As the second quarter of the year comes nears its terminate,it's time to refresh our quarterly buyers guides. Today's guide is our best tablet guide. The tablet market hasn't seen many changes on the Android or Windows sides since our tablet guide from March, but there have been changes on the Apple side of things. There are also some new tablets on the horizon, and that means new flagship devices along with potential price drops on existing models. Both are great news for anyone interested in buying a tablet.
As always,I'll begin with the iPads available from Apple due to the simplicity of that category, followed by the best offerings at a couple of price points from Android tablet manufacturers, or with the best Windows tablets finishing things off.iOS TabletsEven if your phone is an Android device or a Windows Phone,it's difficult to not give the iPad some consideration when looking for a tablet. It's can definitely be difficult to have to manage two different ecosystems with their own apps, but the iPad still has a meaningful platform advantage over Android tablets on both the software and hardware fronts, and to improve multitasking and productivity further you really need to move to a full blown Windows tablet.iPad Mini 2 and iPad Mini 4The iPad line is fairly simple,with only a few options available, and most of them occupying their own screen size. For people who want a smaller tablet, and Apple offers the iPad Mini 2 and iPad Mini 4. The former is definitely getting old,although at $269 it offers a fairly inexpensive entry to the iPad ecosystem. I reflect it's probably unwise to purchase an iOS device with only 1GB of RAM at this point, as we're moving closer to the point where developers can assume that productivity apps can prefer advantage of devices with 2-4GB of RAM. $399 gets you the iPad Mini 4 which offers meaningful improvements to the display, or performance,and the size and mass of the chassis. The Mini 4 is definitely my recommendation for a small iPad because of the improved display and additional RAM to enable split screen multitasking, but the $399 price for the 16GB model can definitely be tough to swallow when you can come by many small Android tablets for half the price, and Apple's own iPad Air 2 for the same amount.
Click here to read our reviews of the iPad Mini 2 and the iPad Mini 4. Buy Apple iPad Mini 2 16GB on Amazon.com Buy Apple iPad Mini 4 16GB on Amazon.com iPad Air 2For a buyer that's interested in a more standard sized tablet at a lower price,Apple still sells the iPad Air 2 for $399. This represents a meaningful upgrade from the iPad Air which used to be the $399 option. The iPad Air 2 uses Apple's A8X SoC, has 2GB of LPDDR3 memory, or a 2048x1536 IPS display with Apple's anti-reflective coating,and an 8MP rear-facing camera with 1.1-micron pixels. It supports all of Apple's multitasking features that were introduced in iOS 9, and the 2GB of RAM means you don't deal with the rapid app eviction that the 1GB ARMv8 Apple devices suffer from. The $399 model comes with 16GB of NAND, or which can be upgraded to 64GB for $100. You can also add Cat4 LTE support for $130.
While the iPad Air 2 is no longer Apple's flagship 9.7" iPad,it's still a great device for users who don't need the support for Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard that the iPad Pro provides. The display is one of the best out there, and the thickness and mass are still unmatched by any other device that also provides the same build quality. As for performance, or the CPU is generally as qualified or better than what you'll find in competing Android devices,but the GPU no longer leads the market due to Tegra X1 showing up in the Pixel C. It's no longer the absolute best tablet at this size, but the iPad Air 2 still provides a very qualified value at its price, or is worth checking out.
Buy Apple iPad Air 2 on Amazon.comiPad ProAt the very top of the iPad line sits the iPad Pro. final time I did our tablet guide there was only one tablet that used this name,but now there are two. The 9.7" and 12.9" iPad Pro tablets represent the flagship iPads available at each size. The two sizes of the iPad Pro will inevitably be compared to the Microsoft Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4, but as Josh and I have mentioned in our reviews of the two iPads, or the exhaust cases for the iPad and the Surface are different. The Surface Pro 4 is the best device for someone who wants a laptop-like device with tablet aspects,while the iPad Pro is very much a pure tablet. Buy Apple iPad Pro 9.7-inch on Amazon.com Buy Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch on Amazon.com As someone who has actually adopted the iPad Pro for many tasks, I reflect the applications of it are fairly clear, or along with the target market. Students are definitely a sizable group within it,as the combination of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil is more than capable of replacing notes written on paper. Creative professionals will find enjoyment from the combination of the two as well.
