Apple iPad mini 8.3" 2024 Review

The iPad mini is a fantastic pocket-sized powerhouse with a killer screen and top-tier connectivity. But its productivity score is weak, and the RAM is underwhelming. If you need a tiny tablet for media and light tasks, it's a winner.

The new iPad mini is basically a phone-sized tablet with a laptop-grade chip. It's got the same A17 Pro you'd find in an iPhone Pro, crammed into a 299-gram body. That means it's ridiculously fast for its size.

And it's still the best small tablet around. The 8.3-inch screen is sharp and bright, and now you get Wi-Fi 6E and 5G support. It's the ultimate portable device for reading, watching, and sketching with the Apple Pencil Pro.

The A17 Pro chip is a beast. It sits in the solid 73rd percentile for CPU power, which means it's well above average for tablets. It'll handle any app or game you throw at it without sweating. The screen is also strong, with good color and brightness. But the RAM is a weak spot, ranking in the disappointing 35th percentile. That can lead to apps reloading more often if you multitask heavily. The battery life is about average, so you'll get a day's use, but not much more.

Look, it's an Apple product, so it's never cheap. But for the specific niche of a premium, ultra-portable tablet, it holds its own. You're paying for that compact design, the top-tier chip, and the seamless Apple ecosystem. If you just want a tablet for media, it's overkill. But if you need a powerful tool that fits in a jacket pocket, the price makes sense.

Against the iPad Pro, you lose the bigger screen and pro features like the Magic Keyboard, but you gain portability. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ offers a bigger, better screen and more RAM for similar money, but it's much larger. The Microsoft Surface Pro is a full laptop replacement, while the mini is a companion device. The Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus has a killer speaker and stand, but weaker performance. Your choice boils down to size versus power.

If you need a primary device for real work like writing long documents, managing complex spreadsheets, or video editing, skip this. Its productivity score is dead last in our database. Also, if budget is a concern, Android tablets like the Xiaomi Redmi Pad offer a similar media experience for much less money.

Buy this if you're an artist, student, or frequent traveler who needs a powerful, pocketable device for content consumption, note-taking, and sketching. It's perfect as a secondary screen or a digital notebook you can take anywhere. It's also great for anyone who wants a tablet but hates carrying a big slab.