Apple iPad mini 6th gen (2021) review

Upgraded cameras with new sensors, new lenses, Center Stage

The latest iPad mini upgrades both the front and rear camera and should be offering better quality when shooting photos and videos and incredibly powerful experience when making FaceTime calls.

There is a new 12MP camera on the back with a 29mm f/1.8 lens and autofocus. It can capture up to 4K videos with 60fps.

There is also an all-new 12MP front camera for selfies and video calls. It features a new 14mm f/2.4 ultrawide-angle lens and supports the cool Center Stage option. The focus is fixed, while videos are captured at up to 1080p with 60fps.

Let's talk about Center Stage. It works in FaceTime video calls and makes use of the new wide lens when. The tablet can zoom in and pan to keep you in the center of the frame. And if someone else enters into the frame, Center Stage will zoom out so that both of you are visible.

We tested Center Stage, and it indeed works as promised. Here is a short demo video.

The camera interface remains unchanged from the older iPads. You can switch between modes by a simple swipe, and when shooting stills, you can adjust the exposure compensation with a tap and slide. There's a front/rear camera toggle, as well as a shortcut to the gallery.

The camera supports Smart HDR 3 for Photos. You can enjoy cinematic stabilization across all video modes, while expanded dynamic range is available only in 30fps capturing.

Photo quality

The 12MP photos from the rear camera shot on this beautiful sunny day are great - they are sharp, have good dynamic range, and have outstanding color accuracy and white balance.

There is plenty of resolved detail, though the foliage is often hit-or-miss once again. This is valid across all Apple devices, unfortunately.

The noise levels are a bit higher than we'd expected them to be, but we suspect that's because Apple decided on gentler noise reduction, which will not smear intricate detail.

Overall, we are happy with the daylight photos.

Rear camera, 12MP

The 12MP low-light photos are acceptable, in fact, they turned out better than we expected. There resolved detail is enough for such images; the contrast is good, and the noise, even if high, doesn't ruin the whole thing.

The photos are a bit desaturated and with rather low dynamic range, but we shot a lot of them and got zero blurry photos - they are all the same - sharp and perfectly usable.

There is no Night Mode on the iPad mini. No Portrait Mode either.

Rear camera low-light, 12MP

The front-facing camera has a 12MP sensor behind a 14mm f/2.4 lens. It offers Retina flash, where your screen lights your face up in a particular color to provide more pleasing skin tones based on the color of the ambient light.

The interface for the front camera always defaults to the zoomed view, which corresponds to 28mm-ish, or 2x over the ultrawide (14mm) option.

So, if you decide to capture selfie photos in ultrawide mode, you will end up with one of the best ultrawide selfies we've seen to this date, even if we look awkward on them. There is plenty of detail, great contrast and once again - superb color presentation. The dynamic range is good, and the noise is low to tolerable in not ideal light conditions.

Front camera wide mode, 12MP

The default zoom view crops the center of the ultrawide images and then upscales it back to 12MP. And that's why the 12MP zoomed selfies are pixelated and looking poor. They do share the rest of the good stuff with the ultrawide images, of course.

Front camera zoomed mode, 12MP

Video quality

The Apple iPad mini (2021) captures videos up to 4K at 60fps with its rear camera and up to 1080p at 60fps with the front snapper. All videos are digitally stabilized, while the 30fps ones also offer an expanded dynamic range.

Audio is captured mono, though it's pretty rich with good bass.

The 4K clips from the rear camera are outstanding - detail is abundant, the sharpness is just right, and everything looks natural and balanced. The colors are true to life, the dynamic range is rather good, and the contrast is excellent.