iPhone 12 mini hands-on video shows Apple's phone in all its miniature glory

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You won't believe how compact the iPhone 12 mini is until you see it next to an iPhone 12

iPhone 12 mini
(Image credit: George Buhnici/9to5Mac)

The iPhone 12 mini won't arrive for another two weeks, but you can get a pretty good look at Apple's compact iPhone 12 model now — or at least your first look outside of Apple's launch video from earlier this month.

George Buhnici is a Romanian YouTuber who somehow managed to get his hands on an iPhone 12 mini long before that phone's Nov. 13 release. Buhnici posted a 40-minute hands-on with the new phone earlier, though it's now gone from YouTube. Not to worry, though, because 9to5Mac is now hosting the video, which shows off the iPhone 12 mini from every possible angle.

Truth be told, you're not going going to get a lot out of this video unless you're conversant in Romanian. But watching parts of the video, you really do get a sense of how slender this new phone is, especially when Buhnici holds up the iPhone 12 mini next to the iPhone 12. The mini and its 5.4-inch display look positively lilliputian next to the 6.1-inch iPhone 12.

And that stands to reason, you might think, as the two phones list very different dimensions. The iPhone 12 mini measures 5.18 x 2.53 x 0.29 inches, compared to 5.78 x 2.82 x 0.29 inches for the iPhone 12, so it's hardly a surprise that the latter device would be taller and wider. Still, it's one thing to look at the numbers on a page and another to see that size difference for yourself.

iPhone 12 mini

(Image credit: George Buhnici/9to5Mac)

Apple managed to squeeze more phone into a tighter space by shrinking the bezels on the iPhone 12 models, even compared to the iPhone 11 models from last year. The iPhone 12 mini is so compact, in fact, that it's actually smaller than the 5.5 x 2.7 x 0.3-inch iPhone SE, even though that device hosts a 4.7-inch screen (albeit one with rather chunky bezels on the top and bottom.)

Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 mini start on Nov. 6, a week before the $699 phone goes on sale. Despite its smaller size, the iPhone 12 mini has a lot in common with the iPhone 12, from the matching dual rear cameras to the OLED screens and 5G connectivity. The biggest differences in the iPhone 12 vs. the iPhone 12 mini beside screen size is the battery size and price. 

We'll have to more share on the iPhone 12 mini once we get our hands on the device, but you can whet your appetite by reading our iPhone 12 review.

Philip Michaels
Philip Michaels

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.