Apple iPad mini 3 is well designed with a long battery life and an excellent display and app selection from a variety offered. The Touch ID features and the Apple Pay features makes the it very efficient to use hence making it one of the most user-friendly.

This is a fantastic iPad Mini, but it's a terrible deal. We recommend you buy a cheaper 32GB iPad Mini 2 and wait a year to get a fingerprint sensor.

Touch ID sensor; High-quality retina screen; Great size for reading; As good as any

Limited upgrade over iPad Mini 2; Last year's specs offer little incentive to upgrade; Entry-level model's 16GB of storage doesn't cut it

Apple knows how to make a cracking tablet, and we loved the iPad mini 2 when it launched last year. It offered all the power of the Air in a smaller form factor, and while it wasn't cheap, it was awesome. But seeing it reproduced almost identically 12 months on doesn't pack the same punch.

Sleek design; Good app access; Touch ID for security

Too similar to mini 2; Pricey compared to last year; Not as powerful as Air 2

Apple unveiled the new iPad mini 3 at a special event on 16 October, alongside the bigger iPad Air 2. We've spent some time with Apple's 7.9in tablet to bring you our iPad mini 3 review, which we'll update regularly over the next year as we spend more time with the tablet.

Gorgeous design; Touch ID fingerprint sensor; new gold colour option; more affordable 64GB model

Almost identical to the now £80 cheaper iPad mini 2; misses out on iPad Air 2's great processor & specs

It's not often that Apple drops the ball on a product – but this is definitely a dropped ball. The iPad mini 3 isn't a bad tablet by any standards; it's just almost identical to last year's iPad mini 2 , which is still on sale. For less money. So what are the differences?

Good hi-res screen; Solid design

Essentially the same tablet as the iPad mini 2 but a lot more expensive

As we said at the start, this review is one that's largely positive, but with the price overshadowing the tablet. This is largely because Apple has left the iPad Mini 2 on sale, which is identical, bar TouchID, the Apple SIM, Gold colour and storage sizes.

How does Apple's latest mini tablet fair? We take a look in our video review.....

I upgraded after girlfriend "purloined" my 64gb Ipad mini so went higher on storage basically and paid a fortune for it. The only difference between the 2 and 3 is the fingerprint sign in...otherwise pretty much the same ipad with s higher price tag. But then..ipad IS good anyways so..

Placed order on Tuesday, dispatched Friday and received Monday!! Even e-mailed me to check I had received my order. Very happy chappy indeed.

For those who are dying to use Apple Pay for online purchases and don't want to bother with passwords, the iPad mini 3 is a solid pick, but the iPad Air 2's faster A8X chip, richer anti-reflective display and better 8-MP camera make that the best tablet in Apple's lineup.