Android has recently been in the news for helping erode Apple’s share in the tablet market by a whole 14%. With this in mind, we bring our picks for the best Android tablets in the market today.
A long running favourite of reviewers, the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is an update of Asus’ popular Asus Transformer Prime, improving its predecessor in every aspect. It incorporates the clip-on QWERTY keypad that originally launched Prime’s popularity and is adorned with a 10.1-inch 1920×1200 display, Android Ice Cream Sandwich and a hefty price tag of $499-$599. The cost notwithstanding, long battery life and the HD screen make this tablet a must-have if Android is your pick.
Next are Google’s two Nexus tablets, the Google Nexus 7 and the Google Nexus 10. The former is a 7 inch tablet and features a 1280×800 display along with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor and 1 GB RAM. Its 10-inch cousin runs a more powerful dual-core 1.7 GHz Samsung Exynos processor, a 2560×1600 Super PLS display at 300 ppi and 2 GB RAM. Both tablets run Android 4.2 and are privy to the latest updates, although there is clean $200 difference between their price tags.
Samsung has hitherto kept a low profile in the tablet market, but has gained momentum with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, which though a bit dated, is still a great choice for those looking for a medium-range reliable tablet. The Galaxy Tab 2 is a 7-inch device with a 1024x600px display. Under the hood is a dual core Snapdragon clocked at 1 GHz with 1 GB RAM. Unlike the Nexus series, the Tab 2 is still stuck on Android Ice Cream Sandwich (except some devices which have received the Android 4.1 update). Though the screen resolution isn’t as cutting edge as the rest of the competition, the $289 price tag and reasonably powerful hardware make this device a very competitive mid-range Android tablet.
Rounding off this list is the Galaxy Note 10.1 with a 10.1-inch 1280×800 display, a powerful quad-core 1.4 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. Specifications apart, what sets this tablet from the rest is Samsung’s unique set of additional features, like the intuitive specialized stylus called the S-Pen, which enables users to take notes, sketch and perform a range of pen-and-paper mimicking applications on the tablet’s screen. With a maximum storage capacity of 32 GB internal plus 64 GB via the microSD slot, the Note 10.1 offers great storage capacity. If cost isn’t a factor, this $499/$549 tablet should definitely be on your Christmas list.
