By: Hillel Fuld (@hilzfuld)

When Apple introduced the iPad Mini, it was the first ever Apple announced that sparked an emotional reaction from yours truly. No, it was not excitement or happiness that the company finally reversed a policy put in place by the late Steve Jobs that there is no room for a smaller tablet in the Apple portfolio. My reaction to the iPad Mini announcement was actually disappointment and frustration, maybe even borderline anger.

I wrote about my disappointment with the iPad Mini announcement here and here, but to sum it up in one sentence, only Apple can get away with selling a product that is by every metric inferior to its direct competitors at almost double the price. The Nexus 7, which at the time was being sold for $199 had a faster processor, a better resolution screen, and a price tag that was significantly lower than Apple’s. So, I felt the iPad Mini was a poor attempt on Apple’s part to catch up. Now, I wasn’t completely wrong about all that, but I was completely wrong about the actual product. The iPad Mini, which I have been using for a few weeks now, is pretty fantastic.

The first question everyone asks me when seeing the device is “So wait, why is this any different than the iPad?” The answer I always give is “It’s not and that is why it’s awesome.” You see, the iPad, since its introduction has completely and utterly dominated the tablet space it created. Except, from the first moment I touched an iPad, I felt there was something wrong. I wrote about that years ago, here.

My main problem with the iPad though, is that it is supposed to be somewhat of an on-the-go type of device but good luck typing on the iPad while walking or snapping a picture with it in a concert. The ecosystem is unparalleled, the iOS experience, while it could use some refreshing, is still super intuitive and the device is still pretty magical. But again, the size…

So the iPad Mini, which I was as skeptical about as anyone, takes all that is great about the iPad (minus the Retina display for now and the A6x processor) and trims it down to a size that is not only not annoying, it is actually better than any smaller tablet I have used. The aspect ratio of the iPad Mini makes it a much more compelling experience somehow and the screen, while it is not Retina, pops out like it’s no one’s business.

It has been a few weeks since I first unboxed my iPad Mini and watching Netflix aside, I have not picked up my iPad once. I do not see the point. Using Flipboard (my reading app of choice) on the iPad Mini is just a fantastic experience. Tweetbot (my favorite Twitter app) on the Mini… It’s a match made in heaven. I think you get the point. The iPad Mini is the ideal second screen.

In fact, if I had to choose one device, only one, well in addition to a phone, I would choose the Mini over the full size iPad, my beloved Macbook Air, and I would choose it over any Android tablet, including the Nexus 7, despite its super specs.

So what’s the moral of the story? Hardware specs do not tell the full story when it comes to user experience and us bloggers need to learn that.