iPad Air 2 vs. Microsoft Surface Pro 3

compares the features and specs of the iPad Air 2 and Surface Pro 3

The iPad Air 2 is the best iPad yet (as the latest iPad always should be), but how does it compare to one of the leading laptop/tablet hybrids?

Laptop mode


If you aren't familiar with the Surface, it's a transforming 2-in-1. Its detachable keyboard cover and built-in kickstand let you quickly and easily switch between tablet and laptop modes.

That X under the iPad isn't entirely fair, since there are some great third-party keyboards that can transform the iPad into a faux laptop. Unlike the Surface's physical connection, though, iPad keyboards connect via Bluetooth.

And since the iPad doesn't have a kickstand (the mere mention must have Steve Jobs rolling in his grave), iPad keyboards also have to supply some means of standing the tablet up.
Size


The Surface Pro 3 is big enough to make the iPad Air look like an iPad mini. At 22 percent longer and 18 percent wider, the Surface makes for an enormous tablet. On the flip side, though, it works much better as a laptop than any previous Surface.

The Surface is very thin for a desktop PC, but it's still 49 percent thicker than the razor-thin iPad Air 2.
Weight


The Surface is also 83 percent heavier than the iPad. Add its keyboard cover, and it weighs 2.5x as much as the iPad.
Build


We're looking at an aluminum body for the iPad, and a magnesium construction for the Surface. Both have high-end aesthetics.
Colors


You only have one color option for the Surface, next to three for the iPad.
Display (size)


The Surface gives you 47 percent more screen than the iPad does. Again, this is great for laptop mode, but it might feel oversized for a tablet.
Display (resolution)


The iPad has a 22 percent sharper screen.
Display (type)


Both devices have IPS panels.
Anti-reflective display


Apple says that the iPad Air 2's display can cut down on glare by 56 percent.
Stylus


Microsoft's aluminum Surface Pen is included with the Pro 3. In addition to the things that styluses always do (more precision and control), it also lets you quickly launch Microsoft's OneNote app by clicking its back end.

You can buy iPad-friendly styluses, but they're passive styluses that merely simulate finger touches. The Surface's is a more sophisticated active-digitizer stylus, including hover pointing.
Fingerprint sensor


Apple's terrific Touch ID sensor makes its way to the iPad Air 2. It lets you easily secure your tablet, and skip a password in Touch ID-friendly apps.

The online portion of Apple Pay (the company's new in-store and online payment service) also works with the iPad Air 2.
Storage


The Surface is basically a laptop trapped in a tablet's body, so it naturally offers more laptop-like storage options.
MicroSD card


The Surface also has a microSD slot that lets you expand its internal storage.
Processor


Mobile processors are getting more and more like desktop processors, and Apple's blazing-fast 64-bit A8 and A8X chips are leading the charge.

Microsoft offers three different Intel Core (Haswell) processor tiers for the Surface.
RAM


Depending on which storage/processor configuration you choose, you'll get either 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM from the Surface.

The iPad Air 2 is the first (and so far only) iPad with 2 GB of RAM.
Battery


Apple estimates 10 hours of web use over Wi-Fi for the iPad. Microsoft says you'll get about an hour less than that on the Surface.
Cellular (LTE) option


You can pay an extra US$130 over the Wi-Fi only version to get an iPad that can use cellular data. No such luck for the Surface.
Cameras


The iPad Air 2 has an improved rear camera over last year's iPad Air.
Split-screen multitasking


Apple has yet to add side-by-side multitasking to the iPad. Windows supports this, both in desktop apps and using the Snap feature in Modern (Start Screen) apps.
Software


Speaking of software, we're looking at iOS 8.1 on the iPad Air and Windows 8.1 Pro on the Surface. And yes, this Surface runs legacy desktop apps.
Release


The Surface Pro 3 is already four months old. The iPad Air 2 is rolling out this week.
Starting price


If you want a device that's strictly a tablet, then you're much better off with the iPad. Not only is it lighter and thinner, with a much better selection of touch apps – but it's also $430 cheaper (there's no point in buying the Surface without also throwing in its keyboard cover).

