Impressions of the iPad mini with Retina display
Monday, July 14, 2014
I rolled out of the way Apple tablet almost a year ago, when it took Samsung ATIV Smart PC on Windows 8. Although the first impression of the then-new operating system, Microsoft was refreshing, thanks to the tiles, an office suite and a USB-port, after a while start a serious shortage of applications.
It would seem that in the Market, you can find solutions for many problems, but often they are the only one of its kind that forces put up with their shortcomings. In addition, the process itself travel App Store has always given me great pleasure - tracking discounts, meet new interesting applications and just buying cheap games: none of this on Windows, where you just have to work with the tablet: no entertainment. It is the lack of applications was the main reason for my decision to go back to iOS.
Dimensions and weight
Previously, I had to deal only with the standard (10") and large (11.6") tablet, so iPad mini seemed quite tiny, when I turned it in his hands in the store. However, this impression is misleading. During these few days I noticed that many of the tasks are performed more efficiently on such a small screen:
-Its dimensions make it easy to type with two hands without having to put on the plate surface. Many things can be done at all with one hand.
-Light weight allows you to keep one hand on the tablet for a long time, as if in my hands a regular phone:
reading books and news in the metro is becoming a much more enjoyable experience. Before, when I took on the road with regular
iPad, usability can be achieved only when sitting.
-Play dynamic games became more pleasant as iPad mini much more like a console than its older brother.
It is curious that after the transition to a smaller version of the screen I began to appreciate the functions in applications that previously did not pay attention. For example, I found a very convenient mode of reading in Safari and the ability to increase the font size in a number of applications for reading news.
Even despite the fact that the iPad Air heavier Mini only 100 grams with a little, at the moment I would have preferred Mini precisely because of its more suitable for work and play on the go size.Hardware and Performance.
At the time, I refused to buy it because of the iPad mini outdated filling times the iPad 2. New Mini is not inferior to iPad Air. He is so powerful that I sometimes feel as if the tablet is faster than my desktop computer with a 4 GHz. This is especially noticeable during web surfing: pages open incredibly fast, even on 3G.
Power iPad mini with Retina display is between the iPhone 5S and iPad Air, although the differences in the performance of theses are three devices are not very large: they can be seen only in the synthetic tests. In this paper, and even games you will not notice the difference.
I noticed that if the earlier (first three generations of iPad) I always arranged in memory 32GB, with the appearance on the 128GB version I suddenly began to feel that this is not enough. Most likely, this is just a psychological trick, but more and more games in the App Store occupy a volume of more than 1GB, so perhaps in the future is to focus precisely on the 64-gigabyte version.
I have not been able to test LTE 4G, because, as it turned out, Apple still has not endorsed the work of 4G in Russia and blocks access to it at the level of firmware. Hopefully, high speed internet is still available without having to buy a new device.
Firmware and interface
I am not an opponent of iOS 7 and will gladly accept any innovation, especially as I was leaving with iOS precisely because it's the bored me. New firmware had brought some variety, although in general, the interface still remains the same: it is significantly inferior bright dynamic tiles in Windows. However, in the new iOS, a number of very useful features like Airdrops, which, however, therefore is now only on my Mini, as no iPhone 4S, iPad 3 or do not support it, and I am very disappointed.
In general, I am satisfied with the work of iOS 7, despite some roughness and rare departures applications, which I hope will be corrected soon.
Protect your device
If internal security devastation remains at a high level, the concern for the protection of the body from scratches still rests with the user. Apple offers us two options: classic Smart Cover to protect the screen and a new polyurethane Smart Case, which ensures the safety of both sides.
Both cover much thicken small tablet and make it much harder, so I decided to stay on proven solutions - vinyl sticker on the rear surface. Screen as it was decided to leave it open, as the device always travels in a separate pocket, and under normal use scratches on it ruled.