)
CPU6-core
GPUApple 4-core GPU
RAM4 GB
Storage128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB

04Battery

68/100

68/100 trails the 72-point cohort average for premium phones of 2021.

Capacity2,406 mAh
Wired~20 W (Lightning)
Wireless12 W MagSafe

05Build

86/100

86/100 — right at the average for premium phones of 2021.

06Value

80/100

80/100 puts it above the 76-point average for premium phones of 2021.

What works
  • Genuinely pocketable — the last of the 5.4" iPhones.
  • Full A15 flagship performance with no compromise.
  • Light at 141 g.
  • Years of iOS updates remaining.
What doesn't
  • Small 2,406 mAh battery — endurance is the obvious weakness.
  • 60 Hz display.
  • Lightning port.
  • Discontinued — Apple no longer makes small phones.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 5-phone cohort of premium devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .