Apple iPhone 13 Mini 256GB Red - Excellent - Refurbished

Performance:greatBest Feature:sizeProduct Quality:greatSince I got my card decline multiple times, good thing PMC’s The Loop have it on Shoppe and even allows COD. By the way, thanks to J&T despite the delivery guy being anxious while handing on the product. Truly it’s risky and a nerve-racking experience due to its sum.Back to the product.Its cameras, features, and security are great. Truly, it's authentic. Regarding to what I have notice from the others having a green line on the screen after updating, the phone so far did not experience any problems during the update of its IOS.It has some perks, like the fact that while wearing a face mask, you can still unlock your phone with its second Face ID security. It’s a dual SIM, but when I was looking at the ... MorePerformance:greatBest Feature:sizeProduct Quality:greatSince I got my card decline multiple times, good thing PMC’s The Loop have it on Shoppe and even allows COD. By the way, thanks to J&T despite the delivery guy being anxious while handing on the product. Truly it’s risky and a nerve-racking experience due to its sum.Back to the product.Its cameras, features, and security are great. Truly, it's authentic. Regarding to what I have notice from the others having a green line on the screen after updating, the phone so far did not experience any problems during the update of its IOS.It has some perks, like the fact that while wearing a face mask, you can still unlock your phone with its second Face ID security. It’s a dual SIM, but when I was looking at the SIM card tray, it only permitted one physical SIM, which made me wonder. The problem? I recently learned that iPhones outside HK, Macau, and China only permit 1 physical sim and e-sim, compared to the one I got from HK. Regarding it, it is only exclusive to that region. So I have to stick to only one physical sim, as I am not into the e-sims due to security reasons.Despite the sim card tray. Well it is handy and great. Good for daily use.

It works for everything I need. I mainly use my phone as my blood glucose monitor, it has plenty of storage and runs smoothly. I don’t have any issues with the app. Camera quality is good, the pro is obviously better, but this quality is good for me. The size is convenient for people that don’t like big, bulky phones. It’s great for me personally, because I am a mom of a toddler and manage my diabetes with it, so it’s the perfect size with enough storage for records and pictures of my baby! The battery life isn’t that great, but honestly, that could be that I’m just on my phone often and it is constantly running. However, others I know with the same phone, agree. But, other than that, I haven’t had issues! Overall, a great phone.

Compact design, pastel pink color, diagonal camera, and the change in lens arrangement is quite an interesting point. The battery capacity has been significantly upgraded, supporting fast charging to help fully charge the battery quickly. The iPhone has many new photography features, one of which is Cinematic Mode, which locks focus on a certain subject and adjusts the focus as the subject moves around the frame. Cinematic Mode combined with Dolby Vision HDR helps record professional videos and smoother transitions. This iPhone also features Photographic styles, a new type of color filter based on algorithms that allows users to edit photos in real time to their liking. Other features such as Night mode, Portrait mode, Smart HDR 4, Deep Fusion help take better ... MoreCompact design, pastel pink color, diagonal camera, and the change in lens arrangement is quite an interesting point. The battery capacity has been significantly upgraded, supporting fast charging to help fully charge the battery quickly. The iPhone has many new photography features, one of which is Cinematic Mode, which locks focus on a certain subject and adjusts the focus as the subject moves around the frame. Cinematic Mode combined with Dolby Vision HDR helps record professional videos and smoother transitions. This iPhone also features Photographic styles, a new type of color filter based on algorithms that allows users to edit photos in real time to their liking. Other features such as Night mode, Portrait mode, Smart HDR 4, Deep Fusion help take better low-light photos and blur the background more professionally.

Excellent with exception of camera

This functions as well as my previous iPhones, but at a better size! Seriously, who wants to haul around a huge pocket computer when you can have this hand- and pocket-sized one!The drawback is in the camera. It *cannot focus on any object closer than 4.5 inches. This is a problem when photographing or scanning text, and especially when attempting to open small QR codes, which I have to all the time at the grocery store. I took the iPhone 13 mini to have it fixed and was told that that's just how the camera is. "They can't have it be as good as the Pro version." Nevertheless, Apple did replace the camera for free, but with no improvement on the problem. In 2023, a smartphone that can't handle QR codes is ridiculous.

Great hardware paired with uninspiring software.

I made the switch from a Google Pixel 5, after being [basically] a life-long Android user.I really like the iPhone 13 Mini itself, from a hardware perspective. However, I also feel like it's necessary to talk about the software considering it's what you'll be noticing and interacting with moreso than the specifics of the hardware [of the phone itself], if that makes sense.The Mini is more-or-less the perfect size. It's a small phone that you can easily put in your pocket and use with one hand, yet it has a relatively-large screen when you compare it to phones from 6+ years ago. The camera quality is just as good as the rest of the iPhone 13 line-up excluding the extra, third camera you get on the Pro models.The green finish, by the way, has to be one of the ... MoreI made the switch from a Google Pixel 5, after being [basically] a life-long Android user.I really like the iPhone 13 Mini itself, from a hardware perspective. However, I also feel like it's necessary to talk about the software considering it's what you'll be noticing and interacting with moreso than the specifics of the hardware [of the phone itself], if that makes sense.The Mini is more-or-less the perfect size. It's a small phone that you can easily put in your pocket and use with one hand, yet it has a relatively-large screen when you compare it to phones from 6+ years ago. The camera quality is just as good as the rest of the iPhone 13 line-up excluding the extra, third camera you get on the Pro models.The green finish, by the way, has to be one of the nicest colors I've seen on a phone. It looks more expensive than it is.Now that we've gotten the niceties out of the way, let's talk about why I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5. It's a great phone, but iOS to me is just 'good.' It's not very inspiring. As a lifelong Android user, I always heard people tell me they liked iPhones because they were easy to use.Now that I've switched to one, myself, I have to say that Android is actually easier to use. It's more intuitive, and functions are laid out in a much cleaner fashion. Take the 'Night Light' or 'Night Filter' (blue light filter) function that gives your screen a yellow-ish hue, which makes it easier on your eyes at night.To enable the night filter function on an iPhone, you have to swipe down from the top of the phone to access the control panel/command center. However, you have to know to swipe down from the top RIGHT, specifically. If you swipe from the top LEFT, you get a different panel.Once you've pulled up the command center, you have to know to tap-and-hold on the screen brightness slider. Doing so opens up another panel that's like a 'Brightness Settings' page. On that page, there's a toggle on the bottom for the Night Filter.This isn't very intuitive to me. You may never know the command center exists unless you know to swipe down from the top right of the phone. Furthermore, once you're on the command center, there is nothing that tells you that you can tap-and-hold the brightness slider to access additional settings. You would genuinely never know unless someone told you, you read it somewhere, or you did it accidentally.On Android, you swipe down anywhere from the top to access the settings. On the settings panel, you can swipe left or right to navigate between 'quick settings' buttons. You just swipe until you see Night Light and toggle it on/off. Admittedly Android 12 has made this slightly more difficult as you have to swipe down twice to access 'additional' settings, but you can actually adjust which options are displayed for you after the first swipe. Even beyond that, Pixel phones actually have fantastic tutorials/tips that are baked into the phone.Notifications on iPhone just feel extremely outdated compared to Android phones. Interacting with notifications isn't very fluid. On Android, you can interact with quite a lot of notifications right on the Notifications window, without ever accessing the respective apps. You can do some of this on iPhone but for the most part, you'll have to open the apps themselves.I do like how the iPhone has a physical, hardware mute switch. I'm surprised that OnePlus is the only Android manufacturer that has copied this feature. It should be a staple on every phone.Overall, I quite like the Mini itself, but I feel like iPhone and iOS is rather uninspiring. I switched to iPhone because my Pixel 5 was giving me quite a lot of problems related to calling (on T-Mobile, it would just randomly drop calls, or I wouldn't hear the other person unless I turned off Wi-Fi). Google also didn't care to fix many of the issues I had, and I felt Apple was at least more reliable in this regard considering how many people owned iPhones. Thus, I do appreciate the stability of iPhones.Most people do not need the Pro-series iPhones. I highly doubt most of the people who have iPhone Pros have ever used the telephoto camera, rather than just the standard, default wide-angle lens. If you're in the market for a new iPhone, I can happily suggest the Mini. It's heavily rumored that the Mini phones will be discontinued in the Fall of 2022 (when the iPhone 14 line-up is announced), likely due to poor sales.Do yourself a favor and buy this smaller phone. You save money, but you'll also save yourself some trouble once you realize you really don't need that bigger screen. This one - and this phone in general - is big enough.

