f you're looking for a tablet and don't fancy an iPad, then Android is the way to go: while Windows tablets are on the horizon, Android ones are here, they work and they've usually been tweaked to include finger-friendly interfaces too.
We've gone from zero Android tablets to stacks of the things in a very short space of time, and inevitably some are better than others.
Some have ten-inch screens, others seven and some just five, and there are big differences in battery life, processing power and on-board RAM. So which tablets are the most tempting? Let's find out.
Motorola Xoom - £499 (£599 for 3G version)
On sale: Now in US, soon in UK
One of the most interesting Android tablets won't be cheap: online prices are currently hovering around the £720 mark. For your cash you'll get a dual-core Tegra 2 and a 10.1", 1280x800 display; you can also play full HD via HDMI. The Xoom has 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (plus an SD card slot), twin cameras, Wi-Fi and optional 3G. Motorola claims 10 hours of video-watching power.
Read: Motorola Xoom review
Samsung Galaxy Tab - £359 (Wi-Fi) / £499 (3G)
On sale: Now
Samsung's tablet becomes much more attractive thanks to heavy discounting: the first price above is from Tesco Direct, although the 3G model is still a good bit more expensive. It's a decent bit of kit let down by sluggish web browsing, and we're not convinced 7-inch tablets work as phones.
Viewsonic Viewpad 7 - £300 to 400
On sale: Now
The Viewsonic Viewpad 7 is exactly the same, albeit slightly more expensive than the Linx Commtiva N700 - and confusingly, Viewsonic is marketing it as a smartphone. It's a terrible smartphone but it's a fairly competent 7-inch Android tablet: its 600MHz processor isn't really fast enough for Flash though, not to mention recent Android releases.
Advent Vega - £249.99
On sale: Now
The Vega offers a lot of power for very little cash: a ten-inch, 1024x600 touchscreen, a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor and a 6.5 hours of video playback isn't bad for just under £250. Storage is tight, though - you get a half-gig of flash storage, supplemented by a 4GB microSD card) - and the OS is Android 2.2. Flash Player has been pulled due to certification issues, but an update should fix that later in the year.
Read: Advent Vega review
Dell Streak 5 / 7 / 10 - £399 / £TBC / £TBC
The eminently capable and exceptionally small Dell Streak 5 has been around for a while, but it's about to be joined by the more powerful Dell Streak 7 (7-inch) and Dell Streak 10 (10-inch) versions. Where the Dell Streak 5 runs a Snapdragon processor, its bigger siblings will be packing dual-core Tegra processors. All models boast Gorilla Glass, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Flash 10.1 support.
Read: Dell Streak review
Asus Eee Pad Transformer / Slider / Memo - £tbc
On sale: TBC
Asus has not one, not two, but three interesting Android tablets. The Eee Pad Transformer has a full-sized keyboard dock, the Eee Pad Slider has a slide-out keyboard, and the Eee Pad Memo has no keyboard at all. Bigger Eee Pads have Tegra 2s inside, while the Memo has a 1.2GHz Snapdragon.
LG Optimus Pad - £tbc
On sale: TBC
Could the LG Optimus Pad have a 3D display? That's what the rumours say, although they also predict a £250 price tag. One or the other is possible, but not both. 3D or no 3D there's a dual-core Tegra 2 and an 8.9" display.
Creative Ziio - £249.99
On sale: Now (10-inch TBC)
Take one fairly standard Android tablet and add a dash of Creative's famous audio flair. The result? Something with "pure Android audio", which offers high quality wireless audio via Bluetooth and pretty nifty sound when you use headphones. It's an older tablet, however, which means Android 2.1.
Read: Creative Ziio review
Viewsonic Viewpad 10s - £tbc
On sale: TBC
We called the original Viewpad 10 a stinker, so what about its successor? It runs Android 2.2 with its own Tap overlay, there's a 1GHz processor inside, and there's a very useful option to give each family member their own account. We wish the iPad had that. The 10s is a vast improvement over its predecessor, although we'll reserve final judgement until we know the price.
