Android Tablet circa 2013

June 2, 2013 9:50 PM

Best Android tablet out there circa 2013? "Best" is subjective, so take a look

I have more or less decided on an Android Tablet. I have asked a similar question a few months ago here, but there some changes to what I need now.

10-inch, fast processor (quad-core?), decent internal memory (is 1 GB enough), high-res screen, fast charging and decent battery life. External storage (SD Card) would be awesome, but a work around like a OTG-USB cable is also fine.

Everything else, like camera etc is not important. I am not going to run intensive games either, but definitely will watch blue-ray quality movies on it. App ecosystem is not that important, provided basic apps like Youtube, Netflix, reading apps, some form of Office support and games like flow Free, Crosswords etc are available in tablet versions.

I was set on the Nexus 10, but on Amazon, the reviews are not encouraging. so are reviews for every other Android Tablet out there - Asus Transformer T700 (screen lag/slow), Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (low-res screen, crappy flash memory), Galaxy Tab 10.1 etc.

Across the different tech sites, there is no agreement on the best iPad alternative. Speaking of which, I am thinking the iPad 4 is still the tablet to beat, but I don't like the boring interface, the walled app garden, dependence on iTunes for copying anything to the iPad (offline music and movies) etc.

Your experiences with tablets and satisfaction/horror stories will go a long way in helping me make a decision.

posted by theobserver to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Best answer: So far my Nexus 10 has worked fine. I bought one of the aftermarket pogo cables to improve the charging time. Better, but does take several hours to charge. I had some issues with stability at first but the first software update fixed that.

I get 4-5 days of battery life at least, but I spend most of my time browsing the web, checking email, reading docs, etc. Not many movies or games. But the few videos I have watched seem to look ok.
posted by beowulf573 at 10:02 PM on June 2, 2013

The Nexus 10 is fine, imo. Kaleidohusband has one, which he ditched eventually for an 8" Samsung because he has stubby fingers (and he was a bit excited about the stylus with the Samsung), but the Nexus 10 is perfectly alright, and has really great screen resolution. I have a Nexus 7, which I also love, but I *might* be looking when the new 7 comes out, whenever that is.
posted by Kaleidoscope at 10:25 PM on June 2, 2013

Best answer: I contributed one of the negative reviews of the Nexus 10 on Amazon, despite my Android fandom. No regrets. It's just not good yet.

1) Recharging. Come on. Sucks on mini-USB unless you have the blessed charger.
2) I'm a big baseball fan and MLB.TV (which works fine on my PC, iPad, XBox 360) is horrid
3) Controls are awkward. The wake button is strange and it just doesn't have good feel.
5) Apps are a joke compared to iWorld. Pains me to say this.

I'm a staunch Android supporter but I have to say this thing is just garbage and I wish I didn't buy it. I hope it gets better.

Silver lining: Netflix and web browsing are A-OK. Kindle syncs fine.

Can't stress enough how much I hate the Apple world but this does not compare well.
posted by look busy at 10:35 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I also have a Nexus 10. In my case, I already had a fairly high-end stylus-based slate-style laptop, while also having zero experience with fingerpainting touch interfaces. As a result, people here have told me that I'm using it wrong, or for the wrong reasons, or I don't understand the interface, or I'm not letting myself adapt to it or whatever. But as someone who doesn't consume much media, visits very text-intensive sites, likes busy layouts, and is used to very precise stylus touch interfaces, the entire Nexus 10 experience feels clunky and half-baked, like browsing and computing with a cheap toy. Maybe if I only used it for shopping and TV-watching, I'd have a different opinion. No idea whether I'd like an iPad better, I've never touched the thing.

