Instead of the iPhone 12 lineup, during its first event held in September, Apple launched the new iPad Air 4 and iPad 10.2 8th gen. The iPad Air 4 just went on pre-orders and, according to benchmarks, it has even higher performance than the iPhone 12. But, if we exclude the iPad Pro targeted at professional users, the iPad Air 4 is the most expensive Apple tablet. Is it worth spending more on such a device or cheaper tablets like iPad 10.2 8th gen and iPad Mini 5 make more sense for your needs? This is a specs comparison between iPad Air 4 and other affordable Apple iPads which should let you find out.

Apple iPad Air 4 vs Apple iPad 10.2 8th gen vs Apple iPad Mini 5

Design

You can see it even at first glance: the iPad Air 4 is the tablet with the most stunning design. Thanks to its very narrow bezels around the display, it is very elegant and futuristic. So, if you want the iPad with the best look, you know what to choose. Instead, if you need the most compact and lightweight tablet, go for the iPad Mini 5: thanks to its smaller display, it comes with smaller dimensions. Note that the iPad Air 4 also supports the keyboard and it turns into a mini-laptop. Despite its wider display, it has similar dimensions to the iPad 10.2 8th gen.

Display

The most advanced display is on board of the iPad Air 2020: it is a Liquid Retina IPS LCD panel with a 500 nit brightness and very high resolution (1640 x 2360 pixels). It is a wider display and it has the widest color gamut, as well as the True Tone technology and full lamination. Right after, we got the iPad 10.2 8th gen: unfortunately, you do not get full lamination, but it is still a pretty nice panel. Even the iPad Mini 5 is nice, but if you want the best multimedia tablet, the iPad Air 2020 has no rivals but the iPad Pro.

Hardware/Software

The iPad Air 4 has the most powerful chipset ever seen on a tablet launched by Apple to date. We are talking about the Apple A14 Bionic: the first SoC built at 5 nm and the same chipset as the iPhone 12. But the iPad Air 2020 actually provides even better performance than iPhone 12 because the Apple A14 clock is limited on the iPhone 12. In order to get a device that can beat the iPad Air 4, you have to consider the iPhone 12 Pro or the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Both the iPad Mini 5 and the iPad 10.2 8th gen are fueled by the Apple A12 Bionic chipset, but there is a difference: iPad 10.2 8th gen ships with iPadOS 14 out of the box, while the iPad Mini 5 ships with iOS 12. So, expect longer software support with the iPad 10.2 8th gen.

Camera

The Apple iPad Air 4 has a way better rear camera than iPad 10.2 8th gen and iPad Mini 5. We are talking about a 12 MP rear camera which is actually the same sensor as the latest iPhones, but it is not supported by any secondary sensor and it does not come with OIS. The camera is able to record 4K videos at 60 fps and 1080p videos up to 240 fps. The iPad Mini 5 and the iPad 10.2 8th gen sport the same 8 MP rear camera, but the front camera is better on the iPad Mini 5 (7 MP vs 1.2 MP).

Battery

Unfortunately, we did not test the battery life of the iPad Air 4. iPad Mini 5 has a smaller battery than its siblings. It will be a hard fight between iPad Air 4 and iPad 10.2 8th gen. According to Apple, they both last up to 10 hours (multimedia).

Price

Apple iPad Mini 5 is actually priced less than €400/$350, iPad 10.2 8th gen costs €370/$329, and iPad Air 4 has a €640/$599 starting price. Unless you need a very compact tablet, it does not make too many sense to go for an iPad Mini 5 with the iPad 10.2 8th gen around. The iPad Air 4 wins the comparison under every point of view, but it is way more expensive.

• Read More: Huawei MatePad Pro 5G with Kirin 990 launched for the global market

Apple iPad Air 4 vs Apple iPad 10.2 8th gen vs Apple iPad Mini 5: PRO and CONS

Apple iPad Air 4

PROS

• Best design
• Keyboard support
• Best hardware
• Best camera

CONS

• Price

Apple iPad 10.2 8th gen

PROS

• Good price
• Bigger battery
• Ships with iPadOS 14 (unlike iPad Mini 5)

CONS

• Inferior cameras

Apple iPad Mini 5

PROS

• Compact design
• Lightweight
• Good front camera
• Good street prices

CONS

• Old iOS version out of the box

The post iPad Air 4 vs iPad 10.2 vs iPad Mini 5: Specs Comparison appeared first on Gizmochina.

Apple launched the iPhone 12 series a couple of days back. It has the latest A14 Bionic SoC However, the company introduced this SoC a month earlier on iPad Air 4th generation. Today, AnTuTu reports the benchmarks of both the devices, and for some reason, the iPad is outsmarting the iPhone 12 here.

The benchmark report by AnTuTu shows that iPad Air 4 which is under testing boasts 4GB RAM and 256GB storage. The model number is iPad 13.1 and it is running on iPad OS 14.0.1. The device gets an overall score of 660,038 points. The CPU performance gets 183,817 points while the GPU score is 261,927 points.

Whereas the iPhone 12 scores 564,899 points in total. Also, Its CPU score is 167,894 which is 9.5% lesser than the score of iPad Air. further, the GPU score on iPhone 12 is also lesser at 201,085. Here, there is a wider gap of about 30%. That said, the disparity makes us wonder whether Apple has underclocked the SoC on the iPhone to match the battery and thermals.

