Thursday, October 30, 2014

Review: iPad 2 Air even thinner and faster – NU.nl

The first iPad Air stood out for its super thin housing and limited borders around the screen. The tablet was therefore extremely compact for a model with a screen of 9.7 inches.

With the iPad Air 2, from 499 Euro, Apple builds upon that success. Most striking is that the tablet is even thinner. With a thickness of 6.1 millimeters (1.4 millimeter less than its predecessor) Apple even claims to have the thinnest tablet ever made.



Touch ID

In appearance Apple has little changed with the Air 2. One of the only notable change is the lack of sound switch, which previously occupied above the volume buttons.

Under the Touch screen is the fingerprint ID scanner Apple added. Just like on the iPhone that works well and makes it to unlock the screen something simpler.

Without a doubt remains the iPad Air 2 one of the most stylish tablets obtainable. On the Android Market actually knows only the Xperia Z2 Tablet Sony to compete in design.

With the fingerprint scanner to unlock the iPad has become a little easier. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt

The Air iPad 2 is slightly thinner than its predecessor. And lighter Touch ID is further added. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt

The audio switch is gone. Only the volume buttons still remaining on the right side. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt

From left to right: iPad 3, iPad Air and iPad Air 2. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt

Especially in terms of speed, the iPad Air 2 weather makes leaps. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt

The Air iPad 2 9.7-inch iPad Mini next three 7.9 inch. © NU.nl/Joost Nederpelt


Screen and performance

Also, the screen is again excellent. The resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels is still fine and the color reproduction is accurate. However, many other tablets have such good screens nowadays, so the iPad Air 2 distinguishes itself in this area are less clear.

In terms of performance does Apple feel absolutely no need to worry for the time being over the competition. In benchmark tests the iPad 2 Air ridiculous scores much higher than any other tablet we tested earlier. In particular, the graphics are very impressive thanks to the A8X chip.

It should also be considered to be the only real question is whether apps and games from the App Store will soon make real use of the power of Air iPad 2. App developers can not make their apps inaccessible to older devices – provided they still run iOS 8 – so they have as yet take into account the slower hardware that many people

Also. is the battery life slightly deteriorated by making the tablet thinner. During a test in which we play a home-recorded video on a loop until the battery is empty, holds the iPad Air 2 7 hours and 15 minutes. The first iPad Air is the same test 36 minutes (8 percent) longer.



Software

Apples iOS software is an 8 piece opener made, but major changes in tablet field are missing again. It is striking to the year that Apple remains a kind of supercharged version of the iPhone software run on the iPad, without having to add features that cater specifically for the larger screen.

So it is still impossible to to place widgets on the home screen. After will unlock the iPad you keep to a bare list apps look.

There are some widgets added to the notification screen, but the average iPad user, there will probably come less frequently than the average iPhone user. You will indeed probably no text messages, Whatsappjes and other messages on your tablet.



Camera and sound

camera on the back of the iPad 2 Air has been upgraded and is now 8 megapixel photos. The quality is remarkably good and has the same sharpness near many smartphone cameras. And color The iPhone 6 and recent phones from Sony and Nokia continue to offer better cameras, but for a tablet performs the iPad Air 2 very well.


Photos taken with iPad Air 2

© NU.nl

© NU.nl

© NU.nl

The video quality is a little disappointing, though it is nice it has become to record slow motion videos as possible. Both in normal and in delayed videos however there is quite a lot of noise, while that is happening at pictures of the iPad 2 will be little Air.



Conclusion

All in all, the iPad Air a great tablet that especially stands out for its incredibly fast chip. The iPad Air was also very fast and the extra speed is added to the second version does not seem to be directly useful. However, the Air 2 more ‘future proof’ than its predecessor.

The compact housing makes the Air 2 a little easier to take and something more temporal harvest. However, this does bring a slightly worse battery life with it. That is also the only real downside to the Air 2, though the battery performance is still far from bad.

The iPad Air 2 is ideally suited for the demanding tablet user who would now be sure he can play all games still flowing over two years. For the rest the previous iPad Air, which is now in the shop for 399 euros, is still a good choice.

4.5 star

We also tested the iPad Mini 3, which has remained largely similar to its predecessor. In contrast to the iPhone Air 2 smaller tablet had no new chip this year.

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