The Apple iPad 2 Review
by Brian Klug, Anand Lal Shimpi & Vivek Gowri on March 19, 2011 8:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Apple
- iPad 2
- iPad
Display
The iPad 2 continues to use what boils down to the same 9.7 inch 1024x768 (XGA) LCD as the iPad 1. It isn’t the 300 or close PPI display that many speculated would launch with the iPad 2. Instead, for the most part, it’s identical to the 132 PPI panel which shipped in the first iPad.
Side by side the two have very similar brightness, black level, and contrast. That said, we’ve noticed some differences in the numbers between the four iPad 2s spread among us. Two are 16 GB WiFi models, one is an AT&T WiFi - 3G, and another is Verizon WiFi - 3G. Each have slightly different brightness and black levels, and correspondingly different contrast as well.
| Display Quality Comparison | |||||
| White Level | Black Level | Contrast Ratio | |||
| Apple iPad 2 #1 (AT&T 3G) | 406 nits | 0.42 nits | 966:1 | ||
| Apple iPad 2 #2 (VZW 3G) | 409 nits | 0.49 nits | 842:1 | ||
| Apple iPad 2 #3 (WiFi) | 352 nits | 0.45 nits | 778:1 | ||
| Apple iPad 2 #4 (WiFi) | 354 nits | 0.41 nits | 859:1 | ||
After looking at the numbers we’ve collected, there seems to be a pretty obvious trend emerging. The WiFi iPads seem to have a brightness closer to 350 nits, whereas the 3G models have brightness levels at 400 nits. It seems entirely possible that there are either multiple suppliers for these panels, or different batches with differing performance characteristics between the WiFi and 3G manufacturing lines.
We measured white point on the iPad 2 with an X-Rite i1Pro and found that (at least my AT&T 3G model) it was right at 6604K, very close to D65 and good performance. Conversely, the iPad 1 WiFi on hand measured around 6908K which is admittedly still acceptable, but not quite as good. In reality, there will probably be a large amount of drift in color temperature across different panel suppliers and batches, just like we saw with the Verizon iPhone 4’s noticeably blue display.
Indoor viewing angles on the iPad 2’s IPS display are still excellent. Uniformity is also good, with one caveat.
There’s been a lot of talk about backlight bleeding on the iPad 2. Initially, I didn’t notice any backlight bleed on my iPad 2, however I now notice a small blotch where backlight bleeds in the bottom right corner. Pressing on the glass surface, I can change the intensity of this backlight bleed, which would imply that the bleed is due to stresses in the glass and TFT like you’d see if you were to press on a panel. It’s not bad at all, especially compared to some of the worst-affected examples I’ve seen in forums online, but hopefully this gets worked out with better manufacturing. Oddly enough, side by side with the iPad 2 the iPad 1 also shows some noticeable light bleed.
Left: iPad 2, Right: iPad 1
Outdoor glare and viewing angles are essentially unchanged. Subjectively the iPad 2 seems a tiny bit better, perhaps thanks to the slightly thinner glass and adhesion process, but it’s still hard to read anything outside in direct sunlight.
Compared to the Xoom, the iPad 2 is more usable outdoors:
201 Comments
View All Comments
geekfool - Monday, March 21, 2011 - link
LOL, if your going to try and band about freq and dates for different models etc at least do a better goggle search of the key words as of today, not some old 2009/10 .and thanks to apple OC for making the old ARM eco system OEM's and vendor's take note and so massively accelerating the long view product time lines to this year.
this is not the old x86 lock in land, these many long time ARM vendor's and foundries dont screw around, they see the world demand starting now, and will take every advantage of the apple hype PR machine.
and are producing lots of product samples right now, you just dont see them, although anandtech etal can now probably get working prototype higher clocked A15,T604, quad access if they like do a tech review for later this year early next etc.
some key ward's to look for , but remember your not going to see apple using them before anyone else in the ARM cortex now they have rolled the ARM cortex dice for this year and come up with A double upside down 6's under clocked OC.
Mali T604, PowerVR, Nova A9600, Cortex-A15 40K DMIPS, i.mx6, etc , people might even like the Rogue and an announcement by ARM in late 2011 but these time-lines are to far out for most people to care today. Reply
geekfool - Monday, March 21, 2011 - link
ohh and no one in hardware production cares about what a long future OpenGL 6 might bring, only GL.CL,and all the current functionality for Mali T400/Mali T604, PowerVR inclusion, hell they dont really care about GL 4.2..as for the IEEE 802.11s draft IEEE 802.11 amendment for mesh networking, defining how wireless devices can interconnect to create a WLAN mesh network, being standardised...
the OSS software dev's dont care about that ether, they are using batman/ B.A.T.M.A.N running in layer 2 and have for a long time now Reply
JustinB - Monday, March 28, 2011 - link
While OEMs are racing to create a competitor to the iPad, it seems like commenters on sites like this are trying to create a competitor to the Reality Distortion Field... Replymedi01 - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - link
It's a "for fun" device, so if you buy it for some thing else, I doubt your "tech savyiness".And for some, not being able to read stuff you've written to your own device, is a show-stopper. Calling this "hate" is silly. Reply
synaesthetic - Sunday, March 20, 2011 - link
It pretty much is a toy, but I really think smartphones are better toys. They're smaller, and you carry your phone anyway, so why not game on it to kill some time between appointments? ReplyRick83 - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
I still stick to my 5" tablet (though something slightly larger might work also...but 7" is already too much).That I can carry around all day (when I want to, and keep a separate non-smart phone that does telephone well enough) and yet it is much more useful than the 4" and 3.5" smart phones. I can comfortably hold it with one hand, buttons are nice and big in landscape mode, the dock gives me USB host, there's BT for keyboards as well, dock with hdmi-out, analog video-out...basically it does anything I would ever need, in the ideal portable form factor.
It could do with a marginally better touch screen and build quality, and performance and stability aren't that great, but considering it predated the first iPad by about 6 months, I'm willing to accept the odd quirk. Also, it still works after quite some use over the last 18 months, with no visible battery life issues.
I hope that the mini-tablet form factor will be explored some more in the future, I would be willing to replace my current device with something similar once the warranty has expired...
Oh did I mention that it cost me less than a third of an iPad? (But, no, no flash either ;)) Reply
tzhu07 - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
I've been trying to figure out a use for the iPad, and the only thing I can think of is that it's good for doing really simple things and taking notes. Also, when you take it out in front of a client during a lunch meeting, it tends to impress them.But, yeah, I find that there isn't really a need for a device that bridges the gap between a laptop and a smartphone....yet. Reply
vision33r - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
It's all about the Apps, regardless which OS they are useless without apps.The iPad has tons of productivity and enterprise ready apps. Would like to see an iMovie clone on Android or some quality productivity apps. So far only iOS has the most real apps. Reply
jalexoid - Saturday, March 19, 2011 - link
The movie editing app on Honeycomb is there. And it's similar to iMovie.The Office look alike apps on iPad are still not good.
Honeycomb struggles on the apps side, because the developer hardware was not there, when it was needed.
But saying "So far only iOS has the most real apps" is a bit incorrect. Reply
WaltFrench - Sunday, March 20, 2011 - link
“The movie editing app on Honeycomb is … similar to iMovie.”Yes, except for one thing: the YouTube of it shows it unable to show thumbnails properly and balky, rough animations. This wouldn't even get bronze at a beer-fueled coding contest.
The two are exactly as similar as night and day: they live on the same planet. Reply