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

The Good Ultra thin - Ultra light - Ultra fast - Excellent OS - Outstanding ecosystem - Industry-leading support The Bad Battery life still the same Apple continues to dominate the tablet market with good reason -- its pace of innovation since launching the original iPad just four years ago must...

Ultra thin - Ultra light - Ultra fast - Excellent OS - Outstanding ecosystem - Industry-leading support

Battery life still the same

What is an iPad? When Steve Jobs introduced Apple's tablet in January 2010, he delivered an unequivocal answer. "The iPad, if you were to sum it up, is our most advanced technology in a magical...

Terrific display; So very thin; Great battery life; Super fast

No multiuser support; No multitasking; Safari icon still objectively terrible

There's no longer a question as to which tablet is Apple's flagship. While the new iPad mini 3 gets a Touch ID sensor and now comes in gold, the iPad Air 2 ($499 for 16GB, $828 as tested with 128GB and LTE) offers those goodies and a whole lot more.

Razor-thin, fast as hell, finger friendly, and now in gold: Apple's iPad Air 2 is the best tablet you can buy.

Thinner than any other Apple device; Screen brighter than iPad Air; Powerful new processor is a step up; iPads have best app selection of any tablet; Improved rear camera; Touch ID added

16GB model does not have enough storage; Speaker quality worse than Air 1; iPad Air 1 is $100 cheaper; Not water resistant; No MicroSD storage options

If you're short of time and need to get off then all you need to heed is this, the iPad Air 2 is the best tablet we've ever reviewed. Apple has done it again and improved on the already excellent iPad Air (that's remains on sale for a lower price) from 2013.

Screen doesn't reflect much; Great performance; Ultra-slim design; Improved camera

Battery life a little lower; 16GB version storage too low

Not a must-have for owners of the original iPad Air, but a great buy for owners of older iPads and first-timers

Slim and light; Flawless responsiveness; Fast; Useful Continuity features

iCloud features have some problems; No waterproofing

Update: Later this year the iPad Air 2 will see an update to the latest iOS 11 software. Apple has now stopped selling the iPad Air 2 and has instead replaced it with a new product, simply entitled the iPad. We've compared the new Apple slate with the iPad Air 2 here .

The iPad Air 2 is the best tablet ever created - and that's not us getting excited over an Apple product for the sake of it. From the amazing engineering that got this thing so thin and yet still feeling so premium, to the A8X chip which has given the tablet more grunt than anything else out there,...

Upgraded screen; Slimmer design; Super speedy processor

16GB is a little low on space; No mute switch