Make
Sure You Know Before You Buy A Tablet
By
Jeffrey Van Camp
So
you need a tablet, and you need it now. Maybe this is your first tablet or
maybe you’ve already owned a few. Perhaps you are looking to replace your
laptop, or maybe you’re just looking for an extra screen to use when you’re on
the toilet or sitting on the couch. Whatever the reason, fear not. There are a
lot of good options out there. Below is a quick (very quick) guide to help you
navigate the basics of tablet purchasing.
Step 1: Figure out what your needs
are. What do you need to do on this tablet? Are you hoping to
watch movies? Store it in your purse? Type documents? Read articles? Use
photoshop? Does it need a keyboard? A stylus? A Webcam? Much like smartphones
and laptops, there are a ton of differently sized tablets on the market with a
varying set of capabilities. Figure out what matters most to you and write it
down. What you need your tablet to do will entirely determine what model you
buy. Your decisions here will affect everything that is to come.
Step 2: Choose an operating
system. Android and iOS (iPad) have dominated the tablet scene in
recent years, but the Windows tablet category is growing. There are also some
good tablets offered by Amazon and a few others that run heavily modified versions
of Android. Here’s a brief look at the difference between the platforms:
Android: Developed by Google,
Android has a robust apps and content market called Google Play and comes with
a huge suite of services from Google including Google Now, Hangouts, Gmail,
Google Calendar, Google Maps, free turn-by-turn navigation (our favorite),
YouTube, Google Photos, Chrome Browser, Google Drive, Play Music, and more.
Basically, if you like Google services, Android is a good option for you. Although
many of these services are also available on iOS and other platforms, the
integration is smoothest on Android.
Android
also boasts support for multiple user log-ins, which is handy if you want a
family tablet for everyone to share. And it’s highly customizable. The latest
version of the platform, Android 5.0 Lollipop, is slick, stylish, and very
user-friendly, but not every tablet will be running it (most are still running
Android 4.4 KitKat). Unfortunately, the selection of apps made to specifically
take advantage of tablets on Android is lacking. There’s no division between
Android smartphone apps and Android tablet apps, so the quality of the
experience can depend on whether the developer has optimized for tablet
displays. On the plus side, if you’ve already bought an Android app for your
phone, you won’t have to pay again to get it for your tablet.
The iPad runs on iOS. The
iPad has more than 725,000 apps custom built for it and is currently the market
leader in every way. It is still the tablet to beat in terms of quality and it
has the most impressive selection of apps and accessories. If you own other
Apple devices, or enjoy services like iTunes, the iPad may be a good option for
you. If you don’t, well, it may still be the best option for you. The user
interface is accessible and very slick, but it doesn’t allow for much in the
way of customization.
Comparatively,
the iPad and iOS apps are more expensive than Android. There’s also a lack of
support for multiple users and parental controls. If you have an iPhone and
you’ve already purchased an app, you may have to buy it again to get it on iPad
(some apps are universal and work on both devices, some don’t).
Windows:
Windows tablets come closest to offering a traditional computing experience,
like you might find on a PC or laptop. You’ll be able to run full versions of
software like Microsoft Office on a Windows tablet, so it may be the best
choice if you plan on using your tablet for work. There are also more than
200,000 apps in the Windows Store, designed to be touch-friendly. Windows
offers support for multiple user accounts, and boasts a robust set of parental
controls.
As
a touchscreen tablet experience, Windows is still significantly weaker than
Android or iOS. Part of the problem is that it still feels like a hybrid
between the old, familiar PC platform and the new tablet one. The app choice is
also comparatively limited, pricey, and not as high quality.
Others:
A few years back there were more competitors in this space, but the BlackBerry
Playbook flopped, and Barnes & Noble has stopped making Nook tablets. You
may still be able to pick up both on the cheap, but we wouldn’t recommend it.
That leaves Amazon with its Kindle Fire range.
Amazon’s
tablets run a forked version of Android which means they don’t have the Play
Store or any of Google’s apps and services on board out of the box. Instead,
Amazon wants you to buy apps from its own Appstore, where you’ll find more than
300,000 apps to choose from. Amazon’s tablets are designed to be affordable
entertainment devices, and if you’re a Prime customer they’re well worth
considering. They have a great set of parental controls built-in, multi-user
support, and they’re easy to use. You’ll also find excellent customer support
through the Mayday feature.
On
the downside, there’s not such a great choice of apps, and the quality of what
is there is generally lower. There are also limitations in terms of
customization, and the user interface is not as stylish, or well-designed at
its three competitors.