HTC Flyer
On sale: TBC
HTC has decided to release the tablet running on Android Gingerbread, which will upset some purists that only believe these tablets should run on Honeycomb. However, the HTC Sense overlay deals with that, offering a new range of widgets and content to mask the fact it's running older versions of the OS (although a Honeycomb update is imminent). The new tablet has a 7-inch LCD screen, and comes with an aluminium unibody shell that feels very nice in the hand.
Notion Ink Adam - £tbc
On sale: now (but not in the UK)
A UK release date still hasn't been confirmed, but some overseas customers are getting their pre-ordered Adams this week. The Adam promises a "revolutionary" 10.1-inch display offering 1,024x600 with a sunlight-friendly e-paper mode, and the innards are pretty decent too: the processor is a dual-core 1GHz Tegra, there's 1GB of RAM and you can choose from 16GB or 32GB of storage, expandable via MicroSD. Claimed battery life is 6 to 16 hours.
Lenovo Ideapad U1/LePad - £tbc
On sale: TBC
Lenovo makes nice laptops, so it's not a surprise that its LePad sounds... nice. There's a 10.1", 1280x800 capacitive touchscreen, a 1.3GHz Snapdragon, Wi-Fi, 3G and the ubiquitous Flash player. There's also a QWERTY-toting dock that turns it into a laptop. Which is nice.
Panasonic Viera Tablet - £tbc
On sale: TBC
Are you planning on buying one of Panasonic's 2011 TVs? If not then Panasonic's 4, 7 and 10-inch tablets aren't worth getting excited about. If you are though, things get more interesting: the tablets can control the TV or stream video from it, and you'll be able to watch replays on the tablet while the action continues on the big screen.
Toshiba Mystery Tablet - £tbc
On sale: TBC
Toshiba's teasing us with a video for its new, unnamed tablet: we can see twin cameras, HDMI, mini USB and normal USB, an SD card slot and a swappable battery. So it'll probably weigh a ton. Here's hoping it doesn't suffer from the problems that plagued its predecessor, the Folio 100.
Acer Iconia 7 and 10 - £tbc
On sale: April 2011
Acer has two Iconia tablets on the go: a 7-inch model with 1280x800 touchscreen, front-facing camera, dual-core processor, Wi-Fi and 3G, and a 10.1" model with HDMI, 1080p HD video playback, a gyroscope and the promise of console-class gaming. An April release suggests they'll be running Android 3.0.
Read more: http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/portable-computing/15-best-android-tablets-in-the-world-905504#ixzz1HFNqCuqvI thought I'd just leave this here for you iPad users or people looking for tablets.
9 comments:
I just cant see the purpose of a tablet, I have my netbook, i have my phone, and i have my pc. Maybe a few years ago, when phones werent essentially pcs which fit in our pocket. Maybe, but now. Like my phone is pretty much a tablet which fits in my pocket. I just think its an industry that wont take off as much everyone hopes.
Which do you think will be best out of the 15?
@ John, IMHO I really can't decide. And that's why I like Android better. Choice, unlike Apple where they just give you one and you're forced to be the same as everyone. I really love sense and honeycomb, so whatever tablet (such as the flyer) really caught my attention.
Notion Ink Adam is sexaaay
the notion ink adam IS definitely sexy. i'm gonna wait till chrome os makes its way to a laptop. OR an office suite comes out for android.
Great post! I can't wait to get a tab. Just got the Thunderbolt, check out my review on my blog: http://rootyourdroid.net
Amazing options for the iHaters (well, maybe not haters). But I don't feel like getting a tablet, i'm fine with my laptop
This is a really good post. I've been considering getting a Xoom, but I heard they're going to stop production soon.
Samsung's tablet becomes much more attractive thanks to heavy discounting: the first price above is from Tesco Direct, although the 3G model is still a good bit more expensive. It's a decent bit of kit let down by sluggish web browsing, and we're not convinced 7-inch tablets work as phones.
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