- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Asus Eee Pad Transformer Infinity TF700
- Google Nexus 10
- Google Nexus 7
- Apple iPad 1
- Sony Tablet S
by TrustedReviews (Nov, 2012)It’s light too at just 308g (0.68lkbs) – less than half the weight of the iPad 3 - and with a thickness of 7.2mm it’s mighty thin too.
Rated 93% by by The Verge (Oct, 2012)The 1.3-pound iPad's 2048 x 1536 Retina display is still among the best we've seen on a tablet — I'd say the best, but the Nexus 10's display is also pretty great.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Apple iPad mini compared to the Apple iPad 4
“7.9
iOS 6
Rated 90% by by The Verge (Oct, 2012)But regardless of market positioning, the iPad mini has to be viewed in a world with a $199 Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD — two strong performers that are a far cry, at least in price, from the iPad mini.
9.7”
iOS 6
by TrustedReviews (Oct, 2012)Apple hasn't updated the display on the iPad 4 from the stunning Retina display of the iPad 3.
screen size
7.9"
9.7"
iPad mini by The Verge (Oct, 2012)For instance, because the screen real estate is so much larger than an iPhone but icons are now roughly iPhone size, apps with lots of navigational elements can be a little less intuitive to navigate.
iPad 4 by TrustedReviews (Oct, 2012)The LCD panel also has superb colour saturation and viewing angles.
screen resolution
iPad mini by The Verge (Oct, 2012)That makes for a pixel density of 163 ppi, which as you might guess doesn't seem too terrific next to devices like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD (each 216 ppi), Nook Color HD (243 ppi), or the big daddy 4th generation iPad (264 ppi).
iPad 4 by Milanka-A.-Schneiderman--milanka13 (Dec, 2012)things I like : The retina retina display is in a class of it's own.
memory
| 0 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 1.2 MP | 2 MP |
iPad mini by The Verge (Oct, 2012)The slightly more diminutive size of the iPad mini does make the experience slightly better, and its 5 megapixel backside camera is actually not terrible for general shots.
processor
iPad 4 by The Verge (Oct, 2012)At its launch event, Apple SVP Phil Schiller said the A6X offers double the CPU and graphics performance of the A5X, which powers the third-gen iPad.
Performance Real world tests of Apple iPad mini vs Apple iPad 4
cpu speed
iPad 4 by TrustedReviews (Oct, 2012)Sporting a new Lightning connector, as debuted on the iPhone 5, and with a new Apple A6X processor, it's a modest upgrade but one that will no doubt keep the company's Christmas sales ticking along nicely.
sunspider 0.9.1 benchmark
iPad 4 by The Verge (Oct, 2012)Apple has touted improved Wi-Fi performance on the new iPad, which could also be contributing — either way, the browser performance is better than ever, though it's not an earth-shattering improvement.
battery life
10 hour
10 hour
iPad mini by TrustedReviews (Nov, 2012)Apple has managed quite a feet of engineering by giving the iPad mini an impressive 10-hr battery life, which trumps its nearest rivals by a couple of hours.
iPad 4 by Eagle-VisionBattery life is essentially the same since Bluetooth and Wifi are always on with a 75% brightness.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the iPad 4
| Supports 3G | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; be online anywhere that has cell coverage | |||
| Has a GPS | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Get directions and navigation, geotag photos | |||
| Lighter | 308 g | vs | 652 g |
| 2.1x lighter | |||
| Smaller | 135 x 200 x 7 mm | vs | 241 x 186 x 9 mm |
| 2.2x smaller | |||
Advantages compared to the iPad mini
| More storage capacity | 64 GB | vs | 32 GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2x more storage capacity; Holds more music, movies and photos | |||
| Significantly bigger screen | 9.7" | vs | 7.9" |
| More than 20% bigger screen | |||
| Much higher resolution screen | 2048 x 1536 | vs | 1024 x 768 |
| 4x higher resolution screen | |||
| Much sharper screen | 263 ppi | vs | 163 ppi |
| More than 60% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Significantly faster processor | 1.4 GHz | vs | 1 GHz |
| Around 40% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Faster sunspider 0.9.1 benchmark | 850 ms | vs | 1,426 ms |
| More than 40% faster sunspider 0.9.1 benchmark; better web browsing experience | |||
| More RAM | 1 GB | vs | 0.5 GB |
| Twice as much RAM; Better able to run big apps with lots of content | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Apple iPad mini | Apple iPad 4 | ||
 |  
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Rated by 269 users at amazon.com | Rated by 177 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by AudioBookaHolic---Issy Rated 100% by by Eagle-Vision | |
resolution
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | by TrustedReviews (Nov, 2012)The benefit of using the familiar 1,024 x 768 resolution is that the iPad mini should have no problems running any iPad apps that aren't made exclusively for the Retina display iPad.
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | Rated 83% by by c|net (Oct, 2012)A Retina Display and a lower price would have made the iPad Mini perfect.
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | by TrustedReviews (Nov, 2012)The new tablet was unveiled alongside a new iPad 4, a new Mac mini and a stunning new 13in MacBook pro Retina display, and will be arriving well in time for Christmas and Thanksgiving thanks to an iPad mini release date of 2 November.
screen
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | Rated 83% by by c|net (Oct, 2012)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.
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | Rated 83% by by c|net (Oct, 2012)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.
Apple iPad mini 32 GB Cellular | Rated 83% by by c|net (Oct, 2012)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.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 2 | Google Nexus 10 OK operating system |
 | 3 | Google Nexus 7 4-way tie: Most CPU cores |
 | 4 | Apple iPad 1 6-way tie: Supports 3G |
 | 5 | Sony Tablet S 4-way tie: Supported card formats |
 | 6 | BlackBerry PlayBook Really high resolution front camera |
 | 7 | Sony Xperia Tablet S 2-way tie: Largest amount of storage capacity |
 | 8 | Sony Xperia Tablet Z Higher resolution rear camera |
