After 2 weeks reviewing the new iPad Mini (2024), I just want a Pixel Tablet Mini

I’m no stranger to iPads. I won the iPad Mini 2 in a contest in 2014, bought the Air 4 in 2020, and used both extensively over several years. But my favorite tablets have and will always be Android tablets. From my Acer Iconia A100 to my Nexus Tablet 7, HUAWEI MediaPad M5 Pro 10.8, and finally, the Google Pixel Tablet, I have seen first-hand Android’s progression on larger screens, and I appreciate where we are now.

So when the latest iPad Mini — a.k.a. iPad Mini 7, iPad Mini A17 Pro, or iPad Mini (2024) — landed in my hands, I almost had my mind made up. Prejudice is funny like that. I knew I’d like the hardware and I predicted the A17 Pro processor would be a bit much for my daily needs, but a welcome bonus when editing batches of photos in Lightroom. I would’ve also signed and notarized a document telling you that none of that mattered for my personal use because I still prefer Android over iPadOS. Yes, the iPad has more high-quality apps, more polish, more gestures — just more of everything — but I feel at home with Android, and you can’t easily manufacture or buy that.

But I digress. What surprised me during my two weeks with the iPad Mini wasn’t any of that. It was how much I enjoyed and missed this smaller tablet form factor. The first and most prominent thought on my mind every time I picked up this iPad Mini is, “Oh, I wish this was a Pixel Tablet Mini!” Basically, just take the Pixel Tablet and shrink it to the size of the smaller Nest Hub, and I’d be a happy camper. Allow me to explain.

From the moment I unboxed the new iPad Mini and every time I picked it up and used it, I was struck by what Apple has achieved with this tablet. Yes, it is small, with its 8.3-inch display and measly 6.3mm thickness, but it feels just right. There’s a delicate balance between display utility and single-handed use, and the new iPad Mini slots right in.

When I made my husband pose to snap the photo above, he quickly complained about having to hold the Pixel Tablet up with one hand. At 493g versus 297g for the Mini, the difference is easily felt, even for someone who doesn’t have to use them every day. So, imagine what it would be like for an hour or two of daily use. Even with my wrist’s Carpal Tunnel inflammation rearing its ugly head these past weeks, I didn’t notice that holding the iPad Mini annoyed me any more than holding my Pixel 9 Pro XL. By comparison, I have to rest the Pixel Tablet on my lap or on a desk to use it for more than five minutes.

Of course, this smaller size means a smaller display, but it’s a compromise I’m willing to make. You may see the 8.3-inch display figure and think that’s barely larger than a modern-day flagship phone, but don’t let the diagonal measure fool you! My napkin math says the iPad Mini has a display surface of 204cm², which is almost double that of my 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL’s 109cm². That’s a lot more display and it’s very noticeable while watching videos or reading books.

It’s more than just the size and dimensions, though; it’s the power within. Apple didn’t cheap out on the processor here, dotting the Mini with the same chip as last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. The A17 Pro goes toe-to-toe with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which means extra headroom to run all my apps, quickly switch between them, use them in multi-window, connect the iPad to my iMac, and more. I didn’t notice a single hiccup, whether I was streaming a football game, watching our Android Authority YouTube channel, reading books in the Kindle app, looking up Black Friday deals, or simply browsing. Even when I opened Lightroom and started editing a bunch of photos, everything was smooth as butter.

It’s been said a million times already, but it bears repeating: Apple knows what it’s doing with its processors. Google, not so much. Sure, in my regular use, I couldn’t tell you the difference between my Pixel Tablet’s Tensor G2 and the iPad Mini’s A17 Pro, but when I pushed these just a bit, it became clear that one of them can keep chugging along nicely, while the other starts showing signs of slowing down.

Oh, and the Mini now supports the Apple Pencil, too, which makes note-taking, screenshot scribbling, and detailed edits in Lightroom possible. If a Pixel Tablet Mini were to ever exist, I would want it to follow in Apple’s footsteps and cram in a powerful processor and high-end features that don’t make me feel like I’m using second-tier silicon or hardware.

The first thing that annoyed me about the iPad Mini was the fact that I had to plug it in to charge it. I know that’s the norm, but the Pixel Tablet got me accustomed to this idea of never-but-always charging. Every time I pick it up, it’s full, and every time I put it back on the dock, it starts charging. I don’t have to think about it, nor do I have to fiddle with an errant USB-C cable. I keep finding myself with the iPad Mini warning me about a low battery because I always forget to charge it. The Pixel Tablet does that right.

Besides that, there’s the huge matter of usefulness while idle. When I’m not using the iPad Mini, its display turns off. A black square stares back at me from my bedside table or my desk, useless and disappointing. Once again, this is the norm with other tablets, but the Pixel Tablet spoiled me with its rotating photo album. I love that feature. I love that the display is never dead and that I don’t have another pointless black screen in front of me when I’m not using it. Instead, I get a rotation of all of my photos and get to remember random moments from trips, events, and get-togethers.

I can’t tell you how many times over the last year I’ve seen a photo of a friend or relative pop up on the Pixel Tablet and smiled, then snapped it and sent it to them in a message. “It’s just a silly photo frame!” I hear you say. Why, yes, but it’s also made me reach out to people out of the blue, catch up with them, and reminisce about that shared memory. Some features transcend their utility and become essential and priceless like that. The Pixel Tablet taps into my humanity and my life’s story in a way that the iPad Mini just can’t. For that reason alone, I have a connection to the Pixel Tablet that I just can’t build with the empty black screen of the iPad Mini.

Enough sentimentality — let’s focus on the facts. And the fact is that while some apps are better designed for iPadOS, there is still a huge number of apps that look horrendous on it because the developers never optimized them for the larger screen. Google eschewed that with Android 15, where you can simply toggle a fullscreen aspect ratio option in settings to show the app on the entirety of the display, and because Android apps scale well across multiple screen sizes by design, they still look fantastic on a 10-inch display. This is true for apps like Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Roborock, AllTrails, and more, which show up as a pixelated mess on the iPad but not on the Pixel Tablet.

Add to that the superior Gboard experience on Android (versus the default iPad keyboard or even Gboard on iPadOS), Android’s consistent back gesture to navigate out of menus and submenus, the useful Pixel At A Glance widget, a better Gemini experience than Apple Intelligence (which is quite restricted in the EU), and it’s clear why I still prefer the Pixel Tablet overall.

Two weeks in, my first reaction is still the same. I want this iPad Mini to run Android and dock into a smart display-like form factor when not in use. Or, more succinctly, I want a Pixel Tablet Mini.

If Google could bottle up the magic of the iPad Mini’s form factor, its portability, and its powerful performance and then mix that with the always-charged, idle photo frame, and smart speaker aspect of the Pixel Tablet, I’d have my ideal digital companion around the house and outside of it. Basically, take the existing Nest Hub, make it an inch larger, and split the speaker from the display. Add the same versatile case of the original Pixel Tablet with its simple hook design, and that’d be perfect.

I know I’m asking for the impossible now, though. Rumor has it that Google’s Pixel Tablet plans are up in the air, with a canceled Pixel Tablet 2 and a potential Tablet 3 in 2027. That doesn’t bode well for the entire line-up, and, of course, it doesn’t bode well for my fever dream of a smaller Tablet Mini. But I’ll keep dreaming each time I pick up this iPad Mini; maybe I can will this into existence.

As for the iPad Mini (2024) itself, it’s an awesome lil’ thing for people used to Apple and willing to spend up to $500 to get the best small iPad to date.