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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R0H1T - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Too bad Apple fanbois need to be spoon-fed by this site & dozens like this one in order for'em to make an informed decision "to buy or not to buy" the latest iToy out in the market ):akdj - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Sadly DBags like you wade though the review, 178 replies, and take the time to spew such drivel ONLY because your mother said "Hell No I'm not buying you one!! Get out. Get a job...buy one YOURSELF!"News. Flash. R0H1T....the iPad is no 'toy'. You certainly reveal your 12 maybe 13 year old age by calling it such. What was only a decade ago, even five years ago available only in lap or desktop form with two hours of batter life and spinning hard drives with less than a quarter the resolution has now become ubiquitous. Common place....and in many cases the ONLY computer many people need. Go on....feed you spider. Someday you'll be able to have one too
Grow. Up.
reggjoo1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Let me get this out of the way, I think apple makes great tablets, but I won't leave android for ios. The Ipad mini, sounds great, and advances the game, hardware, and performance wise. I like android over ios, because you can make your device, your device. I can adjust how the memory performs, set permissions for my apps, change the look, and feel to my liking, etc.. Even if I see someone with the same model, brand, I know my android, is uniquely my own, you can't do that with apple, I like a os setup just for me, and look the way i want. Give apple it's props, but it's just not for me. In a few months, someone will come out with something anyway, I like the competition in mobile.tytung - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Easy, just jailbreak it, or wait until there's a jailbreak.hlovatt - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
Great review and amazingly quick after the device went on sale, it really must take a lot of time and effort to so comprehensively test a device. Great work.Pity that the iHater brigade are posting on AnandTech, the comments used to be so much more insightful. Rather than saying that Anand is biased for pointing out that 'a Nexus 7 isn't as good but is cheaper', it would benefit people who want to buy an Android tablet to say great product this is what I want for the next iteration of the Nexus. Competition is good, don't kill it.
Another alternative is that these people are paid to post negative comments on all good Apple reviews. If they are paid negative comments I hope they get found out and kicked off. That way we can all enjoy our geeking out without the painfully biased comments.
psyside1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
So this is why Nexus 5 review is not yet done, now its all clear.hlovatt - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
I think you are demonstrating that you are a one eyed iHater, e.g. in this very forum people are asking where reviews of the Apple MacBook Pro are. Does that make the site Dell biased? No, AnandTech have finite resources and such quality reviews take time so they unfortunately can't do everything and have to prioritise. Presumably they also rely on supply of product to review, they couldn't possibly afford to purchase everything they review.psyside1 - Sunday, November 17, 2013 - link
They cant afford? LOL!!!!!beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
exactly! i was wondering why Nexus 5 was not up while the the AIr went up the same day it was released.chubbypanda - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
I'm afraid it's Brian, not Anand, who's working on Nexus 5 review.