Apple iPad mini Pro Reviews

Although the iPad mini 2 is more expensive than the original was, and more so with the iPad mini price cut. We feel it's worth the extra £70 if you're trying to decide between them to get the Retina quality screen and A7 processor.

This was a very tight race, but the 7.9-inch iPad mini squeaks out the victory by a score of 7 rounds to 6. Apple’s small tablet offers a more premium design, superior audio quality, a more helpful voice controlled assistant and a better selection of apps tailor-made for tablet use. Plus, you get longer battery life and a broader array of accessories. And with iOS 7 around the corner, iPad mini owners will soon be able to multitask and tweak settings more easily. However, for those on a budget, the $229 Google Nexus 7 is an excellent choice. For $100 less than the iPad mini, you get a brighter and higher resolution display, blazingly-fast performance, a better keyboard and a superior camera. Families will very much appreciate the Nexus 7’s ability to support multiple profiles and approve apps for their children to use. While it’s a close call, the Apple’s iPad mini brings home the winner’s cup for the best small tablet around.

At the end of the day, these tablets are going to sell like crazy, mainly because they offer a well-rounded experience. Diving straight into pricing, we still can’t help take into account the unprecedented cost that’s associated to the Nexus 7, which despite being slightly more expensive than its predecessor, it still is significantly easier on the pockets than the iPad mini. Basically, for the basic 16 GB Wi-Fi only versions, we can fork over $230 for the Nexus 7, or $330 for the iPad mini. If we compare the 32GB 4G versions, the Nexus 7 would cost only $350, versus $560 for the iPad mini! When the Android experience on the Nexus 7 is outclassing iOS on the iPad mini, we’re finding ourselves gravitating to Google’s offering more. On top of that, we can’t also forget about how the Nexus 7 is strategically being prized for its higher resolution display – an area that’s super weak for the iPad mini.

The Nexus 7 remains the best option for those on a budget - £159 is a steal. Apple's iPad mini is also a great device with a lot to like if you want to spend the extra money. While the Galaxy Note 8.0 is the most expensive (we await the cellular model price), you have to remember it's a phone and tablet in one device.

Both tablets obviously have their pros and cons. While the iPad mini has a more stylish casing, the Galaxy Note 8.0 features an S Pen and a higher resolution. While the iPad mini is superior in terms of software ecosystem and camera, the Note 8.0 has a highly customizable OS, allowing you to tweak it to your liking. The main point here is that the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the iPad mini are two very close competitors, which offer their own unique features that make them both equally relevant and worthy of their relatively high price tags.

The iPad mini is an excellent tablet — but it's not a very cheap one. Whether that's by design, or due to market forces beyond Apple's control, I can't say for sure. I can't think of another company that cares as much about how its products are designed and built — or one that knows how to maximize a supply chain as skillfully — so something tells me it's no accident that this tablet isn't selling for $200. It doesn't feel like Apple is racing to some lowest-price bottom — rather it seems to be trying to raise the floor. And it does raise the floor here. There's no tablet in this size range that's as beautifully constructed, works as flawlessly, or has such an incredible software selection. Would I prefer a higher-res display? Certainly. Would I trade it for the app selection or hardware design? For the consistency and smoothness of its software, or reliability of its battery? Absolutely not. And as someone who's been living with (and loving) Google's Nexus 7 tablet for a few months, I don't say that lightly. The iPad mini hasn't wrapped up the "cheapest tablet" market by any stretch of the imagination. But the "best small tablet" market? Consider it captured.

By all means, compare the tech specs and prices with those of the new wave of Android mini-tablets, and no doubt you’ll conclude that Apple has launched an overpriced and under-specced turkey. But make the effort to find an iPad Mini on display, pick it up and try it out for yourself. It’s only with the product in your hands that you’ll start to appreciate what makes it so special.

When I was testing the iPad mini this weekend, I pitted it against my 11-inch MacBook Air and third-generation iPad to see what device I would use more around the house and would take out on the road to do some work on. The clear winner was the iPad mini. Despite the fact that it runs on a slower processor, lacked the Retina Display, and had a lower resolution than the iPad and competing tablets, this was the device that I enjoyed picking up to work on. The iPad mini wasn't meant to be a secondary tablet nor was it meant to be a "budget" device as we all thought it would be. With the starting price of $330, the cost is a bit more than what we expected, but the premium build quality and design of the mini justifies the price. That said, those who have a budget of less than $200 should look at alternatives such as a Nexus 7 at $200, which is also a great device. The design, build and size outweigh the cons that I described above, but everyone's needs are going to be different. I can understand that quite a few people are going to need the bigger screen, the higher resolution, and faster performance of an iPad 4th-Gen. In fact, I won't be surprised at all if these are going to be deal breakers for some, especially with the lack of the high-res display. Once Apple updates the next generation Mini with everything that this is currently lacking, it will be an invincible device. However, regardless of what it is missing, the iPad mini stands very well on its own, and is a nice start on what Apple will have in store for us in the future.

