iPad mini AnandTech's iPad mini w/ Retina review is out!

[ob81]

Great review

But the mini and air battle has been summed up already - It depends on the size you prefer. The screen is a non-issue.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Trusted reviews gave in 10 as well.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/ipad-...s-camera-and-verdict_Page-3#tr-review-summary

Yeah but lets face facts no reviews are as exhaustive or as thorough as Anand's.

 

[rovex]

Just curious, why does Anandtech's review has so much more weight than other reviews? People seems to trust it more. Why?

Just look at how much detail he goes through, and then compare it to engadget review..... Like night and day.

 

[joshwithachance]

Trusted reviews gave in 10 as well.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/ipad-...s-camera-and-verdict_Page-3#tr-review-summary

They must've adjusted the review score because it's showing a 9/10 now.

 

[AdonisSMU]

They must've adjusted the review score because it's showing a 9/10 now.

For display.

 

[C. Robert]

Thats it! Im returning my rMINI. Im tired of all this apple garbage. Im returning my iPhone 5 cause iOS is for little girls, my rMBP is all slow a jumpy, my lightning cable keeps breaking(even if I never use it), my 5s keeps getting hacked and has light bleed. If I'm in a 100% dark room, looking at a black screen, and with the brightness turned all the way up. Its all garbage.....shut this site down. Apple is going bankrupt.

 

[asleep]

Just curious, why does Anandtech's review has so much more weight than other reviews? People seems to trust it more. Why?

Probably because he's been writing about tech since the late 90's and more often than not does a really thorough job of reviewing devices. He generally knows what he's talking about -- even if you ignore the opinion pieces, the tests and benchmarks are usually a cut above most review sites.

Yeah but lets face facts no reviews are as exhaustive or as thorough as Anand's.

Just look at how much detail he goes through, and then compare it to engadget review..... Like night and day.

Yep, most everything else is fluff in comparison to Anand's reviews. Even though he personally prefers the rMini, his review allowed us to see where the Air outshined it. His are the gold standard, imo.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Yep, most everything else is fluff in comparison to Anand's reviews. Even though he personally prefers the rMini, his review allowed us to see where the Air outshined it. His are the gold standard, imo.

I disagree with him on the size thing. But it is clear that smaller is better for his needs.

 

[iosuser]

Every time I read one of Anand's reviews that brings up the 2013 Nexus 7 battery life, I can't help but wonder how he can achieve double of what I can get on my bone stock Nexus 7. I have a hard time getting more than 6 hours of just surfing and videos. Meanwhile I easily get 15-17 hours from my iPad Air, while Anand puts it at an even 10 hours

I routinely get 12-14 hours from the old Mini, the retina looks to be about the same, yet Anand has them both under 10 hours...

What am I doing wrong on my Nexus 7, and what's he doing wrong on his iPads lol.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Every time I read one of Anand's reviews that brings up the 2013 Nexus 7 battery life, I can't help but wonder how he can achieve double of what I can get on my bone stock Nexus 7. I have a hard time getting more than 6 hours of just surfing and videos. Meanwhile I easily get 15-17 hours from my iPad Air, while Anand puts it at an even 10 hours

I routinely get 12-14 hours from the old Mini, the retina looks to be about the same, yet Anand has them both under 10 hours...

What am I doing wrong on my Nexus 7, and what's he doing wrong on his iPads lol.

I actually have to force the iPads to go down to 0%. Otherwise they never would. Nexus 7 stays on 10% full.

 

[Cdumitru78]

I am certainly disappointed about the short-comings, but I was only ever considering the Mini. The Air wouldn't work for me. People totally need to buy based on their needs and nothing else.

I won't let a few flaws get in the way of me enjoying a smaller form-factor. I have had my Mini since Wednesday and am loving it.

So true, I think everyone needs to relax and buy for their needs. I badly wanted to like the Air, it seems to be a great device. The way I use it though, around the house and on the go, I just like the portability of the Mini, so much easier to handle, and now so much faster!

