5 Best Tablets of 2012

There were many, many interesting tablets released by many companies. Some were more than just a success, while some did not live up to most of our expectations. Here are the 5 best tablets of 2012.

Google Nexus 7

The Nexus has an excellent design, very handy software features and programs, and at a very low price. The Nexus 7 is an incredible, yet at the same time, affordable way to experience the most out of the Android OS.



Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700

The Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is among one of the fastest Android tablets out there, with zippy fast performance and processing power. The Transformer Pad Infinity has a better, improved camera, a faster CPU, and a nice, sharp screen.


          
Google Nexus 10

Google is at it again; the Nexus 10 has an excellent design, and very comfy in the palm of your hand. It has swift performance and is one of the best Android tablets as of now.



Asus Transformer Pad TF300

Although the Asus Transformer Pad TF300 is not as thin or durable as the Transformer Pad Infinity TF700, it still offers incredible performance, but at a lower price.

                                           

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is probably the very best of Samsung tablets you'll ever find. Though you might find its price a little expensive, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is a reasonable investment.

Full-Voltage Into the Samsung Series 7 Chronos

Modern Ultrabooks and thin laptops are rarely seen with a with full-power processors (CPUs) and a discrete graphics card (GPU). Fortunately, the Samsung Series Chronos is an exception to the majority of those laptops and ultrabooks.



The Samsung Series 7 Chronos boasts a quad-core Intel i-Series processor, a maximum of 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8870 graphics. The screen is a 15.6-inch display that has a sharp 1920x1080-pixel resolution, which is what you would expect from such a powerful multimedia laptop.

The sharp high-resolution display is also a touch-screen, which is increasingly common in Windows 8 devices, but found more in super-thin ones than in midsize laptops. Fortunately, the Chronos is only a tad bit thicker than the average Ultrabook, at 20.9 mm. It leans a little to the heavy side, weighing in at 5.2 pounds, but its packed with power. The Series 7 Chronos also lacks an optical drive, which is something most thin laptops or Ultrabooks lack.

As of 1/3/2013, There is not yet a release date, though it should be out very soon.

Nexus 10

The Nexus 10 uses a micro-USB port to charge it, and that is obviously not a very efficient way to charge a powerful, high-end tablet. Charging the Nexus 10 overnight will not be a problem, but if you're in a hurry, you're in trouble.

Why might the Nexus 10 be the next top Android tablet? Well, maybe because it has a beautiful screen, with a display sharper than most tablets, and is probably the most comfortable 10-inch tablet to hold in your hand. It's durable enough to survive a drop from a few feet away. It is also the very first Android tablet to run 4.2, which brings with it a ton of new features.

The Nexus 10 has an incrediblely sharp screen display, it is light, convenient, durable, and of course, has the fastest processor of any Android tablet so far. Google's new features are improving and much more diverse.

Though the Nexus 10 might not be better than the newest generations of the iPad, it is still one of the top tablets on the market. If you don't plan on owning an Apple product/device, then the Nexus 10 should be one of your first priorities.



Design

The Nexus 10 is an excellently designed 10-inch tablet, and only weighing in at 1.33 pounds. Due to its light weight and its rounded edges, the Nexus 10 doesn't dig into your palms when your holding it. The back feels grippy and comfortable to hold, and as a bonus, also acts like protection for the Nexus 10 itself.

On the left side of the device is the headphone jack and micro-USB charging port. And, on the left corner is is the power/lock button and volume buttons. Lastly, on the right edge, is the micro-HDMI port, with a Pogo Pin charger on the bottom edge.

Along the top of the tablet's back is a textured strip, which is also removable. Sitting in the center of the textured strip is a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera, next to an LED flash and a mic. And on the front, in the middle of the top bezel sits the 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera and a light sensor. Of course, smack in the middle back of the Nexus 10 is the Nexus logo.

Hardware

-1.7 GHz dual-core Exynos 5250 CPU

-Mali T-604 graphics processor

-2GB of RAM

-support for 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), MIMO Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and NFC

-Gyroscope, barometer, accelerometer, digtal compass

Screen

The Nexus 10's PLS display is the best by far on any Android tablet and its amazing to look at. Truthfully, it is difficult to see a difference between the Nexus 10's beautiful display and the new iPad's 2048x1536-pixel Retina Display. Images are sharp on both tablets, and it can be hard to distinguish which one is clearer dispite the fact that the Nexus 10's display is a 2560x1600-pixel resolution.



Performance

The Nexus 10 is the fastest Android tablet so far. Navigating menus and opening apps shouldn't be a problem for you, and keeping up the constant speed of its performance and its high-resolution display shows the power of its Exynos processor.