It’s the best 7″ tablet you can buy. Is that a good enough reason not to buy it?

The display's resolution may not have the full-size iPad's wow factor, but this is still an excellent compact tablet

This isn't just an Apple tablet made to a budget. This isn't just a shrunken-down iPad. This is, in many ways, Apple's best tablet yet, an incredibly thin, remarkably light, obviously well-constructed device that offers phenomenal battery life. No, the performance doesn't match Apple's latest and yes, that display is a little lacking in resolution, but nothing else here will leave you wanting. At $329, this has a lot to offer over even Apple's more expensive tablets. Those comparing this to the Kindle Fire HD will have a hard time, as that's a tablet manufactured to a fixed cost and designed to sell you content. This is very much more. Similarly, the hardware here -- the materials, the lightness, the build quality, the overall package as it sits in your hand -- is much nicer than the Nexus 7 and it offers access to the comprehensively more tablet-friendly App Store, but whether that's worth the extra cost depends entirely on the size of your budget -- and your proclivity toward Android.

Although Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs once said “10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps”, Apple has recently seen the light and identified the sub-10” tablet market as viable, compelling and worth fighting for. To that end, the iPad mini was introduced, and at the end of the day, it is simply a small iPad 2 with a better camera. With a very potent competition priced at $199, the iPad mini ($329) is most definitely not an obvious choice, and how well it will work for you really depends on what you intend to do with it.

The iPad Mini is a miniature iPad, and that’s a very powerful prospect. It has just about everything we want in a small iPad, except for, of course, a Retina display. As long as you’re holding the iPad Mini 18″ or more away from your eyes, the lower screen resolution isn’t a deal-breaker. And while we aren’t excited by the $130 price difference between the Mini and the Nexus 7, what you’re paying for is access to a vast selection of quality tablet apps, plus exceptional build quality.

OK, then. Before we have our say on the iPad mini, we'll let the numbers talk. Three million tablets sold over the opening weekend easily beats the record set in March by the then new iPad. It's a combined figure of course for the two new slates - big and small - but it's quite likely for the iPad mini to claim responsibility for the better part of the traffic. It's the novelty factor for one - a truly portable Apple tablet at long last against an iPad 4 that hardly brings anything new over the now discontinued iPad 3. No doubt, the mini is the new iPad, and it's not beyond belief that it may end up as the iPad of the future. Looking at the third and fourth generation of Cupertino slates, it's easier to imagine an iPad 5 with a Retina display in the mini form factor than another incremental upgrade. On a second thought - would it have made sense to simply launch the iPad mini with a high-res screen and an A6 chipset instead of releasing another full-size slate just months after the previous model? From the perspective of iPad 3 owners, it most certainly would.

More expensive, then, but with LTE the iPad mini feels like it’s how the tablet was meant to be used. Flexible and long lasting, there’s none of the compromise that usually comes with 4G (barring cost) and all of the features that we appreciated from the iPad mini WiFi. If you’re often on the move, it would be the iPad mini WiFi + Cellular that we recommended for your bag.

The display's resolution may not have the full-size iPad's wow factor, but this is still an excellent compact tablet

Apple enters new territory with its iPad Mini and its 7.9-inch screen. A successful start. The choice of materials, the feel and workmanship fulfill the expected premium claim despite the low price. The low total weight combined with a thin aluminum chassis sets standards. The difference to the iPad 4 is especially noticed in the 9.7-inch screen. For whom is the iPad Mini the right tablet? The device will be perfect for you if you mostly use the tablet for internet browsing or if you are on the go a lot. However, the iPad 4 caters to gaming with the corresponding performance and a high-res screen. Google's Nexus 7 based on Google Android is also an alternative. It is up to you which ecosystem you prefer. The 16:10 screen is soon noticed positively when playing movies or a TV series. The purchase price is also a criterion. Google's tablet is 130 Euros (~$165) cheaper in the basic configuration. The difference even adds up to 260 Euros (~$330) with a 32 GB memory and 3G module. Google does not offer long-term evolution (LTE). The iPad Mini supports this standard for a surcharge. However, only German Telekom customers can enjoy this fast data transmission.

The iPad mini is a premium small tablet, with a price to match. It's a shame Apple couldn't have included a Retina screen and newer processor - expect the next iPad mini to get those updates. This Wi-Fi only model also lacks GPS. It's not cheap by any stretch, especially if you want more storage spare or the 3G/4G cellular version, but it's great value compared to a full-size iPad. You can save £80 by buying a Nexus 7, which has double the storage, GPS and NFC, but if you must have an iDevice, it won't disappoint.

