I love my 10.5″ iPad Pro. It is super useful for work. I run a ton of apps on it. I use it for browsing the web, checking emails, reading news, getting productivity done, and because it has an LTE radio on it and I have an Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, it has replaced my need to carry a notebook on the go (I can VNC back into my desktop iMac Pro if I need access to a desktop-level app).

However, due to its size, it’s clunky for one task I perform every day and spend a large portion of my day on: reading. As a PhD student, I need to read a large amount of material (my bibliographies are close to 40 pages long for both combined bibliographies, plus I read for classes, additional research, supplemental reading, etc.). I’ve used a Kindle Paperwhite in the past for some reading, but the problem is the majority of my eBook reading is done outside of Kindle (most eBooks I read are through specialized searching and research apps geared toward my academic major). I demoed a Kindle Fire Tablet, but loathed the overall construction, and Fire OS was a clunky for someone used to iOS/iPadOS.

Therefore, for my birthday in October, I purchased an iPad mini (A12 chip model). Here’s review of my iPad mini, how I’m using it for reading, plus what other surprising uses I’ve found for it.

Size for Reading

The main reason I chose an iPad mini as a second iPad is its size. At 7.9”, it’s ideal for reading and far more comfortable to hold in my hands (or even with one hand!) than my 10.5” iPad Pro. I can still run the Kindle app on it (so my Kindle Paperwhite is being donated to a fellow student), plus I can run Apple Books, the other two research apps I use for my PhD program (Accordance and Logos for those curious), plus I can open books checked out from my school in BlueFire. It also runs my PDF viewer/editor (PDF Expert), and I can even run Apple Notes and my other note taking and research apps (Ulysses and Scrivener), so my single iPad can now be used for reading and note taking on a single device. This is huge for streamlining my productivity for my PhD program. This iPad model also supports the Apple Pencil, allowing me to annotate PDFs or take handwritten notes if need be. The True Tone Retina display is also great for reading. At times the text of the UI has been a little small, but my eyes have adjusted OK, plus I have increased the font size of some UI text and increased the font size in my reading apps to a very comfortable level.

Design and Performance

Design is similar to my 10.5” iPad Pro (both use Touch ID), so it feels more like a smaller iPad Pro to my current iPad Pro. I also got the Gold model to match my iPad Pro. I couldn’t put it in a luxurious Pad and Quill Case, so I chose a Jisoncase instead (a brand I used before getting cases from Pad and Quill). Since my iPad Pro has LTE, I chose Wi-Fi only for this model (the first Wi-Fi only iPad I’ve purchased). Performance is excellent and even better than my iPad Pro (which has an A10X chip, whereas my iPad mini has an A12 chip). Opening apps and using the iPad is blissfully speedy.

Even though the iPad is small, iPadOS runs well and still feels great on the small screen. Slide over and split view work well, as does multitasking. I don’t feel cramped on the small screen at all, and I’m amazed at what all I can get done using iPadOS on it. iCloud works flawlessly with it and allows me to keep my data in sync. It feels great to have access to all my iCloud files at my fingertips. I was worried about battery life being less than a Kindle (it is, but I’m still able to get enough battery usage out of it where I only need to charge it about twice a week), plus I was worried about getting distracted with notifications (I’ve enabled Do Not Disturb on it, so it hasn’t been an issue).

Surprising Other Uses

My main goal to purchase an iPad mini was for reading and research for school. If I did nothing else with my iPad mini, it would do what I purchased it for, and I would still be satisfied with it.

However, I’ve been surprisingly falling in love with my iPad mini the more I use it. Since it can run any other apps my iPad Pro runs, I’ve found I’ve been using it for more than just running. The small size is so convenient to keep near my bed if I need to check my iPad in the evening, plus apps on the smaller app have a more personal feel to them, and I feel as though I can get up close and more personal with some of my apps. I’m using my iPad mini to glance at my finance-tracking apps, watch media on a small on-demand TV that goes into any room of my house, read news, check my emails and calendar, take care of some shopping, have quick-reference apps such as dictionaries, phone directories, etc., at my fingertips. It makes a great scanner for scanning and emailing documents, and its perfect for quickly checking the weather or performing web browsing. It’s also super beneficial for running the Apple Home app and managing my HomeKit smart home gear, something I had not planned on using with my iPad mini, but it makes an excellent small smart home dashboard.

Bottom Line

My iPad mini was an ideal birthday present for me in October. I’ve had some time to spend with it, and I’ve found not only does it do everything I wanted it and purchased it to do, but it surprisingly delighted me to do more with it than I had planned to do with it. While I knew it ran iPadOS and could run all my iPadOS apps, I hadn’t planned on using the amount of apps I’m running on it. While I’m not running all my iPadOS apps on it, and I still have plenty of use for my 10.5” iPad Pro, my iPad mini is a delightful supplement to my iPad Pro, and it’s an ideal secondary iPad for me to use for reading and plenty more.