By Akriti Rana and Nimish Dubey
Looking to invest in a premium phone to get your gaming fix? The idea is definitely a good one, especially if you take your gaming very seriously, and are someone who doesn’t want to compromise on performance, be it gameplay, graphics or sound.
There are plenty of high end phones that offer a great gaming experience – from the iQoo Legend to the Mi 11X Pro to the OnePlus 12 Pro to the Galaxy S21 Ultra to the latest range of iPhones, or even the Asus ROG Phone 5, which is designed for gaming.
However, our advice would be to skip the phone altogether if you want a high-end mobile gaming experience, and go for the latest iPad mini.
This is the new iPad mini, the sixth generation. The iPad mini has been around for a while, but it’s the first we’d recommend ahead of a high-end mobile phone for gaming.
It may sound hard to believe, but consider the following facts:
Great performance!
The new iPad Mini comes with an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display with a resolution of 2266 x 1488 and a pixel density of 326 ppi, which is pretty decent for a display of this size.
The display also comes with Apple’s True Tone technology, which lets it adjust the brightness according to the circumstances. It is bigger and wider than the display found on any gaming phone. As a result, you get a larger and more clear image on the iPad mini than on the phone – the image may be exactly the same but because it spans a larger area, you can see more detail more easily. And this becomes incredibly important whether you’re traversing maps on Call of Duty, scanning the area for loot in PUBG 2: New Kingdom, or simply wanting to melt into the scenes of Alto’s Odyssey. .
That big display gives you a way more immersive experience. And even though the iPad mini’s display’s refresh rate is a pretty typical 60Hz, we don’t think it really makes any difference in gaming terms (most iPhones have 60Hz refresh rates and they handle gaming wonderfully). Huh).
super portable
You can get a bigger display than a phone on any tablet or notebook, but they’re not really a substitute for gaming phones because they’re so big. So is the new iPad mini a great option for mobile gaming? The answer is its size.
The new iPad mini is actually smaller than the previous iPad mini model because it’s removed the round home button at the bottom of the display, and narrowed the bezels around the display.
The new iPad mini also has the flat, straight edges now seen on the iPhone 13 series and the iPad Air and iPad Pro. In previous versions of the iPad mini, using the device in landscape mode while gaming was a bit problematic as one’s fingers often brushed the home button (which also contained a fingerprint scanner) under the display. But now it’s not that much of a concern!
The relatively light weight for its size (293 grams), along with the small size and flat sides, make the new iPad mini easy to carry, and even in use. Unlike other iPads and tablets, you can actually use the iPad mini while standing, and thanks to its size, you can actually tap and access most of the controls on the display using your thumb. It’s almost like using a slightly bulky and wide phone.
We’ve played several seasons of Call of Duty and Asphalt and both games were so easy to play because not only were the controls easy to see on the big screen, but we also never felt like our hands were covering a lot of the display. ,
processor muscle
The new iPad mini comes with the latest A15 Bionic processor, as seen in the iPhone 13 series. This basically means that the tablet will be able to handle any game you throw at it and on higher settings.
Also, given Apple’s track record in the processor department (even the iPhone XS plays PUBG 2: New State pretty smoothly), the processor will continue to handle the game well for some time. Thanks to Apple’s stringent App Store rules, game updates will also be well optimized to run on your device.
Plus, you don’t have to worry about RAM on iPads and iPhones. It just works.
high on sound
With the larger display of the iPad mini comes bigger sound. The tablet features dual stereo speakers with audio landscape mode, delivering sound that literally surrounds you and keeps you in the middle of the game.
In terms of volume and detail, these speakers beat the speakers found in any phone. You can hear the sound of skis on the sand in Alto’s Odyssey and the footsteps around you in Call of Duty, far clearer than any phone’s speaker can.
However, there’s no 3.5mm audio jack on the iPad mini, so if you’re going to use earphones, you’ll either have to use the Bluetooth ones or get a 3.5mm jack from the Type C.
long battery life
Most high-end phones are notorious for expending a lot of battery and getting uncomfortably hot during gaming sessions. We can say with confidence that none of these situations are likely to arise with the iPad mini. It will not only get through a day of heavy use but will almost never get hot. Of course, as you’re unlikely to use the iPad mini to make a lot of calls, the battery drains even more.
Do more than gaming
Gaming may be one of the main reasons to go for a high-end phone, but there is a fair chance that you will be working on the phone for more than just gaming. The same applies to the iPad mini. When not gaming, you can actually use it to create and edit not only documents and presentations, but also video, pictures, and sound. Apple has improved iPadOS, and it’s a proper powerhouse in our book, even if it’s not gaming.
Lots of gaming value for money
The new iPad mini starts at Rs 46,900, which puts it well below the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, Vivo X70 Pro, Asus ROG Phone 5, iPhone 13 series and even the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro. It doesn’t come with 5G at that price point, but it delivers everything a mobile gaming fanatic would want – good performance, great sound, top of the line processor, and long battery life. And this being an Apple device, you’ll also get the brand’s security and privacy controls, and regular software updates for at least four or five years.
So should you go for the iPad mini as a mobile gaming device? We definitely think so, if your budget is around Rs 50,000. At its price, this display, sound and processor muscle puts it well ahead of most premium smartphones. The only place where it loses the phone is really in terms of the convenience of making calls – the phone is very easy to handle.
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