In the span of two days, the two hottest tablets of the fall have been announced. On dnesday, took the wraps off the Nexus 9, a spectacular new high-end tablet manufactured by HTC. Thursday, Apple announced the id Air 2, a modest upgrade to last year’s stellar id Air.
Naturally, one runs iOS 8 its associated apps, one runs Android llipop its apps. For many users, that’s difference enough to choose one over the other. If you’re not married to either ecosystem, you want to know where to dive in, consider these points of comparison.
They both feature fast, dual-core 64-bit processors
The Nexus 9 is based around the new dual-core 64-bit version of Nvidia’s Tegra K1 chip, running at 2.3GHz with 2GB of RAM. Early leaked benchmarks suggest it is even faster than the very fast quad-core version of the Tegra K1 you find in products like the Shield Tablet. Android llipop is the first 64-bit capable version of Android, so you can enjoy the increased performance efficiency of native 64-bit apps, in addition to all the 32-bit apps out there already.
Of course, Apple has been shipping a 64-bit mobile chip OS since last year. The A8X in the id Air 2 is also a 64-bit dual-core powerhouse, though Apple hasn’t confirmed it, rumor says the A8X is Apple’s first mobile chip to include 2GB of RAM.
Both processors have extremely fast graphics processors. The Tegra K1’s G is far away the fastest we’ve ever tested in an Android device, but Apple consistently offers extremely fast robust graphics in its mobile processors. thout running some head-to-head benchmarks, it’s hard to say which is faster. Suffice it to say, these two tablets are likely to have the best graphics performance of any ARM-based tablet to date.
The Nexus 9 is a bit smaller, but thicker
‘s new tablet is 8.98 inches tall 6.05 inches wide. The id Air 2 is bigger, at 9.44 inches tall 6.67 inches wide.
However, while the Nexus 9 is a reasonable 0.31 inches thick, the id Air 2 is only 0.24 inches thick.
That gives the Nexus 9 a total volume of 16.85 cubic inches, while the id Air has a volume of only 13.22 cubic inches. That thinner profile really makes a difference!
The id Air 2 has a bigger display
At 9.7 inches, the Apple’s tablet gives you almost an extra inch’s worth of display compared to the 8.9-inch Nexus 9.
Interestingly, the displays on both tablets are I Ds with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 a 4:3 aspect ratio.
They weigh about the same
The Nexus 9 weighs 0.93 pounds. The id Air 2 weighs 0.96 pounds. I doubt you’ll notice the difference in weight between the two. You’re more likely to notice the substantial difference in thickness.
They both offer fast 802.11ac -Fi
No matter which tablet you choose, you should get awesome speeds from your advanced 802.11ac router with MIMO. Both tablets have broad support for carrier frequencies in their cellular versions, so you can probably use either tablet on whichever carrier you wish.
Interestingly, the id Air 2 only features Bluetooth 4.0, while the Nexus 9 has Bluetooth 4.1. That’s not going to make a difference to you as an everyday user, though. l those fancy battery-saving “low energy” Bluetooth devices require only the 4.0 version of the spec.
The Nexus 9 is cheaper
The 16GB -Fi version of the Nexus 9 starts at $400, you can bump that up to 32GB for $80 more. The E-enabled 32GB version is $600.
The id Air 2 starts at $500 for the 16GB -Fi version. Apple doesn’t offer a 32GB version, but the 64GB version is $100 more. The E-enabled versions costs $130 more, so if you want cellular connectivity on your tablet, you will spend at least $630 get only 16GB of storage.
Only the id Air 2 offers more than 32GB of storage
Neither tablet features expable storage, so if you plan on loading up with a ton of hi-def videos or huge games, you may want more storage. Only the id Air 2 offers 64GB 128GB options. Unfortunately, if you think 64GB is too much 16GB is not enough, you’re out of luck—Apple makes no 32GB version.
They both have 8-megapixel rear 1.2-megapixel front cameras
Both the Nexus 9 id Air will have an 8-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.4 aperture. The front-facing cameras on both tablets are really made for video chat more than high-res selfies, they’re both a mere 1.2 megapixels.
Specs are one thing, but megapixels alone don’t make for a great photo. The quality of the photos video taken from these cameras is still unknown. ‘ll have to get our hs on each of them to do a proper comparison.
The id Air has a fingerprint sensor
Apple has finally brought its Touch ID sensor over from the ione to the id. The Nexus 9 has no similar capability.
You can get a keyboard case for either one
is offering an official keyboard cover for the Nexus 9, making it easier than ever to get some work done on your Android tablet. ile Apple doesn’t make an official keyboard cover for the id, several third-party companies do, they’re sure to make updated versions for the id Air 2.
The Nexus 9 will have better speakers
Apple doesn’t want to mess up the clean front of its tablets with speakers, so it sticks them down along the bottom edge. The Nexus 9 has a pair of front-facing speakers on opposite sides of the screen. You’ll probably notice a huge difference when watching videos or playing games.
Android tablets suffer from a bit of an ‘app gap’
en it comes to phones, Android has nearly all the major apps the ione does. Developers simply can’t ignore ‘s ecosystem, with a few exceptions, most of the hottest apps launch on Android either right when the iOS version launches, or very shortly thereafter.
en it comes to tablets, the situation isn’t as rosy. The Android tablet app selection is growing quickly, but it’s still far behind the id’s. Many Android tablet apps are just the phone apps, half-heartedly tweaked for the larger display, while id apps are more carefully optimized for the format.
Android tablet sales are improving, with it, the selection of truly tablet-optimized apps. But right now, the id has a clear lead in this area.
