TechSource: Top 5 Android Tablets of 2012

Top 5 Android Tablets of 2012

Posted: 07 Dec 2012 05:01 AM PST

Having smartphones in today's time is not enough. Though your phones can be tagged 'smart' because of what they can do for you, nothing still beats a bigger display, or else you'll not need a television. This being said, thankfully we have a good list of tablets catering Android users. After sharing with you my choices for the best smartphones of 2012, allow me to showcase some of my top-rated tablets for this year.

1. Google Nexus 7

Next to the 4-incher smartphone from Google comes the 7-inch tablet. While most tablets run on a bigger display, which means bigger space and bigger energy consumption, this 7-incher does all the major jobs a tablet could cater but without any inconvenience. What's better in this tablet is that it has a price that competing OEMs would hate to pay attention to: $199.

The Nexus 7's design looked like it has copied some styles from Acer's line of tablets or from the Kindle of Amazon, but the Nexus 7 is packed with its unique set of features. Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 doesn't have a rear camera but only the front-facing one at 1.2MP, but this should not matter if you'd really look at where the tablet's specifically designed. Adding to the list of specs we have the 1280x800p display with IPS, and is swift and responsive enough expected even on a 10-inch tablet. Moreover, the Nexus 7 runs on the new Android (version 4.2 'Jelly Bean'), as the standard, and is revved with a quad-core processor from NVIDIA.

While the Nexus 7 fell short with some goodies like the camera as said, an HDMI out, and some other essentials, the tablet feels more like it is designed to do entertainment more without compromise on quality. Being Google-friendly, users gain access to a vast ocean of apps, movies, games, and music from different stores but particularly from Google, and they're just truly enjoyable with the 9-hour battery. Incredibly, I don't really have to ask for anything else since everything runs sweet, safe, and sound as tested.

Should you find the display size uncomfortable or lacking in substance, you can choose the Nexus 7's bigger brother, the Nexus 10.

2. Google Nexus 10

As said, the Nexus 10 is a 10-inch tablet computer packed with some real punch any competitors would laugh out of envy and obsession: a 2560x1600p display at 300ppi. Do you know what this means? With such a high resolution that is actually sharper than most smart TVs offered on appliance centers, pixels wouldn't be recognizable even under a magnifying glass.

Adding to this pure beauty is the Nexus 10's superb body profile at 8.9mm thin; it is also incredibly light at 603 grams. Empowering the same Google enhancements plus Android's Jelly Bean offer is its dual-core ARM Cortex A15 processor that is specifically designed to boost Wi-Fi connectivity. Adding to this, there's also an above-average RAM at 2GB, NFC and BT capability, a very jaw-dropping 9000mAh battery, but a camera of just 5MP.

Like its smaller kin, the Nexus 10 promises the same Google convenience whether it be synchronizing data, cloud file handling, apps, books, games, movies, and much more. The only problem is that, there's variably no such long list of apps and games ready-made for a display at such resolution. Lastly, its price is typically so far from its smaller version, at $399 (vs. $199).

3. ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity 700

While being rumored as the best tablet for this century, I find Asus' Transformer Pad Infinity 700 to be too luxurious for a tablet. This is being confirmed with the device's price of up to $600, not to mention yet some exclusive accessories you'd love to bear with when having this one.

The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity 700 should be the most brilliantly designed tablet I've ever seen, with a very thin body, a sexy-looking metal finish, a complementary keyboard docking station, and of course, the very own 1080p display with IPS technology for all-angle viewing. The Infinity 700 is, yes, so sophisticated and promising at first glance of the device, but having to bring the keyboard dock along adds a sheet of worry to your carrying bag.

The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity 700 is not short also with handsome specs. Included in the list are: a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM, internal flash memory of 64GB expandable via a SD card, 8MP camera, but a relatively obsolete Android 'Ice Cream Sandwich' OS. I believe Asus is promising an OTA (over-the-air) update/upgrade to the latest Jelly Bean version, but we'd hoped that this should be a standard to make the price worth it even after almost a year of being on the market.

Lastly, the docking station also adds some goodies to complement the tablet like adding some ports and extra input convenience. The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity 700 is something really worth noting for especially because of its incredible display and superb gaming performance, but it lacks some modern features like better connectivity and cloud features as that of Google. Ultimately, its price will really pull its audience back to what we have in this list, the Nexus tablets from Google.

4. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

A typical big-screener tablet from Samsung, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is but one of those rare tablets you'd see with a mini-SIM slot for 3G connectivity. Being cellular, the tablet gets a bit more complicated, considering how feature-packed this slate is from the inside. Priced relatively high at $500, this tablet has everything it is expected about.

A non-sweaty peak for the tablet's specs, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has a good set of performance tools like a quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. Storage can be expandable aside from its internal hub at 64GB max. Moreover, there's also a promise that this slate will receive an upgrade to Android Jelly Bean after its standard Ice Cream Sandwich OS. There's a 5-MP camera, if you'd ask, and ultimately, there's a good room for the S-Pen.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 looks like it is particularly designed for the pen it bears along. Aside from multi-tasking like having a split display for two different tasks done at the same time, the slate also comes with more business-friendly apps while taking advantage of the said pen. As for me, I still find the tablet to be lacking some better apps to fully enjoy this pen, but it is nevertheless something one would love.

Having a slot for the SIM makes this slate 'over-featured,' though some would argue that it is a good complement. As for me, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 has a price higher than what we expect beyond the S-Pen it boasts.

5. Amazon Kindle Fire HD (7-incher)

Amazon's entry to the tablet world featured something else more than just plain e-book reading. With the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon did a good job in delivering rich contents within its price starting at $199.

Being cheap, we don't really expect something bigger like those from the Apple, but instead, we are happy that we gain access to the very vast commercial library of Amazon. With this said, especially if you are a 'prime' member of the said e-store, you get access to movies, live TV shows, apps, and especially books; I hardly recommend games for this one, so if you're a gamer, turn your back around.

I do not actually love how Amazon made too much tweaks on Android's proprietary interface, so it's plainly hard to tell what version of Android this device runs on for 'formality' sake. Nevertheless, the new interface is not really disturbing at all, though all you see is a long list of products. If you are into web-browsing—and even games, as said, the Kindle Fire HD is not something you'd find very reliable.

The Kindle Fire HD, however, boasts of its relatively powerful display and its dual-band, dual antenna technology that promises 40% faster Wi-Fi speed. Other than these, it's no better for you to know that this slate only has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor.

Conclusion:

Packing things up, I really find the Nexus 7 of Google as the 'tablet for all times,' at least for now. It has all the necessary features for today, and possesses some futuristic features like Google's very own cloud features. Thanks to its very low price, I'd know for sure that with all its great specs, everything is up to par without any usual worries.

Written by: Wilson Sy, TechSource's certified gadgets correspondent.