Apple iPhone X vs iPhone 12 mini

46 out of 100
Apple iPhone X
VS
58 out of 100
Apple iPhone 12 mini

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 5.8-inch Apple iPhone X (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 3 years and 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone X
  • The rear camera has a 2x optical zoom
  • Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 mini
  • 2x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1306K versus 644K)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Apple A14 Bionic
  • Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR4X
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Has 33% more RAM: 4GB versus 3GB
  • The phone is 3 years and 2 months newer
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
  • Ready for eSIM technology

Review

Evaluation of Apple iPhone X and iPhone 12 mini crucial features
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
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 65% Yes
Yes, we think most users will notice the upgrade.
Updating from Apple iPhone X to Apple iPhone 12 mini makes sense and should feel noticeably better in daily use.
Main improvements: performance, camera, and gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 5.8 inches 5.4 inches
Resolution 1125 x 2436 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 458 ppi 476 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 625 nits 625 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Screen protection Tempered glass -
Screen-to-body ratio 81.1% 84.8%
Display features - DCI-P3 - DCI-P3
Display tests
RGB color space 99.3% -
PWM 240 Hz -
Response time 2.2 ms -
Contrast ∞ Infinity -
Screen space comparison
iPhone X
5.8″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 12.8 in2
iPhone 12 mini
5.4″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 11.1 in2
~15% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
600 nits
624 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3]

Design and build

Height 143.6 mm (5.65 inches) 131.5 mm (5.18 inches)
Width 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) 64.2 mm (2.53 inches)
Thickness 7.7 mm (0.3 inches) 7.4 mm (0.29 inches)
Weight 174 g (6.14 oz) 135 g (4.76 oz)
Waterproof IP67 IP68
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Silver, Gray White, Black, Blue, Green, Red
Fingerprint scanner No No
Screen-to-body ratio
81.1%
84.8%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Apple iPhone X and Apple iPhone 12 mini
SoC
Chipset Apple A11 Bionic Apple A14 Bionic
Max clock 2390 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
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 10 nanometers 5 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Apple Neural Engine Apple Neural Engine
GPU
Graphics Apple GPU Apple GPU
GPU shading units 192 256
GPU clock 1066 MHz 1278 MHz
FLOPS ~409.3 GFLOPS ~654.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Apple iPhone X and Apple iPhone 12 mini
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
1075
2130
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
2393
4912
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 16477
Single-core score 1075 2130
Multi-core score 2393 4912
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
644307
1306432
CPU 271922 369310
GPU 127700 317860
Memory 110696 148720
UX 133989 461951
Total score 644307 1306432
Samples Less than 3 [9 tests]
3DMark Solar Bay
Stability - 75%
Graphics test - 10 FPS
Section 1 - 13 FPS
Section 2 - 10 FPS
Section 3 - 7 FPS
Graphics score - 2634
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
892
2138
Stability 59% 67%
Graphics test 5 FPS 12 FPS
Graphics score 892 2138
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Apple iPhone X
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-03 (alwayssonqz)Geekbench 6 GPU5436
📘 2026-06-03 (alwayssonqz)Geekbench 6 CPU1075 / 2393
📘 2026-01-08 -> TangerineGeekbench 6 CPU1105 / 2629
📘 2024-08-21 (I desperately need a new phone)Geekbench 6 CPU858 / 1167
Apple iPhone 12 mini
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-30 (Kirious)AnTuTu 111251875
📘 2026-06-30 (Kirious)AnTuTu 111251875
📘 2026-05-04 (Noorulain khan)AnTuTu 111319503
📘 2026-03-26 (Khalil)AnTuTu 111247945
📘 2026-02-04 -> HouramuiAnTuTu 111352611

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR4X
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 64 GB
Storage type NVMe NVMe
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system iOS 11.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.5) iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 27)
OS size 5.3 GB -

Battery

Capacity 2716 mAh 2227 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 20 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
Bypass charging - No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 30 min) Yes (60% in 30 min)
Full charging time 2:00 hr 1:29 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 05:31 hr 06:04 hr
Watching video 09:07 hr 10:15 hr
Gaming 03:35 hr 03:53 hr
Standby 93 hr 79 hr
General battery life
iPhone X +2%
16:26 hr
16:11 hr

Main camera

Matrix 12 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 4032 x 3024 4032 x 3024
Zoom Optical, 2x 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 240FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens - 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Telephoto: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 12 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.6
Focal length 28 mm 26 mm
Sensor Apple iSight Duo Camera Sony IMX372
Sensor size 1/3" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Focal length 52 mm -
Sensor size 1/3.4" (≈ 0.29 inch) -
Pixel size 1 micron -
Stabilization Optical -
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution - 12 MP
Aperture - f/2.4
Focal length - 13 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX503
Sensor size - 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size - 1.4 micron
Stabilization - Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
101
128
Video quality
129
Generic main camera score
117
Bokeh - 55
Preview - 76
Zoom - 57
Samples Photo samples of Apple iPhone X from DxOMark Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 mini from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 7 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 3472 x 2063 4290 x 2800
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 32 mm 23 mm
Sensor BSI CMOS Sony IMX514
Sensor size - 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No Yes
DxOMark front camera
132
Photo 88 127
Video 92 140

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 Direct
- 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 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
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
85.3 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced September 2017 October 2020
Release date November 2017 November 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $999 $700
Successor - Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max - Apple iPhone 13 mini
SAR (head) 0.87 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
SAR (body) 0.97 W/kg 0.99 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Face recognition sensor
- 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.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
92 (20.5%)
356 (79.5%)
Total votes: 448

User opinions

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