Step 3: Features you’ll want
in your tablet. When you get down to choosing your tablet,
there is no shortage of choices, but you cannot trust store employees to know
what they’re talking about. Here are some features that you should look for in
your next tablet.
Screen
Size: There are a wide variety of sizes for tablets, from 7 inches all the way
up to 13 inches. The iPad is in the 10-inch category. There was an early wave
of 7-inch Android tablets, but more recently we’ve seen a number of tablets
that fall somewhere in between 7 and 10 inches. Everyone is different, but to
us, 7 inches is a bit too small to not really be just a bigger smartphone and
10 inches can be a bit uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. Try a
few out though. The choice is yours.
Resolution:
Pay close attention to the resolution. For entry-level tablets, you want at
least 1280×800 pixels for a decent experience. Tablets with 1080p (1920×1080
pixels) or higher resolution are much better. You might want to look for the
PPI (pixels-per-inch) to get an idea of how sharp the picture will be. For
example, the iPad Air 2 has a 2048×1536 pixel resolution which translates to
264ppi, whereas the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 has a resolution of 2560×1600 which is
339ppi.
Performance:
If you want to run the latest apps and games smoothly, then go for a quad-core
processor. Generally-speaking, the higher the GHz, the better. You’ll also want
a decent amount of RAM, at least 2GB. The specs don’t tell the full story,
though, so make sure you check out some reviews and look at benchmarks to see
how tablets really perform. Apple is particularly good at getting better
performance out of ostensibly lower end hardware. Ultimately, the more
horsepower your tablet has now, the longer it will last before it starts
annoying the hell out of you.
Wi-Fi
only: If you can afford the premium price for a 3G or 4G LTE connection and
want to pay a monthly data bill to a wireless carrier, then, by all means,
purchase a tablet with a data connection (we recommend 4G). If you need to use
your tablet outside of your home a lot, there’s a good reason right there.
However, for the rest of you, opting for a Wi-Fi only model will save you a lot
of money. You’ll just have to find a Wi-Fi hotspot when you’re outside of your
house. (Not really a problem.) For the best Wi-Fi experience, look for
dual-band support and the latest 802.11ac standard.
Upgrades: If you’re buying an
Android tablet, you want one with Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or a
clear date when an upgrade will arrive. If you’re buying an iPad, make sure
it’s at least a fourth-generation model. If you opt for a Windows tablet then
you may want to make sure that it can be upgraded to Windows 10. Unlike phones,
tablets tend to get upgrades, so make sure your new tablet is, at least, on the
current operating system when you buy it.
Battery: Ask about this or
look it up. The difference between a tablet with great battery life
and a tablet with poor battery life is night and day. The iPad gets 10 hours of
battery life, so that is the benchmark you’re looking for in any other device.
Keep in mind that if your tablet cannot hold a charge for a few days when you
buy it, it’s going to be much much worse in 12-18 months.
Connectivity: What you need
will depend on how you intend to use it, but generally, the
more ports and ways to connect it has, the better. Make sure it supports the
latest Bluetooth standard. Expandable storage via SD (or microSD) could be
nice, USB or MicroUSB is essential, and Micro HDMI is nice as well. You may
want NFC support, and wireless charging could be worth considering for
convenience.
Storage:
You’ll often find that Android and Windows tablets offer expandable storage.
Adding more space with a microSD card is cheap and easy. Apple and Amazon don’t
support microSD cards in their tablets, so you really need to think carefully
about what model to buy. If you’re downloading games and storing movies, 16GB
can fill up surprisingly quickly. You can find some free cloud storage on each
platform, but that won’t suit everyone.
Webcam: Only you know if a
rear camera is important to you. If it is, you’ll probably
want to get an iPad. We only recommend that you make sure it has a front-facing
camera you can use as a Webcam. You never know when Grandma will learn how to
Skype.
Keyboard:
There are a host of Windows tablets that allow you to dock your tablet into a
keyboard, so you can type more easily. If you want to replace a laptop, then
that could be important. You’ll also find Bluetooth keyboards out there will
work with any tablet. If typing is something you plan to do, then make sure the
tablet you choose has a good option for an external keyboard. Few do.
Step 4: Enjoy!
Now
you’ve worked out what you want, it’s time to shop! We have a list of the 10
best tablets you can buy and a list of the best Android tablets that we update
frequently, and you’ll want to keep an eye on our tablet review section for the
lowdown on all the latest releases.
Updated
on 6-24-2015 by Simon Hill: Updated the text, updated the images, added Windows
tablets, and storage section.
(
Resources: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-pick-a-tablet/)