But if you want a device that can serve as both laptop and tablet – and do a pretty damn good job at both – then you might find that the Surface is worth the extra cash. iPad apps are having more overlap than ever with desktop apps, but I still couldn't use an iPad for my main work machine ... even with a keyboard cover.

iPhone 6 Plus vs. Nexus 6

Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Google/Motorola Nexus 6 (left) and Apple iPhone 6 Plus.

The Motorola/Google Nexus 6 is just one of several huge phones that could be worth a look this holiday season. Let's line it up next to Apple Iphone 6 Plus , to see how their features and specs compare.

Size


Both phones are huge, but, as we'll see in a minute, the Nexus 6 makes more economical use of its front face with a much larger screen.

The Nexus measures 1 percent taller, 6 percent wider and 42 percent thicker than the iPhone 6 Plus. As many great things as Motorola did with the new Nexus, it didn't make a particularly thin phone.
Weight


The iPhone 6 Plus is 7 percent lighter than the Nexus. Considering the screen size difference (we're getting there, I promise), that's a pretty minor discrepancy on the scales.
Build


The Nexus 6 should feel more premium than all-plastic phones, as it has a metal band running around its edge. That might not sound like a big deal, but a similar approach in the Galaxy Note 4 did wonders for making the phone feel more high-end.
Colors


You have two color options to choose from for the Nexus 6, and three choices for the iPhone.
Display (size)


See what I mean about a more economical front face? Despite only being a hair taller and a little wider, the Nexus gives you 18 percent more screen area.

If you don't care about thinness, and want not just a huge screen – but the biggest damn screen you can possibly put on something that isn't a tablet – then the Nexus could be just the phone you're looking for.
Display (resolution)


The Nexus 6's Quad HD display has it coming out 23 percent sharper than the iPhone.

The iPhone's screen excels in other ways, though: terrific color range and accuracy, excellent contrast and viewing angles ... it's hard to find anything to fault there.
Display (type)


The Nexus 6 has an AMOLED screen, which has blacker blacks and (often) higher contrast and richer colors. Again, though, the iPhone is already doing quite well in those areas.
Fingerprint sensor


Apple's Touch ID sensor is the best in the business. And with iOS 8, it doesn't just let you easily secure your phone – it also plays nicely with third-party apps. Password managers are an especially great fit for the sensor.
NFC payments


Google gave it the old college try with Google Wallet, but it never came remotely close to taking off.

Apple has the best chance of putting NFC-based ("tap and pay") payments on the map with Apple Pay (branded as Pay). It integrates with Touch ID to make the checkout process as simple as holding your finger over the sensor while holding your iPhone near the terminal.

The biggest obstacle to Pay taking off may be getting retailers onboard. It launched this week with a solid list (including McDonald's, Subway and the Apple Store), but you won't be able to leave your wallet at home until that list gets much longer.
One-handed mode


Most likely, you'll use either phablet with two hands most of the time. But for those times when you need to do something with only one hand free, the iPhone 6 Plus has a big advantage. Apple's Reachability lets you slide top-level content to the bottom half of the screen, by lightly double-tapping the Touch ID sensor.
Camera (megapixels)


We haven't yet put the Nexus 6 through the paces, but the iPhone's camera is going to be tough to beat. It takes excellent shots, and is even great in low-lit conditions. Consider its (240 fps at 720p) slow-motion video the icing on the cake.
Camera (aperture)


This could bode well for the Nexus' main camera, though, as it has a slightly wider aperture than the iPhone does.
OIS


Both handsets have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) onboard, which can help to offset the effects of shaky hands. This is one of the few differences between the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus (well, apart from size).
Dual LED flash


Both phones also have dual LED flashes, which help you to take better (more colorful and evenly-lit) flash shots.
Battery


This is another incomplete for the Nexus 6. The iPhone had very good (but not quite the best) battery life when we ran it through our battery benchmark.
Fast charging


Google says that you can get the Nexus 6 up to a level with "hours of battery life" after just 15 minutes of charging. This only applies when its battery is almost dead, though.

