Which of these tablets is the best purchase? The iPad Mini 2, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 7.0, or the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0.
For the design and display, the iPad Mini 2 stands out with its 7.9inches LED-backlit IPS LCD display, which renders a resolution of 1536x2048pixels and a pixel density is 324ppi. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 on the other hand, has a TFT display that supports 800x1280pixels and 189ppi, and the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 has a 7 inches TFT screen supports only 600x1024pixels and 170ppi.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 weighs 306 grams and has the dimensions of 188×111.1×9.9 mm, followed by the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 with 314 grams and measuring 209.8×123.8×7.4 mm, and finally the iPad Mini 2 is weighs 331 grams (WiFi variant) and the 3G/LTE variant is 10 grams heavier. This tablet measures 200×134.7×7.5 mm.
For the hardware and OS, the iPad Mini 2 has a 1.3GHz dual core Cyclone processor, which is backed by an Apple A7 chipset and uses a PowerVR G6430 GPU. It runs on the iOS 7, but now it’s running on iOS 7.1.2 and in the near future it will receive the iOS 8 update. The tablet has 1GB of RAM DDR1 and four unexpandable variants of internal storage: 16/32/64/128 GB.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has a 1.5GHz dual core processor running on an Exynos 4212 chipset with a Mali-400 GPU and 1.5GB of RAM. The internal storage is either 16GB or 32GB, but it supports an expansion up to 64GB. This tablet runs on Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS.
Finally, the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 has a 1.2GHz dual core Cortex A9 processor, based on a Marvell PXA869 chipset, and uses a PowerVR SGX540 GPU. It hosts 1GB of RAM and 8 or 16GB of internal storage, but with a microSD card, which can expand the memory up to 64GB. It runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean).
For the battery and camera specs, the iPad Mini 2 has a Li-Po 6471mAh battery, while the Samsung tablets have Li-Ion batteries: the 8.0 model hosts a 4450mAh battery while the 7.0 version has a 4000mAh battery.
The iPad Mini 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 have rear cameras of 5MP, but the Apple tablet has more features. The front camera is at 1.2MP with features that include FaceTime over WiFi or Cellular, face detection and video recording at 720p@30fps. The Samsung Tablets have the same video recording capabilities on their 1.3MP front cameras, but the bigger tablet has a 5MP camera on the back, while the smaller tablet has a 3.15MP secondary camera.
The iPad Mini 2 16GB variant is worth $340, while the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 16GB variant cost $250, and the 16GB variant of the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 is $90 cheaper.
Which tablet device wins? Sound off in the comments section below.
