iPad 2: Apple Defines the Category it Created with an Upgrade Worthy of the Title: ‘Magical’

iPad 2 comes to HK this week and we have your first look.

It launched in the US on March 11th – we were there at the Austin pop-up shop happily lining up in our first ever Apple Store line-up eagerly awaiting our chance to purchase the iPad 2.

We have the iPad 1 which we loved dearly (and we loved Hong Kong’s reaction to it last year) – yes, it takes some time getting used to as a laptop replacement. But as we slowly started using it more than our Macbook Air to read blogs, surf the web and watch videos and got used to the touchscreen keyboard we’re not sure why we ever carried around a laptop.

So, lets begin our in-depth look at the iPad 2 – we’ll look at the new size, weight, apps and see if it worth upgrading or if this will be your first iPad. Some will scoff at the “magical” description (we swear it came from Hogwarts), but as you’ll read it’s worthy of that title and more and you can experience it for yourself when it goes on sale in Hong Kong this week.

So lets score the new things we discovered about the iPad 2:

ON THICKNESS:
If you have an iPad 1, to compare the 2 with you’ll notice it right away: the slimness. The iPad 2 mirrors the way the iPod Touch tapers in the back to give a feeling of thinness (33% thinner) in your hand compared to the thicker original. EXCELLENT!

ON WEIGHT:
While Apple says its only 15% lighter, mentally you’ll think it’s even lighter – until you hold it for an extended amount of time. But it’s definitely more of a handheld device than the original was, but one could complain that it could be even lighter, which we’re sure the next model will be as the “tech guts” get smaller. SO-SO!

ON SPEED:
We went from an iPhone 3G to 3GS to 4 and the speed difference is amazing. You will find a similar bump in speed (X2) when opening Safari and various gaming apps that really do improve the overall enjoyment. The original iPad speed was fine to us, but when you compare the dual-core A5 processing speed inside the 2, you’ll definitely want your hands on it. You can see some speed comparison videos here. EXCELLENT!

ON SCREEN:
Apple has hands down the most effective, efficient, capacitive touchscreen in the market – the 9.7-inch multi-touch display is so incredibly responsive to the most delicate touch and pinch – that working with the A5 processing – makes handling of the iPad 2 feel like pushing clouds around!

And the accelerometer is so sensitive that you can bang a drum in GarageBand with heavy metal hardness or jazz softness and it will pick it up perfectly. Also we did a review of the HDMI Digital AV Adapter here and we believe that the video mirroring feature to be one of the most exciting new features and accessories that you will need to buy with your iPad 2. SUPER EXCELLENT!

ON BATTERY LIFE:
It’s a miracle if we don’t see the dreaded “red battery icon” after 4-hours of heavy iPhone use. The iPad 2 and can keep going for another 6 before needing a recharge: we’d say that was a huge success. EXCELLENT!

ON THE CAMERAS:
One of the most requested things on the iPad 1, and what seemingly made some people hold off buying the original, is that they wanted cameras. We’re not big video conference people and all the iOS users in Hong Kong that we spoke to rarely use the iPhone 4’s FaceTime capabilities so when it was announced the iPad 2 had two cameras (one on the front and one on the back) we’re not sure what we’d use them for.

For FaceTime video conferencing, the cameras do an adequate job compared to your desktop version of Skype. But for taking photos, the pictures come out quite grainy but it does shoot HD video, which we tested and looks great. So, if you don’t have an iPhone then the iPad 2 cameras will be great for you, and really, we don’t see ourselves using a 10” camera to take proper photos anyways. We conclude that for video conferencing they are great, but don’t expect iPhone 4 photo quality. SO-SO!

ON THE SPEAKER:
The new speaker is a lot larger than the original (well at least the opening is) and definitely pumps out a better louder sound, but it’s still not loud enough for us. So thankfully there are third-party speaker makers to bring out the sound for games, movies and music. SO-SO!

ON SMART COVERS:
We believe that as much, or maybe even more, time went into designing the iPad 2 smart covers as went into the iPad 2 itself.

On the surface it looks like a leather (or polyurethane) cover with a magnet latch on the side. Probing deeper there are over 30 magnets inside the case (don’t worry, since the iPad doesn’t have a spinning hard drive the magnets won’t affect any of the internal components, but we wouldn’t throw the case on top of our PC’s anytime soon) and the magnets inside the iPad work together so when you close the cover it will turn off the iPad 2 instantly.

