Advanced transparent ceramics with high chemical and thermal stability are gaining increasing interest as replacement of glass-based materials in technical window applications. The mechanical reliability and performance of transparent MgAl2O4 with a grain size of 5 mu m has been characterized at ambient temperature using micro-mechanical indentation and macroscopic bending tests. The measurements focused on elastic modulus, fracture toughness, crack kinetics, and strength, the latter analyzed with Weibull statistics. The effect of slow crack growth is assessed using a strength-probability-time plot. Complementary fractography by optical, confocal and scanning electron microscopy provided a correlation between failure origin and fracture stress. The results and reliability aspects are discussed in terms of linear elastic fracture mechanics.