So I picked up a iPad mini this morning and have been using a Nexus 7 tablet for the last few months and thought id share my first impressions.
1. Screen size- I like the fact that the screen is bigger/wider. The brightness and text look great. I have never used a retina device more then for a few minutes so it looks fine to me. The Nexus 7 would auto dim and then not come back to brightness a lot which was annoying, it would just randomly do it, not cause of any lighting changes. The Nexus 7 screen is still a good screen but the quality and colors are a bit lacking. I cant really notice the higher res difference either between the two.
2. Performance- The Mini is fast and fluid, I have yet to encounter a slow down. The Nexus 7 had some browser lag and scrolling lag on the home screen, but overall it ran great as well. Both open apps very fast, and can run multiple apps at once fine.
Update: I have noticed while in the App store that when scrolling through a bunch of free apps while installing and downloading multiple apps the store begins to slow down a bit when refreshing the screen as you go down through the list. I have only noticed this when doing a ton of stuff at once. Anyone else have the same issue?
Wi-fi- The wifi performance is much better on the mini, sitting in the same room and same distance from my router with both devices I have full bars vs having half bars with the Nexus, also my Nexus had issues losing its wifi signal when waking up multiple times, requiring a reboot since I owned it. So far the mini does not have this issue.
3. Keyboard- The Mini keyboard input is better. I like how it is bigger with the wider screen and the key input feedback just feels tighter and better executed. I have smaller hands and I can use both tablets just fine, and the mini actually feels a bit better using just my thumbs to type given the wider screen.
4. Apps- The main reason I switched to the Mini was better apps and I can say it was a good switch. The same apps I have on my Nexus 7 are just overall better on the iPad Mini, plus I can finally use some apps that were missing from the google play store.
5. Build Quality- Hands down the Mini, It feels great in your hands and is SUPER lightweight. The Nexus 7 a, being that it is cheaper also feels cheaper, but it did not feel like a plastic pos like some people make it out to be, it is a lightweight device that feels solid in your hands, although for some reason after holding it for awhile my palms wold hurt, which might be from the way the bezel is designed. For the money the build quality is okay, but you can tell for the extra price in the Mini the build quality beats it by far.
Overall- Both are great tablets, I like to try all different kinds of technology so it was not that i didn't like the Nexus 7, I just wanted better apps and to try an iPad for the first time, and so far I am glad I did. For the extra 129 dollars, I think most people that have not had a 7 inch tablet before and want to stay in the apple land of things will really enjoy this product. I do not think it is going to make all of the android 7 inch tablet fans run over to the apple side of things, but it does shake up the landscape a bit and for the money, is a solid device. I mean come on its 329 dollars, not like its the end of the world lol.
Hope you all enjoy my quick first impressions, thought some of you might care what a real user thinks and not haters/fan boys think lol.
