Apple iPad Mini 2019 Review: Owning its niche By Engadget

This is the new iPad, Mini and I already know what some of you are thinking. That is not the tablet. For me, fair enough, I guess the iPad Mini has always had its diehard fans, myself included, but there's no denying it's one of apples, most niche tablets and in 2019. That feels more true than ever. For someone like me, though, who, once swooned over small tablets like this using the new iPad Mini, feels a lot like getting reacquainted with an old pal. It pretty much looks the same as it always did, but it's much more capable than it used to be.

It's definitely not perfect and picking one of these things up again after a few years, has taken a little getting used to. That said, you small tablet, fans won't find anything else. Nearly this good before we go any further, though I feel like we need to put this new iPads design in the right historical context, see this version of the mini looks almost exactly like the iPad Mini 4. We got in 2015, which basically looks just like the 3rd generation. Maybe we got in 2014 and so on.

In fact, the new iPad Mini barely looks any different from the original from 2012 I mean no wonder this thing looks as dated as it does. This forehead and chin haven't really changed in 7 years and here's something else to keep in mind. In 2012, most smartphone screens were well under 5 inches. That's probably tiny, compared to what you have in your pocket right now. In those days, a high-res 7.9-inch screen squeezed into a tiny iPad was a notable step up from your phone, but the distinction now just isn't as pronounced, especially since massive smartphones have become basically unavoidable. None of this has any bearing on how well the iPad Mini works as a tablet, but it explains why using the mini again felt so strange to me at first.

The mini feels dated and modern. At the same time, and for me at least the roll, the mini used to play has long since been filled by my offer of a smartphone. It would have been one thing of Apple had used what it learned it: building the impressive new iPad pros to make the minis design warm in this new age, but it kind of didn't in some ways. This thing very much feels like a blast from the past. Ultimately, if he is modern flourishes here, do you make this iPad a pleasure to use, even though the display hasn't gotten any bigger or more pixel dense in /time, it's laminated to the glass, so there's no extra layer of air between your eyes and whatever you're looking at and even though it doesn't have that buttery smooth pro motion.

Look that iPad Pro display is. Do this screen support for a wider color gamut, and it's automatic, true tone. Color tuning make it surprisingly easy on the eyes. I wouldn't say it's ideal by any stretch, but this is the best the iPad Mini screen has ever looked now. If only these bezels were a little smaller you arty types watching.

This will probably also enjoy the meatiest newfound Apple Pencil support. It'll set you back $100, but it's still indispensable for people who do more than doodle, occasionally or spend their days taking notes in class or in the field. I've never really been. A huge pencil fan myself, but even I have to admit that writing on this screen feels really comfortable. It's much more like a notebook or a sketchbook than a big canvas.

The only real downside here is that since Apple didn't redesign this Mini in any meaningful way, it only works with the original Apple Pencil. You know the one you have to charge by turning the mini into the world's most Awkward lollipop inside there's an 8 while Bionic chipset, which means the Mini, is in the same league performance wise as Apple's iPhone 10s series. Now that puts the Mini in the strange position of being more powerful than the bigger cheaper, no-frills iPad. It sells for around three hundred and thirty dollars. In any case, this is the single most meaningful change you'll find here, and it gives the a lot more power to work with.

Remember the last time you got a new iPad. Maybe it shared a brain with the iPhone 6 I've been using this year's mini as much as I could for the past week and honestly, nothing I threw at it caused so much as a hiccup we're talking, split-screen multitasking running some apps and windows. You can drag around the screen while doing other stuff lots of fortnights and you beat whenever things got a little quiet. All of that was fine. If you're itching for a small tablet that doesn't skimp on the performance, there really isn't much competition baby, always media pad m5.

In any case, the list is a short one, more important that you can feel comfortable buying this meeting and not having to upgrade for a few years, and that's a very good thing when you consider it has been three years since the mini line was last updated. One thing Apple has tried to keep consistent for iPad, since the old days is battery life. This many, like nearly every other iPad I guess, is rated for 10 hours of battery life off a single charge. Whenever Apple says that, though, they're usually being pretty conservative on my flight to apples, streaming service amount, I watched, five straight hours of Star, Trek, The, Next Generation and then continued to use the mini for web browsing and doodling and playing annoying rhythm games on and off for like another six hours after that, if you're used to bigger I Pen, though you will notice a difference in standby time, you can leave the standard iPad or either of the pro model sitting around for about a week, and there would still be a pretty good chance. It would have some power left when you chose to pick it up again.

You can't really do that with the mini, and it's smaller battery. If I was lucky, it would stick around for three or four days before I needed to be plugged in again. Oh, and the cameras I actually almost forgot about those because they're pretty uninspiring there is an 8 megapixel camera on the back that you can also use to shoot.1080P video and it's perfectly adequate I mean some would say that, if you're using an iPad to take photos instead of your phone you're, doing it wrong, but hey it's 2019 chase your bliss we're here to support you, the 7, megapixel front. Camera also exists and it takes decent selfies. But the lack of a depth sensor here means you'll have to look elsewhere for your emoji fix.

After all of this, I still can't help but think what? If what is Apple went with a pro inspired all screen design? What, if Apple put a little more energy into reimagining? What a modern small tablet should be, what if it folded in half the list, goes on because Apple didn't exactly build. The iPad Mini I was hoping for, but I can live with. That and I suspect the people who really want to travel light or would rather keep another huge screen out of their lives. I feel the same. Most companies at the right now and making small tablets have cooked up cheap under powered machines.

That honestly, don't offer a lot of meat to work with that's not a bad thing. Either. Companies like Amazon, have figured out their niche, and they're just cranking away good for them. The problem is that, if you're the kind of person who wanted a small tablet capable of serious performance, you were basically out of luck until now for all of its little shortcomings, the iPad Mini is the best tiny tablet you can buy. Whether a small tablet is the kind of device you will truly find valuable, though that's a question.

You're going to have to answer for yourself if it is well for now, at least your choice is clear.

Source : Engadget