Apple iPad mini Vs. Google Nexus 7: Specs Comparison

Finally, Apple built smaller tablet, the new iPad mini has been unveiled officially, which is supposed to rule the market for 7.x-inch tablet devices, just like its bigger iPad has done. During its launch event, Apple’s VP, Phil Schiller has also compared the new smaller iPad to the popular Google Nexus 7 tablet, made by Asus. The smaller iPad tablet is expected to double the 7-inch tablet market by nest year. Is iPad mini really good enough to tempt you away from the Nexus 7? Now that the iPad mini facts and features have come to light officially, I thought a specs comparison chart would be a good way to display key differences between these two tablets.

Display & Form Factor

On paper, the Nexus 7 blows the iPad mini tablet with some off its better features. Nexus 7 has a 7-inch 1280×800 IPS display, beating the iPad mini’s lower-res 1064×768 LED-backlit display. Both aren’t Retina equivalent, but Nexus 7 dominates the iPad mini here in this case.

iPad mini has got a thinner bezel and metal design, and Apple also said it is thinner and lighter than the Nexus 7. iPad mini is very comfortable to hold in a single hand. It becomes possible because its bezel on the left and right side is half as thin as the bezel on above and lower sides. It automatically lets your thumb to rest on the tablet’s display.

Operating System

The Apple iPad mini runs the new iOS 6, which has been tweaked so that “iPad mini intelligently recognizes whether your thumb is simply resting on the display or whether you’re intentionally interacting with it.”

Nexus 7 is powered by the new Android Jelly Bean OS

Processor

Here’s some of the main areas where it starts to get competitive. The new iPad mini tablet sports a dual-core A5 processor clocking at 1GHz, while the Nexus 7 is housing a 1.3GHz NVidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood. The iPad’s processor a quad-core graphics, while the Nexus 7’s is a 12-core GPU. Along with the better processor, a tablet needs sufficient memory too. There’s a a full gigabyte  RAM inside the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini is coming with just 512MB RAM.

Camera

Apple iPad mini holds a FaceTime HD front facing camera and 5-megapixel iSight main camera with 1080p recording capability. Nexus 7 is lacking front-facing camera, but there’s a 1.2Mpix camera on the back side.

Connectivity & Network

The iPad Mini uses the new Lightning connector that introduced with the iPhone 5, which supports HDMI out, VGA out and camera connectivity with accessories. Nexus 7 has got the traditional micro USB 2.0 port.

iPad mini will be available in Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+4G LTE and DC-HSDPA editions (compatible with Verizon and AT&T), while the nexus 7 is currently available in Wi-Fi only edition, though a 3G variant is rumored to be launched very soon. iPad mini has got dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for speeds up to 150 Mbps, which is twice the Wi-Fi performance compared to previous iPad models.

Storage

The iPad mini will ship in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB editions with Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+Cellular connectivity, while the Nexus 7 has got 8GB and 16GB editions. Google is expected to announce the new 32GB edition of the Nexus 7 at its Android event on October 29th.

Apple iPad mini Vs. Google Nexus 7: Specs Comparison

Price

This is the crucial part where it plays a successful business of a tablet. Google is currently charging $199 for the 8GB Nexus 7 edition, and the 16GB edition goes for $249. The upcoming 32GB edition will retail for the same price tag of the 16GB edition. So, expect Google to ditch either the 16GB edition or 8GB edition.

Users can pick the iPad mini, starting at $329 for the Wi-FI only 16GB variant, up to $529 for the 64GB Wi-Fi only model. The iPad Mini WiFi+Cellular starts at $459 for the 16GB model.

If you’re wondering how the iPad mini stacks up against other tablets that have been benchmarked, you may need to wait for some more days.

Verdict

So, what do you think? Nexus 7 seems to overshadow the iPad Mini in many areas. Both tablets are really amazing. Specs are just specs. iPad mini is Apple’s first chance to prove that it can stand out in the 7-inch tablets market. Which tablet deserves your cash? Lets us know in bellow comments section. But if you’re open to both the iOS and Android platforms, you have a tough decision to make!

For more information: Apple iPad mini Full Specs | Google Nexus 7 Full Specs