The iPad Air and the Retina disply iPad Mini are two tablets that are quite similar, as we've showed in
our comparison article. So, if you're looking to buy one of these two, you're probably interested in seeing what are the first impressions and hands-on thoughts. After having a look at the iPad Air roundup with the first impressions, we know turn our attention to the iPad Mini 2.
Dieter Bohn with TheVerge:
"The same 7.9-inch display now features four times the pixels, a full 2048 x 1536 resolution, which makes text sharp and readable. Just as importantly, it makes iOS 7 look much better than it does on the original iPad mini, which often feels a little out of place on lower resolutions. iOS 7 also benefits from the iPad mini’s new 64-bit A7 processor, making scrolling and everything else notably faster and smoother."
Eric Franklin with Cnet:
"However, while it feels great, it’s all about that screen. And given the Mini’s smaller 7.9-inch size, it looks even sharper than the full-size iPad Air. But to take advantage of the new pixel-dense screen, you will be paying up over last year’s Mini. It’s gorgeous, though, so I’d imagine the new premium will definitely be worth it to some people."
Brad Molen of Engadget:
"There isn’t much on the outside that we haven’t seen before – in fact, it still sports the same home button, indicating that it doesn’t feature Touch ID – but there is one glaring exception: the Retina display. When compared to the original iPad mini that came out last year, this is a rather significant bump in pixel density, and we came away much more impressed with the mini as a result."
Kevin C. Tofel of GigaOM:
"Well, if my eyes could talk, they’d tell me to buy the new iPad mini. The display is incredibly vivid, crisp and bright. The feeling I got when looking at the display was the same feeling I had when I first saw the original retina display iPad. The difference is tremendous."
Darrell Etherington with TechCrunch:
“The eye-boggling 2048 x 1536 screen looks excellent in person, and for anyone coming from a generation one device it’s going to be a dramatic change. The iPad mini itself is very slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor to accommodate the Retina Display with the same battery life, adding 0.01 inches and 0.05 pounds to the specs of the original, but that makes minimal difference to the actual feel of the product in the hand.â€
Chris Davies of Slashgear:
“The new iPad mini with Retina display looks just like the old version until you turn it on, at which point life gets pixel-packed. Apple’s 2048 x 1536 resolution looks even more detailed on the smaller, 7.9-inch screen compared to the same res on the iPad Air‘s larger display, and that means more detailed graphics, smoother text, and an iOS 7 interface we kinda wanted to lick.â€
Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica:
“Putting the same resolution in a smaller screen makes for an even sharper display than the iPad Air, and iOS 7′s thin fonts look excellent on the new screen. It looks and feels like the same tablet as last year, though it is very slightly thicker and heavier than it was last yearâ€
The iPad Mini with Retina display is definitely one of the best tablets around, and I dare say, the best at its size. With an incredible resolution and desktop-class computing, it's a little tech wonder that will definitely keep us satisfied for more than a year.