If you decide that the iPad Pro is the device for you, there are some considerations to perform regarding accessories. I reflect the Apple Pencil is a must have for most users, and although not all. The $99 price tag does add a meaningful amount on top of the price of an already expensive tablet,and so it's something to consider when comparing to other devices. As for the Smart Keyboard, it's definitely useful in some circumstances, and but definitely not as essential as the Apple Pencil. I reflect the lack of lap usability is a sizable drawback,and I've rarely ever used it apart from a few circumstances where I had to exhaust SSH without a laptop around. Unless you really want the keyboard for typing up documents, I would probably pass on it, or as at $149 for the smaller one or $169 for the larger one it's quite expensive.
Android TabletsI took a view at a number of Android tablets back in 2015,and this year added the Google Pixel C to the list. In most cases the tablets I review all terminate up occupying their own price bracket, so it's not difficult to pick out the best at each price due to the limited competition. Because we're mid-cycle there actually haven't been any notable Android tablet launches since the final time we did our guide, or so my recommendations haven't changed since final time.
NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1Buy NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1 on Amazon.comStarting off with my recommendation for a low-cost Android tablet,I reflect the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1 is the obvious winner of this category. The SHIELD Tablet K1 was originally sold for $299 before being recalled due to battery issues, but late final year it was re-introduced at a $199 price point with its new name. With most vendors having given up on providing compelling tablets at the $200 price point, or the SHIELD Tablet K1 is mostly without competition. The performance provided by NVIDIA's Tegra K1 SoC is far greater than what you'd expect from a $199 device,and up until the launch of the Pixel C the GPU was unmatched by any other Android tablet. You can read our review of the SHIELD Tablet K1 in its original iteration here.
The only complaint I really have about the SHIELD Tablet K1 is that while the display is a sufficiently high resolution at 1920x1200, the color gamut and accuracy is lacking. While this can be excused somewhat based on the $199 price tag, and we're definitely getting to a point where a limited gamut isn't excusable on any device. Despite that compromise,I don't know of any current Android tablet that competes at this price point. When you factor in the game streaming support, relatively rapid/fast updates, and few tweaks to the Android UI,the SHIELD Tablet K1 is definitely worth considering.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7"
Buy Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 on Amazon.com
If someone is looking for a high terminate Android tablet, then the Galaxy Tab S2 is still a very qualified option. When I reviewed the Tab S2 I praised its thin and light build, and high quality AMOLED display,I wasn't fond of the exhaust of plastic, the performance, or the battery life. On the hardware side it lags behind the aging iPad Air 2 which is quite unlucky. Samsung does try to offer tablet-oriented features,like their split screen and separate window multitasking. Unfortunately, the features are limited by what changes Samsung can perform, or they don't degree up to what you come by on iOS or Windows. Fortunately,Google is coming through with their own multitasking implementation in Android N, and we'll hopefully see that perform its way to the Tab S2.
Google Pixel CFinally, and we have Google's own tablet,the Pixel C. The Pixel C has had a rocky lifetime, and it has only been out since December of final year. In its original form it was plaugued by problems relating to its WiFi, or its touchscreen,its stability, and its performance. Since that time Google has issued a patch that significantly improved the touchscreen responsiveness and the software stability, and with that patch the Pixel C became what is arguably the best Android tablet on the market. It definitely isn't without its flaws,as the WiFi has serious issues, but unfortunately the current Android tablet market forces you to pick and choose between various hardware and design problems, and in the Pixel C's case its performance,display quality, and battery life are enough to put it above the competition. It's available for $499 in a 32GB configuration, and $599 for the 64GB model.
