Apple iPad mini: The original iPad mini is still good, apart from that screen

Last year Apple went where I never thought it would, with the iPad mini bringing the Apple tablet experience to a brave new budget world.

Now usurped by the new iPad Mini 2, the older tablet is still on sale at a wallet-friendly £249 for the basic version, with 16GB of storage on offer for the Wi-Fi version on Apple's site (although it can be had slightly cheaper if you shop around).

Buy Apple iPad mini - 16 GB, WiFi, White, White at Currys for £249

You can also add 4G cellular, which brings the price up to £349. This entry-level model comes in a single 16GB capacity, while the iPad mini with Retina display goes up to 128GB, costing a whopping £659 for the top model which also includes 4G.

Then again, the first generation iPad mini isn't about top-end specs with a whopping price tag – it's about beating the likes of the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD in the budget stakes.

The two competitors have been getting plenty of column inches thanks to their super-cheap prices and the impressive specs on board. But with both offering only a 7-inch screen compared to Apple's 7.9-inch display, the Cupertino company is confident its device will win over budget-conscious consumers.

However, more frugal shoppers may not agree with this idea, as the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD cost quite a bit less. When faced with a choice between the three, they might opt for the familiar Amazon brand or the sheer power of the Nexus 7, with its impressive spec list and legions of Google apps.

That said, Apple fans need not worry too much when it comes to whether the iPad mini is a worthy addition to the iBrand. It comes with enough power and is Ive-inspired enough to make it a worthwhile addition to the range. This isn't a shrunken-down iPad, it's a whole new product all over again.

Be it the larger screen size, impressively low weight or alternative design compared to the competition, there's a lot to chew over when it comes to the iPad mini. But is it worth spending your hard-earned cash when a handful more will get you larger version of Apple's tablet? And how does it stack up next to the second-generation mini with its higher resolution display and faster hardware?

Features and design

The iPad mini exists because the market started to dictate its presence…but that doesn't mean Apple doesn't want to put its own spin on things.

To that end, the border has been reduced and the screen is larger at 7.9 inches relative to the dimensions of the original iPad. Additionally, the design is completely different to the likes of the Google Nexus 7. In fact the whole ethos has been created from the ground up, partly under the stewardship of Sir Jony Ive, according to Apple.

None of that really matters though. What is important is the fact that it's a superbly designed device that gives a measure of why it costs so much more than the likes of the Kindle Fire HD.

The aluminium chassis shares the same colouring as the iPhone 5S, with the darker black slate and white silver options both bringing a touch of class to proceedings.

At 308g it's twice the weight and then some of the iPhone 5S, but compared to other tablets on the market (and combined with the aluminium chassis) it feels lightweight in the hand.

The screen is something of a worry though – with the 1024x768 resolution in the expansive display, you only get a sharpness akin to the iPhone 3GS. While the display quality is better than that thanks to improved IPS LCD technology, it's still light years behind the Retina display on the bigger iPad Air and the second-generation mini.

If you own a modern iPad, you'll notice the difference straight away. But then if you have one of these, then you won't want an iPad mini.

The tablet will struggle to impress iPhone users, as it doesn't have the wow factor of Apple's smaller devices.

In a side-by-side test of the same movie running on the iPad mini, the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, the iPad looked the least impressive (although the contrast ratio was certainly more than decent in my eyes).

Then there's the issue of holding the actual tablet. As Apple says, it's as light as a pad of legal paper, and there's definitely no risk of it causing wrist strain. However, the iPad mini doesn't really lend itself that well to any manner of grip.

The most comfortable and secure way to hold a tablet is to grip right around the back – something Apple thinks you can do easily according to its promotional materials.

Well, you're wrong there, Cupertino-gadget-people. It's just too far to stretch around with average-sized hands. Instead you're forced to hold it in the corner, covering part of the screen. It's good that Apple has chucked some technology in there to distinguish an intentional touch from an accidental one, but it's not the most comfortable way to use the device.

In landscape orientation using two hands, the iPad mini is a much nicer device to hold, with the aluminium covering giving it a nicely textured back. However, the aluminium covering similar to the iPhone 5 has led to another design problem: scratching.

