It is clear that mobile devices have taken over the world, and portability is the key aspect of any computer. While convenience is important, we also want our tablets to double up as eye candy and look for sleek and stylish designs that flaunt a gamut of accessories. Designers aim to make our computing devices exactly the way we want them – thinner, lighter and more powerful.
Today, there are many tablets that are no larger than a pad of paper. These small devices combine the immense capabilities of a computer with the mobility of a smartphone. Navigation is also through the touch screen interaction.
This huge demand naturally results in rivalry in the mobile computing industry, and the stage is all set for a showdown of the highest order. Tablets are ruling the roost: tablet sales are expected to reach a colossal 126 million units this year, compared to the 68.4 million units sold last year.
With so much riding on a tablet, all the popular brands like Apple, Samsung, HP, Acer, Motorola and others have entered the fray, leaving consumers with an abundance of choice, leading to decision making paralysis.
Which is the one for you?
If you are thinking of buying a tablet, and are not sure of which one to get – it is not a matter of which one is better, but more about figuring out the tablet that fits your needs and desires better.
What Do We Consider the Best Tablets in the Market?
This is not going to be easy even with all the feature requirements ready, with more than 100 tablets vying with each other to offer the best. To make matters worse, everyone around you is touting the tablet they use as the best.
Check out the following tablets and see what you take a fancy to.
1. The New iPad
Pros |
Cons |
– Unmatched screen quality – Best and most apps available – 5 Megapixel real camera – Rich User interface – 4G wireless options – Lot of apps available
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– Heavier than previous model – USD, HDMI and SD ports require adaptors – You can browse on only one window at a time – No Flash support – Comes with a low resolution camera.
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We think that the New iPad continues to be the undisputed king of tablets. Analysts are bullish and expect that more than 63 million iPads will be sold in 2012 worldwide. The new iPad is hot in more ways than one. It is said to be heating up to 116 degrees when running games, but people still buy it.
The tablet that the new iPad is replacing as the #1 is its very own predecessor the iPad 2, which may not have the beautiful screen that comes with the new model, but has all the benefits of Apple’s software, a great number of apps along with a great design.
Apple’s new iPad is a great combination of the familiar and the futuristic. This is because the design is almost the same as last year’s iPad 2. The only changes made are with the wireless capabilities and internal components that received a small and much anticipated bump.
While on the surface, it looks as if Apple hasn’t put any effort into this one, everything changes the moment it is turned on and the screen comes alive. The screen resolution is an unprecedented at 2,048×1,536 pixels. Nothing else can match this, not your TV and not your computer. This is an impressive feat for something that costs just $499 and fits in your lap.
2. Kindle Fire
Pros |
Cons |
– Ultra-affordable price tag – Compact 7” – Amazon’s media market is great – Cloud support compensates for the 8GB – Lot of apps available
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– No premium features like the 3G wireless, Bluetooth, cameras, GPS, and microphone – No chatting – Only 8GB storage with no expansion slot – Minimal app selection. Cannot be compared to either Apple or Google – Some unique features only available through Amazon Prime subscriptions
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Kindle’s Fire is a smoking slab of red-hot content that’s currently heating up the tablet competition. It places Amazon’s online content gold mine on an affordable slate. The verdict on Kindle Fire has been great.
Behind the bookshelf-like interface, The Kindle Fire offers an almost unrecognizable Android 2.3 OS, but does not offer access to the Android Market. It comes with 8GB of built-in storage, and Amazon content can be stored in the cloud, free of charge. It only costs $199 (£125).
With The Kindle Fire, Amazon seems to have done a wonderful job by striking the optimum balance between price and features. The main tablet features are excellent; a slick user interface, a crisp 7-inch 1024×600 touchscreen that uses Gorilla glass and is chemically treated to make it 30 times harder than plastic.
The Kindle Fire is definitely nowhere close to being an iPad killer as far as hardware goes. But then it has an immense attraction for those who have so far not been able to come to terms with the cost of a tablet, and appeals to the thousands of Kindle eReader fans.
In the US, it has access to more than a million paid-for ebooks and two million free classics. It offers magazine subscriptions, about a hundred thousand movies and TV shows that can be bought or rented for as little as a dollar. There are 17 million tracks at Amazon MP3 Store to be enjoyed.
The Kindle Fire belongs to the rare category of “cheap but great” tablets. If the cons make it seem like a deal breaker, there are plenty of high-end tablets out there looking for a tech-wizard owner. There is news of Kindle Fire 2 being released sometime during 2012.
3. Asus Transformer Pad Prime Infinity TF700
Pros |
Cons |
– Excellent screen – Bright and sharp – Thin and light body – Super fast quad-core Tegra 3 processor – Keyboard dock offers extra battery and ports – Long battery life |
– Limited apps – Unreliable display – distorts with finger pressure – Weird speaker placement
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The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 has garnered a great deal of interest. It is similar but better than its state-of-the-art Eee Pad Transformer Prime, a top-tier tablet priced at $500.
This is ASUS’ new high-end version and comes with top specs that no other tablet in the market has. It comes with an improved `1.6GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and a 10-inch Super IPS+ 1920 x 1200 pixel display. It is said to be the best performing Android tablet we have seen till now, except for the battery life, which is better on Prime. It provides up to 9.5 hours of battery life, and a keyboard dock doubles as an extra battery with 14.25 hours of battery life.
