Hello everyone, we are back with another comparison. In this article, we will do an in-depth comparison of Apple iPad Air 2020 and iPad Mini 2019. Apple recently launched the 2020 iPad Air which is a regular update to the Air series which has some cosmetic and hardware changes, including some software that is also updated. So, friends, you are at Top2Gadget, and today we will compare both these devices to know which one is more suitable for you.
Key Specification
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Chipset | Apple A14 Bionic | Apple A12 Bionic |
| Display | 10.9 inches | 7.9 inches |
| Memory | 4 GB 64 / 256 GB | 3 GB 64 /256 GB |
| Camera | 12 MP | 8 MP |
| Fingerprint Sensor Position | Front | Front |
Design
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Dimensions | 247.6 x 178.5 x 6.1 mm | 203.2 x 134.8 x 6.1 mm |
| Weight | 458 grams | 300.5 grams |
| Screen Size | 10.9 inches | 7.9 inches |
| Technology | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Colors | Space Gray, Silver, Rose Gold, Green, Sky Blue | Space Gray, Silver, Gold |
The new air is slightly larger than the previous-gen at 10.9 inches and it’s a little more expensive too. The air is now on par with the iPad pro the highest end of apple’s 3 tablets speaking of the sort the design here is pretty similar to the iPad pro with flat edges a smooth uninterrupted backside and a near edge to edge screen that does away with the old school home button. The touch id fingerprint sensor that used to live inside the home button is now in the lock button there’s also now a USB port on the bottom which is first for the airline some of the color choices are new here too though it’s available in familiar hues like silver space gray rose gold you can also opt for sky blue or the same mint green offered on the new iPhone 12. It’s a pretty lovely screen similar in quality to what you’ll find on the iPad pro this is what Apple calls a quote liquid retina display with 2360×1460 resolution or a pixel density of 264 PPI it also supports the wider p3 color gamut and makes use of apple’s true tone technology which automatically adjusts the color temperature depending on the ambient light. One thing you won’t get on the air the iPad pro’s faster refreshing 120-hertz screen it’s also a little less bright 500 nits.
The new iPad Mini looks exactly like the old iPad Mini they look almost identical from the outside same form, factor same aluminum body, same giant bezels, same headphone jack, same camera placements, and even the same Smart Covers. If you had any previous iPad Mini and I secretly replaced it with this new one there’s a chance you might not even notice the difference between all of the changes. You’ve got a new processor from Apple and an updated 7.9-inch display with Apple pencil support new cellular radios with gigabit LTE and dual SIM support and a cell model with a new 7-megapixel front-facing camera with an F 2.2 lens. Then there’s the old stuff you’ve still got a physical Touch ID button on the front there’s no face IDE or fancy haptic button here two stereo speakers on the bottom on the back it’s the same old 8 megapixel F 2.4 camera which takes extremely medium photos. There’s a lightning connector on the bottom not USBC like the new iPad Pros.
Performance
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Processor | Hexa-core | Hexa-core (2×2.5 GHz) |
| GPU | Apple GPU | Apple GPU |
| RAM | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Internal storage | 64 GB | 64 GB/128 GB |
| Storage expansion | – | – |
| OS | iPadOS 14 | iOS 12.1.3 |
Talk about the performance of iPad Air, Inside iPad air actually has the even newer five nanometers a14 bionic chip instead of the a12z currently in the pro so you can actually expect very similar sometimes even better benchmark numbers on paper. But the point is despite its slightly lower four gigs of ram it’s gonna perform great you will not have performance issues and won’t expect the typical user will run into any performance limits for a long time. So on the surface level everything iPad pro does the iPad air basically also does except refresh rate so iPad air is of course at the standard 60 hertz that we’re used to on every other apple device except the ones with a promotion like iPad pro which is at 120 hertz now if you’ve never seen 120 hertz which if we’re being honest most apple users never have then 60hz is gonna look great.
The same performance as iPad Pros and, it is fine as expected through iPad os 14 there’s plenty of iPad optimized apps and games which is great and it’s just kind of the status quo now the iPad Pro is 120 hertz, the more pixels the better. It is always true that Apple also makes some of the smoothest 60hz devices and smoothness, of course, is not a problem at all here it’s standard, and actually battery life is also potentially even better on this iPad air because it never has to hit 120 hertz it’s just chilling at 60 and it’s using the more efficient 5-nanometer a14 chipset.
Now we talk about the performance of the iPad Mini, it gets a12 processor in the iPad Mini is the same chip as the iPhone 10s and 10 R so it’s plenty fast you won’t encounter any slowdowns or lag as you will edit photos in Lightroom played the mini runs the same iOS 12 as other iPads which means you can multitask on the Mini which is hilarious on a screen this small here’s two open apps a popover window in a video window going all at once and everything is working just fine. iOS 12 is too limited to support replacing a laptop with the iPad pro but the mini doesn’t have to carry any of those expectations so to me the trade-offs feel way more acceptable so those are the highlights apart from battery life. The overall performance of the iPad mini is good for this size of the tablet.
Camera
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Rear | 12 MP, f/1.8 | 8 MP, f/2.4, 32mm |
| Front | 7 MP, f/2.0, 31mm | 7 MP, f/2.0, 31mm |
| Video recording | 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps gyro-EIS | 1080p@30fps |
The iPad Air got a 12-megapixel main camera, identical to the main camera on the iPad Pro, plus a 7-megapixel front-facing camera, again the alike to the front camera on the Pro. The camera performance of iPad Air is good for both to click photos and record videos.
Apple iPad mini (2019) at the rear it gets an 8-megapixel camera. It also gets a 7-megapixel camera on the front for selfies. Both the cameras are good, but then the camera quality of iPad Air is much better than the iPad Mini.
Multimedia
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Headphone jack | No | Yes 3.5 Jack |
| Loudspeaker | Yes | Yes |
| Audio Feture | Stereo speakers | Stereo speakers |
With the iPad Mini, you won’t get any headphone jack which can be inconvenient for some peoples, but on the other hand, the iPad Mini continues to offer a 3.5mm headphone jack. Both of the devices get two stereo speakers set up which gives some good sound quality.
Battery Life
| Apple iPad Air 2020 | iPad Mini 2019 | |
| Battery Life | Upto 10 hrs | Upto 10 hrs |
| User R | – | – |
| Fast Charging | Yes | Yes |
| User Replaceable | No | No |
The phone is fed with a 5124 mAh, Li-Polymer battery which easily gives you 10 hours of battery life which is for devices of this size. On the other hand, the iPad Air is also getting a Li-Polymer non-removable 28.6 Wh battery which also gives the same 10 hours of battery life. Also, both devices get a fast charge option which is a very convenient feature.
Connectivity
|  | Apple iPad Air (2019) | Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e |
| SIM | Nano-SIM | Nano-SIM |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, EDR | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| Wifi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6 | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Sensors | Acelerometer, gyro, compass, barometer | Accelerometer, gyro, compass, barometer |
Both devices work with Bluetooth version 5.0 which gives both devices 10m of strong connectivity range. Also with both devices, you get an option to put the nano Simcard in for the inbuilt cellular connectivity which is very good and more convenient than to connect only with the Wi-Fi. With both devices, you won’t get any issues with connectivity.
Which is better!
Look both devices are very different in terms of size, performance, and features, and also both devices have a fairly big price difference. So it is very up to you, if you want to get a big size tablet and have a budget for it then you should go for the iPad Air 2020. But if you want a small size of the tablet and also have a small budget so you can easily go for the iPad Mini.
