The Android tablet invasion began late last year, and judging by the sea of Google slates at CES this month, is only going to continue. With that in mind, we thought we’d take a look at your Android tablet options: what we’ve tested so far, what we like and what’s coming up. See them all in our Android tablet review: group test.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is still our favourite of the Android tablets actually on sale at the moment, for all its flaws. The 7-inch machine runs Android 2.2, packs a SIM card and 3G connection and is to an extent, a blown up phone rather than a tablet. But, the performance is smooth, and we’ve met people who really prefer the form factor over the iPad – it’s out half the size.
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Hold fire though: Samsung’s not said anything either way yet, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s hardware doesn’t appear to be a suitable match for Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the version of Android coming in April made especially for tablets. That and a high price might make you think twice about the Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet.
The Advent Vega Android tablet is still tough to come by, but it’s certainly worth trying to pick up, as it’s currently unmatched in hardware performance for the price. It’s one of the first slates to use Nvidia’s Tegra 2 system on a chip, which blazes through HD video. Unfortunately, the screen and custom skin look far from amazing, but it’s well worth considering if you know what you’re doing, as a few tweaks can unlock Google’s dedicated Android apps and the Android Market. Even without this though, it’s a pleasant, affordable enough slate for web browsing. Don’t expect battery life to rival the iPad though.
The Dell Streak sits on the border between Android phone and Android tablet, and while we’re sometimes puzzled as to what we should call it, it’s always a pleasure to use. It’s super thin, sturdy and slinky, runs Android 2.2 with Market access and still boasts the best battery life of any high power Android device. If you’re an Android geek, this is worth considering as a phone, and for everyone else, it’s the most portable of the tablets in this Android tablet review: group test.
The Archos 7 Home tablet is good value at £129.99 in just one scenario: er, the home. It’s an impressively versatile media player, handling just about any file format of music or video you can throw at it, and can double as a nice photo frame in between thanks to a kickstand. Tragically, though, it’s running a prehistoric version of Android, 1.5, with no Market access, so it’s for video and occasional web access only. It’s since been bolstered with a 250GB hard drive option, but storage isn’t really our gripe with it.
Archos has been well ahead of the pack when it comes to Android tablets. Its first model is now approaching 18 months old, and while we like its build, unfortunately isn’t priced competitively with Archos’ larger, newer models, particularly the 7.
The Hannspree Hanspad Android tablet is almost identical to the Advent Vega when it comes to hardware: a 10.1-inch screen, Tegra 2 chip, HDMI output and Android 2.2. But because it costs £100 more, and lacks an easy option to open up access to Google’s official Android apps (like the Market) it typically reserves for phones, we’d say avoid. After all, an iPad is only a further £80 on top of that.
The Next Android tablet is the worst of all the Android tablets we’ve seen so far. It’s stuck on an outdated version of Android, 2.1, and cuts the price down to £180 by deploying an extremely finger unfriendly resistive touchscreen. Avoid.
And the Android tablets we’re looking forward to…
Motorola Xoom
The Motorola Xoom Android tablet was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas at the start of the month, where we got a chance to play with it. While Android 3.0 Honeycomb was more than a bit barebones on the demo unit, we’re already digging the design and build of the slate, plus the always present control buttons moved onto the screen.
Asus Eee Pad MeMo
At 7-inches, the Asus Eee Pad MeMo Android tablet sits in the same category as the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It might be suited to slightly more business/enterprise audience however, since it comes with a stylus that can be used on the capacitive touchscreen – perfect for signing documents and whatnot. Unfortunately, Asus isn’t known for promptly shipping its CES wares, so there’s a danger this chap could be superseded before it arrives – we hope that isn’t the case as we’ll gladly take an Android 3.0 device at this size.
