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Topic: Tablets

Best Android tablets (April 2013 edition)

Summary: Don't want to give your money to Apple in exchange for an iPad or iPad mini? No problem! Here are my top 5 Android tablets for April 2013.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch

Now that Apple has released the iPad mini, this seems to have rekindled interest in smaller tablets. For those who are looking for a highly-portable tablet on a budget, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 is worth a look.

The 7-inch screen with 1024x600 resolution display is a little meagre compared to the Nexus 7, but offsetting this is the micro-SD card slot that allows you to bump the storage up from the stock 8GB for a few dollars. For those wanting to carry around a lot of data, that little card slot is worth its weight in gold.

The tablet is powered by a dual core Texas Instruments OMAP processor and a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera. The stock operating system is Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" but you can upgrade to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean".

At a glance:

  • 7-inch, 1024x600 display
  • 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP processor
  • Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
  • 3 megapixel rear camera, and a VGA front camera
  • Choice of 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB
  • Battery life of about 5 hours

Price: from $200.

Link/image source: Samsung.

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Topics: Tablets, Android

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  • I would have gotten a transformer infinity

    except that the specs are outdated besides the screen res, and it doesn't have wacom.

    I would have gotten the note 10.1, except it has bad resolution, which is especially critical when using wacom, and I really would love for it to have had a transformer style dock.

    I'm hoping someone makes a tablet soon with 1080p, wacom, a keyboard dock, good weight and good specs. there are a number of windows tablets with this setup, but they're all intel core i5 and i7, meaning bad battery life, heavy, and fans making noise & pumping out heat.
    theoilman
    Reply 3 Votes

    • Other New Models for April

      Major Tablet sellers of course are Apple, Samsung and Nexus, but other impressive tablets launched this month from a lesser known tablet maker that includes a new model called the Novo 9 Spark - with a price of $269 -- and one of the first resellers it's available through is a web site called TabletSprint -- this new model compares to the iPad and Nexus 10 tablet with a much more competitive price tag -- and offers a full size, 9.7 inch display with a Retina screen and a Quad Core Processor --


      The Novo 9 Spark features a 9.7 inch 2048x1536 IPS screen and a Quad Core processor/1.5 Ghz/2GB - Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, along with a powerful 10,000 mAh battery, 32GB Memory, WiFi, a MicroSD memory card slot, the new high end 4K Digital HDMI to stream movies from your tablet and display on an HD TV, WiFi and Ethernet, a 2 Megapixel Front webcam and a
      5 Megapixel Rear Camera with Autofocus and Flash; and comes preinstalled with Google Play Store to access more than 400,000 Android software Apps, and also provides options for 3G/4G internet access.


      A 7 inch size tablet also launched this month that compares to the Nexus 7 -- the Novo 7 Venus for $149 - features a Quad Core processor, 1280x800 IPS screen, 16GB memory, WiFi, a front webcam, Android O/S and Google Play Store preinstalled... all of which duplicate the features of the Nexus 7 tablet -- while also offering features the Nexus 7 doesn't - including a 2 Megapixel rear camera, a MicroSD memory card slot, and an HDMI 1080p port; plus options for 3G/4G internet connection.

      Ainol Electronics produces both new models and received an award for winning runner up for "Best Tablet of the Year" in 2012 at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) -- The Reseller TabletSprint - also offers $25 in Bonus Apps as well as features a promotion with a free 500MB monthly Data plan for 3G internet access that includes a free 3G USB adapter.
      H. Ashbury
      Reply 7 Votes

      • Novo

        Funny these were skipped over. Would like to try them out. Good specs for a better price range.
        nuzerxe
        Reply 1 Vote

      • Ainol makes decent stuff but...

        I have two of their tablets. They are decent and fly with some of the custom ROMS found on XDA or Slatedriod but battery life is poor and sometimes build quality is spotty. You may get a solid unit. You may not. Too be fair the Nexus 7 first units have some quality control problems. The thing is they are really close in price to the Nexus, Samsung, new HP and ASUS units. The Venus is nice but for $50.00 more you can get a Nexus 7 with 32gb of RAM. Faster processor and better display.

        When the tablets were new devices like the Eken and Apad were fine and well priced but now with the Samsung Galaxy (the 7.0 beats the 2.7 unit) and others it makes more sense to just buy a known brand.
        Tony Lawrence
        Reply Vote

        • 32gb of RAM?

          What? You're joking right? Not even a full fledged high powered gaming PC would need, let alone have, 32gb of RAM. The 32gb is the size of the hard drive of the tablet. The tablet probably has, based on other tablets I've seen, around 200 - 400mb of RAM. You kind of voided your entire comment by not knowing something as simple as the difference between RAM and hard drive capacity.
          Cedric Muñoz
          Reply Vote

          • Actually

            Actually, most tablets and high end android phones carry 1gb or more of RAM. The technology within these touchscreens are just simply amazing as I'd never imagine.
            RECK7LESS
            Reply Vote

          • 32gb of ram or the hard drive you say tablets have???

