Review 64: December 28-2020, at 04:00 pm


Are you planning on buying an iPad? Let me introduce you to the iPad Air 2020. I’ll discuss the details then it is up to you to decide if you want to buy it, your Coffee and welcome to OTTO Magazin:đ
This device comes with a totally new design now, It looks similar to the iPad Pro. Especially with the flat sides.
In general, this device feels like it is the Lite version of the iPad Pro, But still, it is way powerful than the regular iPad. The iPad Air is fully made form aluminum.
According to Apple, the aluminum is 100% recycled. The front is occupied by the screen, and it is protected with a glass layer. The thickness of the device is 6.1mm. It weighs 458g, It is nearly half a kilo for the WiFi version, The LTE version is 2 grams heavier.
The screen size is 10.9 with 2360×1640 resolution:

The screen is IPS and it is called Liquid Retina display, It comes with 264ppi density. The screen brightness is 500NITS. NITS is how bright the screen is when there’s a light source around it.
You can use this iPad Air in direct sunlight, 500NITS is very good. The bezels are smaller than in the previous version. The screen frequency is 60Hz, which is logical for this iPad.
The iPad Air supports Apple Pencil second generation.
The Pencil supports low-latency, The Pencil supports bluetooth and it is easy to pair. In general, the Pencil will enrich the experience of artists, students or even businessmen/women. But this second generation pencil is a big investment, It is expensive.
You should check whether you’ll benefit from it or not.
Or whether another Pencil from a different company is worth it or not, But you should put in your mind that these Pencil accessories from different companies don’t provide the full experience. You can connect a wireless mouse and keyboard to the iPad using bluetooth, It is also compatible with the newly released Magic Keyboard.
This keyboard comes with a touchpad and backlit keyboard, It also comes with another USB-C port, You can use an accessory while charging the iPad with the Magic Keyboard, But the price of the Magic Keyboard is expensive, It costs 413 USD!
The CPU inside the iPad Air is the A14 Bionic, It is very powerful, It allows you to do lots of tasks without any problem, It also comes with a Neural Engine.
The Neural Engine will provide 2x more performance in ML. It’ll also provide excellent performance with AR. It comes with 4GB fo RAM and either 64GB or 265GB of onboard storage. In Geekbench 5, the CPU scored 1594 points for the single core and 4114 points for multicores. Here’s where the CPU performance ranking among other competitors.
In PUBG game, the iPad offered smooth performance with high graphics, I know it is a game you’d want to play on an iPad, but still. The same thing applies for Call of Duty Mobile game. By the way, the iPad is compatible with PS4 and Xbox One controllers.
And of course the support is coming for the new consoles’ controllers. It is such a great thing to connect a controller to an iPad as it gives better gaming experience. The iPad Air comes with a 12MP rear camera, It supports Smart HDR.
In general, this camera will provide beautiful photos with good details. It does its job in still photos and videos. The camera supports shooting 4K@60fps videos. The front facing camera is 7MP, It is a good camera for a tablet. It takes beautiful, saturated photos. It does its job.
By the way, it shoots 1080p@60fps videos. FaceTime supports FHD, too. The iPad runs iPadsOS 14. It is simple and easy to use. What’s great about this OS is that the menus are similar to the macOS menus. By the way, Apple support for their devices is excellent, especially with security updates. It also comes with the App Store, which offers a huge library of apps with great support for developers.
The iPad Air comes with dual stereo speakers. After experimenting with them, they offer clear audio with acceptable subwoofer performance.
It also comes with 2 mics, and they’re supposed to offer good performance in video calls, especially in meetings. Since most of the apps are supported. By the way, if you want to choose between an iPad or a computer then you should check the apps that you regularly use.
Are these apps supported on the iPad? and do they work with full functionality?
If you have a Windows machine with Office, then it might be more comfortable. It needs getting used to on the iPad. Some of the commands are different. Also moving between apps and how you use them is different, too. You need to check which apps you use if you want to choose between an iPad or a computer.
The device supports WiFi 6 and bluetooth 5, It comes n two version, the first one is the WiFi only, and the second supports 4G and LTE.
It also supports eSIM. iPad Air comes with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the power button. It is called Touch ID, and after experimenting with it, it offers good performance.
The battery lasts for 10 hours of content watching. But it could be different depending on your usage and screen brightness. The battery charges with 20w. Some tests have showed that the battery fully charges in 2.5 hours.
The box contains the iPad, 20W charger and USB-C to USB-C cable. The iPad Air comes with a number of different colors: Silver, Space Grey, Rose Gold, Green, and Blue.
Pros:đ
The design is beautiful, it is lightweight and the build quality is high. This design looks more professional than the older designs, which is intended for reading.
The A14 Bionic CPU offers high performance with low battery consumption.
The screen offers beautiful and saturated colors, And for me, Touch ID is better than Face ID. It unlocks using your finger, and you don’t have to carry to unlock it.
Cons:đ
Not having a 3.5mm headphone jack is honestly something difficult! But if you’ve noticed since this iPad was released until now, Apple have been releasing wireless headphones. It is clear that not having a 3.5mm jack is because they want to support their ecosystem. đđ
Also, the price is a bit high! With this price of this iPad Air, you could buy a laptop, and it would offer more capabilities to you. But it is up to you to decided whether it is best for you or not.
And like I said before, you need to check the apps you use. đ
iPads are compatible with iPhones, which is great. But you might find it hard if you have an Android device.
Imagine to move a file, you’ll have to open WhatsApp Web version to be able to move files.
There are other solutions too. iPad Air is part of Apple’s ecosystem. There is the iPad 8th generation, there is this iPad Air, which is more powerful and there’s the iPad Pro 2020, which is the most powerful.
But it’s up to you to decide between which screen size is better, which color and which accessory will benefit you. You don’t have to buy the Apple Pencil and the cover From Apple.
You can buy the iPad from Apple and the cover from another company. And remember to always protect your investment. I use a cover to protect the device from scratches and dents. If it fells to the floor, it won’t break as it has a protection cover, and by doing that, I protect my investment.
See you in the next review.đ