This Week at Mark Ellis Reviews

👋 It’s Friday, somehow. This week flew by, but I managed to get my full OPPO Reno 13 review published! I also took a trip down memory lane with the iPhone 13 mini, and we’ve covered some of the latest Apple news, including a new AI doctor! I’ve also rounded up my favourite iPad mini accessories and a few other bits I hope you’ll enjoy.

TOP STORY

I want to talk about the iPhone 13 mini (again)

I’ve checked, and the last time I published a video on the iPhone 13 mini was on 11th January 2023. It was titled ‘Why you should STILL buy the iPhone 13 mini in 2023!’ and it was typically gushing about Apple’s miniature smartphone.

Would it be a good buy in 2025? No. The chip is past it, the camera system has definitely been bettered, and most second-hand examples are probably going to have questionable battery life. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to talk about it today and in this week’s Tech Diary YouTube video.

I’m fortunate to get hands-on with most new Android smartphones, and it’s hard to find fault with any of them. They’re considerately priced, well-specced, and, most important of all, interesting. I envy anyone who’s considering their next Android phone because you have a wealth of brilliant options in front of you.

I don’t envy you if you’re looking to buy your next iPhone. The lineup is boring. The iPhone 16e - as brilliant as it has proven as a daily driver for yours truly - is riddled with inadequacies. The regular iPhone 16 is the iPhone 15 with a different camera layout and a pointless Camera Control button (review here). The iPhone Pro lineup is resolute in its desire to avoid any form of innovation or meaningful iteration.

In 2021, the situation was pretty much the same, albeit despite one crucial difference - the iPhone 13 mini existed. It was small, perfectly one-handed, and it had performance and camera capabilities that could embarrass much larger, more expensive devices. Unfortunately, for reasons we may never know, Apple decided to kill the iPhone mini in September 2023. And it’s unlikely we’ll see that form factor again.

This leaves a hole in the iPhone lineup, which needs filling by something as interesting and as uniquely engaging as the iPhone mini. Will that be the rumoured iPhone 17 Air? Or will Apple finally get into the foldable game next year? Something needs to happen, that’s for sure.

Watch my 10-minute video diary entry on this here.

OPPO Reno 13 review: It Took My Favourite Photo Ever!

Another week, another mid-range Android phone to review. I’m waiting for one of these phones to miss the mark and be utterly terrible to use, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen anymore. Oppo, amongst a host of other brands, have nailed the just-below-flagship smartphone design.

Here are some of my brief thoughts:

• Reliable camera system, if a bit over-saturated at times

• Brilliant two-day battery life

• Value-defying display (just like every Android phone nowadays)

BYTE-SIZED NEWS

This Week’s Top Tech Headlines

🩺 Apple’s New AI Doctor is Coming
Apple is reportedly developing an AI-powered health coach codenamed "Quartz" that could transform your iPhone (and other devices) into a personalized wellness advisor. Here’s what we know so far…

🗑️ iOS 19 Might Not Support Your Older iPhones
Apple's upcoming iOS 19 update may exclude support for older iPhone models. We’ve listed the potentially affected devices in this piece.

📳 Apple’s Haptic Button Dream Might Finally Be Over
Apple has apparently been working on haptic buttons for iPhone for years now. Here’s why the project now looks to have been permanently shelved.

⏰ Apple Watch’s watchOS 11.4 Update Brings New Alarm Feature
There wasn’t a huge amount in the watchOS 11.4 update apart from a pretty handy new alarm feature.

NEED TO KNOW

Tip Of The Week

👉 iOS tip: Did you know, you can pause, prioritize, or cancel app downloads?! When downloading or updating an app, tap its icon on the Home screen to pause. For more options, like Prioritize, Pause, or Cancel, just long-press the icon to see the menu pop up.

TOP FINDS

What Had Me Glued to YouTube…

🙈 Apple's AI Crisis: Explained! (Marques Brownlee) - A typically astute take on the Apple Intelligence situation from Mr Brownlee. It’s a slight regurgitation of John Gruber’s take, but definitely worth a watch if you’ve been following the sorry tale.

🖥️ Behind the Mac: Editing Severance (Apple) - Warning: this includes spoilers from Severance season 2, therefore, I recommend watching that in its entirety before digging into this. The only thing I will reveal is that they edited it on a Mac mini. Amazing.

🏎️ I Drove A Bugatti Veyron As My Daily For 12 hours! – It Was STRESSFUL (DRIVETRIBE) - It wouldn’t be a Mark Ellis Reviews newsletter without some car content, would it?!

ICYMI

iPad mini 7 long-term review - What Happened?!

This week, I also gave my updated thoughts about the iPad mini 7 after owning it for a while now. I’ll level with you, I don’t actually use it that much. Certainly not as much as I would like to. But I still love it. I mean, how could you not? Yes, the 60Hz display is annoying, but it is perfectly sized, powerful enough for most needs and very well-built.

BEST BUYS

My Favorite iPad mini Accessories

Speaking of the iPad mini, you only really see its potential when you get your setup nailed down. My essentials are a keyboard, case stand and power bank:

1.  Pitaka iPad mini case - This is a perfect all-in-one case and stand that makes watching videos a dream.

2. Nuphy Air60 mechanical keyboard and Nuphy Folio - There’s no mini magic keyboard, so I always go with the Nuphy Air60 and associated folio case.

3. Anker Nano Power Bank - 10,000mAh and 30W fast charging capabilities, what more do you need?

Just a note to say that these are affiliate links meaning I may earn from them, but they are genuinely all products that I love and use in my own setup!

‘GRAM OF THE WEEK

Smartphone camera specs don't matter

Case in point: the Oppo Reno13 produced my favourite ever photo of my son and I. Straight out of the camera, no edits. As a dad, that's the kind of thing that matters in a world where smartphone innovation is hard to come by.

There's a lot more to this phone than that, obviously!

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter. Join me and hundreds of others on our private Discord server for more tech chat and ramblings! Until next week,

~ Mark