Don't confuse the "mini" in "iPad mini" with "lite"--with the exception of a Retina display, this slimmed down iPad gives you the full iPad experience, including access to over 275,000 iPad-optimized apps, in a device that's about half the overall size and weight of the standard iPad. Retina-display purists will (justifiably) balk at the 1024-by-768-pixel screen, but I suspect that most people will be wowed enough by the iPad mini's other features, performance, design, and build quality to accept the screen for what it is--very good, but not Retina.

Value is something that’s profoundly in the minds of consumers, especially in this unpredictable economy we’re in right now. At $200, there’s clearly a ton of value found with the Google Nexus 7, while at the same time, it’s wonderful to know that it’s not going to drain your pockets entirely. Frankly, its design pales in comparison to the premium nature of the iPad mini, but it’s actually sporting some impressive hardware under the hood – like it’s higher resolution display and quad-core processor. In addition, the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean experience has the edge over iOS 6 over on the iPad mini. So why would anyone side with the $330 priced iPad mini? As we’ve made it obvious already, its premium design and construction is in a league of its own – blowing away what the Nexus 7 has to show. On top of that, there’s a rear camera that some people will find beneficial in those unpredictable moments when something needs to be captured. And even though the software experience doesn’t match the level found with its rival in some aspects, it’s both effective and functional in keeping us productive at the same level.

An outstanding compact tablet, beautifully designed and with great battery life. A little too expensive, though

It is true that Apple has managed to condense much of the larger iPad experience into the iPad mini, making it better than every other 7-inch or 8-inch tablet on the market by a long way. This is not the result of having a better display, or the most powerful processor; rather, it is the simple fact that it has a wealth of properly optimized tablet apps making the whole iOS tablet experience something that no other tablet maker can touch at this point in time. However, if you had to choose between an iPad and the new iPad mini, we would recommend the iPad with Retina display -- although Apple has made it a tough choice. The larger fourth-generation iPad with its outstanding Retina display and much more powerful processor make it the single best tablet experience you can have. It delivers both content, creative and productivity capabilities that a smaller tablet can’t deliver quite as effectively – the extra screen real-estate really makes all the difference, which is no doubt why Apple decided that it would test the demand for a tablet with that model first. The iPad mini has the edge for tablet gaming (it really is a lot of fun in this regard), but we would much rather use the larger tablet for word processing, for example.

In the moment that the iPad mini was announced to feature a starting price point of $330, we were left wondering in confusion as to why? Factoring in its hardware specs and all, it would lead anyone to believe that this latest iPad is rather over-bloated at $330, which is still seen as a considerable investment over other highly prized tablets. Despite the less-than-stellar hardware in tow with this one, its unbelievable construction is proof enough to make us believe that its price point is every bit warranted. Looking at it, there’s no doubt that plenty of love was placed into the design of the Pad mini! Besides seeing Apple moving in a forward momentum with the construction of the iPad mini, we can’t concretely confirm there is a diehard reason to stick to the iPad mini over other offerings. Sure, there are going to be people questioning its value for the buck, but when we think about its healthy selection of tablet-optimized apps combined with the rich functionality of its third party ones, some might be able to see pass the missed opportunities and view the value in it. Without question,, though, its svelte construction is what stands out most prominently beyond other things.

As the pre-launch rumors proliferated, some questioned whether Apple really needed a product that slotted in-between the 4-inch iPhone and iPod touch, and the 9.7-inch iPad. Others questioned what sort of price bands Apple would target: whether the iPad mini would be a budget option to directly take on the spray of low-cost Android tablets. Instead, the iPad mini is a product that’s resolutely “Apple”: it distills the essentials of the 9.7-inch iPad – iOS app compatibility, multimedia functionality, premium build quality, and comprehensive connectivity – without diluting them to unnecessarily meet a budget price point the company has no real interest in achieving. The iPad mini isn’t a cheap tablet in comparison to $199 Android-powered options, but it feels better in the hand, has a huge number of applications specifically intended for tablet use, and delivers what it promises to in a cohesive and predictable way.

The iPad Mini is one of the few new product lines that Apple has unveiled this year, yet it's really just an incredibly shrunken-down redesign of the iPad 2. It's a perfect size and weight and works exactly as advertised: it's a truly portable iPad with nearly no compromises, except for lacking the most cutting-edge Retina Display technology and fastest processors. And it's priced beyond the budget range that's already represented by devices from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Google. For a rundown on the iPad Mini versus the competition, read Jessica Dolcourt's comparison. If the iPad Mini had a Retina Display, a newer A6 processor, and a slightly lower price, it would be the must-have Apple gadget of the year. Even without that, it's still incredibly appealing. Its $329 price still makes it one of the least-expensive iOS gadgets Apple makes. Does it make more sense than a $299 iPod Touch with the same processor, twice the storage, and a sharper, if smaller, screen? The Touch is a tiny thing; the iPad Mini can be used at a distance, to read and even to type. So can a Touch, but it's not as comfy. It comes down to choice. The iPad Mini works with all of Apple's apps. It's superior for magazines and news, and for illustrated books