Apple iPad Air (2019) Review By PhoneArena

Apple's strategy with the iPad is a whole lot different than the iPhone and the new iPad Air is a good example of that it's actually now classified as a mid-range offering because it sits in between the entry-level version of the iPad, the 2018 version, and the 11-inch model of the iPad Pro so makes you wonder were sitting in the greater scheme of things. Borrowing this same aesthetics and design language of its predecessor in the 2014 release iPad Air 2 the new iPad Air doesn't break from tradition. It can easily be mistaken for the iPad Air 2 unless you inspect them closely. It's a signature design that stays true to Apple's philosophy of being clean and simple since it's incredibly well-built features a sleek aluminum body and rounded edges with a subtle beveled edge. Apple has chosen to keep the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and we're happy with that because it's good and simple to use. The headphone jack is still intact here which is a sight for sore eyes but interestingly enough the only new addition here are the three-pin connectors on the left edge which allows for the support of the Smart Keyboard.

It also supports the Apple Pencil but it's only the first generation Apple Pencil and not the newer one. Like, come on, no one else sells more tablets than Apple so this old design still has aged nicely. It's incredibly thin, it's light-weight, it's premium, what more can you ask in the design? The new iPad Air also features a larger 10.5-inch 1668 by 2024 Retina display that's also fully-laminated just like its predecessor for better outdoor visibility. It also leverages Apple's True Tone display technology to adapt colors to the ambient conditions around while also throwing support for wider DCI-P3 color gamut. Now all this sounds fancy and enticing for this newer iPad Air but we wouldn't go beyond saying it's leaps and bounds superior than the iPad Air 2's display.

Yes, it's brighter by nearly 100 nits with a peak brightness output of 525 nits, but still delivers the same crisp and accurate colors. So, just like design there's not a whole lot new or drastically different with the Retina display here. At the end of day, it's effective in allowing us to handle the tablet for reading watching videos and getting work done/ We'll cut to the chase here with the software - if you've held onto the iPad air 2 and have continually updated software to the most up-to-date version of iOS, version 12.2 to be exact, then you won't notice anything different for the new iPad Air. In fact, it's the same experience that you'll find with other iPads. You'll find the gesture-based interface here which won't be total surprise for any iPad user.

All the gestures aren't you seeing that we've seen them previously. If you're new to the iPad though you may feel a slight learning curve getting to know the ins and out of the navigational experience, but after some time these gestures become second nature. Even though it doesn't yet quite match the productivity of a laptop or desktop, we're fans of being able to have two apps running simultaneously side by side to one another. Technically though it's on a limited basis because all combinations aren't supported. Despite that it's nice to know that there's a level of productivity that's available now with the experience.

Apple's iPads have always been notoriously-responsive so don't expect that change anytime soon either. The new iPad Air is powered by Apple's latest A12 Bionic chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM and it's exceptionally responsive as you'd expect. Then again, the aging iPad Air 2 still delivers equally as responsive results with basic tasks even though it may be tough to discern the improvements. With the new iPad Air it never once showed any indication of stuttering or slowing down with its performance. When it comes to storage options, there are only two options to choose from 64 or 256 gigabytes.

The price for a 64 gigabyte version amounts to $500 while the 256 gigabyte one comes in at 650. Now, to look at the specs of the rear camera, it pretty much matches what was offered by the iPad Air 2. What we have here is an 8MP backside-illuminated sensor with an aperture of f/2.4. For now that's nothing to gloat about in the world of cameras but then again we're dealing with a tablet here. The front-facing camera, on the other hand, receives a makeover with an upgraded 7MP camera up from the iPad Air 2's pitiful 1.2 megapixel camera. Looking beyond the hardware not much has changed either with the cameras interface - it's pretty much straightforward for the most part,but it's still frustrating to go back to the iPad general settings to change some of the things, like the video recording resolution.

But hey, at least it takes some pleasant looking shots when the lighting conditions are ideal. When it's sunny you get some average looking details that are accompanied by accurate looking colors. It's good, but not excellent. When there's a strong contrast and lighting, it's useful to have Auto HDR enabled because it tones down the scene so that the highlights aren't overblown, resulting in a better exposed composition. However, we noticed that HDR shots tend to come out a bit softer in tone.

However, its low-light performance is just terrible! Honestly, they'll probably just want to refrain from even trying to shoot any photos when it's dark out. On the flip side, the front facing camera boost its performance over its predecessor. There's a fair amount of details that we can make out from taking selfies with plenty of lighting around but the post-processing tends to be more liberal with the saturation. We're not going to find anything better with the iPad Air's video recording performance, especially when it tops out at 1080p resolution. For a tablet with formidable specs we certainly expected more in this area with 4K video-recording.

Instead, it's a forgettable performance that'll make me want to skip using it in the first place. The battery life with the iPad Air is great on a day-to-day basis we're able to easily get through the day, with about 50 percent capacity left over with normal usage. Now power users won't have any issues either trying to get a solid one day of usage. In our battery benchmark test it eclipses a 10:30h mark easily besting its contemporaries. What's annoying though is that it still requires a painstaking amount of time to get fully-juiced - the 235 minutes it requires for the new iPad Air is just god-awful long compared to its contemporaries in the tablet space.

Take the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 which only needs 192 minutes. If Apple were still selling the aging iPad Air 2 brand-new for a significantly discounted price we'd probably recommend that over this newer one. However, that's not the case - in reality, the new iPad Air takes up the vacant spot long held by the iPad Air 2 at the moderate $500 price range. After years of Apple trying to sell consumers on upgrading to its more expensive iPad Pro tablets, the new iPad Air's arrival is a sign of relief, and now that's in the mid range classification it's the all-round tablet that will appeal to the mainstream audience. Sure, you could pay less and go with the entry model iPad for $330 but the advantage of paying more to go with the new iPad Air is that you get a better-designed tablet, superior display and the faster A12 Bionic chipset to handle all of your day-to-day tasks.

And that is it for this review guys! If you want to learn more about the iPad Air you could check out our website PhoneArena. com. This is John V, signing off!.

Source : PhoneArena