It’s that time of the year again when most people will be taking a walk down memory lane as they reminisce some of the major happenings of the months that have passed by. We at Dazeinfo have been doing the same as well and as a follow-up to our previous post on the top 10 Smartphones of this year, this time we present to you – the top 5 Android tablets of 2013. We have tried to include maximum parameters, including battery backup, price, ROI, features and bundled offers while ranking these top Android tablets.
5. Sony Xperia Tablet Z
At number 5 is Sony’s latest entrant into the Android tablet market Sony Xperia Tablet Z. This tablet has a lot of things going in its favour – Its top-notch specs, features and build tell a story. It has also been awarded the Best Product in the Tablet category at the EISA Awards 2013-2014. The Xperia Tablet Z boasts of a 1.5 GHz Quad-Core CPU from Qualcomm and an Adreno 320 GPU supported by 2 GB of RAM. On-board memory stands at 16 GB and can be expanded all the way up to 64 GB via Micro SD Card. It’s got an 8.1 megapixel primary shooter that’s pre-loaded with a lot of creative features.
The 10.1 inch display bears a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. The Xperia Tablet Z is sleek, powerful, feels well put together and with Sony’s extras (the water and dust resistant features, universal remote feature, etc.) thrown in, does seem like an irresistible offer. Although, it is strange to see that Sony has equipped the tablet with Android 4.2.1. However, price tagged with $429 and all the way up to $649 putting this tablet on the pricier side of things.
4. LG G Pad 8.3:
LG seems to have finally got its act together in the year 2013. The G2 Smartphone was a highly commendable device and its sibling, the LG G Pad 8.3 aims to be the same. The LG G Pad 8.3 sports 8.3″ FHD display and has a 1.7 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 600 CPU from Qualcomm that’s backed by 2 GB of RAM. Memory capacity is the usual 16 GB – expandable up to 64 GB via Micro SD card. A 5 megapixel resolution camera with BSI (Back Side Illumination) does duty as the primary shooter while a 1.3 megapixel camera serves as the secondary unit. It comes pre-loaded with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
LG released a version of the G Pad this month that comes with Android 4.4 but that’s a Google Play Edition (GPE) version of this tablet that misses out on some of LG’s own features and apps. This tablet comes with some pretty cool set of connectivity options such as Miracast, SmartShare and QPair that lets you sync your Smartphone with the device. It also has some intuitive features of the LG G2 like Knock On, Clip Tray, etc. LG’s G Pad 8.3 is an extremely well-built device, thanks to its brushed aluminium finish.
3. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition):
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) is perhaps Samsung’s most well-rounded device ever released. It’s equipped with almost every possible feature the Korean electronics giant could ever conceive. The 1.9 GHz Octa-Core Exynos CPU and 3 GB of RAM can easily gobble down whatever’s thrown at them. The device is also available with a 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core Processor variant. The storage capacity options range from 16 GB to 64 GB with a slot for memory expansion as well. There’s a Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi +3G and even a 4G model on offer. It has an 8 megapixel primary camera and a 2 megapixel secondary one. This tablet was released with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and the UI comprises of a heavily modified version of Samsung’s TouchWiz while it also runs all the native apps from Google.
It also has a number of features that are exclusive to the Note series and are meant for the S-Pen that include Action Memo, Screen Write, Pen Window, etc. Samsung claims that the Note 10.1 has an impressive battery back-up of about 11 hours. The Note 10.1 has the same faux leather finish on its back that was seen on the Galaxy Note 3. This device is designed to work in sync with the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch. This device also finds itself on the expensive side of things ($549 to $599) and that’s why it loses out on the top two places.
2. Amazon Kindle Fire HDX:
The latest iteration of the Amazon Kindle Fire tablets has been christened as the Kindle Fire HDX. These third generation tablets take the game forward from their predecessors in almost every possible way. Basically, there are two versions on offer – the 7 inch tablet and the 8.9 inch tablet. Both the 7” and 8.9” variants come with the same 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 800 processor from Qualcomm and an Adreno 330 GPU. They differ on the following counts,
- The 7” version has a screen resolution of 1920×1200 pixels whereas the 8.9” has a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels.
- While both device get a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera, the 8.9” version gets an additional 8 megapixel rear facing camera as well.
- Amazon claims that the smaller 7” version has a battery back-up of around 11 hours and the larger 8.9” can last for about 12 hours on a single charge.
As far as the OS goes, Android purists might be disappointed as the Kindle Fire HDX comes with the Fire OS 3 that is a proprietary fork of the Android 4.2.2. What this means is that Amazon’s come out with its own OS that’s based on the lines of Android 4.2.2. There’s no direct access to Google Play. However, it comes with its own set of apps and some really nice features. Mayday is one of them that truly stands out. It is an on-device technical support feature that connects you to an Amazon expert anytime, anywhere free of cost. These tablets are available in a number of configurations regarding storage capacity and connectivity options with prices ranging from $229 to almost $600 so that means, there’s a Kindle Fire HDX for everyone.
1. Google Nexus 7 (2013 Edition):
Google Nexus 7 tops the list of top 5 Android Tablets in 2013. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) seems to be gunning for glory in all segments this year. Its smartphone, the Nexus 5, iced out the competition and in the same manner the Nexus 7 tablet is decimating its competitors in this segment.
The Google Nexus 7 has been jointly developed by Google and Asus and is upgradable to the latest version of Android’s Kitkat OS (4.4.2). It’s got a 1.5 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2 GB of RAM, Adreno 320 GPU, a 7 inch screen bearing a 1920×1200 pixel display resolution and dual cameras (1.2 megapixel front facing and 5 megapixel rear facing). Additionally, it’s got features like built-in wireless charging and SlimPort (allows HD output to an external display unit). The stereo speakers from Fraunhofer pack in quite a punch.
This Nexus can last for about 10 hours on a single charge. Prices range from $229 to $349 for different variants with regards to storage and connectivity options. Well the Nexus isn’t just about outright technical specifications. Yes, it excels in that regard, but with Google’s Nexus range of devices, it’s all about that pure Android experience and the manner in which that is delivered to you, making the device affordable and special as well.
The only sore point of the Nexus 7 is the lack of an external memory card slot, but that doesn’t take the game away from it and that’s the reason why it noses ahead of the competition and wins our Best Android Tablet of 2013 shootout. If you’re in the market for an Android tablet, the Google Nexus 7 is, by all means, the best tablet money can buy today.
We have tried our best to produce the most desirable list of top Android tablets of 2013. However, if you feel we missed anything that could beat any of the above, please don’t hesitate to make use of the comment section below.
For those who want to shuffle the above top 2 Android tablets in ranking, here is a Poll where you can rate your Top Android Tablet of 2013: [poll id=”29″]
The Miracast does not work, at least it will not pair with the same
Panasonic device on which my Nexus 7 tablet works just fine. Fix this
fast please LG, or give me my money back, because it’s the reason that I
bought this phone