The handsets have been getting criticism for exposing the silver metal below with minimal scratching. This started to happen within a day on the iPad mini – which is all the more confusing seeing as it doesn't live in the pocket with keys and coins.

It's something we hoped Apple would have changed in the manufacturing process, and means you'll need to keep an eye on how you look after the tablet or invest in a protective case immediately.

The top and bottom of the bezel are wide enough to comfortably rest your hands on, while web browsing and accelerometer-based gaming in landscape orientation is excellent.

The rest of the design is predictably ergonomic. The volume rocker keys are close but not too near to the mute switch on the top right-hand side.

This is near the power button, which is intuitively placed to be easy to hit when you want to reactivate the iPad mini… although many will just hit the home button to achieve the same thing.

The traditional Apple home key remains, although it's shrunken somewhat to fit into the smaller chassis. However, during testing I found it just as easy to hit, despite the dinkier dimensions.

It's interesting that Apple has popped the headphone jack at the top of the iPad mini, given it's put so much effort into repositioning it at the bottom of the iPhone 5S and 5C... but I do prefer it staying above the screen.

The speakers sit at the bottom of the iPad mini, flanking the Lightning connector, which offers faster speeds of data transfer and can be connected either way round. This is handy when you're charging before bed and can't be bothered to put the light on.

The speakers provide decent enough sound, but in landscape mode they create a distorted sense of audio because of their mono-directional firing.

The processor inside is Apple's last-generation A5 effort, which may worry some, but it's likely to be enough for most actions, coupled as it is with 512MB of RAM. It's still miles away from the raw grunt of the new Google Nexus 7 or the iPad Air with its A7 processor, but Apple reckons it helps it hit a sweet spot in terms of price.

Apple also has expertise in optimising iOS to run as well as possible on older hardware, and iOS 7.1 certainly restored a lot of the snappiness that had been lost with the move from iOS 6 to 7.

The iPad Mini's extremely whittled-down side bezels are much less conspicuous than the larger iPad's bezels, which always made it resemble a MacBook screen that had floated away from its keyboard. The Mini truly feels like a large iPod Touch, which is exactly what we used to call the iPad back in 2010. It's far more apt now.

You probably won't think that, though, because the iPad Mini won't easily fit in your pocket, or even your jacket pocket. It's more of a purse, small bag, or large-coat-pocket device. It'll fit wherever you'd fit a softcover book.
The construction feels solid, stellar, fun to hold. The home button clicks crisply. It doesn't feel like a lower-priced product in your hands. It might be, in terms of form, the most addictive iOS product in existence. And it's perfectly sized for kid hands. It's far more suited for use in cars and traveling.

But the Mini shouldn't be a surprising product. A device smaller than the iPad that can run apps? That's always existed. That's called the iPhone. The really impressive feat of the iPad Mini, the surprise, is that it seems to handle all the iPad's normal duties while being shrunken down. All except effortless onscreen typing, although it comes close.

Interface and Performance

Onto the iPad mini interface. iOS 7 was a complete redesign that ditched the gradient-heavy look that had been around since the introduction of the first iPhone.

While it was a bit of a shock at first, the general consensus is that it was a much-needed shake-up by Jony Ive who replaced the ousted Scot Forstall as interface designer.

Buy Apple iPad mini - 16 GB, WiFi, White, White at Currys for £249

Gone are most of the shadows in favour of a much flatter design. Since iOS 7 runs on all recent iPads, iPhones and iPod touches (I'm currently testing version 7.1 here), it should be a familiar experience to anyone with an existing Apple device.

Holding the iPad mini in portrait mode is easy enough thanks to the weight. Prodding the icons on screen isn't too difficult, nor does it feel like you're going to push the tablet out of your hands and onto the floor.

The iOS interface is simplicity itself. Any users not familiar with Apple's mobile operating system will pick it up in no time. The icons are presented in a 4 by 5 layout, and unlike on the iPhone they rotate when you move the tablet into landscape format.

The ability to place icons in the bottom dock means you can have the apps you want on the home screen. Dragging and dropping said apps on top of one another allows you to create folders with ease, which you can rename to anything you want.

