2019 Apple iPad Mini with A12 Bionic chip (7.9-inch/20.1 cm, Wi‑Fi, 64GB) – Silver (5th Generation)

iPad mini …. one word for it …. Awesome Apple’s iPad lineup still sits atop the tablet kingdom more than a decade after the first device was released. Nevertheless, the iPad Mini seems to be in a strange spot. Most of the market gravitates toward the top-of-the-line iPad Pro or the cheapest standard iPad. At first glance, the iPad Mini feels like a worse buy with a higher price tag and a smaller screen.But over the past year, the iPad Mini has easily become my favorite device to use on a daily basis.What drew me to the iPad Mini over the other options is its size. The first tablet I truly loved was the Nexus 7, and despite the OS change, this gave me the same experience. I wanted a smaller tablet to use for reading and occasional media consumption, and that’s exactly what I got.I also like that the base model comes with 64GB of storage. This amount feels right for a tablet, which needs nowhere near as much space as a phone. The base model of the standard iPad only has 32GB, and the 128GB iPad costs more than the cheapest iPad Mini.At first glance, the iPad Mini design looks dated with large bezels and a physical fingerprint reader/home button. More expensive models like the iPad Air and iPad Pro look much sleeker. However, in this case, smaller bezels would reduce the usability of the device. It’s nice to have some space to hold a tablet without unwanted taps, and I’m more than willing to give up a little screen real estate for it.Battery life is also excellent. When reading or browsing the web for a few hours a night, the battery easily lasted for a week. Streaming video drained the battery a bit faster, but you can expect to meet or exceed Apple’s promised 10-hour battery life.In terms of actually using the device, iPadOS has come a long way in recent years. It now has multitasking tools, mouse-and-keyboard support, widgets, and a host of other features that make it a breeze to use.PROSAll the same specs as the larger iPad Air in a smaller sizeApple Pencil supportBest app selectionGood battery life (so far)Works with all previous iPad mini accessoriesTrueTone screen welcomeSolid performanceCONSeven-year-old exterior design with huge bezelsNo second-gen Apple Pencil supportPricer than 9.7-inch iPadNo USB-CSo-so cameras