You don't need to use a smartphone to play mobile games - you could use a tablet instead. I didn't play with tablets until I got my first one, Apple's iPad Air M2, and I haven't looked back since. The bigger screen and better performance compared to my smartphone eventually won me over enough to crown it my gaming platform of choice.
I bought the iPad Air M2 on sale during the holidays last year, thinking I'd use it as a laptop replacement for when I wanted to bring a light bag to school. Instead of lugging my gaming laptop around in my backpack, I could bring a cute purse with something much lighter and just as convenient. Sometimes, a device to browse the web, watch videos, and take notes is all I need. It also boasted a longer-lasting battery than my Asus Zephyrus G14, which is one of the many reasons it's one of the best iPads around.
Apple tablets don't come with a Magic Keyboard, Apple's signature folio with a built-in keyboard. Thankfully, I was able to get one secondhand from eBay for just $100, even though they can cost up to $249.99 at full price. From then on, I carried my iPad Air with it as if it were its second skin. It seemed small for a larger person, considering I have the 11-inch iPad Air and Magic Keyboard, but it worked perfectly for me as someone the size of a middle schooler.
Surprisingly, I didn't end up using my iPad Air M2 as a laptop that often. Sure, I could access all of the same websites and documents I needed with it. However, difficulty managing tabs and the lack of a dedicated file system made it harder to use than my gaming laptop for work. Also, as a computer science major, I wasn't able to use it for my coding assignments anyway.
However, I did play a lot of the best gacha games. At the time, I regularly played Honkai: Star Rail. I don't have enough control when playing action RPG games like Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves, mostly because of how precisely I need to execute attacks, dodges, and other complex combat moves. But it's enough for simpler or less real-time combat-focused games like Infinity Nikki, Persona 5: The Phantom X, and Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
I didn't realize how much of a game-changer the iPad would be for playing my favorite mobile games at the time. Smartphones are my first thought for gaming on the go since basically everyone I know has a smartphone. Tablets are more of an optional thing, maybe for travel or for people with special interests like drawing or reading Kindle books.
The iPad Air M2 uses the same processor as the 2022 MacBook Air, an actual laptop, and it shows, with the CPU making it one of the best gaming tablets there is. I prefer it over my iPhone 15 for mobile games because it never gets hot, stays quiet, and hardly ever lags unless the game is widely known to be poorly optimized or there is a connection issue (cough, Infinity Nikki, cough). You can't actually use the keyboard and mouse like you would on a PC, but that's okay because using the touchscreen as if it were just a bigger phone works just fine.
Apple is phasing out the iPad Air M2 since the release of the iPad Air M3, which costs just as much as the more powerful M3 chip. In that case, if you want to check out some of the best iPad games and need a laptop replacement, this might be the upgrade you didn't know you needed. I certainly didn't.
For more top-tier tech, be sure to check out our guides to the best gaming phones and the best handheld consoles. Or, if you've recently picked up a Nintendo Switch 2, check out our long list of the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, as well as our upcoming Switch games tracker.