Nokia surprised everyone with the launch of their first Android tablet, the Nokia N1 at the Slush14 event in Finland. The Nokia N1 comes with a 7.9 inch display with an aspect ratio of 4:3 and resolution of 2048×1536. The display is IPS panel and comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection.The tablet is powered by Intel 64-bit Atom Processor Z3580 at 2.3 GHz with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage and it can be expanded via microSD card. The tablet runs the latest Android version of Lollipop v5.0. It has the standard connectivity options including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. There is a 5300mAh battery powering the device.
First time you see the Nokia N1, you get a feeling that Nokia has taken lot of design cues from the popular iPad Mini. The iPad Mini 3 was launched last month and is now available for purchase. Even in the specs aspect, there are lot of similarities and probably Nokia is aiming to take on with the iPad Mini. So here is the detailed comparison of the two tablets based on the specs.
|
Specifications |
Nokia N1 |
iPad Mini 3 |
| Dimension | 200.7 x 138.6 x 6.9 mm (7.90 x 5.46 x 0.27 in) | 200 x 134.7 x 7.5 mm (7.87 x 5.30 x 0.30 in) |
| Weight | 318 g (11.22 oz) | 331 g (Wi-Fi) / 341 g (3G/LTE) (11.68 oz) |
| Display | 7.9 inches (~324 ppi pixel density), 1536 x 2048 pixels resolution, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, multi touch. | 7.9 inches (~324 ppi pixel density), 1536 x 2048 pixels resolution, LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, multi touch |
| Display protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Oleophobic coating |
| CPU | Intel Atom Z3580 Quad-core 2.3 GHz | Apple A7, Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone |
| GPU | PowerVR G6430 | PowerVR G6430 |
| RAM | 2GB RAM | 1GB RAM |
| Internal Storage | 32GB | 16/64/128 GB |
| Micro SD Expansion | Yes | No |
| Camera | 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, 5MP front camera | 5 MP, 2592 ? 1944 pixels, autofocus, 1.2MP front camera |
| Video | 1080p@30fps | 1080p@30fps |
| Bluetooth | v4.0 | v4.0 |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band |
| 3G, 4G LTE | No | Yes |
| OS | Android Lollipop v5.0 | iOS 8.1 |
| Colors | Natural Aluminum, Lava Gray | Space Gray/Black, Silver/White, Gold |
| Battery Capacity | Non-removable Li-Ion 5300 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Po battery |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, compass | Accelerometer, gyro |
| Additional Features | Touch ID, Siri | Reversible micro USB connector |
| Price | $249 | $399 onwards |
Design:
From the table you can clearly see where the two tablets differ. Nokia N1 is slightly slimmer and lighter than the iPad Mini, so should be pretty good holding it. In terms of design, both the devices have curved edges and an aluminium finish. Nokia N1 comes in Natural Aluminum or Lava Grey, while the iPad mini 3 is available in three colours comprising Space Grey, gold and silver.
Display and Camera:
The display on both the devices are exactly similar on paper, unless we do a real display comparison, it is tough to decide which is better. Moving on to camera, the Nokia N1 has a 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera compared to iPad Mini’s 5MP rear and 1.2MP front. So, in the mega pixel count, the clear winner is Nokia N1. Further, Nokia has made great cameras in the past, so expect this camera also to be pretty good in quality.
Processor and storage:
Nokia N1 is powered by 2.3GHz Intel 64-bit quad-core Atom processor with 2GB of RAM, while iPad mini 3 comes with A7 chip, which is also 64-bit. There is 32GB of internal storage available on the Nokia N1 while the iPad mini 3 offers 16GB, 64GB and 128GB storage. N1 has expandable storage while iPad mini does not have it. The Nokia N1 should give in almost same performance as that of iPad Mini.
OS:
Now the biggest question is whether you want Android or iOS as your OS. Both are pretty good OS with good app ecosystem although iOS definitely has an edge in terms of apps. So it is more or less a personal choice on selecting the OS. The connectivity options and sensors are very much similar in both the devices. Nokia N1 has the first reversible micro USB connector while iPad mini comes with Touch ID and Siri.
Nokia N1 will cost $249, which is significantly cheaper than Apple’s $399 (starting price), but the general availability of N1 will be only in 2015.
