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Your iPad Mini 4 impressions thread
- Thread starter The Game 161
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after few months you will be back to iPad air 2, trust me. it's just too small for extended use.
I just purchased a mini 4 with Apple silicone case and cover and as much as I'm really liking it, feel that for about £40 more I can get an Air 2 with leather case.
I picked up a Mini 4 yesterday. It's my first iPad. I've had multiple iPhones, but never dipped into the iPad arena. I had been using a Kindle Fire HD for about 3 years, but grew tired with it after all the crashing the past year +. I stopped short of buying a 3 last year because there were not enough updates.
So far I'm impressed. Screen looks great and weight is incredibly light. The keyboard and app layout is taking a lot to get used to. My one knock are the speakers. After having them opposite sides for years and a stereo effect, going back to all one sided is surprising in this day and age. The Pro has them, so I'd expect next full iPad and Mini will too.
All in all though I'm pleased with the purchase.
So far I'm impressed. Screen looks great and weight is incredibly light. The keyboard and app layout is taking a lot to get used to. My one knock are the speakers. After having them opposite sides for years and a stereo effect, going back to all one sided is surprising in this day and age. The Pro has them, so I'd expect next full iPad and Mini will too.
All in all though I'm pleased with the purchase.
I don't think so...this is a question of size preference. I had three models of 9'7" ipads but since I tried my first mini, I knew that I wasn't going to come back. I really love mini factor, in fact, I think 9'7" ipads seems orthopedic when I use one of them, lol.
Other thing than I want to share with you, a real user experience performance comparison between air 2 and mini 4:
This obviously isn't true for everyone. I've used a Nexus 7 as my only tablet for almost two years. It's barely bigger than some phones! An iPad Mini will actually offer more screen real estate than I'm used to.
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A lot of comparisons with the Air 2 give it a slight performance edge over the Mini 4, and reviewers prefer the larger screen. Bodes well for the Pro.
My subjective opinion, after comparing side by side: Mini 4 is better than the Mini 2 but not close to the Air 2. I don't think that's a surprising result, by the way.
I use both daily. The Mini screen size is just not as nice for reading or viewing, but the 9.7" iPad is just not as easy to carry around.
Will I? ... Hmm, no. I've had mini three days now and I've never used my full size iPads as much in that short time. When I bought the Air I loved it, but still didn't use it as much as I've used this mini.
I've always thought the iPads were too big. I now absolutely love the size of this mini. It's perfect to me. To me it's the size an iPad should be.
I understand what you mean but knowing myself, I won't be going back. Even out of stubbornness, I won't be going back now.
Buying the Watch next. My Air has gone!
I just bought mini 4 to replace my mini 2 at Apple Store where I am out of town on a trip. I'm restoring from backup now from iCloud on hotel wifi. Played with in store and is much faster than mini 2.
I like small iPad because I take it with me on service calls often and is nice size to pack along. I had old big iPad I actually broke screen on because was too large stuffed in my case. I have MacBook Pro so I can't really justify full size iPad.
I also walked over to the Microsoft store and looked at surface 3 LTE version which was considering for work also but after using the mini 4 it seemed real clunky. It's as if Microsoft went one step backwards in their side by side multitasking in win8 to win10 while Apple comes along again and does it right with IOS 9.
I like small iPad because I take it with me on service calls often and is nice size to pack along. I had old big iPad I actually broke screen on because was too large stuffed in my case. I have MacBook Pro so I can't really justify full size iPad.
I also walked over to the Microsoft store and looked at surface 3 LTE version which was considering for work also but after using the mini 4 it seemed real clunky. It's as if Microsoft went one step backwards in their side by side multitasking in win8 to win10 while Apple comes along again and does it right with IOS 9.
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Really liking mini4. even with air2 $349 deals cropping up on staples.com, i think smaller is better for me and my tablet doesn't leave the apartment often, but when it does, its the way to go. and i prefer handling the smaller form factor.
I WON THE SCREEN LOTTERY FIRST SHOT!!! EVEN BACKLIGHT, BRIGHT, WHITE WHITES, VIVID COLORS, NO UNIFORMITY ISSUES OR IMAGE RETENTION HALLELUJAH I SHOULD PLAY THE ACTUAL LOTTO. I'll be holding onto this guy for some time.
beautiful full sRGB screen probably the biggest bummer since having mini2 for 2 years but i still think the problem is overstated but side by side no doubt and the mini finally has 'that pop,' I've longed for, laminated anti glare screen against the glass, the new body is nice and aesthetically i like the absence of the mute /lock rotation switch.
in that youtube video side by side with air 2, not much difference in performance it seems. on benchmarking, the multicore of A8x is like almost 50% more. But single, similar league. and good to have new proc period, A7 two generations in a row was completely unacceptable.
2gb of ram is a joy! as is PiP, split screen iMessage while on safari, and tabbing without reloads.
Speakers seem better too.
thinking about handing down the mini2 to a family member on mini1, a substantial upgrade.
or maybe will sell to a co worker friend. either way i want it to go to a good place, it served me well but i think there's no going back
My pad time will be increased again now that I have a screen that is without compromise beautiful.
