iPhone 13 mini review

I just realized I have not made a review of my current iPhone 13 mini phone. And since I always make a comprehensive review of every new iPhone I own, here it is.



The iPhone 13 series is more or less not much different from the 12 series except for the better processor and camera system so this is going to be a mini review. Why do I downgrade from the regular-sized iPhone 12 to the 13 mini? Mainly because of weight. Regular readers of my blog (and tweets) will remember that I use my iPhone mostly for social media and the occasional workout. Holding the bigger iPhone for a prolonged period of time is not good for my wrist. Taking along the mini iPhone while jogging however is light on my pockets so I don’t notice it much.



While the screen looks smaller, the viewable screen size is actually bigger than the iPhone 8 because of the slim bezels around it. Typing is also a pleasure on the smaller screen and you don’t have to extend your fingers too much to touch the upper parts of the screen. The camera system is the biggest improvement over the 12. Not only the lens is slightly larger that they had to change the orientation to accommodate the bigger size, the photo quality has also tremendously improved, especially for night mode photography. My photos taken at night are much clearer and brighter and the 4K video recording has also gotten much better.



Other than that, there is not much else to report about the 13 mini. Build and design-wise, it is exactly the same as the 12 mini save for the camera orientation. If you already have an iPhone 12 before, it is not a significant upgrade. I would advise for you to wait for the 14 or even 15, rumoured to have a USB-C port (fingers crossed).

Netgear Aircard AC790S portable hotspot review

You know I’m a big fan of portable wi-fi hotspots or MiFis for a long time now. My last dependable MiFi unit, the TP-Link M7350 went into an infinite reboot loop, rendering it completely unusable. I bought the M7350 over 4-5 years ago so it is no surprise that it finally decided to break down now. It went through quite some abuse in the hands of my kids over the years.



For my next MiFi, I’m looking for something more powerful and advanced. Got my eyes on the Netgear Aircard series and when I could finally afford one, wasted no time ordering one online. First impression: I’m not a big fan of its rubbery outer shell. It’s a lint magnet. I wish they had thought that through before using such awful materials for a portable device that usually goes into your pocket.

Anyway, bad materials aside, the MiFi itself it’s quite decent. I love the touch screen menu interface. It’s one of the major pull of this device. You can display the wi-fi SSID and password on the screen (if you wish). It supports broadcasting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wi-fis at once with up to 10 concurrent connections. The signal strength is good and you can boost the signal by attaching an optional external antenna to the MiFi. From my initial testing, this unit can provide 10 hours of battery life in one go.



Other downsides, since this is a modified (aka cracked) unit, it will permanently display “detecting service” on the screen although this shouldn’t affect the device’s performance. Talking about performance, this MiFi performs poorly in poor coverage areas, for example outside my house in Semenyih. Once you get to more densely populated areas, the reception will improve.

Would I recommend this MiFi unit? Not really. The outer body material is a dealbreaker for me. My eyes hurt just looking at all the lints permanently stuck on it. It’s a 300 ringgit lint collector. It is no wonder that I’m putting this device up for sale after less than a month of buying it. It would recommend getting something from D-Link or TP-Link instead. Even the M7350 is still a good choice if you’re looking for something simple and reliable.