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

The original iPad Air is a fantastic tablet. Perfect for the home, upon its launch in 2013 it shared the stage with the more portable iPad mini with Retina display, offering equal power in different sized packages.

Screen improvements (anti-glare limits reflections); even more power; thinner design; TouchID integrated; best iPad camera yet

No curved glass from the iPhone 6 range; camera could be better still; lock/rotation switch absent; original iPad Air remains strong

We were not sure it was possible, but Apple has done it. Apple has taken the best tablet ever made and made it even better.

Faster performance; Improved screen with richer colours and deeper blacks; Greater contrast; Smoother graphics; Superb build; Better cameras

Speaker could be better; Restrictive

When we began this review 3,000 words ago, we wanted to determine whether the iPad Air 2 was as perfect in 2014 as the iPad Air was in 2013. The answer is yes. It has earned the same perfect score as its predecessor, making the iPad Air line the only two products to which we have ever awarded...

Gorgeous design; thinner and lighter than last model; tri-core CPU screams; double RAM of last model; long battery life; excellent photography for a tablet; fingerprint recognition; excellent selection of apps; still easy to use

Drawbacks will be subjective, such as a less open app ecosystem; lacks 60fps video capture of iPhone line; speaker quality reduced versus predecessor

Welcome to our iPad Air 2 review, last updated back in January 2016. Please note that (as of 21 March 2017) the Air 2 is no longer on sale on Apple's online store (you'll still be able to find it on some reseller websites and through Apple's education sales scheme).

the service was good and fast

Watch videos downloaded from NetFlix or Amazon on your flght. Review your guide book of the destination your are traveling to photograph. Review your images from your website after the trip's images have be processed.

For personal reasons I am not able to switch to a smart phone. My old laptop (iBook circa 2005) is not very portable and is slow on the web. So I bought this iPad to use like a smart phone and for a portable computer. It does both EXTREMELY well.