With iOS 7, Apple has greatly improved the number of controls you can access directly from the Home screen, and indeed from any screen.

To enter the app switcher, simply double-click on the Home button to see a Cover Flow-style view of all your app windows. Swiping left and right lets you see all the apps that are open but in a 'suspended' state, while tapping on one launches it.

Swiping on the screens themselves scrolls them normally, but swiping on the app icons moves them more quickly, which is great if you have lots of apps open that aren't currently in use. Force quitting apps is done in this view by swiping upwards on an app window, and you can use two fingers to quit two apps at once.

As iOS matured, there were increasingly loud grumblings about the fact that many commonly used controls were buried in subsections of the Settings app, with only volume, brightness and AirPlay available via quick controls. Thankfully Apple has addressed this with a new control overlay that you call up by swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen.

There are buttons here for volume and brightness, AirDrop and AirPlay, music or video playback, as well as shortcuts to the clock, timer and camera functions. Perhaps best of all, a row of five buttons in the centre provides quick on/off switches for Airplane mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb mode and rotation lock.

These were almost all available in iOS 6 but much more fiddly to get to, requiring drilling down into various different Settings menus. Do Not Disturb is a new, handy mode that stops all notifications except for any you choose specifically to allow.

The Lock screen will show the cover art of any music track that's playing and also gives you playback and volume controls as well as a shortcut to Camera mode. Handily, the Control Centre overlay can also be swiped in from the Lock screen.

Searching your iPad is done using Spotlight and this is revealed from any Home screen by swiping downwards form the centre of the screen with one finger.

It searches pretty much all the content on the device, though you can exclude certain things like Notes or Messages from searches in the Settings. If you search for something that isn't on the device you get an option to run the search on the web or Wikipedia.

However, Apple is still catering for the iPad owners with some handy gestures to make things easier to move around. Instead of double tapping the home button to switch apps, touching the screen with four fingers and swiping left and right will move you through the most recently-used apps, and pinching all digits together will return you to the home screen.

This is really helpful when using the tablet on the move, as it means you don't need to shuffle the palm around to hit the home button - and it's really cool too. It's an even more intuitive system on the iPad mini than the iPad 'proper', as it somehow fits the screen size better.

By default, iOS 7 does quite a lot of animation when you open and close apps, and has a slightly space-age "parallax" effect that uses the built-in gyroscope to move the wallpaper slightly to the left or right depending on how you tilt the device.

This isn't to everyone's taste: indeed some users reported it gave them motion sickness. Luckily it can be disabled by going into Settings > Accessibility and choosing Reduce Motion, where you will also find options to increase contrast and reduce transparency effects.

Disabling these settings lightens the processing load, so they are worth looking at if you're not particularly partial to zooming.

The Notification Centre, revealed by swiping down from the top of any Home screen, can show notifications from any supported apps and you can enable or disable these using the Settings app.

By default you'll see a Calendar view with a weather summary, but you can also see messages, emails, eBay notifications and much more here if you choose to switch them on.

Apple might be criticised for bringing older technology to the iPad mini, as the A5 chip with 512MB of RAM doesn't sound like a lot when you can buy the quad core Google Nexus 4 smartphone with 2GB of RAM for the same price as the mini, and with the same amount of storage too.

However, in practice it's really rather hard to fault Apple's interface performance when using the device in day to day use. It's definitely not got the grunt of the larger new iPad Air or even the iPad mini 2, but the performance of iOS 7.1 even on this older hardware is still perfectly acceptable.

The only real gripe, and it's one you'll hear time and again from me throughout this iPad mini review, is the fact that the screen is too low-res.

It simply saddens me to see menus we're used to on both iPads and iPhones not having the same sharpness as before... and we're certainly not used to seeing Apple take a step back in quality.

If you've never used a top end smartphone or tablet, this won't be an issue as the display is fine, and technically still HD in terms of pixel count. But the Retina display on the mini 2 is unquestionably superior and once you're used to Retina quality the lower resolution of the older screens is very noticeable.

