Awww. Cute.

A couple of weeks with the iPhone 13-mini.

Previous phone, iPhone X.

It's been a few years since I upgraded, so we can take it as read that I'm going to like the camera enhancements. Normally, this would go hand in hand with enhanced battery life. I suspect my battery life has improved, but not by much. The phone is smaller, and this shrinking impacts battery life adversely.

I purchased the 256 GB, Product Red.

The red is strong and vibrant. Red red as it were. No sign of coral here. Fans of various football teams will be pleased with the stridency.

However, the factor that kept calling to me was the size. Those who recently passed their half century on the planet remember the advent of the mobile telephone. My boss had one, and it weighed several kilos. It looked a bit like a car battery with a handset. I marvelled as in a few scant years, phones got smaller and more affordable. Soon we all had Nokia's that you could carry in ONE hand! Seriously, one hand. You could play snake with your thumb. In 1996, Motorola released the Star-Tac, the first flip phone. There it was. Proof that Star Trek wasn't fiction, it was a prediction. "Beam me up Scotty!" Oh! That never got old. The better your job, the smaller your phone got.

Gradually, the tide turned. Our tiny phones grew keyboards. Then, their screens began to expand. They could take photos! Some fellow called Jobs came up with some nonsense called the iPhone. Every year, our phones got that tiny bit larger. Unknowingly, we crossed a bridge, and the phone went back to being a two-handed device.

Grudgingly, Apple released the 12 mini. And nobody bought it. Not even me. As prices had risen, I no longer felt the need to upgrade every year. My trusty X was still doing well. Bigger than I would like, but not too bad. The rumours started. The 13 would have a mini, but that was it. Thereafter, iPhones would be big or bigger. "It's what the people want", said Apple.

The 13 mini is the perfect size. Entirely operable one-handed, not too heavy or bulky for shorts pockets. I love it - but I was always going to, I suspect. It's cute. Really, it is.

Our reseller here in Cyprus has a clever machine from Belkin which fits a screen protector perfectly, so I teamed one of those with a silicon case (in red) to protect my new daily companion. Mrs L likes the red so much, she picked up a red cover for her iPhone 13 (pink). On a roll, I took a red strap for my watch. Giddy now, I picked up a matching pair of "Zens", bedside units to charge phone, AirPods and Watch together.

Now...about the iPad mini. Lighter than a paperback, you say? Does it come in red?

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