Which iPhone to choose?

Submitted by Whore_from_hell t3_zwymml in iphone

Well it's going to be my first iPhone purchase (I'm moving from an android) and I have these 3 options to pick from (since all of them are priced exactly or nearly the same),

  1. IPhone 11
  2. IPhone 12 Mini
  3. IPhone SE 3rd Gen

I can't really extend my budget at the moment so please don't tell me about other iPhones apart from these three. My usage: Well I don't play video games, I only use my phone for some photography/Videography, social media, Internet surfing and texting. Thanks :)

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TWYFAN97 t1_j1xlpqk wrote

I would say the regular iPhone 12 but you mention your budget is limited, so for the best mix of battery life and usability the iPhone 11 wins. Although you do end up with a not as sharp or bright LCD screen and no 5G, but the phone is still plenty fast, solid battery life and great cameras while having night mode on the main sensor. The 12 mini has atrocious battery life and he SE isn’t much better while having a dated design.

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bumwithshoes t1_j1xj5ct wrote

Go for the best iPhone your budget will allow. Of the 3 you listed I used iPhone 11 for year and wasn’t disappointed. Solid performer with good battery life, cameras not too shabby either

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nitroben2 t1_j1xqjl9 wrote

Why are you switching to iOS? I ask because I'm a recent adopter (in the last 3 months) on account of the mini being the only small form factor phone with a decent camera. That's the only feature i cared about that i couldn't find something better in Android so I'm taking a chance on iOS. So far I'm disappointed with iOS limitations, to the point that i would have returned it if I wasn't so pleased with the perfect size of the iphone mini.

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Chronixx t1_j1xrg12 wrote

You should look into the jailbreaking scene. Might be right up your alley

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nitroben2 t1_j21d7ii wrote

Jailbreaking and customizing has always seemed like a lot of effort for not a lot of payback, but if no small Android crops up in the next year and this becomes a long term device I just might get that inclination. If I could have a Pixel interface on my iPhone i would call it perfect.

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nitroben2 t1_j21dacw wrote

Got any recommendations for a sub to look into?

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OhNoItsLockett t1_j21iwk1 wrote

If you ever decide to go back to Android I'd have a look at the Asus ZenPhone 9. It's a tiny little phone with surprisingly great cameras.

I'll be converting to iOS tomorrow when my 14 Pro arrives. I haven't owned an iPhone since the 3G was released. What limitations have you experienced outside of customization?

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nitroben2 t1_j224g4a wrote

I considered the Zenfone 9 long and hard since it's the smallest Android that checks all my other boxes, but it's just a little bigger than i would like. The iphone mini is truly one handed operation for me and that particular feature is currently still in balance with my complaints. Then with the incentives available at the time the iphone ended up costing about a 3rd what the Zenfone was.

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nitroben2 t1_j22cos6 wrote

> What limitations have you experienced outside of customization?

Here's my short list off the top of my head:

  • can't play music while recording video (i didn't realize how much i used to do that!)
  • music doesn't consistently automatically resume after something stops it (phone call, video recording, etc.)
  • picture in picture? (Nah, this screen is really too small for it anyways, but worth mentioning for bigger devices maybe?)
  • independently adjust different volume settings (alarm, alert, ringer, media) without that type being currently playing.
  • gboard isn't available in every app
  • gboard missing the clipboard feature
  • copy-paste doesn't always work between different apps
  • overall app interconnectedness is much lower than on Pixel
  • face recognition is great but i miss the middle of the back fingerprint reader(on my Pixel 2 i could have it unlocked ready to use by the time i was looking at it)
  • no-look camera activation by double tapping power (again, having it ready by the time i was actually looking at it. On iphone i can set up the double knock shortcut for camera, but it's not as fast or reliable)
  • autocorrect is pretty awful on all keyboards i have tried
  • easy access to media controls from all apps that could be playing media
  • old notifications take an extra swipe to view
  • some notifications cannot be dismissed with a swipe (for various reasons, but it's not always clear which ones are swipe proof until i swipe at it) And ends up opening the camera app while I'm trying to dismiss
  • i have to dig through the settings app to customize individual app notification settings and they're much less flexible, usually all or nothing(sometimes more flexible notifications are available in the app itself)
  • i almost forgot flip to silence! (I used to think the hard switch for silence was cool, and it still is, but if i could choose between the hardware switch and flip to silence i would take flip to silence everyday) ...That's all i can think of right now.
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nitroben2 t1_j22h7m2 wrote

Add: background processes often stop when i switch to another app, so i have to manually open apps and keep them open watching the sync bar slide along for a couple minutes. It's a small thing, but happens regularly.

And I'm not enmeshed in the apple hardware ecosystem and many of my other devices don't play as nice with my iPhone as they did with my Pixel.

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Whore_from_hell OP t1_j1xqshe wrote

Well I'm bored of android in general (been using it since 1.6 donut lol) so yeah need a change. Limitations don't bother me since I'm a light user.

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nitroben2 t1_j20sx31 wrote

Fair enough. iOS is certainly different!

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Chronixx t1_j1xr6ee wrote

iPhone 11 is the best choice of the 3. Still a good phone all-around

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Chemical_Ad_8467 t1_j20kbpx wrote

11 but if you can squeeze a bit more and get a 12 or a 11 pro

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Whore_from_hell OP t1_j22bqgj wrote

In my country there's a huge difference between the price of 12 and 12 mini tbh. And they're not selling 11 Pro anymore here. Also, 11 actually costs a bit more than the 12 Mini here lol. If I could stretch my budget for a 12 then I would also be able to buy the iPhone 13. (and 13 mini costs more than 13 Lmao)

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