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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emoemeka - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
The fact that you would mention a junk company like ASUS says a lot about what you consider to be quality. I'm sure you can buy a Westinghouse 60" LED TV for a lower price than a 47" Sony TV with worse specs, but would you claim that the Westinghouse was a better dealbeggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
the same tablet also has 10 hr battery life, faster than your ipad (because it has a quadcore bay trail), more memory, more storage, allows micro-sd expansion.before you try to bad mouth about its quality /upgrade, a bio firmware that was just released has fixed all the problems /bugs people had with its sleep function.
also it includes Microsoft office and allows user to run Steam games.
in end, more productive, more compatible, more open, more power, more memory, more expand ability, and cost $50 less.
ws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
It's slower. Just look at the benchmarks right here at Anandtech.beggerking@yahoo.com - Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - link
running what? mobile app vs desktop applications?LOLws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
Why would I want FULL Windows 8.1 os on a tablet?And why would I want the ultra-crappy screen and asus-typical poor build quality of the T100?
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
the SAME ultra-crappy screen as your last year's Ipad Mini sold for the same price? LOLwhy don't you want FULL windows 8.1 os on a tablet? do you prefer to run mini-games vs real games? mini apps vs applications? mobile website vs FULL websites?
you itarts chuckle me up lol
ws3 - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
There's really no question which device people prefer. Just look at the sales figures. Clearly most people, like me, don't care about FULL Windows 8.1 OS or any of the other things you think are important. But don't feel bad about it, obviously you are "special".beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
so you admit last yrs Mini has UltraCrap screen like you mentioned?actually, tons of questions as IOS only accounts for 10% of world mobile now. Apparently, Android is killing your love Apple.
beggerking@yahoo.com - Monday, November 18, 2013 - link
90% of my friends have swtiched from IOS to android phones, or Windows tablet.the remaining 10% will switch when their contracts are up.
you are truly the "special" one, you must have rode the special mini yellow school bus for "special" mind challenged kids growing up.
emoemeka - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
Is Android Windows 8.1? The fact still remains that the market has consistently rejected hybrid tablet/laptop devices. Name one full windows 8.1 tablet that consumers are actually buying?