With the iPad mini, Apple has finally entered the 7 inch tablet market the idea of which Steve Jobs had so vehemently opposed stating that 10 inch is the perfect size for tablets. And he was even proved right at that point of time as the 7 inch Android tablets proved to be a disaster in the market till the arrival of the Kindle Fire tablet which kind of succeeded considering Apple’s dominance of the tablet market.
Now under the reins of Tim Cook, Apple has finally jumped on to the 7 inch segment of the tablet market and is competing directly with the likes of the Kindle Fire HD and the Asus Nexus 7 tablet.
We give you a low down on the specs comparison between the three.
 Kindle Fire HD |
 Asus Nexus 7 |
 Apple iPad mini |
|
| Screen Size | 7″ / 8.9″ 800 x 1280 / 1920 x 1200 pixels216 / 254 ppi | 7″ 800 x 1280 pixels216 ppi | 7.9″ 1024-by-768 pixels163 ppi |
| Dimensions | 190 x 120 x 11.4 mm | 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm | 200 x 134.7 x 7.2 mm |
| Network Speed | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900HSDPALTE | N/A | GSM/EDGE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100CDMA EV-DO Rev. A 800 / 1900LTE 700 / 2100LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25) |
| Processor | TI OMAP4470 Dual-core | Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad-core | A5 (Dual-Core) |
| Camera (Primary) | 1.3 MP, 1280 x 1024 pixels | 1.2 MP | 5MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels |
| Camera (secondary) | No | No | 1.2MP |
| Memory (Internal) | 16/32/64 GB storage, 1GB RAM | 8/16 GB storage, 1GB RAM | 16/32/64 GB storage, 1GB RAM |
| Battery (Battery Life) | Li-Po (11 hrs) | Li-Po 16 Wh (9.5 hrs) | Li-Po 16.3 Wh (10 hrs) |
| Weight | 413 g | 340 g | 308 g |
Now talking about the pricing of the three products:
The iPad mini base pricing starts from $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and costs $429, $529 for the 32GB & 64GB Wi-Fi versions respectively. Whereas, the Wi-Fi + Cellular version costs $459 for the 16GB model, $559 for the 32GB model and $659 for the 64GB model.
Now the Kindle Fire HD base pricing starts from $199 for 16GB & $249 for 32GB 7 inch Wi-Fi models. $299 & $369 for the 16GB & 32GB 8.9 inch Wi-Fi models. $499 & $599 for the 32GB & 64GB Wi-Fi + LTE versions.
Last but not the least, the Asus Nexus 7 is priced at $199 for the base 8 GB version whereas the 16GB version will set you back by $249.
We believe Apple has managed to get the pricing just about right to compete against the lower priced competitors; with the superior branding, hardware and app ecosystem working in Apple’s favor here. Though, they have not delivered a knockout pricing for the other tablets, as was widely being expected.
Do let us know in comments what do you think about these tablets and their pricing; also which of these are you most likely to pickup.