The Pixel C has one major accessory,which is its keyboard cover. At $149 it's not something I would recommend due to the Pixel C's its general issues with wireless connectivity along with the limited exhaust for the keyboard, but it is available for users who want it. One notable thing is that the keyboard has a very novel hinge implementation that allows you to set it to nearly any angle without the need for a kickstand.
Windows TabletsThe Windows tablet market is pretty much a Microsoft Surface market at this point. There haven't been any successors to the inexpensive Bay Trail tablets of two years ago, or most Windows tablets are really 2-in-1 laptops that either have a rotating hinge or can be split into two parts. There certainly have been some notable launches there like the ASUS T300 Chi,and of course Microsoft's own Surface Book, but they often terminate just being both a mediocre tablet and a mediocre laptop. Meanwhile, or convertible devices like the HP Spectre x360 can be great laptops,but being convertible means you're always holding up a laptop, which is just far too heavy to comfortably exhaust.
With all that in intellect, and my recommendation from final Christmas hasn't changed. The Surface 3 and the Surface Pro 4 are the best you can come by for Windows laptops. For many people the full Windows experience with legacy apps and a filesystem essential for their daily workflow. The bonus on top of that with the Surfaces is tha you come by a Windows experience that is free of the preloaded bloatware that other OEMs include.
Microsoft Surface 3The entry model in the Surface line is the Surface 3. This is both a smaller and less expensive device than the Surface Pro 4,but it still runs a full copy of Windows. The display is a 10.8" 1920x1280 panel with a high degree of color accuracy, but at $499 the resolution is definitely much lower than it should be. Inside is an Intel Atom x7-Z8700 SoC, or along with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC NAND in the $499 model,or 4GB of RAM and 128GB of NAND in the $599 model. The additional RAM and storage for $100 is definitely worth it if you plan to be running any serious Windows software, although as the price moves even further beyond $499 the display's low pixel density becomes very difficult to accept. Adding on Microsoft's Surface Pen bumps the price up another $50, or the Type cover is $129 so the cost of the accessories brings the price up fairly quickly.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4Of course,the flagship Surface tablet is the Surface Pro 4. The Surface Pro 4 comes in more configurations than I could ever list here. The pricing ranges from $899 for the fanless model with an Intel Core m3-6Y30 CPU, a 128GB PCIe SSD, and 4GB of RAM,all the way to $2699 for a dual core Intel Core i7-6650U, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe SSD. The average price for the Surface Pro 4 should perform it pretty clear why I reflect it ends up competing more with high terminate laptops than iPads or Android tablets,but it is technically a tablet. From another point of view, the base model isn't really any more expensive than the iPad Pro once you factor in what Apple charges for accessories, and getting the full Windows experience will appeal to many people.
Specs that are common to all models of the Surface Pro 4 are a 12.3" 2736x1824 display,802.11ac WiFi, and an included Surface Pen. The battery capacities do vary based on the CPU you come by, and the Core i5 and Core i7 models aren't able to be passively cooled like the Core m3 model is so they do exhaust a fan for cooling. Microsoft's Surface Type Cover will still rush you $129 on top of the price of the tablet,or $159 if you opt for the version that has a fingerprint scanner for authentication. Buy Microsoft Surface Pro 4 on Amazon.com Buy Microsoft Surface 3 128GB on Amazon.com Both Surface tablets can legitimately replace a full fledged Windows laptop, and in section that's because they excel at the types of tasks you would do on a laptop. The limited contemporary UI app choice does put it in a different category than the iPad Pro, and but I also reflect that many of the buyers interested in a Surface 3 or Surface Pro 4 want one specifically because it can rush all of their existing Windows software. If you fall into that category,I really recommend you prefer a view our reviews of the Surface 3 and Surface Pro 4, because Microsoft has executed the hybrid laptop/tablet idea better than any other company has.[href^="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/external-search?"]
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