The reason I bought the iPhone 13 mini is the small size and excellent feel of the phone in my hand. It's 2025 and the 16-series iPhones are standard, and the 17-series is around the corner, but I'm hanging on to my mini until Apple brings it back - rumours. Most of the cases I had were rubbery, plasticky, or bulky. The idea was to offer maximum protection to the iPhone at the cost of not holding the beautiful device in your hand. Well, with Latercase, the beauty is back. Some (like me) would argue, it makes the iPhone look even better, stunning. And for protection, I'm not one to constantly drop my phone, and it's happened once, no issues. I think that the iPhone would survive a low-altitude (say pants pocket height) with zero issues. And at its size, it's definitely not going to drop like a Boeing 747, but lightly and gently anyway. That's tons of protection from where it's needed the most, the edges. For newer phones, AppleCare+ will take care of the first couple of drops for those who drop it from the 20th storey of an apartment building, but for day to day use, I wouldn't worry.
From the photos below, you can see that the buttons, USB-C port, speaker, mic and other ports are beautifully visible. And the case looks like it's part of the overall design.
While it attracts finger smudges, like the naked phone, they are easily cleaned with a soft dry cloth, or a lens cleaner.