It’s better than what I had

I had a 2016 iPhone and unfortunately it started to give me some problems, battery wise and storage. I knew it was time to upgrade but, I didn’t want a phone that had so many things to relearn and that I really didn’t need. I just wanted a good phone to get my phone calls, text, take pictures, and have more storage than my old one had. I also wanted one that wasn’t going to be bigger than my old one, this one fit my needs. The guy at Verizon helped answer my questions and showed me the different options, which helped me to make my decision. He also made sure everything was transferred over to my new phone, which I was thankful for that. I’m still getting use to the facial ID thing, but over all I’m happy with my new phone so far. If you’re looking for something ... MoreI had a 2016 iPhone and unfortunately it started to give me some problems, battery wise and storage. I knew it was time to upgrade but, I didn’t want a phone that had so many things to relearn and that I really didn’t need. I just wanted a good phone to get my phone calls, text, take pictures, and have more storage than my old one had. I also wanted one that wasn’t going to be bigger than my old one, this one fit my needs. The guy at Verizon helped answer my questions and showed me the different options, which helped me to make my decision. He also made sure everything was transferred over to my new phone, which I was thankful for that. I’m still getting use to the facial ID thing, but over all I’m happy with my new phone so far. If you’re looking for something that’s easy to use, I’d say check this phone out. It’s just a little bit bigger, but still as thin as my old phone. I had to go on line to find out why my phone would ring loud but once I picked it up it was quiet. I found out it was because of the Face ID thing, but you can fix that. Now even when I pick it up to see who’s calling it will still ring loud and not go silent. No instructions to help though. Also it does take a little longer to charge and the cords I had for my old phone won’t work, so I had to buy new cords, but the new cords also work for my IPad. All in all it’s doing what I need and want it to do for me.

It’s the little things that matter. iPhone 13 mini

So not much to say, it’s an Apple. For those who know the reputation of Apple, that’s says it all. However, there a few little things that made it not so user friendly to me. And I have been Apple since the late 90’s. The iPhone 13 mini 5g is a beautifully crafted phone that takes the best of iPhone 13 and 13 Pro and miniaturize’s the whole thing.I will say that I was excited to get the phone and started using it right away. Same simple iPhone /iPad setup process….place next to an existing device and boom…..it’s programmed and on its way to transferring all the doc’s and files and all the apps you have on your current phone. Depending on your Wi-Fi speed this process can be done and over with in less than 30 minutes….you can use the phone while the apps are being ... MoreSo not much to say, it’s an Apple. For those who know the reputation of Apple, that’s says it all. However, there a few little things that made it not so user friendly to me. And I have been Apple since the late 90’s. The iPhone 13 mini 5g is a beautifully crafted phone that takes the best of iPhone 13 and 13 Pro and miniaturize’s the whole thing.I will say that I was excited to get the phone and started using it right away. Same simple iPhone /iPad setup process….place next to an existing device and boom…..it’s programmed and on its way to transferring all the doc’s and files and all the apps you have on your current phone. Depending on your Wi-Fi speed this process can be done and over with in less than 30 minutes….you can use the phone while the apps are being restored. All of the existing add ons, cases etc are available for the mini.Now as for the iPhone 13 mini itself…..it is exactly what you’re looking for if you want small. You get that glorious screen and all the bells and whistles too. If you currently use an iPhone 6 or iPhone SE and want a physically smaller iPhone with more screen, this may be the phone for you, ………….if you have larger hands, and want to do the same as above, this may NOT be the phone for you….. did I mention it’s small? Cause it is….. I thought I wanted a small phone with more screen…, I got one with the mini, but for me it’s TOO small…. Also there are aspects of apps that were just carried thru ios15 and not adjusted to account for the size…. The keyboard should offer options. Even just touch typing can be very difficult. I wanted so badly to like the phone but alas, I cannot, little things make the difference. Apple knows that and it’s why they succeed at almost everything they do. I feel they let us down on the mini…

Loved switching to iPhone!

I recently switched from Android to iPhone due to the security issues I had. The IOS system is much more secure, and I found this out through research. I had an iPhone years ago and hated it. But I LOVE this little phone!!! I prefer a smaller phone that fits in the palm of my hand. It fits better in my designer purse too, which if you’re a girly-girl like me, is a huge plus. Switching systems was easy! This is very simple to use, and I love the features on it, such as being able to set more than one alarm on my clock. It also was much easier to transfer my music from an old iPod. If you’re thinking of switching to Apple, I say, do it!! There’s a lot more features that are truly amazing on it, like iMovie, which was already installed. The camera is great, sound is ... MoreI recently switched from Android to iPhone due to the security issues I had. The IOS system is much more secure, and I found this out through research. I had an iPhone years ago and hated it. But I LOVE this little phone!!! I prefer a smaller phone that fits in the palm of my hand. It fits better in my designer purse too, which if you’re a girly-girl like me, is a huge plus. Switching systems was easy! This is very simple to use, and I love the features on it, such as being able to set more than one alarm on my clock. It also was much easier to transfer my music from an old iPod. If you’re thinking of switching to Apple, I say, do it!! There’s a lot more features that are truly amazing on it, like iMovie, which was already installed. The camera is great, sound is great, and the screen display is excellent. I love having FaceTime now too! My whole family are Apple people, I was the only one who wasn’t. Now our phones are all compatible with each other. It was a smart move.

