They’re among the hottest devices out in the market this time of the year, and needless to say, they’re both really impressive. They may primarily be different, one being a formidable competition in the tightly contested tablet arena, and the other a phablet – having created a category of its own. But, given that the iPad Mini and the Galaxy Note II are among the best creations of the two major, tech rivals, you can see why we decided to pit one against the other. So let’s dive in to see their similarities and differences. The looks: This is the first thing that catches your eye about any gadget, so we decided to start from the outside and work our way in. The iPad Mini does have a larger screen of 7.9 inches against the Galaxy Note II’s 5.55 inch display. But that’s understandable – given that the iPad Mini will still be marketed within the tablet category, while the latter has a niche of its own in the phablet world. Apple has put an IPS LCD screen with a 1024X768 pixel resolution; however, the Note II has a higher resolution Super AMOLED display with 265 ppi resolution. The iPad Mini is available in black and white color options, while the Galaxy Note II sports either a blue or white casing. Tech specs: Powering the iPad Mini is an Apple A5 dual-core 1 GHz processor with 1 GB RAM. The Galaxy Note II is far more powerful, with a Samsung Exynos 4 quad-core 1.6 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. We have to say that’s a lot of power packed into such a small package, but we’re mighty impressed! In terms of the OS, the iPad Mini runs iOS 6 while the Galaxy Note II runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. We can’t really compare the two OS’s, because that becomes a lengthy discourse in itself. A sore point missing in the iPad Mini is the microSD card slot for memory expansion, which is a huge advantage the Note II has. Camera power: Samsung has clearly put a lot of thought into making the Galaxy Note II so stellar. With an 8 MP rear camera with LED flash and 1.9 MP front-facing camera, this one’s far more effective than the iPad Mini. The iPad Mini, on the other hand, has a 5 MP rear camera and 1.2 MP front-facing one. But, given that their functions are a little different since the Note II will be considered as a smartphone while the iPad Mini will function as just a tablet, the camera power seems adequate for them in their own leagues. Connectivity: Like we mentioned before, the Galaxy Note II is essentially a smartphone (a really smart one at that!), while the iPad Mini is a tablet. Both devices support LTE networks as well as 3G. In addition, both have Bluetooth and WiFi as well.
