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Retina iPad mini display can’t match iPad Air

Published Nov 18th, 2013 3:50PM EST
Retina iPad Mini Review

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After months of rumors and heavy anticipation culminated with a curious unveiling that lacked a firm release date, Apple finally launched its second-generation iPad mini last week. Chatter on social networks suggests those who picked up the new tiny tablet over this past week are quite pleased with their purchases, and early reviews of the iPad mini with Retina display couldn’t sing it enough praise — as was the case with the iPad Air when debuted. But while the two tablets are very similar in most ways, one reviewer found that the display on the smaller slate falls short of the Air’s class-leading panel.

According to Anandtech’s Anand Lal Shimpi, who is one of the most widely respected consumer electronics reviewers in the industry when it comes to the technical aspects of devices, the new iPad mini’s Retina display fell short of the Air’s display in his tests.

“The iPad mini with Retina Display has the same color gamut as the standard iPad mini, which is narrower than the iPad Air and less than the sRGB coverage we normally look for,” Lal Shimpi wrote. “The biggest issue here is that there are other smaller tablets in this price range that do offer sRGB coverage (e.g. Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9).”

It’s curious that Apple went with a panel that doesn’t feature the same sRGB color gamut as its 9.7-inch Retina display, but as others have noted, many users likely won’t even notice.

Lal Shimpi’s review is a great read from start to finish and it’s linked below in our source section.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.