I've been settled in the Android camp for years, but when a brilliant offer for an iPad mini came up, it was too good to scroll past. Powered by the impressive A17 Pro chip, offering great performance as well as a neat design with different color choices, the iPad Mini A17 Pro version is my favorite tablet. Now you can get an even better deal than I got, thanks to Amazon Prime Day's latest sales, with the tablet dropping to a new low price of $379.
The iPad mini may be small with its 8.3-inch display, but it certainly does not have small specs. Naturally, the Apple tablet has made it onto our best iPad for games list, and I've been playing the best iPad games on mine nonstop. With this device, the possibilities are endless. Cue a montage of me playing Stardew Valley on a rollercoaster, at the dentist, and as I walk down the aisle at my wedding.
Let me tell you more about the iPad mini and why I think it's a fabulously compact and nifty piece of tech. That 8.3-inch display I mentioned? It's a Liquid Retina screen, meaning it's a high-resolution LCD. It features True Tone, so the color adjusts based on your lighting environment, making everything look more natural. P3 wide color ensures a sharp and vibrant display. (Abigail's hair in Stardew Valley is going to look gloriously purple.) And here's a real win: the ultra-low reflectivity. It seriously cuts down on glare, making reading, gaming, or watching videos a joy, even in bright light.
The iPad mini holds the ultrafast A17 Pro chip, which is one of the most powerful chips Apple has ever created. Built on a 3-nanometer process, Apple packs a whole bunch of transistors into a tiny space, and smaller transistors switch faster, which helps boost speed while conserving battery life (we're going very technical here). What that means for gaming is that the A17 Pro GPU has hardware-accelerated ray tracing and delivers high-quality graphics performance, so you can expect smooth, seamless gameplay while using the iPad mini, which is a must-have when playing demanding games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail.
You'll also find that the iPad mini has a 12MP Ultra Wide front camera, perfect for selfies, and thank the heavens, it has USB-C connectivity. Seriously, I'm so happy that the days of the Lightning cable are over. It even supports Wi-Fi 6E, which means it can take advantage of faster speeds. This means quicker downloads and more reliable connections. Oh, did I mention it's available in four colors? It comes in purple, blue, space gray (a classic Apple color), or starlight, which is a creamy color.
If this sounds appealing to you, this deal is available during Prime Day only. All four colors are currently available for the delightful price of $379 at Amazon. That's a 23% saving. Seriously, you'd have to be out of signal to ignore this one.
If you're enjoying what we have to say over here at Pocket Tactics and would like some inspiration on what to play on your shiny new iPad mini, then check out the best Apple Arcade games and the best iPhone games. Stardew Valley might just be on both of these lists.