Apple iPad Mini 6: Why Should You Buy?

Apple iPad Mini 6, 2021 released smaller Tablet by Apple is quite a well-performing device. This new iPad has everything you need for your day-to-day life. Why should you buy this tablet and whether it’s the best option for you or not, let’s find out –

The Design and Build

Apple started to redesign almost all its products. iPad Mini 6 is no exception to that. It has an aluminum frame with flat box-shaped edges now like the iPad Pro 2021.

However, you get the same power button this time with integrated TouchID. Apart from that, there is a USB Type-C port, and a magnetic Apple pencil dock. Sadly, there is no keyboard connector this time. The design matches somehow the 2020 iPad Air.

Apple repositioned the volume keys. They are on the top left side now. As the iPad Mini 6 has just the space to hold an Apple pencil on a side, Apple decided to keep the volume keys at the top left. Therefore, when you use the tablet in landscape orientation, the pencil dock remains at the top for more convenience.

Eventually, Apple redesigned the iPad Mini lineup this time, nearly after ten years. Bezels are thin and even, look premium, have good grip, and overall finishing is impressive. You get aluminum back with this tablet.

You see, even the device has some significant upgrades, it has its limitations. Considering the price, you need to sacrifice multiple rear shooters and FaceID for now.

The Display

iPad Mini 6 comes with an 8.3-inch liquid retina IPS display. The display is not that great but not bad at all. The display has a 1488 x 2266 pixel resolution with 327 PPI density. You will get a 77.4% screen-to-body ratio. The color accuracy is good and the sharpness is impressive. You will get 500 nits peak brightness, so it’s visible even outdoors.

One thing to keep in mind, iPad Pro 2021 and iPhone 13 have 600 nits and 800 nits peak brightness respectively. You might face some difficulties while using this mini iPad in direct sunlight. On the other hand, the tablet supports true tone. Reading in low light or different light conditions won’t be a problem.

Like iPad Pro 2021, the iPad Mini 6 has a finger-resistant oleophobic coating. Even though there might be fingerprints on the screen. Another thing you might rarely find noticing it while scrolling.

Sometimes while scrolling, you might experience the upper half of the screen scrolls faster and the lower half lags a bit. Then like cartoons, it pulls the remaining. It’s like pulling a piece of jelly. As a result, in portrait mode, the scrolling is not equally smooth all the time.

If you are thinking this jelly scrolling is an issue, Apple says it’s a normal behavior of the LCD panels. This is not an issue and you can rarely notice such an event.

Apart from that, the screen is perfect for one-handed use. iPad Mini 6 is 293g which is not so heavy nor lighter. The tablet is very suitable for reading, sketching, note-taking, and related productivity tasks.

The Camera

iPad Mini 2021 model has a camera bump on the back. This new tablet has a 12MP wide-angle shooter with autofocus as the main cam. You can record 4K videos at 60 fps seamlessly.

The 4K video seems pretty decent. Stabilization is impressive. However, you might notice some motion blurring. Otherwise, everything looks smooth and clean.

On the other hand, 1080p videos at 60 fps are far better. It has less motion blur and smooth transitions. Recording at 1080p is comforting. The colors are sharp and accurate. Closer objects are more focused and look natural. Wide-angle shots are quite impressive.

Speaking of Shots, the main cam does a charm. You can get realistic snaps from the iPad Mini 6. one can get better images with a bit of digital zoom. There are Quad-LED dual-tone flash, panorama, and HDR support as usual.

The selfie shooter comes with an ultrawide angle sensor with center stage support like iPad Pro 2021. You see, iPad Mini 6 has a selfie cam in the top-center bezel. So anytime you wish to take a selfie or video call in landscape mode might face difficulties. Holding the tablet in landscape mode leads the selfie cam to be at the left side of the screen which seems complicated for a snap or video chat. However, Portrait mode is awesome for such tasks.

The Software and Performance

The iPad Mini 2021 comes with the new iPadOS 15. iPadOS 15 has a number of new features. When you use an Apple pencil with it, you will get even more features and functionalities to improve your productivity.

Speaking of which, you can take quick notes by swiping from the bottom right corner of the screen to the center. Even you can write something with your Apple pencil and convert those scribbles to text instead of typing on a keyboard.

Apple redesigned Safari and several other applications recently. Despite the smaller display of the Mini iPad 6, the Compact UI of Applications doesn’t feel cramped at all. Even the home screen now accommodates more app icons than before.

Not to mention, the Home screen still has left and right margins. Apple could reduce that margin. However, iPadOS 15 looks pretty decent with the margin. After adding a few home screen widgets, margins are less noticeable.

Moving on to performance, the A15 Bionic chip, 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU, is awesome. Even though you aren’t getting the M1 chip, the A15 Bionic chip makes the iPad Mini 6 the fastest small-sized tablet in the market.

Multitasking is seamless, and iPadOS 15 makes the entire performance buttery smooth. You can split the screen to do multiple tasks as well. You can open multiple apps and switch between them flawlessly. But heavy tasks aren’t meant for such a small budget device. If you’re thinking of video or photo editing, gaming, and such, you better check the iPad Pro models. Otherwise, the iPad Mini 6 is magic.

The Battery

iPad is an all-day-long used device. iPad Mini 2021 will last a full day with a single charge. The tablet comes with a 5078 mAh battery. Compared to iPad Pro models, the iPad Mini 6 might not last that long but you can expect a full day.

For school or work, you can use the tablet the entire day and leave it plugged in the whole night to be charged fully. Speaking of which, USB Type-C is great. You will get a 20W power break out of the box.

Miscellaneous

Apple iPad Mini 6 comes with four colors to choose from. They are – Space Grey, Pink, Purple, and Starlight. There are 64GB and 256GB variants with 4GB RAM on each to choose from.

The Apple iPad Mini 6 comes with Wi-Fi + Cellular variants. You can pick a 5G variant (no millimeter-wave compatibility) as well. Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C 3.1, Display Port, and GPS (Wi-Fi + Cellular variant) makes this tablet absolutely future-proof.

You will be getting Accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, barometer, Siri-support, and so on.

The Pricing

The iPad Mini 6 is a budget tablet by Apple. Considering specs and features the price varies from variant to variant.

64GB variant costs $499 and 256GB model costs $649 currently. However, you need to pay $150 more for the 5G compatible variant.

Wrapping Up

Apple iPad Mini 6, should you buy or pass? Well, if you’re a student or a service holder with no heavy tasks to do all day, you can pick this one. If you have a high-performing PC, you can get this tablet for an on-the-go device. To be more specific, if you’re considering buying a tablet and won’t push the performance too much and have a moderate budget for that, get a Mini 6.