Now that the iPad Mini 2 is already out, with high-resolution Retina display panel as expected, pitting it with Google's Nexus 7 has become inevitable.

For the most part, the two high-end devices reflect the capabilities that were seen in last year's editions but with significant boosts in specs and features. Below are the key areas where the Android and iOS flagships are deemed to battle it out.

Form-factor

It is no secret that the first iPad Mini was under-specced when it came out in late 2012. The display was mediocre and the processing chips was outdated. Against the top-notch Android rivals, the Mini was simply overwhelmed.

But it sold in big numbers, eclipsing all its foes and even the powerful iPad 4, because people fell in love with the miniature tablet design, especially the immaculate white, which together with the black model boast of thinner bezels and a general build that is just easy to handle.

Throw in the Apple prestige plus its metallic look and material, which the Mini 2 is also showing off, then the iOS 7 tablet is a winner by a stretch over the Nexus 7.

Screen display

Talks have been persistent in the past months that Google would easily rout the second Mini with its Nexus 7 that is with a 7-inch IPS LCD display, beaming out a 1920 x 1200 resolution on pixel density of 323ppi. And analysts seemed to agree as reports came out that refreshed Mini is without the Retina that fans have been waiting for.

Apple proved the rumours wrong. Retina is coming out of the box with the 2013 iPad Mini, which means it will have a 2048 x 1536 screen resolution with 324ppi. Obviously, the numbers are better than that of the Nexus 7's.

The ecosystem showdown

It will be a small tablet dogfight between the iOS and Android systems. For the Mini 2, iOS 7 is its main weapon while the Nexus 7 will depend for now on Jelly Bean 4.3 and KitKat 4.4 once the latter becomes available in the coming weeks.

But really the fight is between the ecosystems that govern the two devices. In this respect, analysts readily pick the iPad as its application library is more extensive, 475,000 tablet-optimised apps at the last count. Android, at the moment, is nowhere near this vast collection.

Critics maintain that most of the apps available for Android slates are designed for smartphones and using them take away the promises of maximum tablet experience.

Specs and connectivity

On paper, the Nexus 7 easily bests the iPad Mini 2 with its quad-core CPU and 2GB or RAM as opposed to the latter's dual-core processing chip and likely 1GB of RAM. Yet to make up for the seemingly glaring hardware deficiencies, Apple is serving 64-bit computing standard with its A7 chip, to be complemented by the M7 motion co-processor.

Shoring up the two devices' power is the assurance that users will have access to stable and superfast wireless internet thanks to the introduction of LTE and a next-gen Wi-Fi chip. For the iPad Mini 2, Apple is using "two antennas to support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology." This facilitates a Wi-Fi connectivity of up to 300 Mbps.

Pricing war

When it comes to offering the best bang for the bucks, the Nexus 7 is the solid choice with a starting a price of $330 for the basic 16GB model. The most expensive variant clears at $350 with buyers getting a package of 32GB with LTE radio signal.

On the other hand, the iPad Mini 2 offers the lowest model of 16GB, Wi-Fi only, for $330 with the top-of-the-line build resulting to a cash setback of $830, which delivers to users a Mini 2 with 128GB of built-in storage plus Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity

In this particular area, the choice is determined by budget, preference and usability, which of course differ for every user.