Apple iPhone 8 vs iPhone 12 mini
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 4.7-inch Apple iPhone 8 (with Apple A11 Bionic) that was released on September 12, 2017, against the Apple iPhone 12 mini, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 37 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 8
- Fingerprint scanner
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 mini
- 2.6x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1065K versus 413K)
- Thinner bezels – 19.7% more screen real estate
- Has a 0.7 inch larger screen size
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- 46% higher pixel density (476 vs 326 PPI)
- Shows 8% longer battery life (24:39 vs 22:48 hours)
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Comes with 406 mAh larger battery capacity: 2227 vs 1821 mAh
- More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
- Has 2x more RAM: 4GB versus 2GB
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
- Has an ultra-wide angle camera lens
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | IPS LCD | OLED |
| Size | 4.7 inches | 5.4 inches |
| Resolution | 750 x 1334 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 326 ppi | 476 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| Max rated brightness | 625 nits | 625 nits |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 65.4% | 85.1% |
| Display features | - | - DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.9% | - |
| PWM | Not detected | - |
| Response time | 22 ms | - |
| Contrast | 1373:1 | - |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 138.4 mm (5.45 inches) | 131.5 mm (5.18 inches) |
| Width | 67.3 mm (2.65 inches) | 64.2 mm (2.53 inches) |
| Thickness | 7.3 mm (0.29 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 148 g (5.22 oz) | 135 g (4.76 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP67 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Silver, Gold, Gray | White, Black, Blue, Green, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-button | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A11 Bionic | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max clock | 2100 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.42 GHz: Mistral
- 2 cores at 2.39 GHz: Monsoon |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm
- 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| Lithography process | 10 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Apple A11 GPU | Apple A14 GPU |
| GPU shading units | 192 | 256 |
| GPU clock | 1066 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~409.3 GFLOPS | ~654.3 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 130384 | 264152 |
| GPU | 91667 | 311400 |
| Memory | 83818 | 135362 |
| UX | 104393 | 349316 |
| Total score | 413559 | 1065229 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 45.4 °C | - |
| Stability | 62% | 69% |
| Graphics test | 18 FPS | 45 FPS |
| Graphics score | 3135 | 7654 |
Memory
| RAM size | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR4 | LPDDR4X |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 64, 256 GB | 64, 128, 256 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 11 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5) | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 17) |
| OS size | 6 GB | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 1821 mAh | 2227 mAh |
| Max charge power | 15 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes, Qi (7.5 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 30 min) | Yes (60% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:15 hr | 1:29 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:04 hr | 09:23 hr |
| Watching video | 08:37 hr | 09:46 hr |
| Gaming | 03:56 hr | 04:34 hr |
| Standby | 82 hr | 78 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 12 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4032 x 3024 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Quad LED | Quad LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1 (12 MP) | 2 (12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.8 - Focal length: 28 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/3", Apple iSight Camera (BSI CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX503 (Exmor-RS CMOS) |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 8 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 mini from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 7 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 3088 x 2320 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 32 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 1 microns | - |
| Sensor type | BSI CMOS | CMOS |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Hotspot |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE, A2DP | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | No | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Number of SIM * | 1 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 16 | 18 |
| 5G support | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2017 | October 2020 |
| Release date | September 2017 | November 2020 |
| SAR (head) | 1.35 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | 1.36 W/kg | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone 12 mini is definitely a better buy.