The 32GB version comes with double the memory of the new 16GB Apple iPad, but at the same price of $499. The 64GB version costs $599 as opposed to the 64GB iPad that costs $699.
For those keen on a new Android tablet, the TF700 is certainly among the best Ice Cream Sandwich tablets around at any price point.
But if you already own the Prime, then you better stick to it, as the battery life is much better. Even with this new version, the Prime still has the capability of standing high on its own.
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7
Pros |
Cons |
– Compact at 7” – Aps galore – Decent 3MP camera – not great though |
– No USB port. Content transfer is done through Samsung Media Library – Browsing possible only on one window at a time – No flash support
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Even in the crowded Android tablets market, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is a treat not just for being the thinnest tablet around. The epic battery life of 12.1 hours makes it the longest-lasting tablet, and places it way ahead of its breed, including its very own the Galaxy Tab 10.1. The battery-saving mode may help push that past the 12-hour mark – if you need to.
What makes this a tour de force is the lively S AMOLED Plus stunning screen, the 1.4GHz Exynos engine, and the beautiful dual-core.
The biggest caveat is the top price it asks. But if you lay claim to the latest and the most well-designed gadget, and willing to pay for the privilege of enjoying a longer battery life and excellent performance, then this one is a must have. Chew on that for a bit, while we go ahead and talk about the other best tablets in the market today.
As promised, Samsung has just rolled out Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 GT-P6800, in place of the existing Honeycomb.
5. Google Nexus 7 (8GB)
Pros |
Cons |
– Low price point – Compact and portable – Powerful game and movie performance – Free cloud storage from Google |
– No built-in expandable storage – No back camera – No rotation for home screen – While Android supports flash, Chrome is the default browser that doesn’t support flash. A third-party browser needs to be used |
This product is perfect for those making their entry into the tablet world. Android 4.1 OS, also known as the Jelly Bean, has never been this good.
The quad-core Tegra 3 processor offers excellent performance and a beautiful HD display. The power of this tablet is seen when watching movies and games. The Nexus 7 showcases all of Google’s digital content, such as the ebook store, movies in Google Play, TV and magazines.
Although, this just has a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front without any camera app included; the Google Plus hangouts compensate for this.
It is lighter than the Kindle Fire and weighs 340 grams. You can carry it with you to the coffee shop and read a book or magazine on it.
The Nexus 7 is almost perfect .… except for the lack of built-in expandable storage and a back camera. It has everything (else), the price point of $200/8GB and $250/16GB, the perfect form, a cutting-edge GPU (for mobile). The resolution is the same as most 10” tabs, ensuring great app compatibility.
Buyers no longer need to worry about compromising performance for price. It’s easily a great investment and packs a big punch with so many technologies crammed into this compact 7-inch tablet.
The advantage Kindle Fire owners may have over Nexus 7 owners is that they will have more video options, if they are Amazon Prime members. But then Nexus 7 has better hardware specs than the Kindle Fire.
Before concluding, let’s make an easy comparison of all the tablets we talked about:
Tablet | Apple iPad 3 | ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 | Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 | Amazon Kindle Fire | Google Nexus 7 (8 GB) |
Price | $599/16GB $699/32GB $799/64GB | $499/32GB; $599/64GB | $699.99, 16GB; $499.99 with 2-yr contract | $199 | $200 |
OS | iOS 5.1 | Android 4.0.3 | Android 3.2 Honeycomb | Custom Android | Android 4.1 |
CPU | Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 | NVIDIA Tegra 3 T33 (1.7GHz single core, 1.6GHz multi) | 1.4GHz Exynos Dual-Core | 1GHz Dual-core | 1.3GH Quad Core |
RAM | 1GB | 1GB DDR3 | 1GB | 512 MB | 1GB |
Display | 9.7” 2048×1536 LED backlit IPS TFT | 10.1” 1920×1200 Super IPS+ up to 600 nits | 7.7” 1,280-by-800-pixel Super AMOLED Plus screen | 7” 1024×600 IPS TFT active matrix | 7” 1280×800 |
Camera | 5MP iSight | Improved 8MP Rear 2MP Front | 3MP Rear | _ | 1.2MP Front |
Battery | 10 hours | 25 Whr | 10 Hours | 4 Hrs | 8 Hrs |
Memory | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB | 16GB | 8GB plus free cloud storage | 8GB |
Expandable Memory | _ | 32GB microSD | 32GB microSD | _ | _ |
Dimensions | 241.2 x 185.7 x 9.4 mm | 263 x 180.8 x 8.4 mm | 197x133x8mm | 190 x120x11.4 mm | 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm |
Weight | 652g | 594g | 335g | 413g | 340g |
USB | v2.0 | Full Size USB | – | microUSB | microUSB |
Conclusion
Although, iPad fans will never acknowledge any other device, the relatively new market of tablets has grown exponentially. The Apple iPad and the Android tablets are the two main competitors vying for the number one spot.
Apple rules the roost as far as sales go. Well, this can be attributed to their heavy marketing budget. But one cannot deny that Apple offers an easy to use interface, excellent performance and features.
If you’re on the market for a new Android tablet, then the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 should be on your shortlist. It is touted as one of the fastest Android tablets. The Prime is also expected to get an update.