Review: iPad Mini vs. Galaxy Tab 7.7 – Which is the Best Choice?

Disclosure:  I was not compensated for this post but Verizon did provide the Apple iPad Mini and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 for review.  However, all views and opinions expressed are strictly my own.

iPadminivs.GalaxyTab-yoursassyself.comAs a blogger who creates online content for both work and pleasure, I’m always on the lookout for technology that will help me do it faster and easier. 🙂  Let me begin my review by saying, although I work with technology daily, I am in no way a true techie – I just play one on TV. 😉  With that said, here’s my breakdown of these two lightweight devices.

I know in today’s world we define ourselves as either a PC or MAC user; an Android or iPhone user.  Because my job requires that I create content that works appropriately in each environment, I’ve been able to see the ease and limitations of each world, which is part of the reason why I felt I needed to conduct a hands on review of the tablet/iPad debate.  As soon as I learned Verizon could help me out with this, I was estatic, not only because I would be able to demo the products myself, but because they would be coming set up with Verizon’s 4G LTE service so that I could do true on the go tests of each.

SidebySide_iPadmini_GalaxyTab_yoursassyself.comOnce I received this wonderful package, I immediately unwrapped each device and held them in my hands to determine which was lighter.  Lightweight portability is definitely one of the biggest deciding factors in technology purchases now a days and I must say they felt pretty similar.  The iPad mini however, seemed just the tiniest bit lighter, which is why I decided that the iPad mini won that round. 😀

GalaxyTabAppLimitations-yoursassyself.comSince social media plays such a large role in my world, my next step was to immediately turn on the devices and go in search of all the basic apps I need to be able to access all my social media outlets on each.  I was able to find my apps and download them onto the iPad mini without a problem, however the Galaxy Tab (pictured here) was not able to get many of my apps because it said the device was not compatible with the apps in question.  I had previously heard this voiced as a concern, but I figured that was an issue that surely had been resolved by now, but I was wrong.  Immediately this made me lean closer to wanting to only use the iPad mini, but I decided that going to each individual website to do my postings/work couldn’t be that much of a hassle.  I was wrong, so the iPad mini again won for me in that category.

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Now for the nitty gritty – ease of use.  I, like many of us, have Wi-Fi access at home, work and almost any public social gathering spot.  While I immediately got both of these devices hooked up onto my home Wi-Fi, I decided not to hook them up to any other Wi-Fi spots to test how well each device worked on the go via Verizon’s 4G LTE network.  I was impressed.  Verizon’s 4G LTE network works just as fast as any non-souped up public Wi-Fi spots, which made it easy to access all my social media outlets.  The iPad mini loaded web pages and allowed me to access all my social media apps without an issue and in only a matter of seconds.  The Galaxy Tab 7.7 however, was already behind the eight ball because I had to log into actual websites to access my app content.  While I was able to access these sites within a matter of seconds, once I got onto them, I had a lot off issues with freezing and things just not working as they should.  As a result, the iPad mini again won in the ease of use category.

GalaxyTabSizeIssues-www.yoursassyself.com
Here is an example of the resizing issues on the Galaxy Tab 7.7. This is my yahoo mail account in portrait mode and I can’t even read the email contents.

iPadminiwins-yoursassyself.comWhile I love to save money as much as the next person, at this point in time I can’t justify recommending the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 over the iPad mini.  I know that this is a departure from several of the techie reviews out there and maybe the problem is really user error, 😉 but in the week long time I had to compare these two devices side by side, for me, the iPad mini is the clear winner.

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For a second opinion and more of a techie comparison of these products, I suggest you view RitchiesRoomTV breakdown below.

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Are you a PC or a Mac/Android or iPhone person?  What do you look for when purchasing a techie device?

Rocio Chavez
Lets Connect
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3 Comments

    • I hear ya…Apple just knows how to make life simplier and that’s always the way I like to roll…Abrazos Amiga 🙂

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