It is again that time of the year when the juggernauts of operating systems, iOS and Android put their best foot forward with their mini tablets. Google has launched the extremely high value for money Nexus 7 and Apple has launched the iPad Mini 2 with Retina Display. A lot many tablets are coming into the arena, thereby increasing options for the customers. We think it is time to compare a few and determine the best choices. Let us have a comparative look at the Apple iPad Mini 2 and the Google Nexus 7 (2013):
Built: The dimensions of iPad Mini 2 are 135 x 200 x 7.5 mm and it weighs about 331 and 341 grams (Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + cellular variant, respectively). Where as, the dimensions of the Nexus 7 are 120 x 199 x 8.65 mm and it weighs approximately 290 grams and 299 grams (Wi-Fi only and 32 GB + mobile data variant, respectively). Both of them are pretty handy and none of them feels like a weight to carry around so it’s a tie.
Display: iPad Mini 2 offers a 7.9 inch display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 and a pixel density of 326 ppi which is better in all aspects as compared to the Nexus 7 (2013)’s 7 inch touch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and a pixel density of 323 ppi. Its not about the pixel density and the Retina Display surges ahead of the full HD display.
Processor: iPad Mini 2 has been equipped with A7 system chip 64 bit architecture and a M7 motion co-processor. On the other hand, Nexus 7 (2013) has been loaded with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. It is all about the optimization and Apple surely does it better but there are no two ways to the fact that the Nexus 7 easily matches up to the iPad Mini’s level of performance.
Operating System: iPad Mini 2 functions on iOS 7 where as the Nexus 7 (2013) device works on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean platform. The Android 4.4 Kitkat will be available soon and we’d call it a tie here as it’s a matter of personal choice.
Camera: Both the devices feature a primary camera of 5 mega pixels and a front facing camera of 1.2 mega pixels.
Battery: The Apple iPad Mini 2 runs on a battery powerful enough to offer 10 hours of battery life while the Google Nexus 7 (2013) works on a battery that ensures a battery life of approximately 9 hours.
Price: The rumoured prices of the iPad Mini 2 for the 16GB Wi-Fi variant are expected to start at Rs 28,900 whereas the Nexus 7 32GB variant with LTE will set you back by Rs 25,999 and it is here that it gets a lead the mini offering from Apple finds a bit hard to match.
Our Take: After the careful analysis of the features of these two devices it is safe to say that if you are looking for a value for money, high quality gadget at a low price, then Nexus 7 is a smart choice. However, if you are willing to cough up more cash, iPad Mini 2 will not disappoint you.
