New iPad: A feature-by-feature look

A roundup of reviews of Apple’s tablet computer, which hits stores on March 16.

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The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg said, “Using the new display is like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be.”

/ Reuters

The clarity of the display impressed The Washington Post's Joshua Topolsky. "For rendered text or high-resolution images, it just looks like a glowing piece of paper," he said.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

The cameras were also a much-mentioned feature in the reviews. Macworld's Jason Snell said, "It seems safe to say that the new iPad has the best camera of any tablet device, and among the best of any mobile device. Most notably, the quality of the 1080p video I shot with the new iPad was very good, even in low light. "

Rogelio Solis / AP

The ability to shoot video in HD really brought the quality of the camera home to The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, who said, "Knowing that the media you take home will be so good that you can make an HD movie or produce a slideshow is a huge plus. It’s the person with the iPad that won’t be saying, 'excuse the quality, I didn’t have my good camera with me.'"

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Battery life may not be a flashy feature, but it's certainly one the most important ones to consumers. Daring Fireball's John Gruber said he was impressed with he saw from the new iPad: "the iPad 3’s battery life seems indistinguishable from that of the iPad 2, even when using LTE. This alone strikes me as a remarkable engineering accomplishment."

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

Gruber noted that the form factor of the new iPad — a little thicker and a little heavier — is telling about Apple's design philosophy. "50 grams and six-tenths of a millimeter are minor compromises, but compromises they are, and they betray Apple’s priorities: better to make the iPad slightly thicker and heavier than have battery life suffer slightly. And keep in mind that the new iPad 3 remains far thinner and lighter than the original iPad."

Robert Galbraith / Reuters

Apart from the screen, the features that impressed reviewers the most included the speed of the LTE network. "The most notable of these is the LTE functionality," said TechCrunch's MG Siegler. "Put simply: it’s fast. Really fast. Faster-than-my-WiFi fast."

Stephen Yang / Bloomberg

The iPad also has improved graphics, great for gaming that requires more complex processing than the typical smartphone game. "At the typical arm’s length, graphics on the new iPad are effectively so smooth you can’t make out the individual dots," wrote SlashGear's Vincent Nguyen.

Jason Alden / Bloomberg

The ability to make the iPad into a wireless hotspot was also a much-praised feature though, as Nguyen notes, "Unfortunately, hotspot capability on the new iPad might be a Verizon exclusive in the U.S. for now since AT&T doesn’t offer or has announced a tethering policy specifically for the new iPad."

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

One thorn in reviewers' sides was the fact that the iPad still doesn't support Apple's Facetime video program over cellular networks. The Verge's Dieter Bohn wrote that this is "positively vexing."

Jeff Chiu / AP

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