Jan 22, 2016 07:14 PM
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Hiiii friend
The long rumoured ipad mini has been released and the device is largely as we had suspected it to be. But a major glitch remained the pricing which may disappoint majority of the readers(as it did to me). But the mini seems a lot like the ipad, just smaller. I felt the pangs of indecision within a few minutes of looking at the iPad Mini for the first time. For now lets go through the specs.
Disclaimer - This is a specs review and not the complete review. The device is not yet available in the market. It will be available by the last week of november.
Versions – The mini comes in two versions the Wifi only and the Wifi+ Cellular . The Cellular features a nano sim card slot which is great. Ill be covering them both in the review. and comes in 16 gb, 32 gb and 64 gb versions.
Size – Everything that made the ipad, the most sought tablet stays in the mini too. But it is just the fraction of its size. Its just 7.2 mm thin, almost 23% thinner than the ipad and weighs just 300 gms that’s 53% lighter than the ipad 3. Tim cook described this tablet as pencil thin.
Screen – Its the screen that makes the ipad mini so great. As for the dimensions it measures 7.9 inches diagonally, kind of squarish with a retina display, LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with IPS technology. Tim cook took a dig at “an android tablet”(read google nexus) and said that the ipad mini provide much better viewing with more than 35% percent increase in screen space. It has a sreen resolution of 1024 x 768 with a pixel density of 163 ppi, which disappoints. The size of the screen seems to be perfect though.
Camera – The ipad sports a 5 MP isight camera wiith an ƒ/2.4 aperture and a five-element lens, it captures light efficiently to produce a sharper and brighter overall image also capable of 1080 p HD recording. And the hybrid infrared filter — typically reserved for expensive SLR cameras — keeps out harmful IR light for more accurate, uniform colors. Overall gives advanced optics for the best picture possible. It also has a 1.2 MP front facing BSI camera which is a facetime HD camera capable of 720p HD recording .(More about the facetime later in a blog)
Battery – The mini(wifi only) is equipped with a Built-in 16.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery which guarantees upto 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music Charging It can be done charged via power adapter or USB to computer system. The wifi+ cellular model comes with a built-in 16.3-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery with Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music and upto 9 hours of surfing the web using cellular data network and can be Charged via power adapter or USB to computer system.The battery surely is a long distance runner.
Processor – Both the models come with a dual core A5 chip, which is not good as compared to the A6. It would have been better if Apple hadn't downgraded the chipset. It also sports 2GB of RAM .
Sensors – Both the models come with a three axis gyro sensor, an accelerometer and an ambient light sensor(no surprises here). The wifi only model comes with a digital compass while the Wifi+ cellular model assisted GPS and GLONASS .
The Input/Ouput – Both the models use the recently released lightning connector for its for data syncing and transfer as well as charging. The wifi only model has 3.5 mm headphone minijack, a built in speaker and a microphone. In addition to these the cellular model has a nano sim card tray.
Colours – The device is available in two colours the Black & Slate and the White & Silver which continues the Apple standards.
Connectivity – As for the connectivity the wifi only model has 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi(802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz) and also sports Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology in addition to this the cellular model is equipped with
• CDMA EV-DO, GSM/EDGE(two different modelsof the cellular one)
• GSM/EDGE and LTE(not in India Yet) with Bluetooth 4.0 .
Siri – A new and advanced Siri is included or a Tim cook describes it “the permanent replacement to your Personal assistant). I did not like the first version of Siri so I am not very sure of the new Siri will fare.
Pricing – This is what disappointed me the most the wifi only model comes ar 329$ while the wifi+cellular comes at 389$ both of which will be costlier than the best 7 inch tablets in the Indian market. Had apple kept the price lower, I would have hit a sweet spot in the market.
Final Verdict –
Apple hopes to beat back their charge onto its home turf of consumer electronics hardware, while safeguarding its lead in the larger 10-inch tablet space that even deep-pocketed rivals like Samsung Electronics have found tough to penetrate. Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus 7 have grabbed a chunk of the lower end of the tablet market and proved that the demand for a pocket-sized slate exists. That has forced Apple into a space it has avoided and at times derided, analysts say.A smaller tablet would mark the first device to be added to Apple's compact portfolio under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over from co-founder Steve Jobs just before his death. That said, the smaller iPad is clearly aimed at classrooms and readers - two sectors where frills aren't exactly necessary and Naturally, Apple's pushing the smaller form factor as a boon for those who adore ingesting text on digital screens, further advancing its iBook and education initiative will supplement it. Where it excels, predictably, is the overall fit and finish. Just as the bigger iPad, this one feels delightful in the hand. If you've held an iPad, you know where I'm coming from. Yes, it's lighter and more nimble, making it feel as if Apple concocted its own version of the 7-inch tablet. And indeed, that's precisely what has happened here. It's still not "small, " though. While a fully outstretched adult hand can generally grasp it without help from the other, you'll still want both for typing and using apps. It's still too big for your average pocket, and it's not going to save you a heck of a lot of room in your knapsack compared to the 9.7-incher.
First impressions are that it is indeed light. But the features remain intact and apple has finally splashed itself into the mini tablet arena. But I can proclaim “The giant is here, smaller but smarter”
