Apple iPad (8th gen) review: Best in its class

Recently, Apple launched the 2020-series entry-level iPad in India with prices starting at Rs 29,900 in India.

. On the outside, it looks the same as the predecessor but under-the-hood, it comes equipped with the A12 Bionic chipset, promising faster and better performance. I have been using the iPad (8th gen) for a week and here are my thoughts.

. Design, build quality, and display: As said before, the new iPad looks exactly like the iPad (7th gen). It has an identical 10.2-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit Retina Display with multi‑touch and IPS technology. It has a pixel density of 264 ppi (pixels per inch) and can deliver peak brightness up to 500 nits. On top, the screen is covered by the fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating.

. Its enclosure is made of fully recycled Aluminium material. It exudes smooth premium hand-feel and also sleek design and lightweight makes it easy to carry around in the home.

. It has two single-grille speakers at the bottom with a lightning port in the middle. But, on top, you can find the power button, dual-microphones in the right corner and on the opposite end, there is a 3.5mm audio jack port, a rare feature for an Apple product in 2020.

. All iPhones and high-end iPad Air and Pro models no longer have it. I fear this basic iPad model might be the last Apple tablet to support the audio jack. On the right side, you will find the familiar volume rockers and a sim tray right near the base (only seen in LTE models). On the opposite side, there are three magnetic points to connect accessories like a smart keyboard folio.

. Despite the thick bezel, the iPad's size -9.8-inch (H) x 6.8-inch (W) and the design is just perfect for e-book reading and shopping on e-commerce apps in portrait mode. And on landscape mode, I enjoyed watching movies on the widescreen. Also, I did not face any pressing issues while reading contents under direct sunlight.

. Also, there is TouchID at the base of the display, which doubles up as the home button. The biometric sensor is very reliable and works super fast in response to the finger impression to unlock and to authorise the installation of an application on the Apple App Store. During the entire week, it worked smoothly and there was low False Rejection Rate even when using sweaty fingers.

. Performance: Apple iPad (8th gen) houses Apple's proprietary A12 Bionic chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture and is paired with a dedicated Neural engine for on-device machine learning.

. With the new processor, the iPad (8th gen) is said to deliver 40 percent faster CPU performance and twice the graphics capability compared to the predecessor. It is also said to be two times faster than the top-selling Windows laptop and up to three times faster than the top-selling Android tablet.

. Add to that, the new iPadOS 14 makes iPads more productive with improved note-taking capabilities and new ways to work with handwritten notes. There are Smart Selection and Scribble features, which make use of the powerful processor and on-device machine learning by the neural engine, to intuitively understand the difference between handwriting and a drawing. With this, users can easily select, cut, and paste the lines into another document as typed text using the familiar multi-finger gestures.

. The new iPad also supports the trackpad and mouse, which further makes a valid case for being a good alternative to the basic laptop.

. With support for Apple Pencil (1st gen) and smart keyboards, the iPad gets even more versatile. Both children and parents, who are mostly cooped up at home for several months now, thanks to Covid-19 lockdown can make good use of the stylus to create power-point presentations and even small projects using Apple's own utility applications and also third-party applications from Microsoft and other well-known publishers.

. Also, Apple App Store has lots of applications, which the children can install on the new iPad to get information on complex topics to improve their skill sets and knowledge and yet have fun.

. For instance, the Froggipedia app offers wonderful insight on Frog's life cycle and intricate anatomical details in Augmented Reality (AR), which by the way needs a powerful chipset to offer an immersive viewing experience and the new iPad (8th gen) excels in doing it marvelously compared to any of the Android tablets in its class.

. Even while playing graphics-intense Asphalt 9: Legends, the iPad delivered a buttery-smooth gaming experience.

. Just for statistics, I tested the new iPad (8th gen) on AnTuTu benchmarking app and it scored an impressive 4,14,612 points.

. As far as the battery life is concerned, it can deliver up to 10 hours of continuous video playback.

. However, under normal day-to-day usage, which includes a few hours of video streaming (via Wi-Fi), internet browsing, at least a half-hour of e-book reading, social media network browsing, and doing other chores, it can last for several more hours, before you have to look for a power outlet to plug the iPad for charging.

. Camera: Apple's new iPad boasts an 8MP wide-angle camera with ƒ/2.4 aperture, support HDR, Hybrid IR ﬁlter, Autofocus, full HD 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps, Slow-motion video support for 720p at 120 fps, Time-lapse video with stabilization, Video stabilisation, Tap to focus while recording, 3x video zoom, Backside illumination, Video geotagging and more.

. It takes decent pictures, but the big tablet is just a bit too awkward to carry around places to take photos. I recommend users to use an iPhone (or any other mobile) and utilise the iPad for creative editing and share with friends and family or just keep it as a personal collection.

. It also does comes in handy for taking photos of book notes to convert them to any document formats. With apps like Microsoft Office Lens, you can instantly transform an image into a document or PDF.

. On the front, the new iPad comes with a 1.2MP FaceTime HD camera. If you have good Wi-Fi or LTE cellular connection, you can have a clear video call with friends or with office colleagues during the virtual conference. However, the still images or selfies come off too grainy.

. Final thoughts: A versatile entry-level tablet Apple A12 Bionic-powered iPad (8th gen) simply out-classes Android tablets under Rs 40,000 price segment.

. With Apple's own utility applications and Microsoft Office Suite apps, children can make good use of the iPad (8th gen) for project work. Add to that, the display is really good enough for them to attend long hours of online classes with less worry of fatigue to the eyes.

. Parents and children both can do creative stuff with accessories such as the Pencil (first gen) and there are lots of doodling applications and infotainment games on the Apple App Store to play and learn on the iPad.

. Also, during spare time, it is also a really good medium for entertainment, e-commerce shopping, and e-book reading.

. The new iPad (8th gen) Wi-Fi models are available in prices-- Rs 29,900 (32GB) and Rs 37,990 (128GB) and the Wi-Fi + Cellular models costs Rs 41,900 (32GB) and Rs 49,900 (128GB), respectively.

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Apple iPad (8th gen) review: Best in its class

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