I purchased two of the black cases for the iPhone 13 mini’s we purchased back in January of 2023. We had the first generation iPhone SE models and they were a good size for pocket use and using it for what it’s designed for, a cellphone. We would occasionally use the browser for directions or to look up phone numbers for places while we were out and about.
I did some research on the new version of the SE and the reviews were not exactly favorable for reception and overall performance and build, so we decided on the iPhone 13 mini instead of the 3rd generation iPhone SE. I don’t need a large and very cumbersome iPhone and I knew it would end up being broken from bending over and breaking the glass, and I think Apple Care is a waste of money in my opinion. I had it with another iPhone and I still had a deductible on replacing the front glass on top of the monthly charge for the service. If we need to use the Internet, we have iPad Pro 2022 11” models for that at home.
These cases are really good protection for your phone because they are protected on the front and back , plus they have a very good rubber bumper that completely surrounds the phone. I’m hard on my phone and I have dropped all of them and just knew that the screen or the back glass was going to be damaged, and I was usually right.
The pros of this case are:
-Complete coverage of the phone.
-A heavy duty rubber bumper around the outer edge.
-It’s clear for those of us who like to let people see we buy the “product red” devices.
-Overall, it’s easy to install and assemble and disassemble.
-The price is unbelievable for the case and the protection it offers. The colors available are also amazing. However, we went with the black version.
The cons for me are as follows:
-The case is similar to the older Otterbox case and it has a very large hole for the charger cable on the bottom. This essentially lets in debris from your pocket and you have to clean the screen and disassemble the case. A small flap would have made a huge difference in preventing this from happening.
-The case clearly states it’s compatible with the MagSafe charger, which it is when you lay it down on the charger. However it doesn’t support an external battery pack and it just falls off the black. I purchased a set of external metal rings to prevent the battery pack from falling off the back.
-The camera lens are exposed, however I don’t take enough photos to need much more protection than the case gives me. I did however purchase the small lens covers to prevent the camera lens from being scratched in my pocket . I included a photo of my phone with the external lenses protectors and the metal ring that made it possible to use a battery pack with the phone.
My biggest issue with this case is that there are no protective panels on the charging port and the switch for the volume control. This would have prevented the need to remove the phone periodically to get the lint and other small bits of stuff out of the case. I would recommend this case to anyone who has the same issue with clumsiness like myself and tend to drop their phones more often than they would admit.
Overall, this a great and very protective case for our iPhone 13 mini devices. It’s very cheap in price but it isn’t made cheap. I remember paying more for a specialty case for my 1st generation iPhone SE. Neither my husband nor myself has ever had a desire to purchase the iPhone Pro Max devices as they are just too large and expensive. If I wanted an iPad mini, I would have one, as it’s not that much smaller than the iPad mini. My biggest gripe with these two new devices is the battery life is not that great. We purchased them directly from Apple and mine seems especially bad for holding a longer battery charge. The reviews of the 3rd generation iPhone SE were mostly not great and I think the newer models are better than our old SE models as they are just enough bigger than our iPhone SE models and texting is easier than before. They still fit in my pocket and I don’t feel like I am going to break the screen when I bend over to pick up something. I have already noticed that my phone doesn’t seem to stay charged up for a long period of time. I’m also having trouble getting use to the power button on the side instead of the top and I have hung up on many callers just by picking up the phone.
I don’t think you are going to get a better looking phone case , especially for the iPhone 13 mini because Apple is about to release the iPhone 15. We were lucky to get these two phones from Apple as they were not available a week after we bought them. Apple honestly needs to slow down on the production of a new iPhone every few months now. With the economic situation and the price of Apple devices climbing higher and higher, something has to change or people will start looking for alternatives to Apple devices. We have been getting about 5 years of use out of the Apple devises we have purchased in the past. However I don’t know if we can expect to get as many updates on the new iPhone 13 mini’s, the two new 2022 iPad Pro 11” models and a newest model MacBook Pro. We splurged on the MacBook Pro, which is the newest model and was very expensive after we configured it to our needs. We still use our 2017 10.5” iPad Pro devices and we’re hoping that they will get iOS 17, but we aren’t sure it’s going to happen.
If this was more like the otterbox and had flaps to keep out the dust bunnies and other stuff that gets in between the glass and the back and screen, it would be a 5 star case for sure. I can see that I’m probably going to be looking for something that will keep the dust out over the next few months.