This article should have been written four years ago. But then, back in 2010, Apple’s iPad didn’t seem much interesting for me. Even after its release on April 3rd and all those reviews full of joy and excitement, the iPad objectively had too many cons: from the lack of camera to low, non-Retina screen resolution. It really was a revolutionary product. But that revolutionary product wasn’t exactly for me.

The times are changing. I remember me looking at then-current generation iPad about a year ago and realizing it was pretty eye-catching. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel the strong need to buy one: iPad was pretty nice, but still not perfect—primarily due to its weight.

The things changed dramatically after Apple announced the brand-new iPad Air on October 22nd, 2013. It was so thin, so light and so beautiful, that I thought, “Well. The time has come. I’m gonna buy the iPad Air on day one!”

And I did. I placed an order on the Apple Store on November 1st. Few days later, I got my order. I realized how beautiful the device is the moment I unpacked it. Light, thin, and extremely powerful. The iPad Air was just amazing!

First thing I noticed after the device design was its Retina display. Though it wasn’t introduced with iPad Air, it still was something new for me. Super-bright and super-clear—the image quality was just stunning.

Housing quality was great as well! Flat back panel and narrow bezel were made for comfortable keeping the iPad in your hands. On that score, iPad Air looks exactly like the larger iPad mini.

Few words about my usual day with the iPad. Of course, it can’t completely replace my Mac. I knew this long before purchasing the gadget. Generally, iPad is a device to consume, not create. Despite all my attempts to write at least one page on the iPad (using Apple Wireless Keyboard), I return to Mac every time. On the other hand, the device is excellent for watching movies! I’ve watched the whole Breaking Bad series using the iPad.

The battery is another advantage of the iPad. Neither the iPhone, nor the Mac (maybe except for the new MacBook Air with 12-hour battery) can compare to iPad. Watching videos for all day long? No problem! Walking through the whole Infinity Blade game? Not a big deal.

There are much more things I have found the iPad Air useful in. For example, reading. As I’m trying not to purchase printed books, I’d had two ways to read before I bought the iPad: iPhone or Mac. Neither of them seemed very convenient.

In conclusion, the device is Apple’s biggest leap forward since the release of iPhone 5 (although I don’t like the iPhone 5 in favor of 4S, the most amazing iPhone yet). My overall iPad Air experience can be described in one word. “Amazing!”