iPad Air Review: Pros and Cons
Compared to the other iPad models, the iPad Air is a totally redesigned tablet, slimmer and lighter than its predecessors. It uses a boosted version of the 64-bit architecture with an Apple A7 processor and it comes with an Apple Retina display, but its most attractive feature is definitely its lack of weight. Being just 7.5mm thin, the first thing you’ll notice is that the iPad Air is much lighter, weighing 469g, which is 200g less than iPad 4. The device is easy to hold in one hand due to its lightness, it’s also perfectly balanced.
The Air has a tough aluminum shell covering the entire back and sides of the screen, unless you choose a 4G model which has a plastic panel at the top to cover the antennas. Air has rounded sides and it’s also grippier, two very helpful features that provide a comfortable hold of it. Compared to its predecessors, the iPad Air has very well positioned metal buttons, adding to the premium feel of the device.
iPad Air has a 2,048 x 1,536 IPS panel offering 264 PPI, with scratch-proof and oleophobic protective glass. The colors on the iPad Air are almost the same as the colors on iPad 4, but you’ll soon notice that the Air maintains its excellent color accuracy at impressive angles, also, texts are entirely legible. It has the best screen on a 10-inch tablet. The Air has 1024 MB RAM, 16 GB storage capacity and a battery capacity of 8820 mAh, which is one of the most important features.
Its 5 megapixels camera features black-illuminated sensor (BSI), autofocus, digital image stabilization, face detection, digital zoom, Geo tagging and high dynamic range mode (HDR), which are more than sufficient for a tablet and produce good pictures. In what concerns the sound quality, the iPad Ais comes with stereo speakers, but due to the compact size of the device, we cannot expect the greatest quality, but they are very good for a tablet.
Pros
- Very light
- Robust and premium design
- Excellent screen
- Solid battery life
- Consummate all-rounder
- Anti-reflective coating
- Provides cleaner whites (compared to the pinkish whites provided by iPad 4)
- Good speakers
Cons
- Storage comes at a premium
- No Touch ID
- Similar to the iPad mini2
- Bezels too slim (you can accidentally touch the screen)