Some devices are easy to review. Like this 8th generation iPad, launched recently in India with a starting price of Rs 29,900. And the reason is simple. It is best in its class, it does everything it promises to do, it is very useful in this Stay-At-Home world, and by now is such a familiar product that there are no surprises, neither pleasant nor nasty. The new iPad, with its 10.2-inch screen, is a good enough tablet. But the sorry state of its competitors, which are Android tablets, means that it is an easy recommendation. If you are looking to buy a good tablet, and don’t mind paying Rs 29,900, just get the iPad.
How about the new iPad compared to the iPad 7th-generation? Well, in that case, it depends on the price. If you are getting the previous iPad for some Rs 6,000 less, go for it. There is little difference between the two tablets, except the faster A12 Bionic in the new iPad. But for all practical purposes, both are fast tablets.
Now that this important stuff is out, let’s talk about the 8th-generation iPad.
Apple last year gave the basic iPad a bigger screen. It gained a 10.2-inch screen with a resolution of 2160 x 1620 pixels. The same screen makes an appearance in the new iPad. There is no change. It is still the Retina display and it is similarly good.
Then there are other key areas. The size is the same. The weight is similar at 490 grams compared to 483 grams for the previous iPad. The design is the same, complete with a plastic strip on top to help in network performance. The 8-megapixel rear camera is the same and sits flush with the sleek aluminum body of the tablet. Talking of the aluminum body and design, that too is the same. Same brushed metal and rounded edges. The 1.2-megapixel front camera is the same. There are stereo speakers. Same. There is the Touch ID, through that familiar round button below the screen.
So what has changed? The big change is the A12 Bionic processor instead of A10 Bionic in the previous iPad. The A12 is up to 40 per cent faster, though it won’t matter right now. It will matter two or three years from now when Apple will be deciding which iPad to support with its latest iPad OS.
It works very well. It works as well as an iPad, and much better than any Android tablet out there, even better than fancier Android tablets out there.
But it doesn’t work as well as pricier iPads, like iPad Air or iPad Pro. Several reasons for that.
While the 10.2-inch screen of the iPad is fairly good, it also feels a little dated. It doesn’t show the kind of rich colours that more expensive iPads can show. The videos and games don’t pop-out of it. That is alright though because in its class, the iPad still offers one of the best screens you can get in a tablet.
Similarly, the design and build quality compared to more expensive iPads feels dated. There are no flattened edges or an exotic finish. Take out the iPad from the box and you will be tempted to say “Hello there, my old friend”. Its design is familiar, and while it works well enough, it is no longer the most exciting iPad design in the world.
And that too is alright, because — and this is something you are going to hear again and again — it is much better than what competitors offer.
The 10.2-inch screen of the iPad strikes a good balance between usability comfort. It is great when you want to watch some videos on it, or when you want to keep it flat on a table and browse something on it. But if you want to curl with it in a bed, or play games on it, you will find it is a tiny bit larger. The iPad Mini works better for these tasks.
But overall, at a time when people are still stuck in homes, when kids are attending classes through tablets, when people are watching more movies on a device like a tablet or smartphone, I feel that the 10.2-inch iPad works better than the Mini for most people.
The performance of the new iPad is good. It gets the job done, without any lags, without any jitters, without any drama. The split-screen mode requires a few days before you get a hang of it but once you do, you will find that using the tablet in the landscape mode has its advantages.
The front camera works well enough for video calls, although it is not in the league of the front cameras you get in expensive phones. The rear camera clicks 8-megapixel photos, with picture quality comparable to what you will get with a mid-range phone. In other words, the rear camera is there to let you click an occasional photo or two, but if you have a slightly premium phone, you should rely on that instead of the iPad. The photos clicked with the iPad show noise in low light, and lack the kind of dynamic range that photos clicked with good phones show.
I played several games on the iPad and found that it ran cool. Although, the square design means I don’t particularly want to play games on it in long sessions. Though, I do want to browse on it for hours after hours. The Safari in the iPadOS gives desktop-class performance and view and I have no hesitation in saying that browsing experience on the iPad is better than what you will get on a similarly priced laptop. The same is true for the multimedia experience. Watching videos is just so much better on the iPad. And yes, just like it is with an Apple device nowadays: you get a one-year free subscription to Apple TV+.
The battery life is good and even with fairly regular use, I easily got one full-day of battery from the tablet. By the way, unlike the new iPhones, the iPad comes with a 20W charger. Thumbs up emoji here!
There is some additional stuff as well but that requires spending extra. The iPad supports first-gen Pencil and the Smart Keyboard. If you are looking to work more with the iPad, the keyboard becomes an essential accessory. It costs an extra Rs 13,900, which is pricey. You can also pair a gaming controller with the iPad if you want to use it for gaming and hate holding it, like I do, during the gameplay.
There is no way an Android tablet scores over the iPad. This is because of the excellent iPadOS and the fact that despite little in terms of updated design or hardware, the new iPad is still a fairly great tablet compared to the competitors. It is fast, it excels at some things browsing, watching stuff, doing tweaks to photos and is better at everything else compared to Android tablets. It lacks many features that come in the latest iPad Air or the iPad Pro but then those are much more expensive tablets.
In fact, at a starting price of Rs 29,999 the iPad is what you should buy if you need a tablet and nowadays stuck at home almost every family needs a tablet.
There are some things that could have been better. One is the base storage. It is just 32GB. That could have been better. And two, I would have liked to see improved front and rear cameras. Apple is working with these 8-megapixel and 1.2-megapixel sensors for far too long.
Originally published by IndiaToday