After reading all these threads, I did the burn test and looked for yellow and blue tinting, nothing is there, the screen is perfect.

 

[shortcut3d]

Every time I read one of Anand's reviews that brings up the 2013 Nexus 7 battery life, I can't help but wonder how he can achieve double of what I can get on my bone stock Nexus 7. I have a hard time getting more than 6 hours of just surfing and videos. Meanwhile I easily get 15-17 hours from my iPad Air, while Anand puts it at an even 10 hours

I routinely get 12-14 hours from the old Mini, the retina looks to be about the same, yet Anand has them both under 10 hours...

What am I doing wrong on my Nexus 7, and what's he doing wrong on his iPads lol.

Anand's battery life test routine could simply favor the Nexus 7. It may be an Android vs iOS or specific Nexus 7 hardware mix or tuning. Anand's test are extreme and do not necessarily represent an individual's usage.

 

[metsjetsfan]

What are the chances they improve th color gamut in Q1 2014 with a new supplier?

 

[Puonti]

last year I was really close to getting the 1st gen mini, but wound up getting the iPad 4 instead, so maybe the size and weight will be enough to win me over.

As far as the iPad mini Retina and iPad Air are concerned and assuming money isn't an issue, I believe in the end the decision comes down to size. Regardless of the tablet's size you might have other needs that will determine wether a particular model is even a contender. If you need to hardware calibrate the display for accurate colors you'll go with Air because it'll yield better results than the Retina mini. If you need a tablet that'll perform faster for longer periods of intense use such as audio work you'll go with the Air because it has better thermal characteristics. You'll ignore size because you have more important needs.

If you don't have such or similar, strict requirements then you're looking at the situations where you'll be using the tablet and how portability plays into that. I'd wager most who have trouble picking one over the other don't really know what they need / how they use a tablet (yet).

 

[syd430]

What are the chances they improve th color gamut in Q1 2014 with a new supplier?

Zero. The two panels would be of totally different spec. That's grounds for a class action lawsuit for early adopters that were given a blatantly inferior product. A product being sold and marketed as exactly the same thing, when clearly it is not.

If they want to upgrade the display in Q1, they can, but they have to make it clear that the product has changed and that it's not exactly the same product, even if it has the same name.

In any event, they won't do it because they probably have no reason to.

See this post for further explanation:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18366521#post18366521

 

[AdonisSMU]

As far as the iPad mini Retina and iPad Air are concerned and assuming money isn't an issue, I believe in the end the decision comes down to size. Regardless of the tablet's size you might have other needs that will determine wether a particular model is even a contender. If you need to hardware calibrate the display for accurate colors you'll go with Air because it'll yield better results than the Retina mini. If you need a tablet that'll perform faster for longer periods of intense use such as audio work you'll go with the Air because it has better thermal characteristics. You'll ignore size because you have more important needs.

If you don't have such or similar, strict requirements then you're looking at the situations where you'll be using the tablet and how portability plays into that. I'd wager most who have trouble picking one over the other don't really know what they need / how they use a tablet (yet).

I can get buy just fine with a mini but the Air is much more fun....but Ive been going back and forth all day.

 

[Tom the MacUser]

Zero. The two panels would be of totally different spec. That's grounds for a class action lawsuit for early adopters that were given a blatantly inferior product. A product being sold and marketed as exactly the same thing, when clearly it is not.

See this post for further explanation:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18366521#post18366521

I have 2 rMinis with screens that look different. One has image retention and better contrast ratio, brightness, and color accuracy, and does not look washed out compared to Air. The gamut on both rMinis looks similar though. See https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18377416/

 

[benjones]

Great review but something interesting about the Air vs rMini display comparison photos.

Here is Anand's comparison shot:

Here is a copy of that wallpaper to use as a baseline:

Now on my 98% sRGB color gamut screen which has had a professional monitor color calibration for photography work the red/orange triangles at the top and bottom which are being so highly criticised on the rMini are actually orange not red.

