MikeYawney
on - last edited on by
ElizabethS
Apple calls it the "amazing" tablet that's hard to put down. The iPad 2 has finally come to Canada with new features and a new design. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new tablet a few days before launch courtesy of Apple. I've played with the new features, tried out the cameras and even played a few levels of Angry Birds Rio on the device. So how does it compare to the first version? Read my review to find out.
The Design
Apple likes to say the iPad 2 is completely re-designed. While it's true some changes have been made but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a complete overhaul.
To begin with now have a choice of colours. Instead of just black, Apple is releasing the highly talked about white version. Yes, a white version at launch. I have the white iPad 2 and yes it is nice. But I will point out, it creates a definite border around your screen. A black version makes the screen feel slightly larger especially when watching movies or playing games with dark backgrounds. It's an optical illusion but worth mentioning.
The moment you pick up the tablet you will notice it is significantly thinner. The iPad is 33% thinner than the original. It doesn't sound like much but it's really noticeable when you place them side by side. If you own the original iPad you will also notice the difference right away.
In terms of weight, the iPad 2 is lighter. But don't get too excited. It's only slightly lighter. We're talking 80 grams lighter. That is about the weight of a large pack of Smarties. When holding the original iPad in one hand and the newer version in the other it's hard to distinguish the weight difference.
The new model certainly feels nicer in the hands. The outer edges are very thin which feels great compared to the old model. It's a nice upgrade.
The Processor
There's no denying the iPad 2 is faster than the original iPad. Sporting a new dual-core A5 chip, everything seems to run a bit smoother than it did on the first-gen tablet. Not only did apps run smoother, they launched faster. That seems to be one of the biggest advantages of the iPad 2. In a side-by-side comparison the iPad 2 always launched apps first by about a second (sometimes 2 seconds).
Many are wondering just how much RAM is in the iPad 2. For some reason Apple isn't willing to divulge this information. Despite requests the company simply says they are not releasing the specifications.
Forbes however is reporting the iPad 2 has 512MB of RAM. That's twice as much as the original iPad. If that is true you may ask why Apple is keeping that a secret. Well when you consider RIM's Playbook, Motorola's Xoom and HP's Touchpad all have 1GB of RAM, there may be a bit of embarrassment there.
One number Apple does like throwing around the is graphical powers of the iPad 2. Apple claims the new device has up to 9 times the graphical speed as the original iPad. It's true games certainly look nice on this new tablet. But truth be told I'm not sure they look 9 times as good. The upgrade may be there but it's certainly not quite as noticeable as the processor upgrade or the new thin design.
The Cameras
This is the feature many are excited about. Apple has now included not one but two cameras on the iPad 2. Initially it mocked at the idea of including such a feature until others added cameras to their tablets. Finally iPad users have the same luxury.
The front camera is a VGA camera used mainly for FaceTime (video chatting) or self portraits. The camera is of mediocre quality. It's somewhat grainy, can be a bit pixelated and does not perform very well in low light conditions. It is good enough for video chatting via FaceTime in well lit areas, but it's by no means stellar.
The camera on the back is used mainly for shooting 720p HD video and for taking stills. Video quality is decent but once again depends on your lighting conditions. I shot some test footage for Citytv in a mall and found the picture quality to be good, but once I moved into low lit areas the picture became grainy quite quickly.
The bigger disappointment was the quality of still photos taken from the back camera. Colours were a bit more washed out on the iPad 2. Once again lighting becomes an issue. If there is low light you will have a grainy photo. The picture below was shot in our Citytv studio with ideal lighting conditions. You can see the quality is much better. In the end the iPhone 4's 5 megapixel camera takes nicer photos. Apple will not release the specifications on the rear camera despite my requests.
Photo Booth and FaceTime
Apple has included a couple of new apps on the iPad 2, both have to do with the new built-in cameras.
FaceTime (which allows you to video chat with friends) works quite well for the most part. You can FaceTime with anyone who has an iMac, MacBook, 4th gen iPod, iPhone 4 or iPad 2. Once you connect to WiFi you launch the app, select the contact you want to talk to and click on the camera icon. This app only works via WiFi (unless of course you were to jailbreak your device which voids your warranty - not condoned).
A few initial test calls proved to be successful. The key once again is having decent light and a good WiFi signal. The lower the signal the poorer the call quality. I did notice on my second day of testing FaceTime my iPad 2 didn't want to connect to my friends via FaceTime. Certainly a few bugs in the system, but it started working again later in the day.
Photo Booth is quite impressive. If you've ever used this app on a MacBook or an iMac you'll love it on the iPad. It's essentially a way to take funny pictures of yourself through the camera by using special software filters. Kaleidoscope, X-Ray, Stretch, Swirl, Squeeze and Thermal Camera are just a few of the nine filters included.
What's really dramatic is the way the iPad 2 processes the image through the camera through all 9 filters at once on the fly. You can see yourself live through the cameras though all nine filters then select the one you want to take full screen to begin playing around with. Truly impressive.
If you thought games were a great way to occupy kids with the iPad, wait until you try out Photo Booth!
The Screen
The iPad 2 has the same screen as the original iPad. For some reason (some have speculated production issues) Apple did not upgrade to the higher resolution Retina display as found in the iPhone 4. Personally I don't find it to be a big deal. The screen on the original iPad was quite nice and it remains that way on the iPad 2. A higher resolution screen certainly would have bumped up the price point at retail.
The Battery
Apple claims the new iPad may have more features, yet they were able to keep the same battery life. I would agree with this. The battery still lasts a long time; roughly 10 hours. It's actually quite impressive when you consider how much thinner the device is.
I will say your battery does drain faster if you use the cameras a lot. My son loves playing with Photo Booth (and Garage Gand) and I did notice the he was able to drain the battery faster than I ever did.
Overall Experience
The iPad 2 is a moderate improvement over the original iPad. You won't pick up the device and say "Whoa! This is so much better!". Yes improvements have been made but the end result isn't as dramatic as you might think.
It is faster, it is thinner, there are cameras and yes the handful of new built-in apps are a lot of fun to play with, but it's not a must-own device for those who already own an original iPad. That being said I probably will only use my original iPad as a back-up device now that I have this one.
I will say nothing compares to what the iPad 2 currently offers. The entire user experience is intuitive and slick. It's a well designed device that is so easy to use a toddler can pick it up and figure it out in a relatively short amount of time. No other tablet on the market compares at this point.
Of course that can soon change. Research in Motion (Go Canada!) is getting ready to launch the PlayBook on April 19th and Motorola will launch its tablet the Xoom in early April giving even more choice to customers looking for a tablet. Can they dent Apple's empire? Hard to say. But at least there will be other devices to match, if not surpass what the iPad 2 has to offer. And I think that will be a good thing.
The Good
Beautiful design
Same easy to use interface
Faster Processor
Faster Graphics
Two cameras
10 hour battery life
The Bad
Camera quality is poor
