The iPhone 12 Mini is out and it is the most gripable, pocketable iPhone in years.
Even so, there will always be a little anxiety in me about drops and scratches so
I wanted to try some cases out for the iPhone 12 Mini.
Hey, Im Jerry and its only been a few days since I got the iPhone 12 Mini
but so far I am loving it. This beautiful blue piece of technology has been having a
weird affect on how I think about my phone and I will talk about that more in another video,
but to keep it in the best shape possible you may want to throw a case on it.
The case company Totallee sent me a couple of cases to try out. And just to be
clear…future pun…..Totallee has not paid me and this video is not being reviewed by them.
For me, a good case comes down to 3 things…First. I want the case to be slim,
while offering a moderate level of protection from drops. It should have a slight lip over the
front glass and camera bump. Second, it should have enough grip to stay in my hand but not
be tacky enough that it is difficult to get in and out of my pockets. Third, the buttons have
to feel good. There needs to be a good tactile feel so that you know when you are pushing them
and you shouldn’t have to spend anytime feeling around to make sure your fingers are on them.
I want to focus more on clear cases for the iPhoen 12 Mini but Totallee did send me a
couple of their Thin cases that I want to mention.
These first cases from Totallee miss some of my requirements for what I would like a case to be.
These Totallee thin cases for iPhone 12 are extremely thin pieces of plastic and will
provide almost zero protection against drops. The cases are so thin that I was able to damage them
slightly just by installing my phone into the cases. I tried a few different ways to
try and insert the phone into the case and the fourth corner was always difficult to insert.
……….I was able to use a spudger to help, kind of like a shoe horn.
To get an idea of how thin they are you can see that they pretty much line up with the buttons on
the phone making the sides completely level…………And speaking of the sides, they are a matte finish,
just like the sides of the 12 mini, and have about the same level of grippyness.
I do like the transparency of these cases and think they work well with the new iPhone colors………
The cutouts around the speaker and microphone on this totallee thin case
are probably the most precise, perfect cutouts I have ever seen on a case
and there is a lip on the back to protect the cameras as well as on the front for the screen.
If you want the absolute thinnest case possible to
protect against scratches when setting your phone on a table,
this is probably it. The buttons feel clicky, because it is just the phone’s buttons, but a
little recessed. If you want a case with a bit more protection we have the Totallee Clear case.
This case for the 12 Mini feels like a good clear case.
This case is full TPU so it is the same material on the sides as well as the back. On the inside
of the case there are little dots for texture which keeps bubbles from forming between the
case and the phone. It feels sturdy but not ridged and the phone pops right in.
The case does add a slight bit of bulk to the size of this compact phone
which should add a bit of protection if you drop it, including lips around the front glass
and the back cameras, but does not make it overly bulky. ……..You can still
roll this phone around in your hand and it feels good…………the mute switch is easy
enough to use and the buttons feel really good. They are clicky but not difficult to
push and you can feel the buttons on the case and instantly know which one you are pushing.
This clear case from Totallee adds some needed grip to the sides of the iPhone 12 Mini.
Unlike the iPhone 12 pro which has glossy sides, the matte sides of the 12 and 12 mini are a bit
more slippery by themselves. This totallee clear case adds to the gripability of this phone which
makes it just about the easiest thing to hold but also slides in and out of my pocket without issue.
And in case you are wondering, Yes, the MagSafe charger does work with
these cases from Totallee as well as the others I will mention in a minute.
I also like that there is no branding or design on this case.
There are no names or branded features etched or printed on the case. It is just a clean,
clear case made to protect and show off the design of the phone its self. I Really like
the totallee clear case for my iPhone Mini, but how does it compare to some other clear cases?
First, I had the Apple Clear case for my iPhone 12 Pro.
Apple’s clear case is Silicone on the sides with a clear plastic on the back.
That case has extremely mushy buttons that were not fun to push and the sides were so slippery
that the case slipped out of my hand while I was talking about it in my iPhone 12 Pro review.
I actually ended up sending the clear case back to apple because if was so bad.
Next I have this Spigen Ultra hybrid for iPhone 12 mini. This case is similar to the Apple Clear case
in that it is silicone on the sides and plastic on the back……………Unlike the Totallee clear case,
this case is more ridged and squared off with sharper edges more akin to the iphone 12 its self,
which means you can stand the phone up in this case if you want to. ………….
Beyond the raised camera bump protection and screen protection there are bumpers on the
back to keep the whole back from laying on a surface………..the funny thing is that the 3
bumpers are actually larger than the camera bump protection so the phone still rocks on a table.
The buttons are not raised from the sides and for me this makes
the buttons slightly more difficult to find. The power button feels ok to click,
not as good as the Totallee clear case, but the volume buttons feel terrible. Very spongy.
This Spigen Ultra hybrid does feel like it has the right protection to bulkiness ratio I prefer
as well as added gripability. It is slightly bulkier than the Totallee Clear
but the buttons are a deal breaker for me.
Last, I also picked up a Miracase glass+ glitter clear case. Although glitter is not my usual
style, I wanted to see how this 2-piece case would work. It has a top piece with a built in tempered
glass screen protector and a bottom piece that has silicone sides and a clear plastic back…..the
case is quite a bit bigger and bulkier than the other cases, because it is 2 pieces.
The instructions say to separate the slot at the lower right……..I
could not find this slot. I tried prying this case apart from every corner and just couldn’t get it.
I kept looking back at the directions and looking at the case and there was no gap to separate them.
After a lot of prying I did eventually get the pieces apart. But here is the thing….if
I put my phone in this case, I fear that it will be extremely difficult to remove it.
And if you did break the glass screen protector on this case I would be worried about removing
the broken protector without damaging the screen. So I decided that this case is too bulky,
to difficult for what I would want in a case and I will probably send this one back.
Oh, and one last thing is that you need to remove any existing screen protector
before using this Miracase and you may have seen I have a screen protector on this iPhone 12 Mini.
I used tempered glass screen protectors for a long time on my iphones but have recently
switched to matte films from iCarez. Installing this screen protector from totallee is pretty
straight forward. Clean your iphone screen, remove the plastic backing from the screen protector,
align the speaker cutout and drop the case on the phone.
Its kind of soothing watching the protector adhere to the screen like this.
This screen protector looks really nice. It is not as thick as some screen protectors I have used,
which I appreciate, and has softened, rounded edges
that make swiping on the display still feel good. I wouldn’t call this screen
protector edge to edge as even with a case there is still a gap, but its pretty good.
I would like to see a true edge to edge protector now that the display
is completely flat on the iphone, even if that means you cant use a case with it.
SO, overall I really like the Totallee Clear case. It is my favorite case so far for the iPhone
12 mini. It checks all my boxes for being slim and protective, enough grip for better handling
without being too tacky, and buttons that feel and click like they should. ………..The
other cases I talked about today missed some of my requirements to be a case I would like to use
but let me know below what you think about these cases or if there is something else I should try.
If you are interested in seeing how different MagSafe cases fared
you should check out my iPhone 12 Pro review video right over here………Hit
the thumbs up buitton if you liked it, hit subscribe if you want, and Ill see you next time.