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In terms of RAM, the iPhone 12 also has 4GB RAM just like the iPad. This further kindles a crazy thought if the iPad OS is better suiting for the A14 SoC compared to the iOS. This is because the UX score of iPad is around 97,026 but iPhone’s UX is just 90,243 points. And, a similar AnTuTu score of an iPhone 12 Pro Max a month before released hinted at a score close to its sibling. It had clocked an overall score of 572,333 points.

Having said that, just like AnTuTu’s report says, maybe Apple’s A14 SoC runs more stable with a theoretically better thermally managed, bigger battery iPad Air 4. Of course, all these will remain only as speculations unless Apple comes with a reason by itself. Additionally, a graphical representation shows that iPhone 12’s GPU score has dropped when compared to last year’s iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Nevertheless, it’s too early to comment on what’s being said or reported, and let’s wait for more samples in the future. And, we can also expect the scores to get better as Apple optimizes the devices going forward.

Up Next: Apple iPhone 12 Geekbench tests shows only slight performance gains

The post AnTuTu benchmark: iPad Air 2020 outperforms the iPhone 12 despite having the same A14 Bionic SoC appeared first on Gizmochina.

During yesterday’s keynote, Apple launched the new 4th generation iPad Air. It is definitely one of the most interesting tablets of the year because it is powered by the new Apple A14 Bionic chipset: the same we will find in the iPhone 12 lineup. But is it worth choosing the last Apple’s tablet or there is something even more interesting in the Android world? In order to establish it, we compared the latest iPad with the flagships Android tablets Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Huawei MatePad 10.8. The former brings 5G connectivity, while the latter is offered at a very good price. Let’s see which one is the best depending on the users’ needs.

Apple iPad Air 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 vs Huawei MatePad 10.8

Design

Thanks to their narrower bezels, the iPad Air 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 bring more elegant and futuristic designs to the market. The Apple iPad Air 4 has a cleaner look on the rear side, as well as a lighter body: that is the reason why it is my favorite one. But the Samsung Galaxy S7 has a slightly higher screen-to-body ratio. Both come with an aluminum body just like premium laptops. All of these tablets support an external keyboard and a stylus, with the S Pen of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 being the most convincing stylus of the trio and the Apple Smart Keyboard being the best keyboard.

Display

Overall, the most wonderful display of this comparison belongs to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7. Unlike its rivals, it features a high 120 Hz refresh rate and the HDR10+ certification. While the image quality provided should not be so different from the Apple iPad Air 4, it offers a smoother viewing experience thanks to its high refresh rate. Unfortunately, no one of these tablets has an AMOLED panel. Despite its affordable price, Huawei MatePad 10.8 still comes with a very nice QHD+ display.

Hardware/Software

The most performing tablet of the trio is the Apple iPad 4 for two reasons: it has a better (and more efficient) chipset (the Apple A13 Bionic built at 5 nm) and a greatly-optimized operating system. We are naturally talking about iPadOS 14, which is also a better operating system for productivity than Android. Well, with the Samsung Galaxy S7 you get the DeX mode turning it into a desktop PC if you connect it to an external monitor, but in the tablet mode, the iPad Air 4 has no rivals. In terms of hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is superior to the Huawei MatePad 10.8 thanks to its Snapdragon 865+ chipset. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is also the only tablet of this comparison to support 5G.

Camera

The main 12 MP camera found on the Apple iPad Air 4 actually provides a better photo quality and it wins the camera comparison. It is a 12 MP sensor that can record videos in 4K resolution @ 60 fps. Despite the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has an inferior main camera, it offers something more interesting since it packs an ultrawide secondary sensor. The Huawei MatePad 10.8 does not have a bad camera, but it is less interesting than its opponents.

Battery

Unfortunately, we still do not know how much Apple iPad Air 4 will exactly last on a single charge because no one had the chance to test it as it was announced yesterday. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has a bigger battery than Huawei MatePad 10.8 and it should last more if you do not use the 5G connectivity. Further, it has the fastest charging tech with a 45W power.

Price

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 has a €700/$650 starting price globally, Huawei MatePad 10.8 is priced just €300/$355 in China, and Apple iPad Air 4 starts from €640/$599. Huawei MatePad 10.8 loses the comparison but it has a higher value for money. The iPad Air 4 wins the comparison due to its great operating system, better cameras, and good performance, but Samsung Galaxy S7 is slightly more interesting on the paper because it has 5G, a 120 Hz display, DeX mode, and more interesting features.

• Read More: Huawei MatePad Pro 5G with Kirin 990 launched for the global market

Apple iPad Air 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 vs Huawei MatePad 10.8: PRO and CONS

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7

PROS

• 5G
• 120 Hz and HDR10+ display
• Ultrawide camera
• Fastest charging

CONS

• Price

Huawei MatePad 10.8

PROS

• Very affordable
• Nice cameras
• Flagship hardware at low price

CONS

• No Google services

Apple iPad Air 4

PROS

• Awesome hardware
• Great OS for productivity
• Awesome camera
• eSIM
• Great accessories

CONS

• No expansion slot

The post iPad Air 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 vs Huawei MatePad 10.8: Specs Comparison appeared first on Gizmochina.