Using the iPad Mini 2 in 2021 - Review By 91Tech

The iPad Mini 2 was released in 2013 and was a massive upgrade over the first one, thanks to the fantastic a7, chipset and retina display, it got full iOS updates all the way until late, 2019 matching the iPhone 5s and making it among the longest supported tablets of all time. Hey how's it going I'm josh from 91 tech, and today we're taking a look at the second generation iPad Mini. How does it hold up? Seven years later? There's no question that the iPad Mini was a very good move on apple's part. The first one from 2012 sold very well, which in hindsight is kind of unfortunate because the a5 chipset inside it confirmed it would be a mess nowadays. It absolutely struggles on iOS 9, making it very annoying to use to the point that I'd argue it's basically completely obsolete, despite only being a year newer. This definitely isn't the case for the second generation iPad Mini.

It certainly isn't fast on iOS 12, but feels more than usable to me and absolutely fine for what most would want from an iPad basic internet, browsing social media and, of course, just general media consumption with apps like YouTube, Netflix and Disney plus. This is by no means a bad device despite the age and that's a very impressive feat on apple's part, especially given just how bad that first model was I'll, come back to performance and whatnot, but I do want to clarify that you really shouldn't buy this iPad any more unless you're getting one heck of a deal. It still goes for a bit too much one bay, we're talking about 120 dollars to even as much as 200 bucks, which is insane I've seen 100 a few times, but those usually are not in good condition.120, for this is a bit much given that it's an unsupported seven-year-old device you'd be much better off. Saving your pennies and getting the brand new 329 dollar iPad, 8th gen. Not only is it bigger, but it just came out and is great value, but perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Most of you watching this probably don't want to buy the iPad Mini 2. You're, just curious about the device. So let's take a step back here and talk about the design of the second iPad Mini the design of the more basic iPads haven't really changed much over the years and the iPad Mini 2 is practically identical to the first one. We've got a simple aluminum body: it's very sleek thin and light, making it comfortable to use and hold even for extended periods of time. We only get a couple colors space gray, with a black front and silver with a white front.

I've got space gray here, and it definitely has its fair share of scratches as well as paint fading. I like the design, it's simple, it's classy, and it's all you need there's a reason. There have been very few changes over the years. This looks near identical to the brand new iPad 8, except it's smaller. The display is 7.9 inches and has a resolution of 2048 by 1536. That makes a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch.

It's retina, which means everything on the screen, is clean and crisp. Without obviously visible pixels, this was new to the iPad Mini line, and it was a necessary improvement, as the first one looks ancient in comparison. When it comes to quality, we have a plain old, regular home button. Under the screen there, the next year's iPad Mini 3 would bring touch ID while not changing much else. This iPad does have a lightning port on the bottom, as well as a headphone jack on the top.

The one I bought came with this cheap blue case. It's fine, I guess, although it didn't save it from the crack in the top right corner, the small size is something some people will just love and some just won't. I like it, but I don't love it in reality. It's not that that much bigger than my iPhone 11 Pro max. It definitely is bigger mind you part of the reason the iPad minis aren't nearly as popular as they used to be is that smartphones got bigger back in 2013.

Phones were generally still fairly small, meaning if you wanted a somewhat bigger device, but didn't want a full on tablet. The iPad Mini was the perfect in-between option, but nowadays well, there's a reason. The iPad Mini 5 in 2019 was the first one we've gotten since 2015. , not that these don't have their uses for some people they're just the perfect size. It is still a little big for taking photos, but we do have a camera on the back here for those who want to use it for just that, although it's only 5 megapixels, so I wouldn't recommend it.

These photos are not good, but for a 2013 tablet, it's more than acceptable. It's the same megapixel account as what we had in the first iPad Mini. But again it's a tablet, so I don't mind in all honesty: video can be filmed in 1080p and well. It certainly doesn't look high definition, although it technically is, it hasn't aged well in this department, but at least it takes video. I suppose the only problem I have with iPads having crappy cameras back in the day is that the iPhone 4s and 2011 had 8 megapixels.

I find it hard to believe they couldn't have put that camera system in iPads. Like this. I think that would have really improved things and a lot of people even now, especially uh older people tend to take photos with their tablets, so I would have appreciated a better camera, but again, I'm not going to complain. The selfie camera is 1.2 megapixels, which is again the same as the first iPad Mini selfies are pretty bad, but as with the rest of what we've looked at pretty typical for the era and even now, it would be good enough for FaceTime or whatever you need it for so yeah. The camera is not very good, but it's a tablet.

So who cares? That's kind of blunt? I should clarify it's a 2013 mini tablet and I don't think we can fault it too much for the camera system. One area where you could fault it would be the technical specs if there were anything to fault the iPad Mini 2nd gen has the 64-bit Apple A7 chip and a single gigabyte of ram. This certainly isn't impressive now, but it was top of the line in 2013, and it managed to give it six years of iOS support, which is kind of absurd. There's. No android tablet that has come even close, at least without backdoor methods and the iPad Mini 2, iPad, air and iPhone 5s are, in my eyes some of the best products' apple's ever put out and the very least some of the most consumer friendly.

