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Hands-On with the iPad Mini

Just a month ago, Apple released their brand-new iPad Mini. This was the smaller, less expensive version of the iPad with its 7.9 inch screen and its $329 price tag. How does the iPad Mini stack up to the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD? Is this the portable tablet to buy? To answer these questions, read on for our first impressions on the iPad Mini.

Look and Feel

 The iPad Mini is an incredible piece of hardware. It feels very nice in the hand with the aluminum back and the glass front, and it is very light and thin at 308 grams and 7.2 millimeters thin. The iPad Mini feels like a very premium device, as it should feel, and feels extremely solid. We would definitely say that the iPad Mini is one of the best feeling devices we have ever felt. The iPad Mini comes in two colors: black & slate and white & silver. The unit we tested was the black and slate version and it looks fantastic. The black version has this dark, ominous feel to it. The white version is nice, but it does not have as much of a stark design as the black version. We would say that the iPad Mini's design is better, because Apple used anodized aluminum instead of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD's soft touch plastic. Because the design is so nice and premium, you will be paying a $130 premium over the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD.

     

Display

 Despite many rumors and hopes, the iPad Mini sadly does not have a Retina display. The Mini has almost the same 1,024 x 768 display as the iPad 2, but the Mini's display is slightly better. The smaller screen size increases the PPI so it is very hard to see staggering at a normal distance. You will not get Retina quality PPI, but it will not be easy to find pixels. Color reproduction is also slightly better than the iPad 2, and viewing angles are just as fantastic as all Apple displays are. The viewing angles are almost infinite. You can hold the iPad Mini at ninety degrees and still see accurate color reproduction and make out everything. Despite the iPad Mini having a lower resolution screen than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, the Mini's display is not that far behind. Even though the 1,280 x 800 displays of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD are really nice and better than the iPad Mini, you will not be very disappointed with the iPad Mini's non-HD display.

Performance 

 The iPad Mini comes with a dual-core A5 processor accompanied by 512MB of RAM. This will not provide mind blowing performance, but it can handle everything pretty well. When we had the demo unit we played a couple levels of Angry Birds, browsed photos, and surfed the web with Safari, and the iPad Mini handled it all smoothly. We experienced no lag at all and had a butter-smooth experience. Yes you'll get more power with the third and fourth generation iPad and the Nexus 7, but the iPad Mini will handle pretty much everything you will throw at it.

Wrap-up

 The iPad Mini is an absolutely wonderful device. It has a nice, premium, aluminum design, offers a decent display, nice performance, and it offers access to the large Apple ecosystem. The Mini is better than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD only in certain circumstances. The Mini has better build materials than the other two, while the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD have better displays. The Nexus 7 has better performance than the Mini, but the Mini has better and more tablet scaled apps. The apps on Android get either scaled up to fit the tablet or scaled up to the tablet. The iPad Mini has many tablet apps, most of the iPad Mini apps are tablet apps, while on Android there are only a small handful of tablet oriented apps. Even though the iPad Mini is somewhat better than the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, it does not really fit into the budget category. At $329, the iPad Mini is not as inexpensive or as much of an "impulse buy" as the Nexus 7 and the seven inch Kindle Fire HD. The Mini is at least $129 more than the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. What does this mean for the iPad Mini? The Mini is not a great budget tablet, it is a great ultraportable tablet. The Nexus 7 and the seven inch Kindle Fire HD are the great budget tablets. If you want a great tablet without spending a pretty penny, buy the Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire HD. If money is not a problem  and if you want a great ultraportable tablet, buy the iPad Mini by all means. You will definitely not be disappointed.

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