Gripping, swiping, and typing: Thumbs and fingers
So, what about that smaller bezel? Holding it suddenly becomes a delicate-seeming proposition. I worried I'd accidentally start an app with my big palms, or turn a page by accident. That didn't happen to me. Apple has worked finger-rejection technology into the hardware and software of the iPad Mini that's context-dependent. All I know is that when reading books on the Kindle app or iBooks, I found holding on the side wasn't a problem. When I typed, the entire edge-to-edge surface became sensitive to my entire hand.

In landscape mode, the longer and thicker top and bottom bezel come in handy: it offers more of a grip when viewing videos, and I found that it also helped make the iPad Mni comfier when playing games.
The tweener size of the Mini means you can hold it in portrait mode and thumb-type like on an iPhone or iPod. It works pretty well, for the most part. I was even able to thumb-type in landscape mode, with a little stretching. Typing more traditionally works better than I expected, although I became more of a finger hunt-and-pecker than a spread-finger typist. The 7.9-inch display certainly isn't as wide as the average laptop keyboard, and the virtual keys, while well-sized, require a bit of adjustment to use.
You can also hold the iPad Mini in one hand and thumb-swipe, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's not as intuitive as on an iPhone, although it could be fine for simple page-turning taps.

The screen: Retina-free
Your feelings about the iPad Mini's screen will all depend on how much time you've spent with Retina Displays or high-pixel-count devices. If you own a recent iPhone or the last iPad, you'll feel that this screen is blurry. Text isn't as sharp. The pixels per inch don't even match what's available on a Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD. The iPad Mini has a 1,024x768-pixel display, just like the iPad 2's, but writ smaller with a denser pixel count per inch. However, the smaller-screened Kindle Fire HD has a 1,280x800-pixel display. So does the Google Nexus 7. The Nook HD has an even higher-res display at 1,440x900 pixels.

*The Nexus 7, iPad Mini, Nook HD, and Kindle Fire HD. Josh Miller/CNET*

All three cost considerably less than the iPad Mini, and all three have much higher, denser pixel counts. The iPad Mini's 7.9-inch screen has more physical real estate in terms of square inches (let's just call it an 8-inch screen, because it very nearly is), but fewer pixels per inch. You're trading size for high-res crispness.
So, the iPad Mini not only has a lower-resolution screen than much of the competition, but it's probably the least impressive screen of Apple's 2012 stable of iOS devices. The iPod Touch, iPhone 5, and fourth-gen iPad all seem brighter, more vibrant, and far higher-definition.

However, if you've used an iPad 2, the text is crisper. It's readable, even with smaller fonts such as those used in e-mail. With games and videos, you won't notice quite as much because graphics and videos are often in constant motion. Even there, though, I could see a clear difference playing HD videos and a variety of games. The IPS display has excellent wide-angle viewing, and it's very bright. It may not be as good as a Retina Display, but it's every bit as good as the iPad 2's screen. I held both up side by side and found the colors and vibrancy to be similar, although the iPad Mini is less bright at its highest setting. In deeper, in-depth tests using CNET's TV-testing equipment, the iPad Mini's display was revealed to indeed be less bright at its highest setting, but also less color-accurate than the nearly-perfect Retina Displays on the iPhone 5 and third and fourth-gen iPads. When looking at photos or movies, you can definitely tell the difference side-by-side.
Even if, for all the incredible design that the iPad Mini has going for it otherwise, that screen feels like a comparative letdown, there's big ace in the iPad Mini's hole. A huge one, actually. It has to do with aspect ratio.
This 7.9-inch display isn't 16:9 like the iPhone 5 or most Android tablets. That means the screen width is wider, more like a page of a book. It's the same as on the iPad, but on this smaller screen, with the iPad Mini's shrunken-down side bezels like an iPod Touch, it feels extra-wide. Web pages fit more across the screen, allowing the text to be bigger. More importantly, digital magazines and illustrated books can be rendered without squishing down too much.
Apple's made a big deal of this, but let me tell you the real killer apps here: the future of digital publications. Textbooks. Basically, any layout-sensitive graphically intensive e-books. The iPad Mini doesn't squish that content down like what often happens to it on 16:10 7-inch screens. An iBooks version of DK Publishing's "Dinosaurs" looked wonderful and engaging. So did the kids' book/app "Bobo Explores Light."