This was such a huge jump over the first gen iPad, mini that I'm actually annoyed with apple, given that they didn't make that one better. In the first place, it's so darn slow with iOS 9. , while this iPad Mini only being a single year, newer runs iOS 12, pretty decently. It isn't fast, uh, not even close, but I wouldn't say it's slow either it can do both basic tasks and it more or less matches the iPad Mini 3. Actually, a lot more than less the iPad Mini 3 brought essentially nothing major except for a touch ID and a gold color.

So if you're in between the mini 2 and 3, for whatever reason- and you can save some money, getting the 2 go for it, the 2015 iPad Mini 4 was a much bigger, upgrade, bringing specs that have kept it relevant to even now, as it can run, iOS 14 despite being five years old, really where this iPad excels is the same with older tablets and even newer tablets. Media consumption YouTube, Netflix, Disney, plus prime video insert the other million streaming services here. It all runs perfectly fine, making it a great little video player, it's better than a phone, because it's bigger it's also so light and thin and comfortable to bring around it would be ideal for someone younger or someone who simply doesn't want to use their phone all the time and just needs a slightly bigger screen because it has iOS 12, most apps are still completely compatible, although this won't always be the case and within the next couple of years, you'll see a lot of big names. Apps such as twitter or Netflix move on. But even when that happens, the app versions you'll be stuck with should be enough to get you at least another couple years after that of use.

If you absolutely had to battery life, is a concern with this thing, given it's 7 years old, but it is decently large at 6470 William hours. The one I have so far has impressed me lasting a couple of days before needing a charge. Unless it's been heavily used throughout its life, it shouldn't be too bad, but this iPad is seven years old. So if you're going to get one, definitely be wary of the battery life. This iPad came in 16, 32 and 64 gigabyte, iterations and, while normally I'd strongly recommend avoiding 16 gigs on all iOS devices.

I think this mini can be an exception assuming you're, namely using this as a Netflix machine. You shouldn't really need a ton of storage. If you're wanting to take lots of photos, don't get a tablet. If you want to play games, I'd recommend saving for the iPad 8 as while this iPad should perform. Okay, there's going to be a huge jump in performance on newer models and then, of course, there's the newer iPad Mini 5, which I've tried to avoid talking about.

Until now. It's well it's better than the four and a lot better than this one. It has apple's a12 chipset three gigabytes of ram and Apple Pencil support yeah, it's a lot better, but gosh darn. Is it ever expensive at 400? Why on earth? Would you get this when you can get the iPad 8 for 329, especially given that it has the exact same specs and is significantly larger, yes, laminated display and all that, but the average user won't notice the difference? Now, of course, the iPad 7, which was sold up until pretty recently had worse specs than the iPad Mini 5, but the iPad Mini 5 didn't go down in price, so I can definitely criticize apple for that. If you don't have one, and you absolutely really need an iPad Mini honestly, I just recommend you reconsider that nothing right now is a good deal.

The iPad Mini 5 is overpriced. The iPad Mini 4 is also overpriced. One bay, going for around 200 to 250. , the iPad Mini 3 is more like 150 to 200, and the iPad Mini 2 is at lowest 100. If you get lucky and find a deal around, 150 seems to be a lot more common.

A hundred bucks for this is okay, but I wouldn't pay anymore frankly. I just can't see it as worth it. For most people, not only is the use case very limited as smartphones have gotten bigger, but the brand new iPad 8 is again only 329 and is so, so much better in every single possible way. I didn't expect to be talking about the value of this iPad so much in this video, but I was surprised to see it still goes for a lot of money and yeah pretty much every iPad Mini is overpriced. Of course, I didn't talk about the first iPad Mini and that's because it should be avoided at all costs, although I don't think that needed clarification.

Ultimately, this iPad can still absolutely be useful, and it's by no means obsolete. Even if it's a couple versions behind in software, but while I recommend using it, if you already have it- and maybe it's just lying around buying- it is a whole different story, so don't buy it. But if you have one already, it's a good device, and it's held up fantastically considering it's seven years old. I think apple's longevity is really underrated in the tech world. Try finding an android tablet from 2013 that holds up half as well as this one.

But with that I think I'm pretty much about done here. It was fun to finally look at the iPad Mini 2. I've been meaning to for literally years, so I picked one up recently for over a hundred dollars because that's what they cost and uh yeah. While I probably won't use it in my daily life, guess you could say I bought it, so you wouldn't have to 100 bucks. It's not terrible for this iPad, but like it's iOS 12, save your money and get something better.

Honestly, you won't regret it in the long run. Do any of you still have an iPad Mini of any generation. Do you still use it? Let me know in the comments down below, if you found this video interesting, maybe hit that like button and uh consider subscribing for more content. Just like this, you can follow me over on Twitter and Instagram at 91 underscore tech, if you'd like to for some reason, and you can join the discord if you want link in the description. Thank you so much for watching I'm josh from 91 tech, and I will see you all next time you.

Source : 91Tech