Contradictory claims have been made about the iPad Mini 4. This tablet is thinner and lighter than the model that precedes it, and yet it is faster and more powerful. Tweaks to the display make it better at viewing content, and although the battery has gone on a substantial diet, Apple claims it'll...

Excellent build quality; Fast computing hardware; Anti-reflective screen; Improved cameras; Touch ID biometric finger scanner

Expensive; Battery drains quick under heavy use

. We still gave its third generation five stars for performance, but it was ultimately little more than an

Sharp; vibrant screen; Excellent colour balance; Fast; slick performance; Detailed; refined sound; Gorgeous design; Strong app selection

Storage is non-expandable

I wasn't very excited about the iPad Mini 3 when Apple announced it last year, as it was just the iPad Mini 2 with Touch ID while the iPad Air 2 was a substantial upgrade from the iPad Air in many ways.

The Good Outstanding design & build quality Great new display A8 processor is fast iOS 9 gives iPad new tricks The Bad More expensive than competition Little else Apple's iPad remains one of the most accessible personal computing devices ever made.

Outstanding design & build quality; Great new display; A8 processor is fast; iOS 9 gives iPad new tricks

More expensive than competition; Little else

The iPad Air 2 is one of the best tablets ever made, and we wish this had been launched at the same time rather than the huge disappointment of the iPad mini 3. The power of the A9 chip is curious here, as it would have been amazing to have the exact same specs but squished down into a smaller...

Great screen; Compact dimensions; Thinner chassis

Old chipset; Camera unimpressive

After dropping the ball last year, Apple is back in the game with the iPad mini 4. A thinner and lighter body houses an industry-leading screen which displays a powerful and attractive operating system, run by a processor with top-end performance for a tablet of this size.

This year we got (at last) a good iPad Mini, there are a lot of great and improved features and although it has been claimed to be a shrunken iPad Air 2, it clearly isn't, hardware-wise it's quite different.

Great display; Premium design; Good cameras; Multitasking; Reasonable battery life

Only 16GB storage for the base model; No microSD storage; A bit expensive; Performance is a bit under iPad Air 2; Audio quality could be improved

Apple's iPad Mini 4 still works well, even if the insides are starting to get a bit dated.

Small and compact; Strong and attractive all-metal design; iOS 9's multi-tasking is useful; Faster A8 processor

It's pricier than Android alternatives; iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro offer more

Sep 25 2015 - Apple's 4th generation iPad Mini received many of the updates that it should have last year when they released the iPad Mini 3. The tablet is now thinner thanks to the laminated glass display which also greatly helps improve the display especially outdoors.

The iPad Mini 4 replaces the iPad mini 3 and with it closes the book on one of Apple's laziest upgrades in recent years. Overshadowed by huge advancements with the iPad Air 2, last year's iPad mini 3 struggled to find its place in the range, coming across as a device that was neither top-of-the-tree...

Smaller and slimmer design; decent performance; Touch ID fingerprint scanner; anti-reflective screen

Screen is a bit small for Split View in iOS 9; not as powerful as the iPad Air 2; iPad mini 2 far cheaper