Screen, charging, battery issues

Free new iphone13mini upgrade with old iphone11 trade-in. Received iphone13mini as scheduled. Unable to using lightning charger (no block to go with cord), so used old iphone11 charger. 100% charged and successful activation. Once on main Home Screen, first issue was certain screen parts on iphone13mini doesn't respond on one or multiple taps. Second issue was while trying to charge (2nd charge), iphone13mini wasn't charging. Changed charger using another lightning charger (correct charger), iphone13mini still didn't charge. Both different chargers worked well and charged other iPhones normally (tested on spouse and mothers iPhones). After several hours multiple attempts, finally 100%...only for it to die 3 hours later with only minimum phone activity! By the 3rd ... MoreFree new iphone13mini upgrade with old iphone11 trade-in. Received iphone13mini as scheduled. Unable to using lightning charger (no block to go with cord), so used old iphone11 charger. 100% charged and successful activation. Once on main Home Screen, first issue was certain screen parts on iphone13mini doesn't respond on one or multiple taps. Second issue was while trying to charge (2nd charge), iphone13mini wasn't charging. Changed charger using another lightning charger (correct charger), iphone13mini still didn't charge. Both different chargers worked well and charged other iPhones normally (tested on spouse and mothers iPhones). After several hours multiple attempts, finally 100%...only for it to die 3 hours later with only minimum phone activity! By the 3rd 100% charge, now top right corner of phone screen has SOS but everyone in my household has full coverage (both home wifi and cellular, spouse is on same plan). Third issue was now phone has settings error stating "Unknown Battery". I'm over it. Scheduled service for tomorrow at Apple Store.

So far, so good. I jsut had to try Apple again.

I am loving this phone! I wanted it in pink, but when I placed the order the digital agent/representative gave me three color options that were not on backorder, and I wanted to be able to have my phone at the same time as the rest of my family. I also had a tablet that was on backorder, but it came the same day as everything else. So, now I can't help but wonder if I should have just said I would wait and it probably would have come on the same day as well.Onto the actual review... I have not had an iPhone since I was in high school. That has been about 15 years maybe. I got tired of the restrictions that Apple has over the user/consumer. But I decided to give Apple another shot again and I am liking the phone so far. It's been about a little more than a week and ... MoreI am loving this phone! I wanted it in pink, but when I placed the order the digital agent/representative gave me three color options that were not on backorder, and I wanted to be able to have my phone at the same time as the rest of my family. I also had a tablet that was on backorder, but it came the same day as everything else. So, now I can't help but wonder if I should have just said I would wait and it probably would have come on the same day as well.Onto the actual review... I have not had an iPhone since I was in high school. That has been about 15 years maybe. I got tired of the restrictions that Apple has over the user/consumer. But I decided to give Apple another shot again and I am liking the phone so far. It's been about a little more than a week and I haven't gotten tired of it yet.I love the size! I feel like phones just keep getting bigger and bigger. I have little hands, I don't need a huge phone that is just going to give me hand cramps and trigger arthritis, haha. Its about the size of the one I had in high school and its just great. Its the perfect size, although I didn't get pink because the digital rep made it seem like I would wait a couple weeks to a month for just a color, the blue is a very nice shade of blue. I wish it were a little shade, but at least it isnt so dark and close to black as the new iPhone 14 dark purple color. There is only the standard colors and that dark purple for the new line of iPhones and it did not appeal to me at all.Performance wise, I think this phone is just about as good as any other phone at this point. It's fast and it does heat up if you're using it on the charger, so I advise not to do so, haha. The battery life could be better, my Samsung Galaxy ZFlip 4 has a much more significant battery life. Sometimes, Safari just freezes and stops loading, then I need to exit the app and go back in, even have to close the tab and reenter the URL for it to load a page, but that is most likely just the app.Battery life usually is not a problem for me, but I don't like having to charge my phone during work, as I work a graveyard shift at a senior living home, and I need some type of entertainment on down times. I have never had the need to charge my Galaxy ZFlip 3 or Galaxy ZFlip 4 while at work.Other than the battery life, the phone is good. I don't really have anything bad to say about it right now.