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iPad Mini with Retina Display vs. Nexus 7 vs. Kindle Fire HDX 7

See how the iPad Mini 2 stacks up against 2013's popular 7-inch tablets.

Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Sarah Mitroff
2 min read
The iPad Mini with Retina Display James Martin/CNET

Almost one year to the day that Apple unveiled its first small iPad, the company launched its successor, the iPad Mini with Retina Display. The much-anticipated device sports expanded LTE support, in addition to a better-looking screen.

Apple wasn't the only company to release new tiny tablets this year. In 2013, Google and Amazon refreshed their lineups with the Nexus 7 (2013 edition) and the Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch. Now that Apple has taken the wraps off the iPad Mini 2 at its October 22 event, we can see how each tablet stacks up against the other.

Right off the bat, the iPad Mini 2 is the most expensive of the bunch starting at $399 for the 16GB version. Both the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HDX start at $230 for 16GB of storage. Other than that, all three tablets have a lot in common as far as camera quality and storage options, though the iPad Mini comes in a 128GB model.

Decide for yourself which tablet has the best features for you, and let us know your pick in the comments.

Apple iPad Mini 2 Google Nexus 7 (2013) Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch
Operating system iOS 7 Android 4.3 Amazon Android Mojito 3.0
Price Wi-Fi: $399 (16GB), $499 (32GB), $599 (64GB) $699 (128GB).
Cellular: $529 (16GB), $629 (32GB), $729 (64GB) $829 (128GB).
$230 (16GB), $270 32GB (32GB), $350 (32GB and 4G LTE) $230 (16GB), $270 (32GB), $310 (64GB)
Display 7.9-inch IPS,
2,048x1,536 pixels (324ppi)
7-inch IPS,
1,920x1,200 pixels (323ppi)
7-inch IPS,
1,920x1,200 pixels (323ppi)
Size 7.8 inches x 5.3 inches
x 0.3 inch
7.8 inches x 4.5 inches
x 0.3 inch
7.3 inches x 5.0 inches x 0.3 inch
Weight 11.7 ounces (331 grams) 10.5 ounces (299 grams) 10.9 ounces (311 grams)
Processor A7 processor 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800
Memory 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB 16GB or 32GB; 2GB RAM 16GB, 32GB or 64GB; 2GB RAM
Camera 5-megapixel rear-facing; 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera 5-megapixel; 1.2-megapixel front-facing 5-megapixel; 1.2-megapixel front-facing
Battery 23.8-watt-hour;
10 hours battery life
3,950mAh 4,550mAh
NFC No Yes No
Ports Lightning connector Micro-USB Micro-HDMI, Micro-USB
Color Space gray and silver Black Dark gray