Apple focused much of its Wednesday tablet presentation on the iPad Pro, glossing over the iPad mini 4, despite the fact that it's brand new.
To be fair, there's not a whole lot to say about the iPad mini 4. While the iPad Pro stole the show with a huge display and beefed-up processor, the iPad mini 4 is an incremental upgrade from last year's iPad mini 3 (now off the market, though you can still get your hands on an iPad mini 2$229.99 at Amazon). The iPad mini 4 will be facing stiff competition from none other than chief rival Samsung, which recently released the Galaxy Tab S2 8.0.
| Name | Apple iPad mini 4 | Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 |
 |  | |
| Lowest Price | $399.00Abt Electronics | $397.99BeachCamera |
| Editor Rating | ||
| Dimensions | 8 by 5.3 by 0.24 inches | 7.8 by 5.3 by 0.22 inches |
| Screen Size | 7.9 inches | 8 inches |
| Weight | 10.4 oz | 9.3 oz |
| Screen Resolution | 2,048 by 1,536 pixels | 2,048 by 1,536 pixels |
| CPU | Apple A8 | Samsung Exynos |
| Operating System | Apple iOS 9 | Android 5.0 |
| Screen Pixels Per Inch | 326 | 320 ppi |
| Camera Resolution | 8MP; 1.2MP front-facing | 8MP; 1.2MP front-facing |
In body, the iPad mini 4 is basically identical to the iPad mini 3. It's slightly thinner—0.24 inches to the iPad mini 3's 0.29 inches—but has virtually the same dimensions and keeps the 7.9-inch IPS LCD Retina screen. Samsung, on the other hand, has redone the body of its smaller tablet. The Tab S2 8.0 now has a smooth matte back, is 0.22 inches thin, and weighs only 9.3 ounces to the iPad mini 4's 10.4 ounces. It also copied the iPad mini's aspect ratio of 4:3, which is ideal for reading and viewing content.
The Super AMOLED screen most certainly rivals Apple's Retina display. The iPad mini 4 and Tab S2 both have identical resolutions, at 2,048-by-1,536 pixels, but Samsung's AMOLED screens tend to pop more with vibrant colors. The iPad mini 4 is also on equal footing with the Tab S2 in the camera—Apple has equipped it with the iPad Air 2's 8-megapixel camera, and kept the 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Tab S2 also has an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing shooter.
Internally, the iPad mini 4 and the Galaxy Tab S2 have seen major upgrades. The iPad mini 4 now has the same A8 chip as the iPhone 6$199.00 at Verizon Wireless, and the Tab S2 8.0 got the Note 4's Exynos 5433 processor with 3GB of RAM. Both should be lighting fast, even during multi-tasking, which is a big part of both Samsung's new tablets and Apple's upcoming iOS 9 upgrade. This makes sense on larger tablets (most certainly on the iPad Pro), but as noted in the Tab S2 review, multitasking on such a small screen can get messy. We'll have to see if iOS 9 can improve on multitasking, but right now we're pretty skeptical.
The Tab S2 and iPad mini 4 are equal in terms of entry-level pricing, starting at $399. But for that, you get a 16GB iPad mini 4 with no expandable storage, or a Tab S2 with 32GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot. At face value, it looks like the Tab S2 is the winner here for the money, and if you've got to have an iPad mini, the more-than-adequate iPad mini 2 has dropped in price to start at $269. But the final verdict will be in once we get a chance to test the iPad mini 4.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation.
0 comments:
Post a Comment