Maybe most impressively, nearly every larger iPad app I've thrown at it feels usable and comfortable at this smaller screen size. Board games with tiny buttons, media-editing apps, games with virtual control pads, and even using the onscreen virtual keyboard. It's book-size, but the apps feel largely the same.

iPad Mini as e-reader
You could be of two minds about this. Yes, the non-Retina Display means text that's less sharp. It feels like a miscalculation on a device so clearly targeted at reading. Yet, hold the iPad Mini back a foot and increase the font size, and you probably won't notice.

The more booklike 4:3 aspect ratio and its more natural compatibility with PDF files, comics, magazines, and layout-sensitive graphic novels give the iPad Mini an edge over other 7-inch tablets. For pure text, the Mini may not be the best. For other media, it has its advantages, even without a Retina Display. I never found myself unable to enjoy a magazine or book, although I did find myself wishing the resolution were sharper (reading the "Dark Knight Returns" comic, in particular).

One big advantage of the iPad Mini with iOS: it's compatible with all the big services (Kindle, Nook, Google Books). It's the closest to a universal e-book reader.

iPad Mini as video player
That 4:3 aspect ratio has a drawback, of course, and that's video playing. Movies and HD TV shows will inevitably be more letterboxed than on a 16:9 tablet like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. On a Retina Display iPad, you at least have enough pixels to make for sharp video viewing in the space provided. On a 1,024x768-pixel display, it means the letterboxed video has an even lower resolution.

Most shows still look very watchable, no worse than on the iPad 2 (and a little better since the pixels are smaller), and there are plenty of apps and services that the iPad Mini is compatible with, from subscription-based streaming to cable accessory TV apps to video stores like iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. The iPad Mini has the greatest flexibility for apps and services among competing tablets, which is its huge edge.

Two speakers tucked on either side of the Lightning connector on the bottom edge pump out decent volume for such a small device. They're good enough to listen to music and videos with. Two aluminum volume buttons on the right edge are flat like on the iPhone 5, but longer, and not tapered like the plastic iPad's volume button. They're easy to feel for and press.

iOS 6
For more on all the various features of iOS 6, read CNET editor Jason Parker's full review. Most the iOS 6 features you'd expect are here, including Siri, which is curiously absent from the equally well-equipped iPad 2. Apple's Passbook app, oddly, didn't make the cut, even though it's included on the iPod Touch.

Of course, Apple's controversial Maps app is also present, with 3D Flyover and direction capabilities. I haven't been able to test whether turn-by-turn works on the LTE version.

Siri

Oh, hello Siri – what are you doing here? Given the iPad 2's processor is the same as in the iPad mini, surely it can't handle Siri? So however did it find its way onto this device? (Yes, I'm looking at you, Apple.)
But, there it is, and nicely incorporated too. The little pop-up window that gives access to the voice recognition is nicely unobtrusive. The accuracy is much improved over the first iteration of the software, and the range of functionality also enhanced.

With its ability to tell you how your football team is doing, what the weather's like in Paris and to open an app on command, the iPad mini has the same implementation as the iPhone when it comes to Siri…and therefore as much use.
There's no way you'll ask it to book an appointment for you, because a) it doesn't always work, and you'll wish you had just typed it in, and b) you're likely to be with someone, and the risk of failure and looking stupid in front of them is too high to try it.
The Google Now cards on Android are much better when it comes to information, as being told what's going on with your team is easier than having to ask for it. Both are different systems, but Siri is never going to gain mass appeal until it finally becomes almost unerringly accurate at recognising what you're saying.
I still like the little pop-up window, though, and you can now hold down the home button for as long as you need to speak to Siri which makes the process a little easier.

iPad Mini as camera
One improvement in the iPad Mini compared with the iPad 2 is its cameras. It has a 5-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera and a FaceTime HD front-facing camera, the same cameras that are on the third-gen iPad and later. The fifth-gen iPod Touch has a better camera, with more features and an LED flash. The Mini lacks app features such as HDR and Panorama, although other apps from the App Store have those functions.

The point is, the Mini's cameras are more than good enough for snapshots, 1080p video recording, and high-quality FaceTime calls. They're above average for budget-tablet cameras.

