the iphone 12 mini is out and it's the most grippable pocketable iphone in years even so there's always going to be a little anxiety in me about drops and scratches so i wanted to try out some cases for the new iphone 12 mini hey i'm jerry and it's only been a few days since i've got this iphone 12 mini but so far i'm loving it this beautiful blue pizza technology has been having a weird effect on how i think about using my phone and i'll talk about that more in another video but to keep it in its best shape possible you may want to throw a case on it the case company totally sent me a couple of cases to try out and just to be clear future pun totally has not paid me for this video and it's not being reviewed by them for me a good case comes down to three 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 rear camera bob and the front screen second it should have enough grip to stay in my hand but not be tacky enough that it's difficult to get in and out of my pockets and third the buttons need to feel good there needs to be a good tactile feel so that you know when you're actually pushing them and you shouldn't have to move around and spend any time feeling around to make sure your fingers are actually on the buttons i want to focus mostly on clear cases today but totally did send me a couple of their thin cases so i want to mention those real quick these thin cases from totally miss some of my requirements for what i would like a case to be these totally thin cases for iphone 12 are extremely thin pieces of plastic and will provide almost zero protection against drops these cases are so thin that i was actually able to damage them slightly just by installing the 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 shoehorn 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 flat and speaking of the sides they are a matte finish just like the size of the 12 mini and have about the same level of grippiness as the phone i do like the transparency of these cases and think that they work well with the iphone colors the cutouts around the speaker and microphone on this totally thin case are probably the most precise perfect cutouts i've ever seen on any case and there is a lip on the back and front to protect the camera and 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's just the phone's buttons that are a little recessed if you want a case with a bit more protection we have this totally clear case over here this case for the 12 mini feels like a good clear case the case is a full tpu case so it's the same material on the sides and on the back on the inside of the case there's these little dots for texture which keeps the bubbles from forming between the case and the phone it feels sturdy but not rigid and the phone just pops right in the case does add a slight bit of bulk to this very compact phone which should protect it if you drop it including lips around the back for the camera and the front for the screen but it's not 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 as well they are clicky but not difficult to push and you can feel the buttons on the case and instantly know which one you're pushing this clear case from totally adds some needed grip to the size of the iphone 12 mini unlike the iphone 12 pro which has glossy sides the matte sides of this 12 and 12 mini are a bit more slippery by themselves this totally clear case adds to the grip ability of the phone which makes it just about the easiest thing to hold onto and it slides in and out of my pocket without issue and in case you're wondering yes the magsafe charger does work with these cases from totally as well as the others i'll mention in a minute i also like that there's no branding or design on this case at all there's no names or branded features etched or printed on the case it is just a clean clear case meant to protect and show off the design of the phone itself i really like the totally clear case for my iphone mini but how does it compare to some other 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 back that case is extremely mushy buttons that were not fun to push and the sides were so slippery that the case actually slipped out of my hands while i was talking and filming my video for my iphone 12 pro review i actually ended up just sending the clear case back to apple because it was just bad next i have the spigen ultra hybrid for iphone 12 mini this case is similar to apple's clear case in that it's silicone on the sides and plastic on the back unlike the totally clear case this case is more rigid and squared off and has sharper edges more akin to the iphone 12 itself which means you can actually stand the phone up by itself on a table or desk if you want beyond the raised camera bone protection and the screen protection there are bumpers on the back to keep the whole back from lying on a surface the funny thing is that the three bumpers on the back are actually taller than the camera bump protection so when you put it down it still wobbles the buttons are not raised on the sides and for me this makes the buttons slightly more difficult to find the power button feels okay to click but not as good as the totally clear case and the side buttons for volume are mushy and just terrible the spigen ultra hybrid does feel like it has the right protection to bulkiness ratio i prefer as well as the grip ability it is slightly bulkier than the totally clear case but the buttons are a deal breaker for me last i also picked up this mirror case glass plus glitter clear case say that three times fast although glitter is not my usual style i wanted to see how this two-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 bulkier than the other two cases because it has two pieces the instructions say to separate at the slot at the lower right i could not find this slot i tried prying the case apart from every corner and just could not get it i kept looking back at the directions and looking at the case and there just was no gap to separate them after a lot of prying i did eventually get the pieces apart but here's the thing if i put my phone in this case i fear that it's going to be extremely difficult to remove it and if you did break the glass screen protector on the case i would be worried about removing it and scratching the screen on the phone so i did decide that this mirror case is too bulky too difficult for what i want in a case and i'll probably be sending this one back oh and one more thing about this is that you need to remove any existing screen protector before using this mirror case and you probably have seen that i have a glass screen protector on my iphone 12 mini i used glass screen protectors for my iphones for a long time but i recently switched more to matte films for my cares installing this glass screen protector from totally is pretty straightforward clean your iphone screen remove the plastic backing from the screen protector align the speaker cutout and drop the protector on the phone it's kind of soothing watching the protector adhere to the screen like this this screen protector really does look nice it's not as thick as some of the others that i've used in the past which i appreciate and it has a softened rounded corners and edges that make swiping on the display still feel good i wouldn't call this screen protector edge to edge because even with a case there's still a gap on it but it's not bad i would love to see a true edge to edge screen protector for the iphone 12s now that the display is completely flat even if that means you couldn't use a case with it so overall i really like the totally clear case it's my favorite case so far for the iphone 12 mini it checks all of my boxes for being slim and protective enough grip for 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 that i would like to use but let me know below what do you think about these cases and is there any others i should try if you're interested in seeing how the other magsafe case is fared you should check out my iphone 12 pro review video right over here hit the thumbs up button if you liked it hit subscribe if you want and i'll see you next time you
