I was surprised at how poorly packaged this item was. There was no padding in the box except for a piece of paper and the ipad box itself had badly b

Gadgets get thinner every year. That's a given. But the iPad Air 2 crosses a threshold where thin makes a difference. I bought my first iPad in the summer of 2012, under the pretense that it would be a really killer digital photo frame at my wedding.

It's an iPad, which means it's a finely crafted tablet with an app store filled to bursting with the latest mobile games and utilities; This one is better than ever before

I don't give a damn about Touch ID until Apple trusts my fingerprint enough not to require a password ever again; and until Apple lets me use it to buy things at brick and mortar stores with Apple Pay

We give this model a 9.5 out of 10 for design, a 9.8 for hardware and a 9.5 for OS and UI. The final grade is 9.6 out of 10 and this is still the best 10 inch tablet (or close) that money can buy in 2014. However, the iPad Air 1 is also a very solid buy, since the price is lower now.

slim; but solid; very light; less glare than many tablets; good battery; loud speakers; good display; good cameras; ultra fast browser; excellent hardware; fast rendering; good productivity

big bezel; long charging; back vibrates a lot; UI getting old

A hands-on look at Apple's second-generation iPad Air 2 tablet finds it lighter, thinner and faster. Could this be the iPad upgrade you've been waiting for?

Apple's marketing suggests that the iPad Air 2 is the fastest, thinnest, best iPad Air ever. But they would say that. Is the iPad Air 2 worth buying, or upgrading from if you're an existing iPad owner? First up: My early impressions, and a comparison to last year's iPad Air.

Bottom line, if you have an iPad 4 or older or an original mini, you'll love the improvements in the iPad Air 2. If you already have the Air, then you may not feel the improvements are worth spending hundreds of dollars for and may be happier waiting for the Air 3 or whatever Apple brings us next.

Thinner and lighter than any previous full-sized iPad; Improved camera; NFC chip lets you use Apple Pay for online purchases; Faster than previous iPads; Better sound than previous iPads; Thumbprint reader for increased security and for use with Apple Pay

Incremental updates may not seem worth the purchase to people with the iPad Air

If you liked last year's iPad Air, you'll almost certainly like this year's version, unveiled early last month (along with the 5K Retina iMac) by Apple CEO Tim Cook. The iPad Air 2 features Touch ID, a (much) faster system architecture and an aluminum enclosure that is both thinner and lighter than...

Fast; Continuity feature allows seamless integration with other Apple devices; Touch ID feature; built-in encryption

No LED flash support for photos and movies; camera specs lag behind iPhone 6 models; cannot use Apple Pay via NFC

All in all, this is one quick tablet, all set for some great game playing if you like that sort of thing. It also makes for a silk-smooth interface and the power to take on production duties from the more serious apps out there. The best iPad upgrade yet? Undoubtedly.

If you're in the market for a tablet that offers the best possible technology combined with a beautiful screen and a superb form factor, the iPad Air 2 is the best product available.

Apple has sold more iPads in the last four years than it sold iPhones in the first four years they were available. And yet, despite these amazing figures, Apple's tablet business is suffering.