            Surely like the guy you commented on you meant 32gb of SSD storage. Or do you really think there is a mechanical drive in those tablets? I'm not going to go as far as you did by discrediting your entire comment, because of your statements. Also, most of the big name tablet makers have 512mb-1gb of ram. Don't be so hasty in blowing up on people for a minor mistake when you obviously make them yourself.
            goldstone1977
            Reply Vote

    • Agree, Agree, Agree

      I'm with you. A tablet without a pen option is not really a tablet at all. I will tell you that (aside from the battery life and Win8) the Surface Pro is a really good product. I had one for a whole 15 days before returning it. Would still have it if it wasn't for Win8. NO real heat issues and excellent display with wacom.
      But I'm still using a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet with a pen and it works pretty good. Since Samsung makes the Nexus 10, I would expect to see a step up to the high resolution and the pen in the next version.
      Also, I would like to see them put a good camera in both front and back, with the processing power and a SD slot you can easily handle up to a 12 megapixel camera. And why not on both sides, you can always degrade the resolution for web cam apps for the cameras.
      sullivanacctg@...
      Reply 2 Votes

    • Bad resolution?

      Yes, full HD would be nicer, but WXGA on a 10" screen is certainly not "bad". As an illustrator, I find it very useful and the display is crisp and clear. It will serve until the next generation or two comes along. Pixel density will increase, no doubt. The precise, pressure sensitive Wacom pen sold me on it...much better than a blunt capacitive stylus.
      bradson
      Reply 3 Votes

      • while it doesn't look like atari or anything

        these days below FHD is bad resolution. I agree the wacom is great, I just want to see it with a modern display. it's a ripoff when even phones get 1080p now.
        theoilman
        Reply Vote

        • Wow

          I have 720p TV, as does everyone else with about a sub 32" TV. To imply more pixels are needed when the majority of content is still 720p is silly. Even with these HD cameras on mobile devices, the sensors are still behind and often result in relatively bad results. Given the number of people with less than perfect vision, all the HD war started over Apple's gimmick of Retina.

          Extra resolution only matters on bigger screens. This is the reason why we are even talking about 4k TVs because TVs are now talking about 84" and larger. If the screen is sufficiently large than it justifies it. If it wasn't a gimmick, you'd be seeing 720p TVs disappear any everything would be at 1080p or 4k. To claim otherwise means you don't believe in the TV market which is doing just fine.
          ikissfutebol
          Reply 3 Votes

          • I don't know about you

            but I can clearly see the difference on small screens too
            theoilman
            Reply Vote

          • It is about distance v viewing

            I was looking at a Note 10.1 and Asus TF700 today.

            Yes, the TF700 has a higher resolution.

            But I'd use both from 10" away. The partially crisper text is just bling, especially the moment hardware specs are considered. (Most reviews show the TF700 going slow when multitasking, and browser performance is faster on the Note...) If you need a big portable web browser that can play Commodore 64 games, but YMMV...
            HypnoToad72
            Reply Vote

    • agreed

      Especially for the price point, the TF700 screen isn't enough to compensate for lesser processing hardware.

      I'm still waiting for a proper OS X tablet, not this iOS toy stuff, so I can use Dreamweaver, Photoshop, MAMP, et al, without needing a MBP... but maybe I should just get a MBP instead and not dink around with the overpriced kiddiefluff whose processors are on par with a Pentium IV made in 2000...
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

  • An update to the Transformer range is overdue.

    The Transformer Infinity still holds it's own but is starting to look it's age. Asus concentrate on this range not your dumb Padfones!

    Interesting they're all made by Asus or Samsung.

    Personally I'm waiting for the Galaxy Note 8.0.
    bradavon
    Reply 4 Votes

    • Yes but

      I love my TF300, but wouldn't mind upgrading to a machine as sleek and thin as the TF700, especially given the super crisp high-res screen. I suspect ASUS is holding off until the Tegra 4 processors become widely available. And honestly, I wouldn't buy a new tablet before that time either, so I think ASUS is making the right move. Also, I'm thrilled that ASUS released an OS upgrade for the TF300. I believe that the TF300 and the Nexus 7 are currently the only shipping tablets running Android 4.2.
      dsf3g
      Reply Vote

      • TF700 Infinity

        I was able to upgrade to Jellybean 4.21 on my TF700 Infinity right after I bought it. The upgrade was free and painless. I absolutely love the Infinity. It's a great tablet. I have since added a keyboard to it and love it even more!
        DMOliver
        Reply Vote

      • Crisp is a gimmick meant for those whose brains are crisped

        Seriously. Think about it - if you did web development, or hosted sites for a living, especially in bandwidth-sensitive areas, you are not going to want to pony up the money to support bandwidth costs associated with the big funky fresh crisp screens. Your profit margin might drop down, and after a point you go out of business. So if you want competition as opposed to one or two companies playing the game of collusion to nickel and dime you while they tell you from the other side of their mouths how great competition is...

        What really is wrong with 1280x800 or whatever, on a 10" screen meant for occasional and not constant use, which isn't too much different from the 1024x768 people use on their screens at work (because 1280x1024 on the 19" monitor makes the text too small for most of them...)

        72PPI is A-OK. 200PPI+ is just empty mindless bling that's putting more stress and cost on those who do the actual work to make the cutesie junk that people needlessly and incessantly drool over.
        HypnoToad72
        Reply Vote

    • Galaxy Note 8 should have been on the list

      I'm also waiting for the Note 8 and I think that the Tab 2 7.0 should be replaced with it because of the higher resolution of the Note and added S-pen functionality
      jonathanlahdo
      Reply Vote

  • The Transformer Infinity now has a Jelly Bean update

    As title.
    bradavon
    Reply 1 Vote
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