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3:28 PM
avin
Previously tipping the iPad mini as one of the first true rivals to the iPad’s mantle of tablet king, five months on from launch and the Google Nexus 7 rival is still coming into its own, outselling its 9.7-inch sibling and marking itself out as the most desirable offering in all of tablet land. What's more, since the iPad mini hit retailers, there has been no sign of a device to truely rival it despite the MWC unveiling of the stylus toting Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.
Virtually as good as new five months into life, the brushed aluminium rear of the iPad mini review unit we have been making use of plays host to just a couple of small scratches, despite being tossed around in bags, suffered a few knocks and drops and accompanied us on multiple trips to the US and across Europe. Protected only by the official iPad mini Smart Cover, the device’s screen is without damage, standing up well to the rigors of heavy, everyday use. That said, the iPad mini’s oleophbic coating isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, with smeared fingerprints the cause for a screenwipe always being at hand.
In terms of connectivity, the 4G iPad mini, paired with an EE contract has come into its own, allowing us largely uninterrupted access to online content whilst on the move and away from Wi-Fi hotspots.
Offering strong signal strength in areas of good coverage, the 4G iPad mini connection is let down only by the limited 4G coverage currently bestowed upon the UK. Although the 4G services can be patchy at times, the tablet seamlessly transitions to 3G networks when required, ensuring our online activities have remain uninterrupted. What's more, with EE recently confirming 4G is now available across 50 UK towns and cities, the draw of a 4G contract continues to grow stronger.
The main area where the iPad mini has failed to continue to shine five months after launch, is its display. Although we highlighted the iPad mini screen as an area for improvement during the original review, during the past few months, the niggling issue of its lack of a Retina display has continued to grow. Although still more than perfectly acceptable, when reading text-based content, such as through apps such as Pages, there is noticeable pixilation to the characters.
Although the 64GB iPad mini is now brimmed with all manner of content, from photos, videos and music to apps and games, the tablet shows no sign of slowing down, quickly and effortlessly jumping between content and keeping the user experience, smooth, free-flowing and efficient.
Five months after launch, the iPad mini remains the must-have device on the 7-inch tablet scene. What’s more, at present it looks likely only to be replaced atop the tablet podium by its heavily rumoured replacement, the iPad mini 2.
