When Apple launched the iPad 2020 (10.2 inches), it delivered a big boost for the iPad without increasing the price, which is the one thing every buyer wants. With the A12 Bionic chip, the 10.2-inch iPad 2020 will be better in every way including photo editing, multi-tasking, and gaming.

The device comes at a price of $429 (Rs 31,616), featuring support for the Smart Keyboard so it can be used as a mini laptop. Besides, iPadOS 14 lets you do more with the Apple Pencil like handwriting recognition in any text field.

However, it still has big bezels and the traditional Touch ID button.

Design

The 10.2-inch iPad 2020 is lightweight and portable whose cover is made of glass and aluminum. Compared with the iPad Air 4, however, this device has a look that’s behind the times and its bezels are thick like in older models. There’s the Touch ID button underneath the display for unlocking, entering passwords, as well as Apple Pay.

It houses the Lightning port as expected but comes with a USB-C adapter if you want to use USB Type C instead.

Display

The screen of the new iPad 2020 is also a Retina Display panel like on the previous model with a maximum brightness of 500 nits and a resolution of 2160x1620 pixels on paper. It’s perfect for web surfing, photo scrolling, and film watching. Though the detail is very sharp, the colors on the screen pop.

The downside is that you will notice your glare on this display more than on the iPad Pro, but it’s not too bad considering the price point.

Based on the lab tests, it appears that the actual maximum brightness is 484 nits, which is very close to Apple’s claim. This number is higher than the maximum brightness of the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (435 nits).

In addition, the screen covers 97 percent of the sRGB color gamut, comparable to the 98.4 percent rate on the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. The screen of the new iPad 2020 displays colors accurately with a Delta-E score of 0.32, nearly perfect.

Chip

Featuring the Celeron processor, Windows laptops that cost less than $400 struggle to perform basic tasks, it’s not the case for the new iPad 2020. It’s powered by the A12 Bionic chip, promising a 40% boost in CPU performance and twice the graphics power as the previous generation.

It loaded a racing game called Sayonara Wild Hearts almost instantly and starts very fast. It runs other games quickly and smoothly as well.

The new iPad 2020 also performs well in photo editing with instant responses to adjustments in saturation, contrast, and brightness. Applying effects is within a blink of the eye.

On Geekbench 5, the iPad 2020 has a much higher score than the 2019 model, 2,685 points as opposed to 1,429 points. To compare, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite powered by the Exynos 9611 processor gets only 1,291 points.

The Apple Pencil

The new 10.2-inch iPad 2020 is compatible with the 1st-gen Apple Pencil. It works fine, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, the cap is quite easy to lose. Secondly, the iPad 2020 doesn’t offer anything to store the Apple Pencil, unlike the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil that attaches to the chassis on the iPad Air. And to charge the Pencil, you have to plug it into the Lightning port.

On the bright side, the Apple Pencil works flawlessly, especially when you consider its price tag. Drawing with the Pencil is great due to its high precision and detail.

iPadOS 14

The new operating system significantly improves the user experience on the 10.2-inch iPad 2020. It displays larger widgets on the left side of the screen and allows for adding new widgets.

One of the best features of iPadOS 14 is Smart Stacks which allows you to flip through multiple widgets in one window, like Weather, Podcasts, and News.

Besides, there are several revamped apps that deliver a more desktop-like experience, featuring pull-down menus and sidebars. There is now a sidebar in apps like Photos, Calendar, Voice Memos, Notes, Files, and Mail, among other apps.

iPadOS 14 also provides a simplified design for Siri, Search, and calls. Notifications will now take less space on your screen.

Smart keyboard

If you have an extra $159 to spend, you can benefit from a good typing experience on this keyboard. Note that it doesn’t match the Apple Magic Keyboard of the iPad Pro and iPad Air.

The Smart Keyboard isn’t backlit, featuring a rubbery feel, but it’s enough for typing messages and notes. You can also use it to type longer reports but the lack of the touchpad could be disruptive.

However, the Smart Keyboard can double as a front cover to protect your tablet.

Cameras

The new iPad 2020 comes with an 8MP camera on the back and a 1.2MP camera on the front. Despite the low resolution, the A12 Bionic’s ISP helps boots image processing for this device.

It captures beautiful close-up photos with a lot of detail when you zoom in. When used to take pictures outdoors, the device manages to maintain vibrant colors and contrast, resulting in excellent photos.

Battery

On paper, the new iPad 2020 comes with 10 hours of battery life for web surfing over Wifi or watching videos. The battery life reaches 9 hours when you use cellular networks and LTE. However, testing shows that the device can last for 12 hours and 57 minutes when you surf the web over Wifi, which is better than the 2019 10.2-inch iPad.