iPad Mini 2 vs Google Nexus 7 2: Specs, Release Date, Price, and Features Comparison Review

Now that the second generation iPad mini, or iPad mini 2, has been revealed, we can take a look at the competition to really get a sense of how it stacks up. One of the top competitors, of course, is Google's own second-generation small tablet, often called the Google Nexus 7 2. Here's the rundown.

Display

One of the only faults of the iPad mini when it was released was the display. The original iPad mini had an unimpressive resolution of 1024 x 768p, which compared poorly even at the time.

This time it's different. While the Google Nexus 7 2 comes with an impressive Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1200p, the iPad mini 2 with Retina display blows it out of the water, with a resolution of 2048 x 1536p.

Now, the iPad mini 2 has a larger 7.9-inch screen, so the pixel density gets stretched a bit more, landing at about 324 pixels per inch. That almost perfectly matches the Nexus 7 2's 323ppi on a 7-inch screen. In summary, Apple's Retina display will give you just as much of an eye-melting pixel density as the Google Nexus 7 2, but with a larger screen.

Processor

Apple has made a move towards 64-bit architecture with their new A7 processor, which Apple is putting in all new mobile devices, including the 2013 iPad mini 2. Apple says the A7 will give you eight times the graphics performance and four times faster CPU speeds than its predecessor.

What it also gives you is what could arguably be the first chipset of a new 64-bit era (assuming Samsung stays true to its promise of including a 64-bit Exynos processor in its next flagship smartphone).

Compared to Apple's iPad mini 2 - and other Android-based competitors like the LG G Pad and Amazon Kindle Fire HDX - the Google Nexus 7 2 actually has a disappointing chip.

The quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800, the newest, most powerful Qualcomm processor, graces those other Android tablets, but the Google Nexus 7 2 comes with an older Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. Clocked at 1.5GHz with an Adreno 320 GPU, the S4 Pro is no slouch, but it likely won't stay as speedy for as long as the A7.

Camera and Storage

Tablets aren't exactly the best device for snapping photos, but both the Nexus 7 2 and the iPad mini 2 come with rear cameras. Both the iPad mini 2 and Google Nexus 7 2 come with a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a decent HD Video-shooting front-facing camera for video chatting. The Nexus 7 2's front-facing camera can shoot in 1080p, above the iPad mini 2's 720p capability.

Neither tablet incorporates a microSD card slot, so the internal storage you get is non-expandable (except through cloud services). The Google Nexus 7 2 only comes with up to 32GB of storage though, while the iPad mini 2 (if you can afford it) can jam as much as 128GB of internal storage in the small tablet.

Battery Life and Size

Both tablets offer a good amount of battery life, especially considering how slim and light they are, but the iPad mini 2's approximately 10 hours of mixed use barely outlasts the Nexus 7 2's 9 hours.

At the same time, the iPad mini 2 stays impressively small. While the Google Nexus 7 2 has dimensions of 7.87 x 4.49 x 0.34-inches, the iPad mini 2 - with a larger screen - manages to come in at a similar size, and thinner, with dimensions of 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.3-inches. The iPad mini 2 is only slightly weightier at about 0.75 lbs, compared to the Nexus 7 2's 0.64 lbs.

Release Date and Price

Apple says the iPad mini with Retina display is coming "later in November." It will cost, at the least, $400 for the 16GB WiFi-only version. The base level LTE version costs $530.

The Nexus 7 2 will cost much less, with a starting price of only $230. It's already available, with the 32GB LTE model costing still less than the base level iPad mini 2, at $350.