Apple iPad mini with Retina Display: Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2013 8:00 AM ESTBattery Life
Thanks to the mini’s integrated 23.8Wh battery (and the low idle power of the 28nm A7), the Retina Display’s power consumption is more than offset. Battery life in all of our tests is at worst unchanged from the mini, but at best we’re talking about a 21% increase.
Our web browsing test shows a 10% improvement compared to the original iPad mini. The new mini with Retina Display can even last longer than a 4th generation iPad, and it’s hot on the heels of the iPad Air (I'll be updating this section with LTE and LTE hotspot results).
Video playback is where we see the biggest improvement compared to the original mini. Here the new iPad mini lasts 21% longer on a single charge, once again outlasting even the iPad 4. The iPad Air doesn’t offer any appreciable gain in battery life over the Retina mini.
Our 3D battery life test is the only one where the old mini manages to beat the new Retina model. With a 1.31% margin of victory though, it’s pretty safe to say that for current 3D gaming workloads you’ll see similar battery life out of the Retina mini as the old model. This is also the only test where the iPad Air delivers better battery life on a single charge (~11%).
Apple ships the Retina mini with a 10W USB charger and lightning cable. This appears to be the same charger as what shipped with the 3rd generation iPad (but obviously with a different cable). Using the newer 12W charger from the iPad 4/Air has no impact on charge time as the mini still only draws a maximum of 11.7W at the wall (compared to 13.8W for the iPad Air).
The iPad mini with Retina Display completes a charge from 0 to 100% in a sliver under 4 hours. That’s a little quicker than the iPad Air, and similar to the original mini with its 5W charger.
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cknobman - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
$400 for a mini tablet and it still gets a glowing recommendation?LOL. Sure the hardware is nice but how many laptop reviews do I see where everything is great but 1 or two things and it gets hit hard in the final recommendation/summary.
Not for Apple crap though!!!!
deasys - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
No, $299 for an iPad mini. At least get your facts straight.cknobman - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Try comprehending better. The review is about the new retina iPad mini which is $400. IT IS A MINI TABLET.@RadarTheKat why should we consider the resale price? I dont buy gadgets with the future intent of resale. I buy them to use them. Sure when a device is old and I want to upgrade then maybe resale comes in but usually the device is SO OLD by then even if it were apple it would be worth nothing.
ws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
You can get $100 or more for a 3 year old iPhone, so resale value is a legitimate consideration.ws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
To me, $400 for the retina mini seems like a bargain.Why wouldn't the retina mini get a glowing recommendation? It's an excellent device.
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
for $350, i can get a asus T100 64gb tablet / netbook convertible runs FULL windows 8.1 os with 2gb of memory...along with external keyboard included....ya, $400 for a tablet is overpriced. way over priced.
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
the same T100 also runs Bluestack which enables Android applications as well.ws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
And the T100 is also slower than an iPad Air. I'm sure FULL Windows 8.1 os will be astoundingly performant on a processor slower than an ARM tablet SOC.beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
wtf are you talking about? T100 slower than your Crap air? LMOA!!it runs FULL OS with real multitasking etc you idiot!
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
you are still smelling Steve Job's dead behind air? lol