Best Android tablets (February 2013 edition)

Tablets are everywhere, and while Apple's iPad commands the most media attention, there's no shortage of excellent Android alternatives to choose from.

Here are my top 5 Android tablets for February 2013.

All of the tablets features here are very capable, powerful workhorses, and are ideal not only for home users, but also for enterprise users or those looking for a BYOD tablet.

This is the Nexus 7's bigger brother, and it sports a 10-inch screen with a 2560x1600 resolution display, a dual core ARM Cortex A15 processor, and a quad core Mali T604 graphics processor.

The Samsung-made tablet also comes with a choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera, and a power pack capable of delivering 11-hours of usage.

The Nexus is designed by Google, and so it offers the best, purest Android experience possible.

Overall, a powerful, very well made tablet, and if you have space in your life for a 10-inch tablet, you should take a look at this one.

At a glance:

• 10-inch, 2560x1600 display
• Dual core ARM Cortex A15 processor
• Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean"
• 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera
• Choice of 16GB and 32GB.
• Battery life of 11 hours

Price: from $399.

Link/image source: Google.

The #2 spot goes to the Nexus 10's little brother—the Nexus 7. 

The Google Nexus 7 was the first Nexus-branded tablet to be released by Google. The hardware, manufactured by Asus, consists of a 7-inch display with a 1280x800 resolution screen, an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, a choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera.

The hardware runs the very latest Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" operating system, and features an improved software keyboard.

The tablet also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and optional cellular, and all this is powered by a battery that can give 10-hours of usage under normal conditions.

A powerful tablet in a small, easy-to-carry form factor.

At a glance:

• 7-inch, 1280x800 display
• Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor
• Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean"
• 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera
• Choice of 16GB or 32GB
• Battery life of 10 hours

Price: from $199.

Link/image source: Google.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 is Samsung's is a flagship tablet that commands a flagship price.

The hardware is all top-notch, with a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280x800 resolution display, a 1.4GHz Exynos quad core processor, a choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 10 hour battery pack.

The software is Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" but there's an upgrade path to Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean".

For times when a finger just isn't precise enough, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 comes with a nifty stylus called the S Pen specifically designed to work with a number of applications.

The stylus makes the Galaxy Note 10.1 a great machine for taking notes, planning, and sketching out ideas.

At a glance:

• 10.1-inch, 1280x800 display
• 1.4GHz Exynos quad core processor
• Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
• 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera
• Choice of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB
• Battery life of 10 hours

Price: from $499.

Link/image source: Samsung.

The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T is not only the slimmest and lightest 1920x1200 resolution Full HD Android tablet on the market, but it is also stylish and very well put together.

The 10.1-inch 1920x1200 resolution display is backed by a powerful Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor which features a 12-core GPU. This hardware powers the Android 4.0.3 "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system.

The tablet features an 8 megapixel rear camera, and a 2 megapixel front camera, and the battery can go for 9.5 hours between recharges.

At a glance:

• 10.1-inch 1920x1200 display
• Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor
• Android 4.0.3 "Ice Cream Sandwich"
• 8 megapixel rear camera, and a 2 megapixel front camera
• Choice of 32GB or 64GB
• Battery life of 9.5 hours

Price: from $499.

Link/image source: Asus.

Not 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 meager 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.

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.