Apple iPad Air 16 GB Wi-Fi review

The Air nomenclature has been synonymous with Apple Macbook devices and for the first time ever the US major has taken its ‘Air' wing to the iPad family with the iPad Air that is lighter and faster than previous iPad models. Before you come to any conclusions, iPads have always been a consumer favorite no matter how much Apple decides to price them. iPad Air is the continuation of that legacy keeping in mind the requirements of tech-savvy users catering to all across the globe.

iPad Air: What you get

iPad Air comes with the signature 9.7 inch 2048x1536 pixel display running on iOS 7 operating platform. Packed with the latest 1.3 GHz dual-core Apple A7 chipset along with 1 GB DDR3 RAM, the Air delivers high quality device performance that is lightening fast and smooth. Continuing with its tradition of an iPad with high quality cameras, the iPad Air is fitted with a near competent 5 MP rear camera and a 1.2 MP front camera that is streets ahead of any tablet in the market.

The most notable difference comes in the form of a smaller battery on iPad Air if one compares it with the iPad 4 and iPad 3 versions. This has enabled Apple to drastically streamline the size of iPad Air to 469 grams which is almost 200 grams lighter than both iPad 3 and iPad 4. The Air is backed up by a 8820 mAh battery, offers connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (for Apple devices only) and USB sharing via the lightning port.

Works like a breeze

The display on the iPad Air is sharp, crisp, offers top quality color reproduction and brightness with good viewing angles that makes watching movies/videos on the iPad Air a pleasant experience. iPads in general sell in abundance but Apple has till date failed to entice my attention to buy one. But with iPad Air things could change. The Air feels really light in hands and the level of performance with no obvious lagging or heating makes its it the best iPad version for me.

That said, there are some glaring features that never make it to iOS devices, namely; no Bluetooth support for non-iOS devices, a Wi-Fi only model restricts usage to indoors only and the lack of 3G dongle support adds to the concerns for consumers in India.

With iOS 7, Apple's iWork Suite comes for free and a long time battery life of more than a day's use makes the Air a near perfect laptop alternative on-the-go if attached with a keyboard accessory. To testify iPad Air's supreme performance delivery, 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited gave us score of 15143 which can be only bettered by the likes of Surface 2 Windows 8 tablet and other premium smartphones.