Though it isn't something Apple is advertising, you can charge the iPhone 6 Plus faster by plugging it into an iPad charger.
Storage


The Nexus doubles the iPhone's storage in the entry-level tier, but once you get to the second tier, they level out.
MicroSD


Neither phone supports microSD cards.
Processor


Apple's A8 chip is a beast, matching up with the Apple-made phone to deliver some of the smoothest performance I've seen on a mobile device.
RAM


On paper, the iPhone is looking pretty dated here, but in experience, I've yet to notice any problems on this front.
Front-facing speakers


They probably won't be as wall-shaking as HTC's BoomSound speakers, but the Nexus 6 has a pair of front-facing speakers nonetheless.
Software


The iPhone 6 Plus currently runs iOS 8.1, while the Nexus 6 is launching with the new Android 5.0 "Lollipop."
Release


The iPhone 6 Plus has been around since September, but supplies are still constrained. The online US Apple Store is currently showing 3-4 week shipping estimates, and physical Apple Stores have been tight – if not completely depleted – on supplies since launch.
Starting price (full retail)


The Nexuses 4 and 5 both delivered fairly high-end specs for very aggressive prices, but Google is trying something new with the Nexus 6. It has flagship pricing, starting at the same US$650 as the iPhone 6 (4.7-in),HTC One (M8) and Galaxy S5.
Starting price (on-contract)


We still don't know what the Nexus 6 will retail for on-contract, but we do know that it will be sold on all of the big four US carriers.

World's Slimmest Smartphone- Gionee Elife S5.1

The Gionee Elife S5.5 has a 5 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen with full HD resolution. Like other Gionee smartphones, it too comes with Android-based Amigo OS which is a heavily customised version of Android. Unlike the orthodox Android user interface where there is a home screen and a menu screen, here there is only a home screen.




Gionee seems all set to launch its new 'slimmest smartphone in the world', dethroning its own current Elife S5.5 handset, if multiple Chinese reports and image leaks surrounding a handset named Elife S5.1 are to be given credence.

While we still wait for the official unveiling of Gionee's Elife S5.1, the smartphone has surfaced online in a bunch of images and the yet-to-be-announced handset's specifications have also been leaked ahead of the official launch.

Recently, Gionee teased what's expected to be world's new slimmest smartphone with a thickness of 5mm, the anticipated successor to the Gionee Elife S5.5 (Review | Pictures). Prior to this, a 5mm-thick Gionee handset was spotted at Tenaa, the China-equivalent of the FCC, with model name GN9005.

The unannounced Elife S5.1 has been leaked in multiple images by Chinese publication CNMO, which show the smartphone in its full glory. The Elife S5.1 as seen in leaked images seems very much like its predecessor, the Elife S5.5.

As per the leaked specifications, posted by a website claiming to have gotten its hands on the device, Zol.com, the Elife S5.1 measures 139.8x67.4x5.15mm, and features a 4.8-inch HD AMOLED display, which is smaller than the Elife S5.5 that sports a 5-inch Super AMOLED full-HD display. Other listed specifications include 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) processor; Adreno 305 GPU; 1GB of RAM; Micro-SIM support; 8-megapixel rear camera; 5-megapixel front camera; 16GB inbuilt storage (non-expandable); 4G LTE support; 2100mAh battery, and Android 4.3 with Gionee's Amigo 2.0 interface laid on top.

In March, Gionee had launched the Elife S5.5 smartphone at Rs. 22,999 in India. Notably, the Elife S5.5 at present is the claimed to be the world's thinnest smartphone by Gionee, which beats the Vivo X3 at 5.75mm.