The Smart Cover has several grooves in it so you can fold it back to act as a stand for presentations (when it’s vertically up) or as a stand to type on. The only problem is it doesn’t protect the metal back of the iPad so in that case we usually place it on a table face down so the Smart Cover is protecting the screen. AMAZING but we still have to buy a Gelaskin for the back because we’re “mint condition” freaks!

ON iPAD APPS:
The built-in apps do everything you need to run your life – calendar, notes, contacts, mail, iPod, maps, YouTube even fun with the Photo Booth app and iBooks for reading books and magazines but we’re going to spotlight the 2 killer apps for the iPad 2: iMovie and Garageband.

Even if you’re not a musician, but especially if you are, you need to purchase GarageBand for (US$5/HK$40). With its collection of touch instruments you can forget about Guitar Hero or Rock Band which are just games – GarageBand will actually let you tinker in music with professional results. One of the cooler instruments is the Sampler – where you can record your voice and then it will apply it to keyboard with all the tones. And we thought Ocarina was cool!

The Smart Guitar comes with different styles of guitars like acoustic, classic clean, hard rock and roots rock. The drums come with a full kit that uses the accelerometer to record how hard you hit to bring out louder or softer sounds, and if you don’t want to do that there are several drum machines from hip hop to classic to house in the Smart Drums. You can basically record each track of your song and then mix it together – essentially scoring your own iMovie video!

There is so much to explore here that we’ll need to write an entire post on the GarageBand app itself with some professional Hong Kong musicians pitching in.

And say good-bye to crappy home movies with iMovie. The desktop version of iMovie is incredibly easy to use – it’s so easy it makes us cry -but the iPad 2 iMovie app is even easier (though minus some of the desktop features) but its more than enough to put together an awesome Dragon Boat video on the spot and upload to YouTube on the spot. The US$5/HK$40 app is the app if you plan on shooting any video with the iPad 2 or transferring any video from your iPhone 4. It’s so easy to drag and drop clips, trim parts you don’t want, add transitions, music and titles that you’ll be actually addicted to editing video!

We cannot recommend iMovie and GarageBand highly enough for those that are tinkering with multimedia, if you have kids that you want to get interested in video and music and for anyone who wants to make the stuff they create better. While we love our games and our productivity apps, these 2 apps, made by Apple themselves, really shows off the power and versatility of the iPad 2 and why no other tablet that we’ve seen to date can ever come close to it. DOUBLE SUPER EXCELLENT AMAZING!

ON THE LITTLE THINGS:
OK so we’ve walked through the big things, but really what makes Apple products so special and so coveted isn’t all the HD and Megapixels and gigahertz – it’s all about the subtle touches that make people go crazy. And the iPad 2 is no different – just a few things to point out:

The inside of the Smart Cover – the part that covers the screen not only cleans the surface of the display but the cover can be turned into a wedge and then used as a squeegee to wipe off fingerprints on the go. Not to mention that just draping the magnets to the side of the iPad 2 ALWAYS line up! WOAH!

The accelerometer and gyro – we mentioned it above with the drums app in GarageBand but it also works amazingly well with games like NOVA 2. Sit in a chair hold up the iPad and wherever you look the game follows. WOAH!

Ambient light sensor – so if you’re reading your iPad in bed with the lights off, just like the Macbook’s it knows the dim the power of the screen so as not to be so harsh on your eyes. WOAH!

Hotspot with iPhone 4 – if you have an iPhone 4 then you probably only need to buy the WiFi version since you can save extra data charges by linking your WiFi iPad to your iPad 2 anywhere you go. And up to 2 other iPad’s simultaneously! WOAH! (but with that said, Neonpunch readers still voted in favor of buying the 3G models in our poll here.)

So there you have it – the official full review of the iPad 2 – to summarize:

We like:
Battery life, thinness,

Could improve:
Speaker, cameras, weight

You’ll go crazy for:
Multi-touch screen, speed, Smart Covers, iMovie, GarageBand

So if this is your first iPad – lucky you! If this is your first tablet – lucky you! If you bought any other tablet – we’re sorry.

The iPad 2 goes on sale across Hong Kong this Friday!