Two contenders are ready for a final showdown of 2014, the iPad Air 2 and the Nexus 9. Both Apple and Google with HTC have put a lot of effort in trying to please the audience. What have they actually succeeded in doing?
When talking about the aesthetics, the devices do not differ in a radical way, but still. The iPad Air 2 measures in at 240 x 170 x 6.1 mm (long, across, deep) and weighs in at 437 grams, while the Nexus 9 measures 228 x 154 x 8 mm, weighing in at 425 grams. The Nexus 9 is slightly shorter and narrower than the iPad Air 2, while the Apple machine beats it depth wise; it is roughly 20 % thinner than the Nexus 9.
The build for the iPad Air 2 is a premium, all-around aluminum encasing, while the Nexus 9 only gives out a matte plastic back, with metal edging. Both companies feature for their products 3 variations of color: the iPad Air 2 comes in silver, space gray and gold, while the Nexus 9 shines in sand, black and white.
The display size on the Nexus 9 is at 8.9 inches, measuring in between the iPad Air 2 at 9.7 inches and the mini versions of iPad at 7.9 inches. The most powerful resemblance between the two displays is the aspect ratio, 4:3 for both; usually Android devices opt for the 16:10 variant. In terms of resolution both measure the same, 2048 x 1536, while the Nexus 9 having a slight edge in terms of pixelation, 288 ppi vs. the iPad Air 2’s 264 ppi. Both tablets use IPS for the screen, while the iPad Air 2 also features an anti-glare coating.
The Nexus 9 features a tap-on display: double tap it to turn the device on. The iPad Air 2 on the other hand features the Touch ID sensor, for further security and identification when using Apple Pay. The storage options for the iPad Air 2 far outreach the ones for the Nexus 9. Both start at 16 GB, but when getting to the next tier Apple doubles up Nexus’ 32 GB option, going even further to third tier with 128 GB, which is unavailable for the Nexus 9. Neither device features a microSD card slot.
The processor on the iPad Air 2 is an Apple A8x, 64-bit, tri-core, running at 1.5 GHz, while the Nexus 9 comes packing an Nvidia Tegra K1, 64-bit, dual-core chip running at 2.3 GHz. In most cases Apple’s chips tend to outperform their competitors, almost always by a wider margin. Both the iPad Air 2 and Nexus come equipped with 2 GB of RAM.
Both tablets come packing 8 MP rear snappers, while on the front the Nexus 9 provides a slightly superior camera at 1.6 MP vs. Apple’s 1.2 MP. In this aspect the Nexus 9 also features a single-LED flash on the rear. The aperture for both rear cameras is at f/2.4 .
The battery options are featured differently by the two companies. For the iPad Air 2 it is a 27.3 W-h, whilst for the Nexus 9 we have a 6.700 mAh piece. The estimate from Apple on web use for the iPad Air 2 is at 10 hours, while HTC and Google advertise for up to 9.5 hours autonomy. The Apple device, as expected, runs on the new iOS 8, while the Nexus 9 opts for the new Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The starting price for the Nexus 9 was at 400 $, while for the iPad Air 2 it was set at 500 $. The Nexus 9 starts 100 $ cheaper than its Apple counterpart, but if you are an iOS fan, then you would probably opt for the iPad. Nevertheless the devices are roughly on the same edge, with the iPad Air 2 having an edge in regards of the premium build and the superior processor, hence the heftier price.