This suggests that in their current default state the rMini screen has a higher color accuracy than the Air. Many colors on the Air are over saturated, the rMini looks just about bang on. I will admit there is one exception in that the violet/purple is out on both the Air and the rMini.

I read another forum post that stated the main issue isn't gamut but actually the lack of calibrated screen profiles and that does seem quite likely. Apple really needs to push out some corrected color profiles for both of these screens.

Has anyone compared some actual high quality photos on the two devices? That would prove far more useful than this pointless wallpaper that has no real reference point.

 

[dandrewk]

So, let me get this straight. Every single media review of the rMini thus far has been nothing short of glowing. Yes, even AnandTech's review. Glowing. Yet, the usual whiners here cherry pick some PERCEIVED criticisms from AT's review and quote them, often out of context, to support their exaggerated claims. The end result of Anand choosing the rMini as the tablet of choice is conveniently ignored.

Nothing new to see here, move along. Typical of MacRumor forums. I welcome those folks into the land of Android, a place they seem to love so well. Good luck with that kludged together, clunky OS with lightning fast obsolescence and nonexistent cross compatibility. Stolen technology only gets you so far.

The rMini is far from perfect. Same goes for the Air. But they are the gold standard compared to some of the sorry tablets being referred to in this thread.

 

[prism]

Hmmm, I'm wondering if the rMini uses IGZO considering that it is thicker than the original mini. Does anyone know?

 

[syd430]

I have 2 rMinis with screens that look different. One has image retention and better contrast ratio, brightness, and color accuracy, and does not look washed out compared to Air. The gamut on both rMinis looks similar though. See https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18377416/

Yeah, that's normal manufacturing variances though that all LCD panels have. Moving from a cheaper 60% sRGB panel to a more expensive 110% sRGB panel is not quite the same thing.

 

[DesertEagle]

Now on my 98% sRGB color gamut screen which has had a professional monitor color calibration for photography work the red/orange triangles at the top and bottom which are being so highly criticised on the rMini are actually orange not red.

This suggests that in their current default state the rMini screen has a higher color accuracy than the Air. Many colors on the Air are over saturated, the rMini looks just about bang on. I will admit there is one exception in that the violet/purple is out on both the Air and the rMini.

Great posting! This is exactly why color profiles should be introduced. A professional photographer would likely prefer natural-looking colors of the mini as opposed to the over-saturated colors of the Air, in the very least when viewing or editing photos. Photo-editing is a tad easier on a 10-inch-screen, though.

----------

The Verge completely ignored this whole gamut thing. They gave the display a score of 10.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/14/5102786/ipad-mini-with-retina-display-review

They must not read these forums. How dare they!!!

I have seen all your postings in almost every Air-vs-rMini thread, and now I just have to ask you: Who are you trying to convince? The MR members or yourself? Sounds like you were torn between the two, both being perceived as sub-optimal in terms of weight/size and display, and now suffering from buyer's remorse. Not that it's any of my business, but you may want to sort this out for your own sake. Your points are altogether valid, but there's something about the way you're making them.

 

[DFZD]

I have a rMini and a N7

Not trying to be offensive, but really just curious, why do you have two small tablets? or even two tablets? Or for that matter why exactly does a person need two tablets? Just asking out of curiosity.
I have an iPod touch and a 13 MBP, and I'm trying hard to find out if I really need an iPad.

 

[Z3man]

They must've adjusted the review score because it's showing a 9/10 now.

The overall review rating was always 9 out of 10, what i meant was they gave the screen 10 out of 10 in the individual scores at the end of the review.

 

[mtneer]

Not trying to be offensive, but really just curious, why do you have two small tablets? or even two tablets? Or for that matter why exactly does a person need two tablets? Just asking out of curiosity.
I have an iPod touch and a 13 MBP, and I'm trying hard to find out if I really need an iPad.

It's a function of the use-case niche size you have. There are folks here who are buying both sizes of the iPad - one for the couch and the other for the bedstand, or one for home and another for the road etc. Nothing wrong, if they can afford it. My use case niche is much larger and my iPad 3 can still cover that.