As we mused from the Californian Keynote last week, the iPad Mini revealdidn't win any awards for unexpected launch of the year (that gong went to the third-gen-terminating iPad 4) but in the time we've spent with it, the biggest surprise is how it's surpassed our expectation; not in price, but with regard to the biggest sticking points around tablets: usefulness and purpose.
Right now, Apple claims 100 million iPads are loose in the wild, though speaking to our tech-savvy, early- adopting readers that own them, not many can us what they really use them for. Web browsing, Facebook-checking, newspaper/magazine reading and, from the hundreds of apps that are installed, only around a dozen are regularly engaged.
Many only use their iPad in the home; on the sofa; in the kitchen; while watching TV. Not out and about – size, weight and portable-ness being cited as the most common restricting factors. The Mini not only rights these limitations but improves on an already successful product from the Apple stable.
iPad Mini: Build
Let us start by jumping back to the San Jose Keynote for a minute. Apple suggested that the iPad Mini wasn't just a shrunken-down iPad but had been built from the ground up. In reality, it had no option. When the original iPad launched it had no challengers, it was blazing a design trail. The Mini is different. It does have competition, from the biggest tech companies in the world – Google andAmazon.
So apart from brand attache, what's its USP? What makes it different from the other seven-ish inchers? The most blatant trait is design. In typical Apple fashion, the craftsmanship is superb and, in addition to the £269 price tag, clearly sets it apart from its closest competitors: the Google Nexus 7 by Asus and the Kindle Fire HD.
The rounded or 'chamfered' edges take design cues from the iPhone 5 and the acceptably weighty feel (308g WiFi- only model) give it a well-built industrial quality.
It strikes an excellent balance between it being light enough to hold in one hand for extended periods of time and solid enough to take a knock (although a light one considering how those chamfered edges can be easily nicked, a la iPhone 5). The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD feel cheaper in comparison. They are - £80 and £110 respectively.
At 200mm high, 134.7mm wide and 7.2mm deep the Mini is ‘just’ about compact enough to fit in a back pocket and, like most seven-inchers, is the perfect size for school, hand and manbags. The surface area and weight is similar to a paperback (clearly no coincidence) and, because of this, browsing content while on the go is nicer, more private experience than the bigger iPad.
You can read in bed for more than ten minutes before getting hand cramp and nestle yourself away in a corner without feeling you've got a laptop screen for company. In this regard, it’s a competitor to the whole Kindle family, not just the Fire HD.
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