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How far from your faces are you holing the mini? I'd say for me personally...

iPhone 1-1.5 foot
iPad mini 2 foot away or more depending on use.

I really have no issue with the lower ppi for the first gen it's fine!
 
I have found that for text (books) it looks great. For web pages it is OK but I find that I stretch it a bit if I'm really reading.
I don't have a retina display device.
Could it be better - sure. But I find it fine.
 
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