Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTFinal Words
When I concluded our iPad Air review I assumed the iPad mini with Retina Display was a true no-compromise, smaller alternative to the iPad Air. In many senses that’s true. Wireless connectivity is identical between the models, battery life is pretty much the same as well. Peak performance is close and you no longer have to accept a lower resolution display. Last year’s iPad mini was easy to recommend, and this year’s is even easier. To my surprise however, the iPad Air continues to hold some advantages that may resonate well with some users.
The biggest in my eyes is the iPad Air’s wider gamut display with full sRGB coverage. The mini’s Retina Display is good, the Air’s is just better. There’s also more thermal headroom on the iPad Air, which can come in handy if you’re doing compute intensive work on it. If neither of those things matters to you, then the decision becomes one of usage model and portability. I believe the iPad Air does a better job of approximating a primary computing device, particularly in its ability to give you a reasonable sized virtual keyboard to work on. The iPad mini on the other hand is substantially more portable. Although the iPad Air is light enough to come along with me more than any prior iPad, the mini’s form factor makes it even more likely that’ll I’ll bring it with me (the best tablet is the one you have with you?).
As much as I prefer the iPad Air’s display and as much as I love having more performance, I’d probably lean towards the mini personally. The lower weight and smaller form factor are just tough to give up. Apple could’ve made the decision a lot easier by giving the mini true display parity with the Air though.
The mini with Retina Display sits at an interesting point in Apple's iPad lineup. Priced at $399, the higher-end mini is priced identically to the iPad 2 - which Apple continues to sell. I honestly can't see a situation outside of having poor vision where I'd recommend the iPad 2 over the iPad mini with Retina Display.
If you're on the fence about upgrading from an older iPad (or even the first gen mini), the iPad mini with Retina Display is a tempting target. Compared to virtually all previous iPads you're going to notice a substantial increase in performance thanks to Apple's A7 SoC. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the performance improvement over the previous generation mini (featuring Apple's A5) can be just as noticeable of an uprade as the display. The new mini is a leap forward in performance compared to its predecessor.
While Apple has the 10-inch tablet market more or less locked up with the iPad Air, the mini faces stiff competition. The biggest comes from Google with the $229 2013 Nexus 7. You get an incredibly affordable device and a display with full sRGB gamut. What the mini offers is a faster SoC, a wider display (a Nexus 8 would be nice) and of course, iOS. I’ve heard varying opinions on iOS vs. Android when talking about tablet or smartphone use. Some users prefer Android on one and iOS on the other, vice versa or find themselves exclusively in one camp. This one is best left up to personal preference. At $229 the Nexus 7 is a great option. If you prefer iOS however, the iPad mini with Retina Display is quite nice. The price hike vs. the standard mini can be a tough pill to swallow, but the A7 and display are definitely worth it.
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BPB - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
"The absolute quality of a product may have more importance to some than the quality/price ratio when comparing products that are all within one's budget. By your logic, why wouldn't one suggest an even cheaper tablet than the Nexus 7?"See my comment above. He called the Nexus "incredible" and "truly great". In my book that means really high quality. Show me a person who thinks that of the Hisense. I think comparing the Nexus 7 to the mini is comparing two high quality products. And one of them costs a lot less, at least for folks in my income bracket.
Please understand, I have no problem with folks saying Apple products are good, really good. And I don't deny they are. I can't because I don't use them. The point in my original post is that if it's an Apple review at this site, it will be glowing.
EnzoFX - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Glowing sure, and rightly so. The N7 review was also glowing. Some people just like to whine no matter what. They like to come on here and lead us all down a pathetic back and forth. It surprises me the number of people who entertain comments like these. I would not normally, but after all these... Why bother? Why read Anandtech if you don't like the facts they present... I don't really care to hear an answer...p_giguere1 - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Those "incredible" and "truly great" terms are relative to the competition and to our expectations, and quality level isn't as black and white as you make it sound.I'm sure that cheap Hisense tablet would have been considered high-quality if it had been released one year sooner. Just like the 2013 N7 probably won't be considered high-quality when you'll measure it against a 2014 N7, just like a 2012 N7 could hardy be called high-quality right now.
The 2013 N7 was released (and reviewed) at a time when there was no Retina iPad mini. When the standard to beat was the regular iPad mini which had a relatively low-res display and an old SoC despite its higher price tag. Had the 2013 N7 be released right now, I'm sure the general tone reviewers would have had would have been a little different, because people's expectations would also have been higher just because the market has already changed since then.
Anyway, why do selectively choose when the tone of reviewers matters? If Anand has a positive tone when reviewing the Nexus 7, that means it's an exceptional product that easily justifies its price tag compared to cheaper alternatives, yet when he does the same with the Retina iPad mini, it doesn't count and he's biased? What's the difference?
Puberticus - Saturday, November 16, 2013 - link
Well look at the bright side: we won't have to fret for long.Displays are already as good as the eyeball can see. So what's left making it thinner, lighter and last longer? Whatever.
