Apple iPad Air Apple iPad Air 2, 16GB, 4G + Wi-Fi - Silver Review
A ten-year-old iPad for $110 is a trap. We tested the refurbished iPad Air 2 and found it's barely usable for anything in 2025.
Overview
This is a refurbished iPad Air 2 from 2014, and honestly, you should only buy it for one reason: it's cheap. At around $110, it's a functional tablet for the absolute basics, but calling it 'renewed' is a stretch. It runs iPadOS 8, which is ancient, and most modern apps won't even install. Think of it as a digital photo frame or a super simple web browser, not a real tablet for 2025.
Performance
Let's be real, the performance is terrible by today's standards. The CPU and GPU rankings are in the bottom 10th percentile, which means it'll struggle with anything more than flipping through static web pages. That 16GB of RAM is a weird spec that looks good on paper, but it's paired with a decade-old processor. The only thing that performs okay is the screen, which is still a decent Retina display, but that's about it.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Dirt cheap price for an Apple logo 95th
- The screen is still sharp and good for reading 90th
- Lightweight and portable
- Refurbished process adds some reliability over a random used unit
Cons
- Ancient iPadOS 8 means almost no apps will work 3th
- Tiny 16GB storage is practically unusable 7th
- WiFi 4 is painfully slow 11th
- No support for modern Apple Pencils or keyboards
- Cameras are awful by today's standards
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | 1.5 GHz none |
| GPU | PowerVR SGX543 |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 16 GB |
| RAM Generation | DDR2 |
| Storage | 16 GB |
Display
| Size | 9.7" |
| Resolution | 2048 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 4 |
Features
| Stylus Support | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 0.4 kg / 1.0 lbs |
| OS | iPadOS 8 |
Value & Pricing
It's only worth the money if your budget is exactly $110 and you need a tablet-shaped object that turns on. For anyone else, it's a bad value. You're paying for obsolete tech.
vs Competition
Don't compare this to an iPad Pro or a Surface Pro. That's like comparing a tricycle to a sports car. If you need a real budget tablet, look at a modern Amazon Fire tablet. It'll be faster, run current apps, and cost about the same. If you're stuck on iOS and need a cheap iPad, scour the market for a used iPad 6th or 7th gen. They're older, but they'll still run a supported version of iOS and have usable storage.
| Spec | Apple iPad Air Apple iPad Air 2, 16GB, 4G + Wi-Fi - Silver | Apple iPad Pro Apple 11" iPad Pro M5 Chip (Standard Glass, 512GB, | Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Samsung 12.4" Galaxy Tab S10+ 256GB Multi-Touch | Microsoft Surface Pro Microsoft - Surface Pro - Copilot+ PC - 13” OLED | Lenovo Yoga Tab Series Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus | Xenarc Xenarc 10.1" RT101-PRO 256GB Tablet (Wi-Fi, 4G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1.5 GHz none | Apple M5 | MediaTek 9300 | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-84-100 | Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3, QCM8650 | 8-Core: Up to GHz |
| RAM (GB) | 16 | 12 | 12 | 32 | 16 | 8 |
| Storage (GB) | 16 | 512 | 256 | 1000 | 256 | 256 |
| Screen | 9.7" 2048x1536 | 11" 2420x1668 | 12.4" 2800x1752 | 13" 2880x1920 | 12.7" 2944x1840 | 10.1" 1920x1200 |
| OS | iPadOS 8 | iPadOS | Android 14 | Windows 11 Home | Android 14 | Android 13 |
| Stylus | true | true | true | false | false | false |
| Cellular | false | false | false | false | false | true |
Verdict
Hard pass. I can't recommend buying a ten-year-old tablet, even at this price. It's e-waste with a fresh battery. Save up another $100 and get something from this decade that you can actually use. This iPad Air 2 is only for collectors or people who need a prop for a stage play.