My first week with the iPad mini (2024) was fantastic and frustrating

The iPad mini is arguably the most polarizing product in Apple’s portfolio. There’s a segment of die-hard fans that would pick it over any other device in its class, and then there’s another group that can’t quite figure out what exactly it can deliver in terms of meaningful utility.

Reading? Check. Is it good for note-taking? It’s probably the world’s best little diary. What about gaming? It can blaze past the best titles out there. All that excellence can be yours for a cool $500, at the very minimum.

In my case, the hit I took for an entry-level iPad mini this year was $771 after taxes. That’s enough money to buy a full-fledged laptop or a larger tablet with some accessories thrown into the mix. Look no further than the excellent OnePlus Pad 2 for that heavy dose of tablet goodness.

Now, here’s the kicker. Almost every situation where the seventh-gen iPad mini seems to excel is where an Android device can do better. The best part about the iPad mini — its pleasingly palm-friendly build — can also be its undoing the moment you start pushing it.

The iPad mini’s hardware is (mostly) great

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Let’s start with the build. It’s identical to its predecessor, but the iPad mini’s aesthetics are also its biggest draw. There are barely any other devices out there with the same footprint.

E-Readers? Sure, there are many, including the new Kindle Colorsoft. The Boox Color Go even runs Android, but its paper-like sluggish color screen is a test of patience even by conventional 60Hz screen standards. Apple also solved the jelly-scrolling issue this time, which was a huge relief for me.

Now, I absolutely love the tablet’s in-hand feel and weight profile. At 293 grams, it’s not exactly featherlight by any means, but thanks to its larger size and weight distribution, it actually feels lighter and less taxing on the hands compared to an iPhone 16 Pro.

I love that even with the Apple Pencil Pro attached to the side, the tablet neatly fits in the side pockets of my cargo jeans. As someone who hates the hassle of carrying a bag to a nearby coffee shop for a work sprint on my laptop, I adore this side of the iPad mini.

It’s lovely for reading while slouched on a comfy bean bag. As my colleague Prakhar Khanna puts it, the iPad mini is an absolute joy for reading and watching videos on a flight because one doesn’t need to fiddle with the tray or even struggle for space.

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

I recently tried to edit a video on the iPad Pro (13-inch) in a flight seat, and it was distressingly awkward. For video editing, I would strongly suggest sticking to the basics. Anything with a proper timeline, well, things will get overwhelmingly crowded, even for short clips.

Another scenario where the iPad mini excels with its pocket-friendly size is gaming. The A17 Pro silicon is enough to handle any mobile game you throw at it. But knowing that your hands won’t strain to hold a tablet (mini tablet, bah!) while playing a few rounds of PUBG Battle Royale or grinding in Katana Zero inspires a surge of joy.

Interestingly, things get hot quickly, even compared to the iPhone 16 Pro. I guess Apple hasn’t fitted the same kind of thermal hardware inside the tablet as it did in its flagship phone, even though there is more breathing space inside and metallic surface area around it for heat dissipation.

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Of course, the small battery loses steam rather quickly. My first brush with the iPad mini was nothing short of a disaster. I installed Chrome, and within half an hour, the app crashed unexpectedly over a dozen times. That’s a little too much, given Apple’s standards or thosr of any other $500 machine.

Once again, I’ll highlight the screen refresh rate issue — 60Hz is no longer enough. If you’ve experienced a 90Hz or 120Hz screen on any device, the difference is noticeable from the get-go. I couldn’t ignore this visual disparity shifting between it and the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPad Pro, both of which serve a ProMotion 120Hz screen.

For some reason, the animations felt sluggish and app transitions felt less fluid on the iPad mini than on the MacBook Air, which also has a 60Hz panel. This happened even when running the stable build of iPadOS 18. Despite being on a developer beta build, the iPad Pro feels a lot more reliable.

Finding purpose far from home

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

I’ve spent nearly a week with the iPad mini and have been struggling to find a purpose for it. Given its size, one would say, “Don’t think too much about it, dude.” But when you’ve forked over half a grand on a device, you can’t afford to think that way. Unless, of course, it was an intentionally “spare” purchase.

For me, the iPad mini worked rather oddly, and not exactly in a value-focused fashion. It’s a fantastic companion device, one that you can prop even against a salt shaker on a table or any of those cheap $20 metal stands for your work desk.

I have to simultaneously juggle between Slack and Teams for workplace communication while keeping an eye on task management apps such as Trello and Teams. Of course, Gmail is a permanent fixture in the workflow, and so is WhatsApp for mobile communication.

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

A 13.3-inch MacBook Air quickly runs out of space for app windows. Plus, putting it in Stage Manager brings the machine to its knees. With the iPad mini on the side, all my chat apps run in split-screen mode, as do my news feed and social media trackers.

With Universal Control enabled, controlling the iPad mini’s UI with the MacBook Air’s keyboard and touchpad is a breeze. Thanks to screen mirroring, I even overcame the nastiest limitations of the iPad’s mobile ecosystem.

I’ll start with the most low-key example of them all: Google Docs. The mobile version of Docs is excruciatingly limited. For writing sessions — which is half my day job — where I need to keep multiple tabs open to reference screens, I use the iPad mini as an external screen solely for Google Docs.

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

In doing so, all the editing bells and whistles of Google Docs are available to me on the iPad mini’s screen. It’s a bit cramped, for sure, but not exactly in a deal-breaking fashion. I love the distraction-free experience, and that’s what counts when it comes to getting some real utility out of it.

But those are not iPad mini benefits. Those are “Apple” benefits. Or, to put it more precisely, the Apple ecosystem perks. Those perks are pricey, mind you. In my case, that seamless interoperability cost me roughly $3,000, and I’m not even counting the Apple Watch and AirPods.

Just give me a reason

Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

I did a “taste-testing,” if you will, of the iPad mini among a group of students, mobile gaming enthusiasts, and businesspeople. Everyone was universally in love with the clean design and the minimal heft. Still, none of them could confidently pick out use-case scenarios where the tablet could be indispensable for them.

“I would prefer to keep my social media limited to my phone.” “For games, I definitely need a bigger screen, or I’d simply stick to a phone.” “It’s nice for watching videos, but I don’t see the screen looking any more appealing than my phone’s OLED panel.” “Oh, it doesn’t feel as smooth as my iPhone.”

All of those are valid concerns rooted in practicality. So far, the iPad mini has stood out for me primarily because of its one-of-a-kind form factor. Yet, it keeps running into an identity crisis, especially when you factor in the asking price Apple has slapped on it.

It’s not a bad device, but it’s just confusing in its own limiting ways. I will soon share my detailed findings after more comprehensive testing. I hope to run into more surprises (the good kind, of course) and fewer functional handicaps. Stay tuned for my full review soon.