*Photo taken with the Mini's back camera. My taste can be discussed later. Scott Stein/CNET*

Holding the iPad Mini is an easier affair, so it's also feasible to use this device to take photos and video, something I've yet to see a normal friend of mine do with a larger iPad. It's not your next point-and-shoot, but it could do in a pinch. Photos taken with the Mini turned around are about as good as any iPad photo I've ever seen.

Smart Cover, gone mini
The iPad Mini even has its own little Smart Cover ($39) available in six colors, although the design is different from the larger version available for the 9.7-inch iPad. The all-polyurethane design doesn't have an aluminum latch, so it grips more softly to the Mini's side. The cover also has one fewer segment in its folding design.

The Smart Cover still folds up to be a stand or a keyboard riser, but it joins into a similar triangle with no fold-over. It's just strong enough to support the iPad Mini, working equally well for typing and for picture-stand use. And it feels a bit more fun on a smaller device.

Unfortunately, just like with the larger iPad, the Smart Cover doesn't protect the iPad Mini's back. People will be tempted to buy a full-body case or a back cover as well.

In the box: Lightning and charger, no headphones
The included gear is -- as always -- limited when it comes to the iPad. The iPad Mini includes a Lightning cable and an AC adapter, which is actually the smaller version that comes with the iPhone 5. The two are cross-compatible. No larger AC brick is needed.
EarPods, Apple's newly designed headphones, are not included. Earbuds never came with any other iPad, either.

The new Lightning connector, introduced with the iPhone 5, is easier to plug in and takes up less space, but most other gadgets use Micro-USB. Extra Lightning cables can add HDMI-out and camera/SD card slot input capabilities. If you have older 30-pin connectors you can use a separate adapter, although it's not guaranteed that it'll mean a fit with older accessories and devices.

Battery life
Apple claims 10 hours of battery life for the iPad Mini, 9 hours using LTE. That's equivalent to the claims for the larger fourth-gen iPad, and iPads in general going back to 2010.
Our battery test told an even better story: the iPad Mini held up through 12.1 hours of video playback, which is remarkable for such a small tablet. The Nexus 7, comparatively, only lasted 8.4 hours on the same test. Over a week of use the Mini seemed to last well more than a full day of use, and then some. After playing games, streaming videos, downloading large files, and using the tablet for everything I could think of, I had a hard time fully depleting its battery over the course of a single day. The new fourth-gen iPad lasted an hour longer at 13.1 hours, but you'd expect it to.

Source

Engadget Apple iPad Mini Reviews (Critic Reviews 8.6/10, User Reviews 8.8/10)

Techradar Apple iPad Mini Reviews (4.5/5)

CNET Apple iPad Mini Reviews (CNET Editor's Rating 4/5, Average User Rating 3.5/5)

The Good The iPad Mini's ultrathin and light design is far more intimate and booklike than the larger iPad, and its cameras, storage capacities, optional LTE antenna, and general functionality offer a full iPad experience. The screen's dimensions elegantly display larger-format magazines and apps.

The Bad The iPad Mini costs too much, especially considering the lower resolution of its 7.9-inch non-Retina Display. The A5 processor isn't as robust as the one in the fourth-gen iPad and iPhone 5. Typing on the smaller screen is not quite as comfy.

The Bottom Line If you want the full, polished Apple tablet experience in a smaller package, the iPad Mini is worth the premium price. Otherwise, good alternatives are available for less money.

Official Website

Where to Buy

Official Website

$299.99 New Egg Apple iPad mini 16GB 7.9" Wi-Fi - White/Silver (MD531LL/A)*$1.99 Shipping

$299.00 Walmart Apple iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi (Space Gray or White)*free shipping availabe

$263.89 Ebay Apple iPad mini 16GB, Wi-Fi, 7.9in - Space Gray*APPLE WARRANTY FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING

$299.00 Target Apple® iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi - Space Gray (MF432LL/A)

$299.99 Best Buy Apple® - iPad® mini Wi-Fi - 16GB - Space Gray*free shipping

$299.99 Toysrus Apple iPad mini 16GB - Silver

$279.45 Amazon Apple iPad Mini MF432LL/A (16GB, Wi-Fi, black)*free shipping