Apple iPhone 12 (128GB) - Blue

Product Information

The improvements to the build of Apple's engine have clearly contributed to maintaining battery life year on year, with the 5nm fabrication process used to create the chipset meaning the transistors are closer together and require less energy to function, so Apple could therefore (potentially) decrease the battery size and still maintain an adequate battery performance. While in the past it’s been easy to criticize Apple for not putting the best display technology in its phones, there’s very little to fault about the new iPhone 12’s screen. The iPhone 12 release date was October 23, 2020, so the phone has been out a while but you're able to buy it directly from Apple as well as a variety of retailers. The phone's sibling - the iPhone 12 mini - wasn't available until a few months later, but it's still available.

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If you’ve had iPhones for a fair few years you’ll instantly be reminded of the feeling of using an iPhone 4 or 5, both of which had similarly squared sides, but the larger phone does push it into the hands a touch more. What does ‘elevated’ mean to you? If one were to say, the design of something is elevated, would that mean the sides of it were now flat and more ‘industrial’-looking? The new (to iPhones) MagSafe connector on the rear of the iPhone 12 is a really interesting proposition – this magnetic connection tech not only enables you to attach things to your phone, such as a charger or a case, but can also tell what's been connected through a special chip. It’s not as long-lasting as the competition (as ever), but most iPhone users won’t notice a significant issue when it comes to battery life – it’s on a par with iPhones of 2-3 years earlier, although not with the longevity of the iPhone XR and iPhone 11.

The iPhone 12 is still a solid phone taking great photos

Adding in 120Hz, a faster screen refresh rate that makes for more fluid scrolling on the new iPads, as well as on some Android flagships, would add a level of gloss to interacting with the new iPhone, but otherwise the sharpness, color reproduction and HDR levels look to be pretty good across the board. The results are genuinely startling, with shots taken in complete darkness looking as clear as day – literally. You need to get your framing right and keep the camera very still, though; you’ll find that a degree of blur will creep in if you jiggle the camera too much during the exposure. But a look at what was achieved with Moto Mods gives us an idea of what we can hope to see from MagSafe: there was a snap-on games controller, a mini projector, an instant photo printer, and a whole new Hasselblad camera accessory that added a huge sensor to your phone. Battery life is only average on the new iPhone 12; with heavier use your phone should see you through most of a day – around 17-18 hours at a push. Lighter usage will see you easily sail through to the night, but it's not quite as good as 2019's model. You're also only able to record at 30fps in 4K, so if you want to make the most of Dolby Vision you'll be better off plumping for the iPhone 12 Pro or Pro Max, which can handle it at up to 60fps, resulting in more buttery-smooth video for your home-made (or professionally-made) movies.

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According to our testing, the iPhone 12 has a slightly lower brightness than the iPhone 12 Pro - while they've got the same peak screen brightness when showing HDR content, the day-to-day view is slightly darker. Well, we rarely noticed much difference at all side by side, but being less bright will offer slightly better battery life over time, and we found everything visible even in bright sunlight.

The iPhone 12’s display is a big step forward for a phone of this price – while 2019 Apple decided that fancy, high-contrast OLED displays were only for those willing to shell out for the Pro, now the Super Retina XDR Display has been brought to the cheaper iPhone 12. We haven't performed any drop tests on our units - mostly because we need them to keep reviewing throughout the year - but it seems clear there's an improvement with the material on the front of the iPhone 12. The video capabilities, including the ability to record in Dolby Vision in 4K, sound impressive, but for most this will be a rarely-used feature. That said, the output is strong to look at and something you'd be keen to share.

iPhone 12 review: a small phone with big potential | TechRadar iPhone 12 review: a small phone with big potential | TechRadar

The A14 Bionic chipset at the heart of the iPhone is promised to be more power-efficient than before, while still achieving some of the best performance stats of any phone on the market.If you think the 5G advantage is all about speed though, you’d be wrong. In one test we had one iPhone connected to 4G in central London, and tried to connect to Spotify to stream some music while on a run. Would it connect? Nope. That means we could see some cool clip-on accessories like games controllers, photo printers and huge extra batteries coming soon. If these MagSafe mounts turning your iPhone 12 into a proper camera are anything to go by, the sky's the limit. While we’re going to go into the more nuanced upgrades in the iPhone 12 compared to previous models later in this review, there are two key changes for 2020's model that will likely attract your attention.