Hi guys!
After discovering that the iPad is the best platform to make music on for me, I have to admit that at times staring at the screen for so long makes you want to get a break.
So is there anything cheap that I can just carry with me, throw in a backpack with powerbank and do little sketches?
Thinking about POs but I’d prefer something else 
Thanks and nice august
Thanks! However I was thinking about something more portable
So have a break. Then go back. Have a kitkat if you must. Way cheaper than buying more gear.
If you don’t mind having only 2 bars of continuous overdubbing, the smallest and cheapest for me is the Korg Kaossilator 2S. You can export each overdubbed layer as a separate track, records to SD card, has a mic, undo, etc. Not the easiest to play consistently but for quick ideas it may work. If you want more sophistication and a huge number of sounds, an MC-101, but it’s more expensive. Both run on batteries. The OP-Z is fantastic but it feels fragile (and the Seqtrak even more so). Also a bit expensive maybe.
Trackers and the 1010 music stuff (blackbox, tangerine) rely much more on the screen I think, so not really a break.
Depends on what you consider portable too, beating an ipad is not easy.
The Roland T-8 is small, battery powered, and has great sounding x0x-ish percussion paired with a truly wonderful 303 bass engine.
Not a full groovebox, of course, but between the two of them, it’s a lot of fun on the go for $200ish.
Roland mc101 ?
Get the tracker+, I believe it’s a multichannel audio interface, so you could work on stuff then hook it up to the tablet and get individual in’s and midi via USBC.
He said cheap.
Novation Circuit Rhythm / Circuit Tracks are fairly inexpensive, have built-in batteries, and no screens. They sound decent and are pretty easy to learn.
To add something:
I just found out about Zeptocore and Pikocore form Infinite Digits.
Something like that would be actually nice and fun, unfortunately the first one isn’t available and both are not available in my country 
Also, Soma Rumble Of Ancient Times seems nice, should I check that out?
used OP-Z? can be found for pretty cheap, relatively speaking
Korg Volca Sample vers2, used
Thank you, unfortunately after the first one I had I don’t think it’s something I can carry around without worrying about it, way too fragile
The Korg Electribe 2 has gotten very cheap if you don’t mind buying second hand. It can run on 6 AA’s. Not everyone loves it, but I’d say it works best for quick sketches. And like most Elektrons, you get 4 bars to work with for each pattern.
I love my Electribe2’s for their portability and they sound great.
Edit - you do have to overcome the initial hump, deal with the menus and label the shortcuts but you can write songs super quick.
Woovebox?
Possibly too small.
If you like a tracker format, you could consider one of the dirtywave m8 headless. I see pre-built ones for a couple hundred bucks sometimes. It’s most of an m8, it’s just missing midi connectivity and maybe some other stuff but it’s most of the way there. @schoolbabyboy built one actually.
Just my 2 cents:
I think the OP-Z has some build quality issues…but I wouldn’t say it’s too fragile to throw it in a backpack.
What I mean is that the construction of the buttons itself is questionable, and it won’t matter if you throw them in a backpack, or not. Either way, they might crap out at some point.
If you are okay with that, I think it’s a great portable groovebox.
Cosign the model:samples.