iPad Mini vs Nexus 7 vs Galaxy Tab 2 hardware comparison

7-inch tablet PC hardware shootout: how do Apple, Google, and Samsung’s front-runners compete?

October 24, 2012

Apple announced the iPad Mini at a special event in San Jose, California on Tuesday evening (23 October 2012).

The device competes head-on with the likes of the Google Nexus 7 (which is made by Asus), Amazon‘s Kindle Fire, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0.

Unfortunately, Amazon’s content ecosystem that the Kindle Fire depends on is not available in South Africa, nor is the device itself available through an official distribution channel.

For this reason it is excluded from the comparison below.

The Nexus 7 is available through Asus’ South African distribution channel at a recommended retail price of R2,999 for the 16GB model. It is Wi-Fi only and the cheaper 8GB model has not yet been announced locally.

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 has been available in South Africa for somewhat longer than the Nexus 7 and the model with both Wi-Fi and 3G support sells for R4,789 from Samsung SA’s own online store.

iPad Mini, Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

Specifications	iPad Mini	Nexus 7	Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
Operating System	iOS 6	Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)	Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Display	7.9-inch 1024×768 IPS	7″ WXGA (1280×800) IPS	7″ WVGA (1024×600) PLS
Rear camera	5MP	None	3MP
Front camera	1.2MP	1.2 MP	VGA (0.3MP)
Storage, internal	16/32/64GB	16 GB	16GB
Storage, expandable	None	None	microSD (32GB)
Dimensions	200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm	198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm	193.7 x 122.4 x 10.5mm
Weight	308g (Wi-Fi) / 312g (LTE)	340g	345g
Chipset	Apple A5	Nvidia Tegra 3	TI OMAP 4430
Processor	Dual-core	1.2GHz quad-core	1GHz dual core
Battery	16.3Wh	4,325mAh	4,000mAh
Mobile data	HSPA+ and LTE	None	21 Mbps HSPA+
US price	$329 for 16GB (Wi-Fi only) $459 for 16GB (LTE)	$199 for 8GB $249 for 16GB	$199 for 8GB (W-Fi only)
SA price	Unannounced	R3,000 for 16GB	R4,789 for 16GB (3G)
* Samsung pricing from their own online store