Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble's NOOK HD has become two very popular 7-inch tablets since its release. One of their biggest rivals, Apple, may have created a lot of buzz with the new iPad Mini, but may not have crushed tablet competition like some critics said it would.
Let's first give the specs of the three tablets:
The new Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet comes in 16Gb or 32GB. It has a 1280 x 800 HD display with polarizing filter and anti-glare technology for rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle. It features Dolby audio and dual-driver stereo speakers. Amazon says that its dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi does 40 percent faster downloads and streaming compared to the iPad 3. It has a 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core with free unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content. It also has reduced screen glare. It costs $199 for the 16GB model.
The iPad Mini has a 7.9-inch IPS LCD screen and run on Apple's new iOS 6 software. It is 23 percent thinner than the fourth-generation iPad, according to USA Today. It has a display screen resolution of 1,024 x 768 and has a 35 percent larger display area than the Google Nexus 7, and is 67 percent larger to surf the Web. It has a A5 dual-core chip, 5 megapixel iSight camera on the rear of the tablet which can shoot 1080p HD video, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi support as well as the new Lightning connector available on the iPhone 5. It comes with a FaceTime HD camera and 10 hours of battery life. It has WiFi that is twice as fast as previous generation iPads. It will sell for $329 for the 16GB model.
Barnes & Noble's Nook HD features a 7-inch HD display with a "Fully laminated screen with no air gaps reduces glare and provides extra-wide viewing angles," according to Barnes & Noble. It has a 1440 x 900 pixel resolution with 243 ppi. It has 10.5 hours of reading and up to 9 hours of video. It has Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and a Universal 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and an expandable microSD slow. Barnes & Noble claims its "the best tablet for families" because users can create up to six NOOK profiles. The 16GB sells for $229.
Both the NOOK HD and Kindle Fire HD have a sharper display than the iPad Mini. Both also have a higher ppi vs iPad Mini's 162 ppi.
Both tablets are also cheaper than the iPad Mini.
CSMonitor said that the iPad Mini is "pretty pricey" for a 7-inch tablet.
Apple went on the defense for it's high price, saying that consumers will buy it anyway.
"The most affordable [tablet] we've made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices," Schiller said, referring to the iPad 2, which saw a price drop earlier this year, according to CSMonitor. "And now you can get a device that's even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that."
This is true because Apple loyalty is extremely high. People will buy an Apple product no matter what the complaints are (hence, many are still buying iPhone 5 despite extreme dislike of the Apple maps app). However, the Apple iPad Mini may suffer a loss in the long term, according to one analyst.
"The risk around the Mini, in our view, is that Apple's Mini pricing may concede more of the low-end tablet market to Amazon and Google, running the risk that these Android tablet users may buy compatible Android phones and/or shy away from Apple iPhones in the future," Morningstar analyst Brian Colello pointed out.
Geeksugar.com pointed out: "The iPad mini is the only tablet in its class with a rear-facing camera, but if you'll be using your device primarily for reading and watching, then there are certainly cheaper options on the market."
Information Week questioned whether the iPad Mini is good enough to compete with other 7-inch tablets.
What do you think? Which tablet is better for you? VOTE NOW!