The second generation of the iPad mini has finally been unveiled, with big improvements in processing power and display specs. But the iPad mini 2 is going to have some major competition this time around, including the newest lineup of tablets from Amazon, called the Kindle Fire HDX. Let's take a look and see how the iPad mini 2 stacks up.
Display
The biggest problem with the original iPad mini was the display. The original iPad mini was released in 2012 with a resolution of 1024 x 768p resolution. While not every small tablet had full HD screens in 2012, the iPad mini was still lacking, compared to others like the original Nexus 7.
What was once a weakness of the iPad mini is now a strength in the iPad mini 2 with its Retina display. The new iPad mini 2's screen has a super HD resolution of 2048 x 1536p, with a 324 pixel per inch density on the 7.9-inch display.
Even the Kindle Fire HDX's impressive 1920 x1200p resolution looks low compared to the iPad mini's Retina display, though it still has a pixel density of about 323ppi, due to the slightly smaller screen.
Processor
The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX comes with one of the most advanced chipsets in the industry right now - the quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, at 2.2GHz with 2GB of RAM.
The iPad mini 2 brings its own bleeding-edge processor to the competition, in the form of Apple's new A7 processor (with 1GB of RAM). The A7 is the first chip for mobile devices with 64-bit architecture, which seems to be where the industry is headed. It's a big upgrade from the first generation iPad mini as well - giving as much as eight times better graphics and four times faster CPU.
Both tablets have powerful, state-of-the-art chips - so fast that you'd probably have a hard time noticing a difference in speed between the two with every day use - but the A7 might make the iPad mini more future proof.
Camera and Storage
People shouldn't take pictures with tablets - it's awkward. But if you must, you'll get a better camera on the iPad mini. That's because the Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch model only has a front-facing camera. The iPad mini 2 comes with a decent 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing shooter that can do FaceTime in 720p HD.
Both the Kindle Fire HDX and the iPad mini eschew a microSD card slot, but both come in several different internal storage options. Amazon gives you 16GB, 32GB or 64GB internal storage on the Kindle Fire HDX, while the iPad mini 2 come with those options, but goes all the way up to 128GB if you can afford it.
Despite missing the microSD card slot to expand your storage by up to 64GB, the iPad mini and Kindle Fire HDX both have their own cloud services to help lift some of the storage burden from these small tablets.
Battery Life and Size
The Kindle Fire HDX, according to Amazon, will give you 11 hours of mixed use, and up to 17 hours of reading time. The iPad mini 2 is still rated for about 10 hours of multimedia use.
The iPad mini 2 is impressively small for its 7.9-inch screen. It's got dimensions of 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.3-inches, making it larger than the Kindle Fire HDX at 7.32 x 5.04 x 0.35-inches, but thinner as well.
Price, Release Date, and Availability
The iPad mini 2 is coming "later in November," for as little as $400 for the 16GB WiFi only version. The LTE version will cost $530. And, of course, depending on how much storage space you get, the iPad mini with Retina display can cost up to $830.
The Kindle Fire HDX WiFi-only is already available, with the LTE version releasing about the same time as the iPad Mini, in mid-November. It's cheaper than the iPad mini 2, as the 16GB version will cost you only $230 with $330 for the LTE version. At its most expensive, the 64GB LTE HDX costs about the same as the basic iPad Mini 2.