The smartphone jungle can be confusing, but the Samsung Galaxy J7 is surprisingly easy to decipher: J for “affordable price” and 7 for “big screen”. This is the lite version of the Galaxy A7, offering semi-premium features but confined to the midrange. Another way to look at it is as an E7 Plus.

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Despite its competitively priced and quite successful smartphone line of late, Xiaomi has also been trying its hand at a number of other gadgets and tech. Routers, battery packs, smart wearables and night lights, you name it and Xiaomi probably has it, wrapper up in its signature Apple-like viral design. Tablets also have a place on the list, albeit with only one model to date – the Xiaomi Mi Pad.

Now, more than a year into its lifespan, it is naturally time for an update and rumors have been hinting at a Mi Pad 2 for quite some time now. This successor might actually be closer to a release than ever, as it was spotted on Chana’s 3C Certification center website. This, means that the device is ready and rated fit to be sold in China.

Certification listing

Sadly, little additional information can be extracted from the listing, except, perhaps, the alleged model number – “2015716” and some info on what we assume to be the charger for the unit – 5.0 volts, rated at 2A.

However, there is one more exciting rumor from Xiaomi today. According to industry sources the company has been experimenting with running the new Windows 10 Mobile on a lot of its devices, including flagships like the Mi 4 and the Mi Pad 2.

If that’s true we might have a Windows 10-powered tablet to look forward to. In any case, these are all speculations and we can’t really know anything else about the Mi Pad 2 for sure, before Xiaomi reopens discussion on the device. The OEM does have an upcoming event set for September 22, when it will be unveiling the new Xiaomi Mi 4c. It is unlikely that the Mi Pad 2 will be announced at the same venue, as new Xiaomi products generally go through a lot of online teasers before launch and we are yet to see anything for the tablet. We’ll keep our fingers crossed just in case,…

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Apple’s last keynote witnessed the announcement of a couple of iPhones, the iPad Pro and next-gen Apple TV, and in between those the iPad mini 4 got a few brief moments of its own. It was described to have the iPad Air 2 performance in a mini enclosure, but that’s marketing talk and nothing beats a good old-fashioned teardown.

Specialists in the field from iFixit have taken an iPad mini 4 to pieces and report their findings. They call it a “pretty major overhaul”, compared to the mini 3, and it starts with the fully laminated screen – a main contributor to the thickness reduction from 7.5mm to 6.1mm.

A smaller battery also helps achieve the slim profile, with capacity dropped from 6,471mAh to 5,124mAh (those numbers!). A switch has been made to a single-cell unit, compared to the two cells of the predecessor, but at least it’s just as easy to disconnect, which is apparently praise-worthy when it comes to repairability.

The tablet is powered by the A8 chip as opposed to A8X, so the claim for bringing the iPar Air 2 performance into the mini 4 is not entirely true, but it’s not like it wasn’t in the specs. The 2GB of RAM has indeed moved to the iPad mini 4, so it’s no longer a single-gig operation. A few elements have been shifted around in a push for optimization, and spots empty from function are filled with spacers to better support the display.

In the end, however, the iPad mini 4 still receives a 2/10 repairability rating, meaning you’d be happier if you leave it to the pros.

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