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Android Tablet Buying Guide - what to look for when buying an Android tablet.


 

First you need to figure out what do you want it for. Do you want your device for :

  • Light internet use & organizer - email, regular websites without Flash content, calendar, MP3
  • Heavy internet use - media rich web content, Google Docs, facebook, YouTube
  • Media player - YouTube videos, 720p or 1080p HD videos, output to view videos on TV
  • Gaming - Angy Birds, Speed Forge, other 3D games

Light internet use & organizer

These devices are the cheapest of the bunch. Starting at just under $100 these really are a steal IF you know their limits and do not expect more than they can give. You might get iPad like looks but not performance. They are mostly 7" in screen size and usually come with resistive screens which are less responsive than the more expensive capacitive screens. They are excellent as MP3 players, taking down notes, checking your email, as an organizer/calendar since there are superb applications that you can use to sync data with Outlook and such. You can also read every mobile version of a web page with ease and even use facebook via the facebook application. They usually come with 128-256MB of RAM, have processors up to 600Mhz and run Android versions 1.5-2.1

Example: (MID V7)

Heavy internet use

Starting from about $170 these devices are capable of handling all the web content that you are used to experience on your PC/laptop. The performance might not be as fast as on your big PC but they get the job done. The older devices have resistive screens but usually they are quite good and most of the new products come out with capacitive screens which are generally a better choice. They come in 7-8" screens and also 10" models are common. They can handle regular (480p) web video very well and better products run even 720p HD video. YouTube, full facebook etc pose no problem for these devices. They come with Android version 2.2 or newer have usually 800Mhz or more powerful processors and 512MB of RAM.

Example: (Herotab MID815, Witstech A81G, Herotab C8, Herotab M10V2, CPAD)

Media player

In addition to flawless web performance these devices are powerful enough to be used as HD video players. Prices start at the $200 mark. The screen size is again 7-8" and 10" and you need to figure out are you willing to sacrifice the portability of the 7" tablet for the viewing experience of the 10" tablet. The screens are mostly capacitive and even better ones have IPS screens (like the iPad). Processor speeds start at 800Mhz for 720p video and 1Ghz for 1080p FullHD, usually they have 512MB of RAM and come with Android 2.2 or newer. Also an important thing to look for here is the existence HDMI/HDMImini output. This way you can carry along and view HD videos and movies on an HD-TV.

Example: (Flytouch 3, APAD D9, Dreambook W7)

Gaming

While games like Angry Birds can run on good "Heavy internet use" and "Media player" devices the newer 3D games use all the power you can throw at them. You can get a device that run most of the current games fine even under $300 but the prices range for a dual-core nVIDIA Tegra2 equipped Android tablets goes up to $600+ price range. Most devices in this category have 10" capacitive screens and more expensive devices come with capacitive IPS screens. They have a minimum of 512MB of DDR2 RAM and a minimum of 1Ghz of CPU power. They can with Android 2.2 or newer and are probably the first ones to receive the upcoming Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" update when it comes out.

Example: (Malata Zpad T2, Malata Zpad T8 for heavy gaming. Most current games run on the last 2 category devices also quite well.)

Additional features

  • GPS - having a GPS on the device might actually seem more important than it really is. While replacing your third-party car GPS with an GPS equipped 7" Android tablet is probably the coolest thing you can have in your car having a GPS on a 10" device is probably quite meaningless since you are not really going to use the huge 10" tablet to navigate. So for a tablet that you plan to use mostly in home this feature is not important but it is a great idea to have a 7" tablet with GPS when you`re on the road a lot.
  • Bluetooth - BT on an Android tablet has probably two uses. One is for devices that have 3G/GSM module so you can use the BT headset to make and receive calls and second usage is if you want to have kind of a dock at home for your tablet which then has Bluetooth keyboard and mouse connected.
  • Camera - front facing camera is used for video chat (Skype video chat is not yet released for Android) and some tablets have a better camera on the back for taking pictures.
  • 3G - WiFi is built into all of the Android devices but built-in 3G is something to look for. The 3G in these devices is carrier free. This is probably the most important thing to look for when buying an Android tablet that you want to carry with you since this allows you to connect to the internet from anywhere you`d like.
  • Single touch vs multi-touch screens - cheaper devices with resistive screens have usually single touch possibility which is quite self explanatory(one "click" at a time). Resistive screens can have a limited multitouch support which is called pinch&zoom which means you can have two touch points to zoom in and out. Multitouch can in theory have unlimited touch points. If you are not into gaming then pinch and zoom is all you really need.
  • Resistive screens vs capacitive screens - resistive screens are cheaper and generally less responsive although there are great resistive screens out there. The main difference is that resistive screens rely on the actual force that you put on the screen that compresses a thin layer under the screen and therefore tells the device where you pushed. Capacitive screens work by detecting your body`s ability to conduct power and therefore are more responsive. Keep in mind that regular styluses do not work with capacitive screens because they do not conduct power.
  • IPS - IPS screens are used on the high end devices since they offer superior viewing angles.
  • G-sensor - or gravity sensor, detects which way you hold the device and moves the image on the screen accordingly.

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