iPad Air or iPad Mini Retina for gaming?

[iMore Question]

Hi guys, awesome site! This is the first time I am writing and I want to ask the editors (maybe Rene in particular), what would your recommendation be for a person who will buy an iPad for the first time with the following intentions (ranked in importance):

Gaming
Watching movies
Social apps and browsing on the side

I am a commuter and spend like 2 hours on the road everyday on either a crowded subway or a bus.

I was already leaning on the Mini Retina but recent reports of low color accuracy and screen ghosting has made the choice harder for me.

I just want to buy something that I won't regret I guess, and I would rather listen to expert recommendations.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[taz323]

Welcome to IMore Mark, you came to the right place. There's a lot of people here willing to help. You being a commuter, I would say the mini, easier to carry around. I've heard some issues the color saturation, but it's been limited. For the most part been seeing good reviews.

 

[Eileen89]

I don't play games, however, my son is always playing games on his non retina Mini and loves it. I would imagine the rMini would be great for gamers. For me personally, I don't play games and much prefer the larger screen on my iPad Air for viewing videos as well as web browsing. Good luck with your decision. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either one of these new iPads.

 

[anon(4698833)]

My wife was impatient and bought an iPad Air after having used an iPad Mini since the release of the mini. It's a great device, it's very light, and the onboard speakers are phenomenal for what it is...they really REALLY sound good.

She decided after a week's worth of using it that it wasn't for her though, and we brought it back and bought her a Mini w/ Retina. It's super fast (as fast as my iPhone 5S) and she got the cellular model so the LTE works really well. Overall she was happy, so I am happy. The Mini's speakers are no where near as good as the Airs, but she uses her mini with headphones most times, so that really wasn't a big deal to her...her biggest need was that it fit in her computer bag with her macbook for transportation purposes...the Air didn't, it was too big...but the mini fit perfectly (as her previous one did as well).

She also said the battery life, while good, isn't insanely better (if at all) from her previous mini.

I have no experienced ANY of the common "complaints" so far with the Mini retina...but I also haven't used it consistently (I still have a regular mini and I'm still more than satisfied with it with no plans to replace it anytime soon).

 

[cardfan]

The A7 was more important for the rMini in addition to the ram increase. The screen is fantastic so ignore all the noise you hear there. For your purposes and commuting, this is an easy choice.

If it was just a home device I'd say Air.

 

[mikeo007]

I've played games on both a full-sized iPad and a mini. I find that they both great, but the better one is determined by what type of game you're playing. I find games that just require you to tap the screen (Angry birds, "cow clickers", tower defence, etc) are more enjoyable on the bigger iPad. For games that require to hold the device for a long period of time (shooters, racing, etc) I much prefer the mini for it's slightly lighter weight and easier to reach controls.