Review: iPad Air 2

Apple may have been instrumental in the creation of the tablet category, but there's a lot of competition these days. For a while, it felt like Apple's device had become less of a revolution and more of an annual upgrade.

That’s not to say it wasn’t popular; iPads still sold in their millions. But there was less of a sense of excitement about the device, and with cheaper Android tablets nipping at Apple’s heels, something needed to be done.

The iPad Air, released last year, created a bit of a stir. This year, it’s the Air 2’s chance to try to turn some heads.

The Air 2 is a refined version of last year’s tablet, and while it might look very similar, there are some important changes that make the new version worth the investment. Not only is it thinner and lighter than its predecessor, it’s also faster. The new A8X chip inside the device sees to that, with the M8 motion coprocessor working alongside it.

The good

The iPad Air was thin; the Air 2 is thinner. In fact, it’s snatched back its thinnest 10-inch tablet crown back from

Sony

. At 6.1mm, it’s sleeker than the Xperia Z2’s 6.4mm shell, but doesn’t feel flimsy.

It also weighs less a pound, so you can hold it one hand for reading or watching video comfortably – for a while at least. One loss is the dedicated mute/screen rotation lock button from the side of the tablet, but with the control centre included as part of iOS, it’s no great omission.

The screen is less reflective than before, thanks to a mix of a new coating and a new screen construction. Previous versions of the iPad had three layers: the cover glass, the touch screen and the LCD display.

The iPad Air 2 combines those three layers into one laminated display. That eliminates the gaps between the three layers. Colours are deeper and richer – side by side, there’s a visible difference between earlier versions of the iPad and the current Air 2.

Apple claims it’s more sensitive to touch too, but since the older iPads weren’t exactly lagging in this department, this aspect is less noticeable than the visual upgrades.

Touch ID has also been brought into the iPad Air, allowing you to forgo certain passwords and use your fingerprint instead.

The new A8X chip is faster than the previous A7, with a claimed 40 per cent faster CPU performance and two and a half times better graphics performance. Putting the iPad through its paces, it handled everything from games to video rendering without a stutter.

The not so good

It’s hard to find fault with the Air 2. The placement of the speakers at the bottom of the tablet means you can inadvertently cover them with your hand, but it’s a small quibble.

Battery life is still up to 10 hours so there is nothing revolutionary here either; the boost in power without a significant decrease in battery performance though is worth noting.

The storage options are more varied, although the 16GB version seems a false economy at this stage – you’ll quickly fill up the available space.

The rest

The iPad’s camera isn’t the first choice for snapping photos, and with iCloud sharing photos between all your devices, there is little need to crack out the large screen to capture images on the fly. Yet you still see people whipping iPads out at tourist spots or – more annoyingly – concerts. Apple has improved the camera on the Air 2 so you get good quality, detailed photos with an 8-megapixel resolution. the front facing camera is still 1.2-megapixels, but low light performance is slightly better. That’s good news for FaceTime users.

Handoff and Continuity, part of iOS 8, make the iPad an integral part of your set up. You can edit a photo on your phone, look up a web page and then pick it up on the iPad. You can connect your phone and iPad so you can take calls and receive SMS messages on your tablet, a feature that is extended to Macs running Yosemite.

The verdict

HHHH A nice refinement of Apple’s tablet. Skip the 16GB version and splash out for the higher capacity Air 2.