A hands-on with the iPad mini

Holy effin tap-dancing Christ! The build quality feels premium too thanks to the solid Gorilla Glass 2 on the front and the unibody aluminum body. It’s so freaking thin and light. It’s even thinner than my Samsung Galaxy S3. This is probably the best thing about the iPad mini. Here, take a look at the iPad Mini and the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Even though it’s a smaller iPad, I still feel that it’s still harder to hold in one hand compared to the most 7” tablets but you’ll notice that it’s more enjoyable to hold and read e-books on the iPad mini than its larger brother. The 7.9” screen is just right for reading and browsing the web but I feel that the 1024 x 768 is just too old school. The new iPod touch has even a larger resolution than this one.

iPad Mini & the Galaxy Note 2 of Gian Viterbo (Gadgetpilipinas.net)

The 7.9” screen isn’t disappointing. The iPad 2 who has a 9.7” screen has a resolution of 1024 x 768 while the iPad mini has the same resolution but this one has a 7.9” screen. Which means that the pixels are more compressed. If you came from a device with a high pixel density like the retina iPad, iPhone 4/4s, Samsung Galaxy S3 or whatever phone that you’re holding right now. You might be disappointed with the iPad mini. All in all, the screen isn’t bad nor great.

The experience

The processor isn’t as fast as the latest iPad 3rd generation and you can notice the speed if you own an iPad 3rd gen. The experience on this tablet is comparable to the iPad 2. The iPad mini is just like the iPad 2 that became smaller. If you are used to typing on a 10” tablet, you might hate the iPad mini but it’s very comfortable to type on the iPad mini than most 7” Android tablets out there. The transitions are still smooth and there aren’t much changes from the iPad 2 to the iPad mini. And like what I’ve said earlier, it’s like the iPad 2 that shrunk.

Hey that blog looks familiar!

All in all, I think I would have a love-hate relationship with the iPad mini. I like the screen size and the unibody design of the iPad mini but the lack of the retina display and the A5 processor, which is quite old is a big letdown to me. The price is too steep for me too.

If you are the type of person who loves to have iOS device but smaller then you might want to consider this one. But take note of the lack of retina display and A6 processor. Well if you ask me, I would rather wait for the next generation of the iPad mini. I still want that retina display on that baby. The iPad mini is now available at Widget City for P17,500

Thanks Abe!

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