The iPad Mini Is the Best Tablet for Travel—and It’s $100 Off

2 min readIn a perfect world, we’d all be able to travel without a bulky work computer, reserving the laptop sleeve on our personal item for a tablet loaded with shows and reading material. The reality is that more often than not, we’re flying with a full tech stack and rarely want to add the heft of another device to the mix—unless it’s one that can fit in the front pocket of your backpack.That, my friends, is the iPad mini, which is a favorite in the Esquire office between yours truly and associate commerce editor Bryn Gelbart. This pint-sized tablet is $100 off for Prime Day—and given that MacBooks and iPads were the two biggest victims of Apple’s most recent price hikes, we’re pleased to find any sizable discount.“I can't deny that this iPad will be my number-one travel buddy as long as it's in my possession,” Gelbart said. “Smaller than the behemoths we've got used to, it's the perfect size for a tablet. It's not that it's inherently more portable than a Pixel tablet or an iPad Pro, but the smallness makes it easier for short travel. The train ride to work, buses, airplanes, it's easier for that sort of stuff.”As someone who has switched from an iPad Pro to an iPad mini, I’d wholeheartedly agree. I find myself bringing it along with me far more often compared to when I had a larger tablet, whether that’s to the office for easy note-taking or to catch up on my TV queue while traveling, simply because it’s easy to nestle into smaller spaces in my overstuffed bag.The functionality is comparable to that of a larger iPad, complete with Apple’s intuitive operating system and seamless connectivity to your other devices. The iPad mini is powered by the A17 chip (compared to the A16 on the brand’s standard iPad), which Gelbart said handles gaming and AI tasks with ease. He also argued that the battery life actually seemed better than the advertised ten hours.Plus, it pairs beautifully with the Apple Pencil Pro, also discounted for Prime Day. “The Pencil Pro is a slick piece of work,” Gelbart said. “It feels natural to use, just like a wooden pencil.” The Pencil charges via magnetic connection to your iPad without zapping too much of the tablet’s energy. Pretty cool stuff.So go ahead, buy this now and marvel over just how convenient it is during your layover while traveling home for Thanksgiving. At $100 off, it’s the best iPad deal we’re seeing this Prime Day—which means it’s likely to sell out quickly.