I WON THE SCREEN LOTTERY FIRST SHOT!!! EVEN BACKLIGHT, BRIGHT, WHITE WHITES, VIVID COLORS, NO UNIFORMITY ISSUES OR IMAGE RETENTION HALLELUJAH I SHOULD PLAY THE ACTUAL LOTTO. I'll be holding onto this guy for some time.
beautiful full sRGB screen probably the biggest bummer since having mini2 for 2 years but i still think the problem is overstated but side by side no doubt and the mini finally has 'that pop,' I've longed for, laminated anti glare screen against the glass, the new body is nice and aesthetically i like the absence of the mute /lock rotation switch.
in that youtube video side by side with air 2, not much difference in performance it seems. on benchmarking, the multicore of A8x is like almost 50% more. But single, similar league. and good to have new proc period, A7 two generations in a row was completely unacceptable.
2gb of ram is a joy! as is PiP, split screen iMessage while on safari, and tabbing without reloads.
Speakers seem better too.
thinking about handing down the mini2 to a family member on mini1, a substantial upgrade.
or maybe will sell to a co worker friend. either way i want it to go to a good place, it served me well but i think there's no going back
My pad time will be increased again now that I have a screen that is without compromise beautiful.
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The wife and I have had our Mini 4's for a couple of days. I'm definitely keeping it over my Air 1. But, hers gets hot after normal use and mine doesn't. At all.
You go with what suits your needs and usage really.
I wanted to buy the mini 4 but felt with having a 6S plus soon I doubt I would use it enough when I have the air 2 and Macbook pro
6S plus should be big enough for on the go
Size.I cant believe reading comments from people ditching their Air 2's for the mini 4
I have always preferred the size of the Mini. It is easier to thumb type on and easier to transport. The Air is much harder for me to use.
I'm sure you know this, but hers is defective. Get Apple to give you another.
I only buy the data model. GPS is one reason but the ability to connect away from Wi-Fi is paramount to me.
I definitely think the speakers are better on the mini 4. Better bass response for such a small micro tablet.
FYI. I make my living designing control rooms, own 3 production studios and have multiple degrees in acoustic engineering.
FYI. I make my living designing control rooms, own 3 production studios and have multiple degrees in acoustic engineering.
After using the mini 4 for a few days, I thought I would summarise my thoughts. I upgraded for 2 key reasons - increased RAM and improved screen with everything else being a bonus:
- Screen. This is a genuine upgrade over my mini 2. Much improved colours and things just appear better thanks to the new laminated screen. The colour gamut doesn't appear quite at the level of the Air 2 but that may just be the smaller screen not quite giving the same impact.
- Performance. There is a noticeable improvement with performance although I suspect that is more to do with the 2GB RAM. It feels much more like the Air 2. I haven't noticed any performance degradation compared to the Air 2 but then I don't really have any apps that stress the A8X. I have a couple of flight sims that appear to run and look as good on the mini 4 as they do on the Air 2 and there is a noticeable increase in quality over the mini 2.
- Battery. This is an area where I noticed a difference - quicker battery drain. I would normally attribute this to the smaller battery and increased performance but I was sure I was seeing drain even when not in use. I gave it a full charge yesterday evening and left it untouched off the mains last night with Wifi still enabled. This morning, it was still sitting at 100% so this may be new device syndrome and it was a combination of mentally expecting a hit on battery as well as some initial new device housekeeping. Either way, I easily lasted from Thursday through Sunday before needing to charge so battery is certainly more than sufficient, it will just take some more time before I can confirm if there is much, if any of a difference.
- Sound. Having the same slim chassis of the Air 2, I was curious about vibrations. The mini 4 certainly gets louder than my mini 2 and while there is a little vibration, it is nothing like the Air 2 and I'm more than happy with it.
- Wifi. The mini 4 has the latest AC wireless but I'm also seeing consistently better reception on this than I did with the mini in the same location i.e. full signal strength where the mini 2 would drop a bar. Another unexpected but welcome improvement.
- Design. I'm not a huge fan of this constant need to slim things down for the sake of it, especially if at the expense of battery life or performance. I'm actually appreciative of the efforts with the mini 4 though as it makes the mini 2 seem thick and heavy in comparison - it is actually quite noticeable - and the new lightweight it seems to fit in well with the mini form factor.
- Warmth. Under load, the rear right of the device does warm up a little but not as much as I was expecting and in a thin rear shell, you can barely feel any temperature increase.
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@DJTaurus I actually enjoyed watching this video I normally don't like this type of video however this one was fun to watch. I don't agree about the speakers but that's my opinion.
Anyway, thanks for posting!
I'll be the first to "eat crow" (i.e. regarding my "not quite as much punch as the Air 2" comment). Display Mate's initial review notes are in. I guess it's "official"....the iPad Mini 4 is one impressive display.
http://www.displaymate.com/news.html#iPad_mini_4
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