Again IMHO, I think the iPad Air is pretty much the end of the line as far as added value goes. If I'm wrong, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
well, Anand had positive ton about Mac Air, which STILL HAS NO RETINA NOR TOUCHSCREEN display...in the mean time, everything else mid end or up has at least 1080p... even a Dell Venue Pro for $600 has 1080p with touch screen...
angermeans - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
I've read all of your comments to this point. Your making it sound as if the Nexus 7 and iPad mini are on equal grounds and because of this people should choose cost every time. If you were right I would agree (such as they both ran the same software), but your not and not even close. I've got the 2013 N7 and the new iPad mini with retina display sitting right next to me. Last year I had both the 2012 N7 and iPad Mini original. In all your comments you forget one glaring fact and that is Eco system. Android tablets (even at their absolute best such as the N7) are no where even close to iOS. When people want a tablet they sent great tablet optimized apps and you don't get even close to tablet apps on the Nexus 7 (or other android tablets). The android tablet Eco system is so behind iOS that they don't even deserve to be in the same sentence together, but they often are. Yes, the N7 is a great value and has great hardware (although nowhere near apples tablets, but ill leave hardware out of this comment for now), but it is nothing more than a giant phone with giant oversized android apps. One will get a much better lifetime value with an iPad over an android tablet. This is why apple absolutely dominates the tablet market despite costing much more and their dominance is the reason companies like google have been forced to release low cost devices in the first place as they simply cannot even compete. This won't ever change no matter the hardware until the android app situation gets better and I just don't see it happening anytime soon. You can't even get an optimized twitter tablet app and when you finally do then samsung gobbles it up as an exclusive. This doesn't happen on iOS and the constant OS updates even make it better. My nexus 7 sadly has sat 90% of the time (despite being a great value) because of the reasons (among others such as constant lag on android platforms). Android tablets are nothing more than media consumption devices whereas iPads are so much more. No reason to be sore about it and the fact that Ananda gave a fair review while not pointing out the severe gap In the two Eco systems shows his non bias and straight review of the hardware.akdj - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
@Angermeans, so well and eloquently said. I own the Xoom, Note 2, and have had every iteration of iPad and iPhone (we have had a business for 22 years that has literally been transformed with the introduction of the iPad, it's 'Eco system' and the software available for productivity. We use them 60 hours a week in the field and they've replaced 70-80 pounds of gear we used for well over a decade and a half. I bought this year's Nex7 (I wasn't convinced, like Anand...that a retina or HiDPI screen would be included in this year's mini). Don't know why. I've been burned now twice...and while the Xoom still works fine for a few things (and as a 'Google' device was always up front to get updates), I can't get out of the Note contract fast enough (my daily driver is a 5s...my wife the iPhone 5). We bought it solely for the business and signing contracts and credit cards with Square. What a joke. We don't use it for either. In fact, for both contract signatures and credit card payments, the iPhone and iPad works faster and more efficientlyI can't tell you how pissed off it makes you after downloading an app from the Play store only to see....'Not optimized for your device/tablet'. This is a phone app. Works just fine on the s4. Not the Note. Not the Nex 7. While the 2013 Nexus 7 is an incredible value with a phenomenal display and pretty decent/swift performance (TouchWiz is the Devil's UI!)---other than for surfing, email, maps or watching a movie, I find it useless in comparison with the iPad. It's wild to see such devoted Android fans jump in, take the time to comment, and attempt to discredit one of...if not the top tier of technological review teams on Al Gore's interwebs. I LOVE tech. I give them both a try. But just as Windows reigned supreme for a pair of decades when it came to software choice, the same is now try for iOS and tablet 'optimized' applications and software. Replacing FLIGHT BAGS! For crying out loud....Jep charts, ops guides and plates....40-50 pound commercial (& redundant with both pilot and F/O) pilot flight bags....history, replaced by a 1.3 pound iPad 2 (maybe some have upgrade to retina?).
Doesn't matter WHAT you're into. There is 'an app for that'. In iOS. Not Android. Creative, photo/videography, writing, coding, gaming, productivity and 'office type suites', utilities and Topo maps....flight planning and GPS route following software, fuel calculators and guitar tuners, the list literally goes on forever! Jimi Hendrix? The Stones? Leonardo DaVinci in high resolution.....it's crazy the options that exist in iOS. And their intuitive nature.
Android tablet apps in the other hand....other than Facebook and World Series of poker, I'm lost. Oh yeah, Evernote works out alright as well as Dropbox. There's. That.
KoolAidMan1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
akdj - The other mobile ecosystems aren't anywhere close. I use WP8 but have an iPad for my tablet because its library is so much better than WinRT and Android.The Nexus 7 is cheap but it does so little compared to the iPad. It is a toy in comparison. The Kindle is even more limited on top of having lower quality hardware. The less said about WinRT the better...
RadarTheKat - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
He also forgot screen size (iPad mini is larger) and resale value (which means the overall cost of the iPad mini is not so far off from the N7 as the retail price suggests).RadarTheKat - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
And the whole cheaper can be better value falls apart with Apple products because of the high resale value based upon build quality and demand. So that iPad might actually, full cycle, cost no more than an initially cheaper competing tablet.