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merrygoround

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2019
52
22
So this is my first exchange and I'm just going to do a full return and wait.

1st issue was the backlighting being uneven making it hard to look at. I found others here and reddit did a black test and it showed the screen was uneven. So I exchanged for this one, the backlight wasn't uneven noticeably to me, although it failed the black screen test(it can't do a pure black screen, it does magenta), but people had a good point, if it doesn't bother me when using it normally, its probably not a big deal.

But a couple days ago I wanted to use the camera. I know people don't use their iPad's for cameras but I do. I have an iPhone 6 and its the same camera as the iPad mini 5 and I am able to do web print photos that look amazing. I noticed that the camera had a weird fuzzy thing going on where it looks like it's in low light or like moving lines constantly moving, even outside it is fuzzy, and it can't take clear photos. I compared it to iPad mini 1s and they look better. I tried a software update and no change. It looks like a VGA digital camera/camera phone from 2004(remember those?). Even on the front-facing camera its bad(the constant fuzzy moving parts). So I think maybe this batch is just faulty in different ways. My first and second iPad mini 5 was made in the same factory 7 weeks apart. Maybe by the end of the year, they will know the kinks and work it out. I hate to give up the iPad mini 5 as its really nice to use but for $450 I think everything should be perfect or at least passable.
KWzePoe.jpg
 

AutomaticApple

Suspended
Nov 28, 2018
7,401
3,378
Massachusetts
So this is my first exchange and I'm just going to do a full return and wait.

1st issue was the backlighting being uneven making it hard to look at. I found others here and reddit did a black test and it showed the screen was uneven. So I exchanged for this one, the backlight wasn't uneven noticeably to me, although it failed the black screen test(it can't do a pure black screen, it does magenta), but people had a good point, if it doesn't bother me when using it normally, its probably not a big deal.

But a couple days ago I wanted to use the camera. I know people don't use their iPad's for cameras but I do. I have an iPhone 6 and its the same camera as the iPad mini 5 and I am able to do web print photos that look amazing. I noticed that the camera had a weird fuzzy thing going on where it looks like it's in low light or like moving lines constantly moving, even outside it is fuzzy, and it can't take clear photos. I compared it to iPad mini 1s and they look better. I tried a software update and no change. It looks like a VGA digital camera/camera phone from 2004(remember those?). Even on the front-facing camera its bad(the constant fuzzy moving parts). So I think maybe this batch is just faulty in different ways. My first and second iPad mini 5 was made in the same factory 7 weeks apart. Maybe by the end of the year, they will know the kinks and work it out. I hate to give up the iPad mini 5 as its really nice to use but for $450 I think everything should be perfect or at least passable.
KWzePoe.jpg
The camera isn’t terrible in the right lighting conditions.
 
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sracer

macrumors G4
Apr 9, 2010
10,408
13,293
where hip is spoken
So this is my first exchange and I'm just going to do a full return and wait.

1st issue was the backlighting being uneven making it hard to look at. I found others here and reddit did a black test and it showed the screen was uneven. So I exchanged for this one, the backlight wasn't uneven noticeably to me, although it failed the black screen test(it can't do a pure black screen, it does magenta), but people had a good point, if it doesn't bother me when using it normally, its probably not a big deal.

But a couple days ago I wanted to use the camera. I know people don't use their iPad's for cameras but I do. I have an iPhone 6 and its the same camera as the iPad mini 5 and I am able to do web print photos that look amazing. I noticed that the camera had a weird fuzzy thing going on where it looks like it's in low light or like moving lines constantly moving, even outside it is fuzzy, and it can't take clear photos. I compared it to iPad mini 1s and they look better. I tried a software update and no change. It looks like a VGA digital camera/camera phone from 2004(remember those?). Even on the front-facing camera its bad(the constant fuzzy moving parts). So I think maybe this batch is just faulty in different ways. My first and second iPad mini 5 was made in the same factory 7 weeks apart. Maybe by the end of the year, they will know the kinks and work it out. I hate to give up the iPad mini 5 as its really nice to use but for $450 I think everything should be perfect or at least passable.
Without a side-by-side comparison between the Mini 5 and photos from the other devices taking photos under the same conditions, it isn't possible to draw a reasonable conclusion about camera quality.
 

merrygoround

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2019
52
22
Without a side-by-side comparison between the Mini 5 and photos from the other devices taking photos under the same conditions, it isn't possible to draw a reasonable conclusion about camera quality.

i did both in multiple similar scenarios.. something isn't right with the 5 camera.. at least on mines.. coulda been a bad batch..
 
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