Screen responsiveness has been built to be incredibly accurate and sharp. Pages and slides scroll by as you swipe and taps are almost never accidentally misread. Typing is also much more accurate than other tablets, including the iPad. Because of its size, the Nexus 10 gives your fingers more freedom.

The tablet charges by using a micro-USB port, and though it charges fine, its very, very slow. The charger has a hard time keeping up charging enough battery for you to play certain graphic-intense games, like Riptide GP and/or N.O.V.A. 3.

Conclusion

The Nexus 10 is an incredible Android tablet, even though it does has some troublesome issues, such as using a micro-USB port for charging. You'll probably want an iPad instead, but if you're going for Android, this could be perfect for you. Though you might want to get an Asus Transformer Infinity instead, the Nexus 10 is still superior in design, comfort and performance.

Google Nexus 7

The Nexus 7 has a relatively low price, an incredible battery life for prolonged use, a sharp screen with an excellent display, and topped off with a complete and open Android 4.2 software, and overall, the Nexus 7 is probably the best tablet you can get, even for its low price.

     

Even after so many months ever since its release, the Nexus 7 is still one of the top-selling tablets. The 8GB version is no longer available, and it starts at $199 for a 16GB version, and $249 gets you the 32GB version of the Nexus 7, add $50 to that and you get a 32GB Nexus 7 with HSPA+.

Design

Other than the SIM card slot and a heavier weight, the HSPA+ version of the Nexus 7 is pretty much identical to its Wi-Fi-only version. The Nexus 7 has a nice and grippy back texture for it, and though it might not seem like much, it will probably be one of the most comfortable tablets to hold in your hand. Along the borders of the Nexus 7 is a thin bezel, but thicker on the top and bottom of the Nexus 7.

The Nexus 7 is also significantly lighter than the Kindle Fire HD and some other tablets. It  has approximately the same thickness as the Kindle Fire and just a tad bit thinner than the Nook. The 1.2 megapixel camera of the Nexus 7 sits on the front of the Nexus, on the right edge near the top is the power/lock button, and close to that is the volume button. And on the bottom of the Nexus 7, is a headphone jack and and of course, a micro-USB port in the middle. Above that on the back of the device is the speaker strip, and the HSPA+ version has a micro SIM card slot near the middle left of the device.

Unfortunately, there is no way of memory expansion, and no back camera. The exclusion of these features is probably a money-saving measure, which is also why the Nexus 7 is a lot more inexpensive than most other tablets who have those features.

Hardware 

The Nexus 7 has a 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 processor, and of course, 1GB of RAM. It also includes b/g/n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, and support for Android Beam.



Performance

The Nexus 7 boasts a crispy-clear 1280x800-pixel resolution IPS display, but the Kindle Fire HD still has a sharper, more vibrant screen with dramatic colors. The Nook also has a higher resolution, but that doesn't make the Nexus 7's screen seem terrible. The Nexus 7's screen is also very responsive to touch and swipe around on, but sometimes the swipes are shorter. Unfortunately, the Tegra 3 processor is beginning to fall behind. On some graphic-intense games, the frame rates were usually from fair to poor.

iPod Nano: 7th Generation Review

This new iPod Nano is a tiny, miniscule music player. This new, clip-less model is far thinner than the previous 6th generation iPod Nano. The 7th generation is only a mere 5.6mm, while the 6th generation iPod Nano was 8.8mm thick. The 7th Gen iPod Nano is also taller (76.5 mm) and a bit wider (39.6 mm). This tiny device weighs in only at 31 grams, half the weight of the new iPod Touch 5th Gen (See post below.), or about ten Juicy Fruit sticks of gum.

The reason for this change in dimensions is to move away from the square 240 x 240 resolution LCD found in the last-gen nano. The old display is now replaced by a 2.5 inch, 16:9 ratio, multi-touch LCD with a resolution of  240 x 432.

The new nano is bright and nice-looking, but viewing the colors on the screen from a tilted angle can make the colors look washed out. The new nano also includes a home button, much like an iPod. Not much has changed since the 6th generation, but this new one has a more streamlined feel to it. There are nine icons displayed on the screen; 6 on the first page, and 3 icons on the second page; the icons can be rearranged.
Photo viewing is also possible, with pinch and zoom. Images will also rotate as you rotate the nano.

This New 7th gen iPod nano brings out all the functionality of the previous version. The Nike+ makes runners happy, though it still cannot take photos or record video. But at $149 for 16GB there are certainly a number of cheaper options out there for you to choose. But if you're looking for something light, convenient, and beautiful, take a look at this.


Review by © 2012 Andy Chin

Photo Credit: Engadget

© 2012 Apple, Inc.