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rowspaxe

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 29, 2010
2,214
1,009
Doesnt there seem to be a fuctionality overlap between the mini and iphone? I understand the appeal of the mini, but ultimately your carrying two ios devices that do the same things. Is it time for the mini tablet phone?
 

Anti-Lucifer

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2012
776
2
My opinion after owning a samsung sg2 - it's nice to have a larger phone screen - but it's actually not that nice to have a device that is all in one- at least not at the state of the art we are at currently. What I'm talking about is devices doing it all. There is no such thing as no-compromise one solution.

You want a large phone screen, you're gonna compromise on a few things: size of the device to fit in your pants, pocket, etc. Convenience of using that bigger device. Battery life to power the larger display. Quality of the display (though now in late 2012, you have 1280x768 4"+ screens).

Sure some phones offer great displays and large displays together, but more often than not the size and weight will not be a real bargain for many. I still believe having separate devices would be the best no-compromise solution. Even if they allowed the ipad mini to be a phone/make phone calls, you wouldn't put it against your head. Using a bluetooth headset is nice but that's also not convenient for many. And who wears their bluetooth headset all day everywhere they go? Unless you are a some employee who needs to make constant phone calls, you'd resemble a complete douchebag wearing that thing all day long.

Since I've bought the ipad mini, I've not used my iphone 5 for web surfing. It's solely used for texting, some flipboard when I can't use my mini in a very crowded area, starbucks passbook option, and my primary camera. Other than that, it does what it does, make facetime calls on the go and used as a phone to make calls.

Look at the samsung note1/2 - that thing is so big, it looks absolutely stupid to hold it against your head. Sure some people will still buy it and use it as a phone, but it's too much of a compromise in my own opinion. You can just use your phone while using a tablet and have best of both worlds.
 

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
Actually the mini is an ideal replacement for the iPhone 5.

Just pickup an inexpensive feature phone for calls and you're all set.

The mini with it's long battery life and spacious display provides a much better experience than the cramped, tiny, narrow display on the iP5. Your apps work beautifully, the web surfing experience is far superior because one can use the desktop display mode instead of the mobile web view.

All in all it's an excellent way to get out from under the issues of the iPhone 5, and improve your overall experience by a wide margin. :)
 

aleni

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2006
2,560
858
yes, bringing mini and iphone 5 at the same time seems useless to me. and about the iphone 5, even though it's faster than the mini and battery life is much better than the 4S, i can get 8-10 hours of usage in a single charge but it's still not enough for me.

ipad mini LTE and a dumb phone is the best combo. with the Mini everywhere, i wouldn't worry about the battery life anymore.
 

YUOWI

Suspended
Nov 9, 2012
16
0
I have bought the iPad mini, I did not use my iPhone 5 online surfing. It is used only for text messages, some Flip board is a very crowded area. The mobile phone is the best combination. Mini ubiquitous, I would not worry about the battery life.
 
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