Google’s taken a hit on the pricing of its Nexus 7, hoping to encourage rake-up of the Android platform and content sales. We never expected Apple to match that price with its iPad mini, which costs £110 more than the Nexus 7 at the same 16GB capacity.
The Nexus 7 is the smaller tablet at 120x 199mm versus 135x200mm, but the mini is both thinner and lighter: the Nexus 7 is 10.5mm and 340g: the iPad mini measures 7.2mm and weighs in at 308g.
Given this slightly larger chassis, it’s no surprise to find a larger 7.9in screen on the mini. Its I 024x768 resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio matches that of the iPad 2. whereas the 7in Google panel offers a higher resolution of 1280x800 pixels. This results in a 216ppi pixel pitch for Google’s tablet; 163 ppi for the mini.
In our testing the Nexus 7 was also the faster of the two tablets, with its quad-core nVidiaTegra 3 chip able to offer more oomph than the iPad minis 1GHz Apple AS dual-core processor.
Neither tablet accepts removable memory cards to boost the internal storage capacity, although the iPad mini offers a 64GB option where the Nexus 7 maxes out at 32GB.
Google’s Nexus 7 has a front-facing 1,2 Mp camera; the iPad mini matches this and gets one up with a 5 Mp rear-facing iSight camera.
The iPad mini is charged through Apple’s new Lightning connector, introduced with the Phone 5, while the Nexus 7 takes universal Micro USB. Both have Wi-Fl and Bluetooth connectivity on board, although Apple’s tablet is dual-band and the firm is touting faster speeds via channel bonding. The Nexus 7, meanwhile, adds NFC to the spec sheet. Mobile 3G connectivity is an option for both tablets, and the mini also supports 4G LTE in the UK.
The major difference between these two tablets is the software they run — that’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the Nexus 7, and iOS 6.0 for the mini. You can read our reviews of each on pages 10 and 12 respectively.
With similar battery packs inside, expect both tablets to last around 10 hours when surfing the web.
The Nexus 7 is the smaller tablet at 120x 199mm versus 135x200mm, but the mini is both thinner and lighter: the Nexus 7 is 10.5mm and 340g: the iPad mini measures 7.2mm and weighs in at 308g.
Given this slightly larger chassis, it’s no surprise to find a larger 7.9in screen on the mini. Its I 024x768 resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio matches that of the iPad 2. whereas the 7in Google panel offers a higher resolution of 1280x800 pixels. This results in a 216ppi pixel pitch for Google’s tablet; 163 ppi for the mini.
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| iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7 |
Neither tablet accepts removable memory cards to boost the internal storage capacity, although the iPad mini offers a 64GB option where the Nexus 7 maxes out at 32GB.
Google’s Nexus 7 has a front-facing 1,2 Mp camera; the iPad mini matches this and gets one up with a 5 Mp rear-facing iSight camera.
The iPad mini is charged through Apple’s new Lightning connector, introduced with the Phone 5, while the Nexus 7 takes universal Micro USB. Both have Wi-Fl and Bluetooth connectivity on board, although Apple’s tablet is dual-band and the firm is touting faster speeds via channel bonding. The Nexus 7, meanwhile, adds NFC to the spec sheet. Mobile 3G connectivity is an option for both tablets, and the mini also supports 4G LTE in the UK.
The major difference between these two tablets is the software they run — that’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean for the Nexus 7, and iOS 6.0 for the mini. You can read our reviews of each on pages 10 and 12 respectively.
With similar battery packs inside, expect both tablets to last around 10 hours when surfing the web.