Tried both sizes several times (okay, 11” 2021 I tried/exchanged several times because of configuration needs and the penultimate model having a dim area in the display; 12.9” XDR I tried twice, the second time after that second-to-last 11” model).
The XDR display really grew on me the second try because the bloom and border shadow seemed markedly less perceptible, which was confusing, but regardless it went back because I decided I just hated using the larger device as a tablet and that the smaller Magic Keyboard is actually more functional for me. Sometimes less is more.
Before (let’s hope) finally settling on an 11” Space Gray 256GB iPad Pro 2021 with cellular I took a more budget-conscious (and beautiful) blue iPad Air 4 for a spin and it really was lovely save for the display’s halved refresh rate which to my very sensitive eyes nearly made it feel like half the iPad. For a few hundred more I was able to get the same 256GB capacity plus twice the RAM and that silky 120hz display which so far is appearing pretty perfect…and I’m happy!