I've heard and been told its pretty bad. And many people are holding back from buying due to the non-retina screen. I have an iPhone 5 and a 15" rMBP. So I know I will be able to tell the difference but how bad is it?
I've never seen the mini so I'm not sure how the quality is.
For those who may wonder how I haven't seen the iPad mini and I own an iPhone and rMBP. I ordered them online.
The quality is excellent. There's nothing wrong with the display. It's just low resolution & pixelated. I knew what to expect when I made my buying decision. For me it was a matter of not wanting to wait.
Apple was already two years behind Samsung (my first 7" tablet) so I sacrificed. But as soon as they offer retina, I'm dumping this & buying the better model.
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Of course the with the nexus 7 you have to zoom in more on the text, due to the smaller screen size. It all comes down to your own personal preference and what you are looking for in a tablet.
You are wrong. I have both the Nexus 7 & iPad mini.
Because the mini's text is pixelated its actually harder to tolerate. No zooming is required on either.
Luckily I have 20/20 vision, otherwise I'd be selling the mini. But it's only temporary since I will buy the retina mini as soon as Apple makes it.