Despite the lack of major upgrades, the Apple iPad Air 2 holds a spot as one of the best tablets on the market. During Laptop's testing, in which a tablet loops through webpages at a constant brightness, the Air 2 lasted for nine hours and 20 minutes before powering down.

While this mark is in line with Apple's advertised Wi-Fi browsing battery life of up to 10 hours, the iPad Air's battery is a step behind other multimedia tablets that tout battery lifespans of more than 10 hours.

While these scores are slightly outclassed by more current tablets, the Apple iPad Air 2 showed it still has excellent specifications during our hands-on testing. The tablet smoothly switched between tasks like web browsing and games.

In "Epic Zen Garden," a high-end iOS gaming tech demo, we could navigate through the in-game world without any technical hiccups or performance slowdown. The Air 2 is also a strong performer in Laptop Mag's battery test, although the tablet isn't without its limitations.

Apple iPads have generally been shining examples of high-end tablet performance, and on the strength of its numbers, the Apple iPad Air 2 is still a worthy member of the iPad family. While the Air 2 shows its age compared to the best tablets, it has much to offer home users thanks to its solid battery life, compact dimensions and strong performance ceiling.