To clarify, I think the actual OS is fine and perfectly usable, and the device has a nice "form factor" and is technologically all there, modulo the enormous limitations of fingers as an input device.
posted by Nomyte at 10:43 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have an Asus eeepad transformer tf300t, bought a year ago as a birthday gift. When I first got it, there were some hiccups, but mostly came from my lack of familiarity with Android in general (mostly windows user, but have an iPod Touch). I LOVE it! I do simple tasks on it - surf the web, watch netflix/youtube, read e-books, and have done some word processing using Polaris office. I initially bought it to do some sketching/ drawing - it doesn't really work well for that (you "can" with the proper stylus if you really have to...). The additional Asus eeepad keyboard you can buy has provided me with extra battery life and usb port, and has made my enjoyment of the tablet experience that much better. The eeepad doesn't take long to charge (2 hours?). Battery life with the keyboard is about 6-8 hours. I haven't noticed any screen lag - maybe I'm just used to its quirks?

Negatives:
The speakers on the tablet - there is only one speaker, and it isn't loud - get earphones!
Also, I know you said this doesn't matter to you - the camera works "okay" (read: not great). It also takes grainy video.
Printing anything! I have not been successful printing any webpages from a web browser, and printing created documents is dicey. Trying to print generally over wifi without having to upload anything to a cloud or pay through the nose for a useable app has caused me confusion and frustration. It's been a while since I have tried to print anything with the eeepad, so not sure if they have made any recent improvements in that arena. My workaround is taking the eeepad and connecting it to a PC via usb, pull the needed file off, and print from computer.

All things considered though, I really like my eeepad. There are limitations to it, but I don't regret buying it at all.
posted by MeatheadBrokeMyChair at 12:20 AM on June 3, 2013

You might look into Archos tablets, they make some pretty nice ones in various sizes and qualities. They're a French manufacturer that actually had multimedia tablets out ten years ago (yep), but they've never aimed for massive market share; they're more aimed at users who want higher-, but not very-high-end specs, who don't necessarily want to throw a lot of money at tech, and yet who want as much standardized compatibility as possible. I have one of their 4.3" Internet tablets and love it. It uses a standard USB cable (I forget whether mini or micro, but it's standard), takes SD cards, and has 16Gb of internal memory. Their larger tablets are similar, and they always use unskinned Android versions (meaning there's no proprietary layer over the base system). You can use Google Play without a hitch and all that. My little one "only" works on WiFi networks, which I knew, I already had a smartphone so didn't need a second one. The battery life is crazy good, it lasts just over a week when I listen to music 2-3 hours a day and use WiFi for a half an hour every day or so. You can also tether it to a smartphone for mobile internet access, using Bluetooth.

They're also UPnP-compatible, meaning fun things like being able to set up XBMC on your home network, then installing an XBMC remote on your tablet and using it as a remote control for your home media center.
posted by fraula at 1:39 AM on June 3, 2013 [3 favorites]

I have a google nexus 7 and frankly its fantastic.

Got an ipad from work at the same time and the nexus beats it everytime!
posted by zia at 2:12 AM on June 3, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks for all your responses.

I am looking for a 10-inch screen, so the iPad 4 is the obvious choice, but might jump for the Nexus 7.

I am really surprised that none of the Android tablets have "it" yet - the 10-inch form factor may not be hot-selling. Asus released 3 new tablets today and all of them have a 1280x800 screen resolution!

Fraula: The Archos looks interesting, but the XS version is not released yet, so might as well wait a little longer.
posted by theobserver at 5:01 PM on June 3, 2013

Response by poster: Just to close out this thread, I went out and bought the iPad 4. With so many mixed reviews on the web and the following reasons, the iPad is still the better option.

1. Multiple accessories available for every need
2. App Store has better apps for tablets
3. Lightning to SD Card provides the extra storage needed
4. All my other criteria mentioned in the question

I was hoping the Surface Pro would be the best option, but its too pricey now (~$899). In 2 years, maybe!
posted by theobserver at 8:38 PM on June 8, 2013

I just want to chime in, you might want to avoid the Nexus 7 if your thinking runs in that direction. In my experience they have been extraordinarily fragile and likely to have their screen crack, which produces touchscreen dead zones for the horizontal extent of the crack. No lie, I've had this happen to three out of three Nexus 7s, two of the times from no impact (!), and once from a very short fall. I don't know if the Nexus 10 is as fragile, but it's caused me to think twice about getting an Asus tablet.
posted by JHarris at 1:12 PM on June 13, 2013